Tiling All By Myself, Don't want to be. . .

So the first time we decided to tile I was intimidated but this time I was even more so if that is possible.  Chris was away and it needed to be done so I had to do it by myself and figure out how to cut a circle into what is essentially a rock.  I don't do well when there isn't someone there to get opinions from.  But I marched on and it was much MUCH more simple then I thought it would be.

Sweep off the durrock make sure there are no stray dirt or clumps of any kind

Make sure you have a wet saw with diamond blade waiting ready to roll, we got ours for like $50 when it was on sale.

With a space as small as our bathroom you can start on one side of the room and then move across to the other, in larger rooms you need to start in the middle and work out in quarters of the room.  I laid out all the tiles and measured out and marked all the tiles I would need to cut.

After cutting all the tiles to the right size I laid them all out again to make sure that they fit well then I pulled them up in lines and moved to mix the mortar.  The directions are on the bag you buy but basically mix and mix and mix.  You're better to go on the watery side then dry side... too dry and your tile won't stick... then again too wet and it won't stick either.  Basically it should be more wet then the texture of cookie dough but not as thin as egg nog?  I don't know if that helps

I found that doing different strokes was more fun then straight lines.  Online they said it was better for making the tile stick but nothing to prove it... so you can judge fro yourself.

When you place the tiles down evenly distribute some of your weight onto the tile so that it is fully pressed into the mortar.

Make sure to place spacers down around each tile to keep the spacing you want.

Jumping back to when you cut, cutting the circle with our wet saw is basically a long patient process.  You have to cut out sections and then use the blade to almost sand off the really uneven pieces.

When you are mixing the mortar and the grout I would suggest wearing a mask for the dust... not fun to breath in

I finished the whole project, working fairly slow, in about 3 hours.

Don't worry if the mortar got on the tile when it dries it will be easy enough to get off.  I used a plastic fork and a damp sponge and was done cleaning it off in less then 10 minutes.  But before trying to clean it off let it sit for at least 24 hours or your weight could mess up the tiles.

Almost there... 

By Rachel Abi

By Raleigh Wedding Photographer

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Ready to renovate your bathroom!?

I have posted about this bathroom before and now I have done something about it and I'll show you what and how to do it!

This is what the bathroom looked like when we moved in.

Original cabinet and toilet.

Base paint the only paint on the walls.

Peeling linoleum floors.

I will show you how we gutted and rebuilt our bathroom including tiling the floor step by step with instructions!

So here is day one of what turned into one awesome bathroom!

Step one I sold the old toilet and cabinet/sink/faucet on Craigslist.   Not for much but I got paid, they got a cheap cabinet to redo or use in a shop and they hauled it away!  BTW when you pull out the sink and toilet you will want to stuff the drains with something or it will reek.

Next step: pull up the quarter round and base board then the floors! 

I used a hammer, chisel, right angled crow bar and a flat head screw driver.  My goal, and it was achieved, was to be able to reuse the materials. I found it easiest to work from a corner then go out towards the middle of the baseboard/quarter round.  I used a chisel or flat headed screw driver to get the piece away from the wall enough to get the crow bar in and gently and slowly made my way down the piece.  DO NOT pull hard. If you do then the piece you are working on will snap, especially with quarter round.  It is a slow process but since I don't have the tools to be able and make my own new set of trim it saved me TONS!

Pulled off the cover to the electrical light socket.  I left the base for now because I knew this process would take more than one day.

One thing you always have to check for in any room, when water is involved, is water damage.  This looked bad but we had it looked at and our "guy" said that it was just stained but no damage to the wood.

Next step I cleared off the base boards as much as possible.  I actually vacuumed after I swept. It is really important to have no debris on the floor for this next step: putting your Durrock down. (You may have to get a toilet extender flange)

Before you put your Durrock down you need to measure the room.  Every divot and corner.  I drew a not to scale picture of the room and marked what each little part was next to where it was depicted on the crewed drawing.  The hardest part about this is actually the toilet hole but if you have a string it isn't too bad.  Measure away from the wall to the plastic toilet ring flange (the white plastic part surrounding the actual hole) and from the other side of the flange to the other wall. This gap in distance gives you the diameter and half it and you get the radius/the length you should make your string.  (ex: if the full length of the room is 15 ft and on one side of the flange is 18in and the other side of the flange is 13ft you can know that the diameter is 6in and the radius is 3in)  Tie a string around a marker measure out the radius length and add a bit more room (rather over cut then under, believe me!) and cut it off.  Measure off the distance from the wall to the flange then add the radius length to that and you know where to hold down the string! Draw a circle!

Now to cutting.  All you need is a box cutter.  Mark your areas score them and break it off (remember during the process of moving your Durrock around that if you bend it, even a little bit, and it gets any sort of not  perfectly straight look about it you can't use it).  With the circle cut: OVER cut.  In this case bigger is almost always better ;P

Now lay your pieces out and screw them down with these bad boys.  I put one in about every 15 inches.

Let them sit over night and then screw them down as far as possible.  If one won't go down remove it and screw in a new one.

Next step use all purpose wall puddy over the screws to make the areas flat again and puddy in any holes or gaps you might have.

Next use all purpose puddy tape between the different pieces on the seems.  They sell durrock tape but you can use just regular wall tape as well, works just as well.  Put down a bit of the puddy lay the tape and then more puddy try and get it as level as possible.

After this long busy day enjoy some rest before you get back to work tomorrow!

By Rachel Abi

By Durham Wedding Photographer

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My fancy, my whimsy...

I think my favorite rooms in my house, the day I moved in, were the bedrooms.  For one simple reason: all they needed was paint and decor!

It is surprising how long it took me to paint my back bedroom.  It is our office and it has been a mess.  But a few months ago I decided to get the painting done!  I am fairly a traditionalist when it comes to paint.  I like paint that will stay and work for years... I didn't go that route this time.  Straight out playful.

By Rachel Abi

By Durham Wedding Photographer

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Heave ho

One of the many gifts the previous owner left us was random pieces of rebar in the yard and deep holes scattered about.  They had Pit Bulls, and a lot of them from what I hear.  They liked digging... my only guess. But alas it is our job to work it out.  So Chris ever so kindly volunteered to remove them... they were humorously deep... after he got the piece of rebar out there were legitimately multiple holes around the yard where Chris can actually disappear up past his knees... 

I still can't figure out what needs to have rebar dug that deep?   It wasn't a base of a building.

By Rachel Abi

By Durham Wedding Photographer

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One down...

The day we moved into our house I was over joyed... and over whelmed.  This was to be our first house and I knew going in that it was a fixer upper.  With a deep breath I made my way across the threshold boxes in hand.  Not one full day in the house and we started on the kitchen.  We knew we would have to completely revamp everything in there due to water damage.  So out came the cabinets, up came the floor... all within the first week.  Unlike the proactive and most movin-it couple I have ever seen, we took a... slower pace.

Nine months later the process was complete.  That process... was not a small process but we did it all, well almost all (didn't up in the counter tops), ourselves!

Pulled out old counter tops, cabinets, 3 layers of floor, had to replace sub flooring and sheet rock, put down Durock and started on tiling.  This all was completed fairly quickly.  Got it done within two months of moving in... unfortunately we had to keep moving our stove out to the porch and back in to cook... very humorous to say the least.

The next step was stalled because of money: Cabinets.  We got great cabinets and for a great deal but it took a bit to be able to throw that kind of cash down.  We put them in ourselves... I was very nervous about this but one of my brothers used to put in cabinets for a living and agreed every so awesomely to come and help us out!  In went cabinets and about 3 weeks later came the counter tops.  Then almost a year later we got our cover for our dishwasher and knobs and pulls, but now it is done (and a bit crowded from storing stuff for my sister's wedding).

Never have I been so grateful for a kitchen!  Though this process is old, bb (before blog) that's for sure, I thought it might encourage those of you who are out there still working away that though your house may not be done, A room can be!  I have to look to that sometimes, when my bathroom is in shambles (right now) when my back bedroom is being used for storage (right now)... it is my light, it is my hope: it can be done!

By Rachel Abi

Please take heart!  Deep breath: one room at a time.

By Durham Wedding Photographer

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