DIY Heaven or Hell?

I have spent the last week working on the first item on my new DIY(do-it-yourself) list.  This list consists of all the projects I feel need to be completed prior to putting the house on the market.   I had two days off together at the beginning of the week so I thought it would be the perfect time to knock off the first item on my DIY list, retiling the small hall bathroom floor. We had already resurfaced the mint green tub and tile surround, replaced the laminate counter with granite and repainted the sink cabinet.  All that has been left, for a few years, I'm ashamed to say is replacing the floor.  Easy peasy!  Except, how is it possible that it takes five days to tile one small hall bathroom floor that measures about 3 feet by 8 feet? Well, it is possible and I have even found a way to bring the tiling experience down to a whole new level.  It's a slow, painstaking, tedious process that I alone seem to have discovered. Let me mention now that tiling is not, repeat not, one my top 10 favorites on my DIY list.  

Bath with original tile from the 60's.

The last time I tiled was about five years ago with the help of my father, sister and brother.  We put down slate in the foyer and the stairs and hall of the lower level of the house.  I don't recall having such an aversion to the tiling process at that time and even recall that I completed the stairs on my own. After this current experience, however, any future tiling projects will be completed by a hired professional.  Thankfully, there should not be any further extensive tiling to-do's in this house.  I don't mind painting rooms, furniture, lights.  Small build projects are doable, like my square foot garden boxes.  Yard work and gardening I find enjoyable as I always enjoy being outside.  Tiling has been crossed off the enjoyable, acceptable, or even tolerable to-do list.

It took the first two days to simply cut the tile for this bath.  This consisted of a tedious process of marking the tile, walking downstairs, through the kitchen, into the garage and outside to the the wet tile saw, which I set up on the deck because it makes such a mess.  I was going to set it up in the garage, but on Monday when I started my "project", I went to open the garage door only to find the door opener was broken.  Apparently the chain gear shirred off earlier in the morning when Jeff came home from work.  This left the two automobiles held captive in the space where I wanted to set up the tile saw.  We called the door repair people, they came out later in the day and took care of the problem.  By this time though the tile saw had assumed it's working headquarters on the deck and was now filled with water and was too much of a pain to move. 

Cutting 13 inch square tiles on a saw which only accommodates 12 inch tiles, meant I had to rotate each tile 180 degrees to complete a full cut.  Thus taking twice the amount of time.  Then there were the tricky cuts around corners, which resulted in tiles that broke, requiring that tile to be traced and cut a second time.  Also there were 2nd and 3rd little cuts on tiles which had to be made because the walls, strangely enough, are not square.  Don't forget this process required walking to the saw, through the house, cutting the tile, walking back to the bathroom, finding the tile was still a smidge too big, walking back through the house to the tile saw, cutting the tile, ad nauseum.  At the end of my Tuesday afternoon off, I was frustrated at my slow progress.  I had finally completed the cutting but still had to set the tile with mortar, allow that to set overnight and then grout.  I had to work Wednesday morning and had scheduled haircuts, etc. Wednesday afternoon, eliminating Wednesday as a tile work day.

Tiles are cut and ready to be adhered.

That brought me to Thursday, also a work day, but I was determined to get the tile set Thursday afternoon when I got home from work.  First I had to mix up the mortar.  It is a powder in a 50 pound bag.  The directions called for mixing the 50 pounds with 1 to 2 gallons of water in a clean bucket.  I didn't think I would need the whole bag so I only used half.  Those of you that are experienced tilers I can hear you laughing!  I ended up utilizing only about 1/4 of what I mixed. Not, however, before I had to spent 20 minutes mixing the powder and water together, my arms screaming from the effort.  Lacking a proper mixing utensil (what that would be I don't know) I'm sure lengthened the time spent mixing.  I used a metal rod I had laying about.  I started at 4 and finished after 7 p.m. when Jeff left for work.  He ate dinner without me after coming up to check on me for the 10th time to see how I was progressing.  He did, kindly enough, leave me a plate.

You can tell Mr. Tibbs wasn't sharing any of my angst.

Here we are, it now being Friday.  I do have to work today, but not until 5 p.m.  Plenty of time to get the grouting taken care of.  The grout also comes in a powder form, though this time the box of grout powder only weighs about 9 1/2 pounds.  Cutting the amount in half still left me with tons left over, but I was petrified I would have to spend yet another 20 minutes mixing more if I ran out. 

The grouting was going well, dare I say, enjoyable, until my quads starting complaining because I had been squatting for so long.  Is it because I'm over 50 or just out of shape?  Then I hit the tricky corner that goes under the bath cabinet.  I had to practically stand on my head to work the grout into the lines between the tile under the toe kick.  About that time the rubber "float" (who comes up with these names?) parted company with the metal handle that allows it to be easily held and gives it rigidity.  Huh.  

A dead rubber float.

I soldiered on sans metal handle.  The float didn't work quite as well but it wasn't like I had a spare "float" floating about.  I couldn't take the time to run to the hardware store and purchase a new one because my lovely grout would be hard and crumbly by the time I returned.

At last, here I am, mid afternoon, tiling task complete.  Now that the doing part is finished, except for resetting the toilet and sealing the grout, I have to admit it turned out okay.  Not professional quality, but passable.

It's finished!

Now, what's next on my list?

D:)