Mistake #2 - Bathroom Floor

The floor in the bathroom had been an issue from the start, first we had to decide what the material was that was on there currently and if it was safe to rip up then figure out what was underneath it and if it was in good enough shape to leave down or if it too had to be replaced. The tile that I picked out for the bathroom was absolutely perfect, like all other decision with this project I knew the minute I saw it that I wanted it. It was a beautiful ¼” hexagonal tile in white with black in there. This tile wasn't completely period appropriate (c 1942) but it was very close and more importantly it was something that I really loved.



Tile is much thinner than we had originally anticipated

 We ended up having to rip the floor down to bare beams and went back and forth on what size backer board to use in there, our gut told us to use the thicker one but there was the worry that would be a small weird lip between the bathroom floor and hallway plus I wanted to put down radiant heat in that room which required a mat with coils to go down under the tile. I won't even tell you how many times I was sent back to Home Depot to exchange the backerboard for the other size, ok I will tell you 3 seperare times plus that stuff is heavy to be pulling in and out of the car and into the store and then from the store back  into the car, etc.. and it was 15 degrees outside that night, not that that really has anything to do with anything I just wanted to complain. We ended up using the thinner backer board against our better judgment and trying to make up the difference by using more thinset to build it up. We were about halfway done with the floor when we realized that this wasn’t going to work, between the thinset being so thick and the coils of the heating mat the small tiles  did not dry evenly. 

What we found when the floor was taken up



New backerboard is put down

  The decision was made to rip out what we had done already and start over. This required another trip back to Home Depot to purchase more backer board (the correct size this time), we had to throw away the heating coil, and wait almost 2 weeks for more tile to come in, of course it was special order from the east coast and ran into some weather delays.

2nd time is a charm

The 2^nd time it went in beautifully and looks wonderful, I was however informed by the Forman that the radiant heat wasn’t going to work and if I wanted heat in there that he would buy me a small radiator. I’m glad I decided to stay with the tile and I will absolutely appreciate how even the floor is every time I walk on it. Plus as long as I am trying to be positive about this experience the delay in the bathroom gave me some extra time and I was able to strip the kitchen cabinets down to bare wood before re-painting them.

Finished Project



Mistakes to learn from, #1 Bedroom Floors

Like any do it yourself home improvement project we have run into our fair share of Oop’s and setbacks. I don’t like to linger on the mistakes but to learn from them instead but I do want to touch base with the idea of remembering so that we don’t repeat them and hopefully somebody else can learn from them and avoid making the same ones.

Mistake #1 – Wood floors in the bedrooms.



Two of my workers



There are two bedrooms upstairs that are connected by a small hallway. In one of the bedrooms we had taken the carpet out about 15 years ago and finished the wood floor for my grandmother, the other room we had just ripped up the carpet that weekend. We did everything you are supposed to do, we rented a sander to bring them both to bare wood status and had the same two people do both rooms staining and wiping them. But unfortunately something went wrong, one room turned out a perfect Dark Mahogany color the other turned out almost black and splotchy. We tried adding more color to the lighter room and stripping some color from the other room but in the end the foreman ended up just sanding room #2 back down to bare wood and starting again. While there is still a difference in colors it turned out much better the 2^nd time.

Half way between the two coats

Master bedroom after finished and sealed

We aren’t really sure what caused the difference, one opinion is the can of stain didn’t get mixed enough in the 2^nd room, another is the wood that had been covered by carpet drank up the stain easier than the wood that had been exposed already, but whatever it was it put us back over a week and reminded us to go slowly and don’t take anything for granted.

1942 Frigidaire Oven

The holidays have not been good to my poor little house, what I mean by that is with all the activities that tend to go along with this exciting and busy time of year not much progress has been made. I am not upset by this, it is by choice, it was an easy decision to make, the painting will still be there but I will never get another Christmas with my son being eight so I am going to enjoy it every opportunity I can get. This was also a huge relief and help to my family, they didn’t need to feel guilty that they weren’t working on the house every time they attended a Christmas party or got together with some friends. Now that the holiday are over it is time to turn my attention back to the task at hand, the house. We have 3 more projects to complete before it will be move-in ready.

1.       Tile the Kitchen floor

2.       Rip out the carpet and re-finish the living room floor

3.       Remove wallpaper and paint living room

One major thing that did happened this week was we got the oven working. The oven is original to the house and has always been one of my favorite things about it however it wasn't currently working. The burners worked but the oven itself wasn’t working on my beautiful 1942 Frigidaire oven. Trying to track down parts or a mechanic who could/would work on it was a real challenge and the idea of getting rid if it was not even an option. I love to bake so not having a working oven has been a major point of stress for me the last few months. My foremon suggested that we have the electrician who was doing some other work for us look at it, and a great idea it was for sure. It took him less than 20 minutes to get it back to working order plus he was able to check all the wiring and confirm that everything is safe to use. So now not only does my oven work but so does the task light, the timer, the clock, and the 110v outlet on the front. It still needs a little TLC but at least now it works.



How is that for the best post-Christmas present ever?

Grouting is good

So with this house remodel I am learning how to do all kinds of things that I never knew how to before. How to stain hardwood floors, how to measure for tile, how to pick homeowners insurance, how to move without loosing your mind (ok so maybe I didn't really master that one yet), but by far the most enjoyable thing I have learned is how tile grout. Dad , aka the foreman, and the other boys spent almost a week laying the 3x6 subway tile on all 3 sides of my shower all the way up to the ceiling and they did an amazing job but when it came putting in the grout I was recruited to come help. Being that I am the more detailed person in this group it turned out to be a good fit. With just a few minutes of instruction and demonstration I was able to take the trowel and do it on my own, even though I was under constant supervision from the foreman it felt good to get in there and get my hands dirty. It went pretty quick once I got started and I must say that I am definitely looking forward to doing the grout for the bathroom and the kitchen floors. I am so excited with how well the shower turned out that I am having a hard time picking out a shower curtain, hide my gorgeous new tile, I don’t think so.