.:8:36 PM:.
Tile Update
Okies, I am kind of done doing my tile in the kitchen. This was a HUGE job! I'm not sure that I would do it again. Well I probably would but I would do some things a little different. Like make Lawrence do more of the work! LOL
Now here is a blow by blow of how the tiling job went. I'll warn you its gonna be a long one. At the end of my post, I will show you all the pictures.
Day 1 - Lawrence removed all the old linoleum. I say all the linoleum because previous owners just kept laying vinyl on top of vinyl. There were three layers of different types of linoleum. He also removed all the base boards. Good thing too they were looking all beat up even though I tried to paint them when we first moved in.
Day 2 - This day was one of the worse days. We didn't think that laying down the cement board and attaching it was going to be so much work.
First, we had to start laying the boards down but they had to be staggered. This meant we had to cut boards to make them fit and to make them all stagger. It would have been so much easier if we could have just laid them and then cut the last couple but nooooo. About halfway through the boards, we decided to go and mix the mortar because it says you should mix it and then let it sit for a couple of minutes and then mix it again.
Second, the mortar that we had to spread on the floor to attach the boards, we had to mix with a drill. Now do you think the guy that sold the mortar to us would have told us we need a really strong drill? Nope! So we almost burnt our little house drill to its death. After almost burning the drill out, we ended up having to mix the remainder by hand or should I say by sticks. Now we finally have the mortar all mixed and its the perfect consistency so we cover it so it doesn't harden. And we go back inside to finish laying the boards.
Lawrence brings in the adhesive. I get on the floor and stick the trowel in the mortar and guess what? The adhesive was hard. I couldn't believe it so I try to stick my hand in and kind of like massage it. It was working but my hands were starting to really hurt. We were able to soften and spread enough adhesive for ONE board. Yes, only ONE board!
Now our thoughts were to go back to Home Depot and take back the other two bags of mortar we had and buy the premixed stuff. The premixed stuff was $40 for a 3 gallon bucket and the mortar was a 50 pound bag for only $15. That's why we bought it. Now I know better.
Anyhoo, we ended up buying a heavy duty drill and mixing the left over mortar. We spread the adhesive and finished the boards. OMG was that a hard job!
Day 3 - We started laying the 12 x 12 ceramic tiles at about 9AM. It started out pretty easy just like the class we had taken. Now it would have stayed easy if we only had to do a couple dozen tiles to lay. My kitchen is 212 square feet with 192 square feet needing tile. Yes, that means I had to lay 192 tiles in my kitchen. After about a dozen tiles, I had Lawrence help me. My knees were hurting with knee pads. Ughhhhhh! We actually started getting a really good rhythm going. I was spreading the adhesive and Lawrence would lay three tiles. We would put in the separators and wipe any excess of adhesive off. We didn't finish laying the tiles until about 7PM. We didn't work nonstop but we did take time for lunch and time when we had to pick the kids up from school.
At the end of this day, my body was in so much pain. From getting up and down from the floor, my legs had never worked so hard. I had pain in places I didn't even know existed. Seriously, every muscle in my body was sore.
Day 4 - Thank goodness, we didn't have to do anything because we were still waiting for the adhesive to dry completely.
Day 5 - This was grout day. It was time to fill in the cracks. I had to do this job all by myself because Lawrence doesn't have the finesse to make the grout look nice. He did try but he was all sloppy. I started this job at 9AM and didn't finish until 3PM. At the end of this day, my hands and forearms were so sore and still are sore.
Day 6 - This was another dry day. We had to wait for the grout to dry so we can seal it. I check my grout this morning and I still need to grout more. Even though, I kept putting more and more grout in the cracks, some areas still need more grout. I see small cracks where it looks like there was an air pocket. I will do that tomorrow morning.
So there is the update. Please look at the pictures and let me know what you think.
Saturday, August 20, 2005
.:7:33 PM:.
Tiles, Tiles & More Tiles
Last Sunday, Lawrence and I went to Home Depot and took their "free" how to lay ceramic tile class. We were the only ones in the class because they offer it every Sunday.
The Home Depot guy, John, brought out all kinds of tile and other stuff to do the tiling with. I didn't know we were both gonna do the tiling. John shows us what to do from the very beginning. Because we were the only ones in his class, he did everything to our needs. We told him that first and foremost, we wanted to tile our kitchen floor.
He tells us step by step what we need to do. He did such a good job! He went into all kinds of detail, again to our needs. Once he showed us what to do, he had us do it. I was like..."Ummm, John, I'm gonna go ahead and just let Lawrence do it because I'm gonna have him do it at home". John replies, "Ummmm, Janice, nope you both get to do it". And laughs!
I was actually happy that he made me do all that tiling because I learned so much from touching the thinset and grout and all. I do have to say that when we were done tiling the whole board, it looked great! Seriously, it looked like an actual tiler came and did it. One woman couldn't believe how nice of a job we did that she asked if we would do her floor and she would pay us. LOL
Oh, during the time we are spreading the thinset and then laying the tiles, people started gathering around. Then we started cutting the tiles with this cutter thingy and more people were gathering. We spread more thinset and started making a pattern and even more people started gathering and asking questions. During all this time, my butt is up in the air because I am bent over doing all this work. Not to mention, we are outside in the shade but it was still hot and I was sweating like a piggggg! I'm feeling all yucky because I am sweating and I'm embarrassed because all those people are standing around and seeing my big butt in the air.
Anyhoo, we go back to Home Depot today to buy the stuff for the tiling job we are gonna do this week and we hear a voice behind us. Its one of the guys that gathered around and asked questions. He kind of laughs and says, "So I see your here to get your tiles to do your job?" After the guy left, Lawrence and I looked at each other and laughed because we felt like we were celebrities or sumpin. So with all that said, Lawrence and I are gonna start on our kitchen floor.
Wish us luck!!!
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
.:9:04 AM:.
School Is In Session
All my kids started school on Monday. Yes, I said all. My baby started kindergarten! I cried like a baby. Cried is putting it lightly. I bawled my head off!!!
I made sure she didn't see me crying so I managed not to shed a tear until I was walking away. Then I let it rip. Kind of like an uncontrollable sob. I wasn't the only one crying, I saw a couple of other mothers crying while they were standing there waiting in line with their kiddies. One mom was kind of sobbing! I felt her pain. Our babies grow up so fast!
Anyhoo, Nikki loved her first day of school. She was excited that she received a pink stuffed heart for being a good girl. When I picked her up, she immediately looks up at me and says, "Momma, I gotta come back to school tomorrow!"
Saturday, August 13, 2005
.:12:10 PM:.
Painting
I always thought I loved to paint stuff but when you have to paint your own stuff it just doesn't seem as fun. Well the painting is fun but the taping off everything isn't that great.
I am painting my hallway because I never finished painting it when I painted my living room and kitchen. We will also be painting our master bedroom in about two weeks. I want to put color on the walls instead of the old plain white.
I love white walls but color makes the house look so much purdier. I would love to paint my living room a beige and light green or jade but that wouldn't match the furniture I have right now. Guess that means I'll have to buy more furniture. LOL
Okies, gotta go paint now.
Sunday, August 07, 2005
.:5:52 PM:.
Television
Today, I spent most of the day watching television. I've been stuck on the HGTV station. My favorite show on there is Divine Design with Candice Olson. Some of the redecorating she does is absolutely beautiful.
I love looking at the before and after pictures. Its unbelieveable what her and her team do to make the changes. I wish I had that talent. I have no clue to what looks good with what. You know what I mean?
Anyhoo, I wish I could afford her to come to my home and redecorate, or maybe I should say decorate my living room. I have no sense what so ever when it comes to decorating. I know what I like so I buy it but that leads to mix matched stuff.
Maybe thats what I should do...take a decorating class! Do you have to have some sense of decorating to take a decorating class?? Do you?