Well, we had one lovely summer day in between the choking smoke and the onset of what appears to be monsoon season. Can it be called a monsoon if it comes with hail? Suppose not, but it feels like one anyway. Here’s proof that we enjoyed one day of clean air and blue skies this summer:
The miserable outdoor conditions have accommodated some indoor work. We have finally broken down and are replacing the 15-year-old (that’s how old our house is) cheapest-linoleum-ever-made and hideous green carpet (green is one of my fave colours, but not this green!) with tile. Here’s the new tile. I’m quite enamoured by how different it looks in the changing light at different times of day. It’s changing moods will give our house a touch more character than the tattered, peeling linoleum ever did.
So far we’ve done 100 of 1000 square feet, and that took us a month of evenings and weekends (and LOTS of fighting), so who knows when it will actually be finished.
What I’ve learned: That I hate DIY and the entire world of home improvements and really wish the people who built/owned this house before us had put down quality flooring that wouldn’t wear out IN THE FIRST PLACE so I wouldn’t have to be doing this.
I also learned that tilers don’t overcharge after all. The $7000 + for installation only did seem a bit steep at first I must admit, but little did I know. This is especially true in our situation of laying tile over heated concrete floors, necessitating layer upon layer of brutally expensive products to prevent cracking from the continual expansion and contraction of the heated floors- primer for self-levelling compound, followed by self-levelling compound (SO expensive), followed by primer for anti-fracture membrane, followed by the anti-fracture membrane, followed by thin-set mortar which would have been the only reasonably priced unpleasant, sticky, goop we’re using if we didn’t have to use a latex additive instead of water, which happens to cost a mere $150 a bucket and we need LOTS of buckets. And then finally the tile (after it has been plotted out -my husband does this on AutoCAD, wondering aloud how tilers live without it, laid out, all the cuts made and yes, decent tile saws cost a small fortune too, as do diamond blades for cutting porcelain), then the grout, then the sealer, then clean it with a damp-but-not-wet cloth about a thousand times to get the grout haze off and you’re done, wondering after all that crawling around on the floor when to book yourself in for bilateral knee replacement surgery. I understand now, all too well, how carpet and lino became all the rage.
I completely agree and completely understand! DIY is not for everyone….but….aren’t you headed off to canoeing wonderland??? life is still pretty good – tiling and all! xo.
Oooh . . you rub salt into a wound Michelle. Canoeing wonderland has been called off due to aforementioned monsoon w/hail season and much below average (subzero, in fact) temperatures out at Bowron. We may go down to the Okanagan to escape for a few days next week though.
What a process!! It looks good!!
The colours are lovely. I have to say that I had a chuckle when reading your account of the work… not the bilateral knee replacement, of course. It’s not too late to hire that tiler..
Lol. I feel your pain. Grout removal is one incredibly tedious job.
But the floor looks wonderful.
We laid granite flooring last winter. It is tedious work. Luckily for me the hubby did most of it! The new floor looks beautiful, and I’m imaging an aweful 70′s green carpet, so if that’s anything like what you had, then I bet it was worth the DIY effort.
Sorry that you have had only one lovely summer day. Remember, however, that every day is lovely if one is vertical and breathing. Nice work on the floors!
Indeed, George. Jon Kabbat-Zin says if you’re still breathing, you’re doing more right than you’re doing wrong . . or more is going right than is going wrong . . . something like that.