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Days ???: My name is Mud* and stinky cheese

May 17, 2015 by Mr. 1500 Days 11 Comments

On Saturday, Mrs. 1500 went out with friends for dinner. I did when any husband would do when left alone, For dinner, I had toaster-oven taquitos,  beer and Cap't Crunch. I'm sorry body.
On Saturday, Mrs. 1500 went out with friends for dinner. I did what any husband would do when left alone: For dinner, I had toaster-oven taquitos, beer and Cap’n Crunch. I’m sorry body.

This week (month?), I take a break from my normal posts to show you the bathroom I’m remodeling. I tried to finish the entire thing in 5 days and failed. I was going to quit, but in the interest of transparency, I need to show you the full story. The good news is that we are almost done.

This is my second to last bathroom update. The thing is soooooooo close to being done, but with the work-week upon me again, I probably won’t finish until the weekend rolls around again.

As has been the case, (insert one: bacterial infections, real job, beer, neighbor spats [across the street, but not involving us]) have continued to conspire against me. Most of all, it’s been my full time job. Lately, it’s been full time and a half. Software development is fun, but can also be highly stressful and involve lots of hours. It isn’t fun to work 50-60 hours a week, only to have these projects going on at the same time. I said in the last post and I’ll say it again here, the Frugalwoods nailed it. However, I hate to complain when life is still pretty great and the project is almost in the can. Time for the update.

Making things harder than they need to be

The floor tile was a bit of a challenge because of the age of the home. Because the house is 50+ years old, nothing is ever straight, floor included. This means that you have to really pay attention when setting the tile. Some tiles get a lot more thinset than others. (Tip: Use a level and mark the floor off before starting).

To make things even more difficult, I used natural slate tile. Slate looks pretty great when done, but the cheap off-the-shelf stuff from Home Depot is a crapshoot. No two tiles are the same thickness. Some of them come in at over half an inch while others are barely one quarter of an inch. Again, careful planning is a must. That, or spring for the costlier tile that are more consistent.

Tile and cheese

I walked into someone’s house one day and immediately encountered a truly horrific, gag worthy smell. Turns out that obnoxious odor was part of dinner. The guy was frying up some form of nasty cheese on the stove:

  • Me: What the hell is that smell? Is there a body in the basement? Have you not showered for a year?
  • Dude: No, I’m frying up some cheese. The rule of cheese is to never judge it by its smell.

Whatever. There was no way that cheese was ever going anywhere near my mouth. I tell you now that that a similar rule applies to tile jobs though, especially mine:

The first rule of the tile job is that you don’t talk about the tile job!!

Wait, wrong movie. The actual rule is this:

Never judge a tile job until you see the final product.

I make messes of epic proportions when setting tile. Tile thinset gets on top of the tile, all over my clothes, in the walls, in various body crevices (TMI, I know, I know) in my hair and sometimes, even in my beer. The horror, the horror. I hope the stuff isn’t toxic.

IMG_20150516_114919535_HDR
After we had already done a lot of cleaning. You should have seen it before.

When we do buy the $$$ tile

The slate comes in at less than $2/square foot which is pretty cheap for tile and in the general scheme of the remodel. We do use pricier stuff, but only for certain areas. We bought some nifty glass tile at Costco for about $5/square foot. We are using it for accents around the tub and also for the vanity backsplash:

Costco, I love you.
Dinosaurs helping out.

One more post

I’ll post a final update next week when the project is all done. I’ll show you lots of pictures and tell you how much everything cost.

Finally, I couldn’t publish this without a shout-out to my little tile saw. This thing has saved me many thousands of dollars in labor. Tiling has super bang-for-the-buck. There is nothing like replacing ugly linoleum with beautiful tile to really spice up a room. I strongly suggest you learn this skill if you haven’t already.

I love you little saw.
I love you little saw.

 

*Actually, my name isn’t Mud. I was going to use the name for this post, but completely forgot about it. Anyway, that Claypool dude can really play the bass…

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Filed Under: Something Completely Different Tagged With: bathroom, tile saw

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kate@GoodnightDebt says

    May 17, 2015 at 9:48 pm

    Dinos helping with little tile! But how did their arms reach? Stretch Dino, Stretch!

    This sounds exhausting and dirty, Mud. This confirms that I’m not ready for home re-models. Thankfully, I don’t own a home yet, so I’ve got a few years to get ready.
    Kate@GoodnightDebt recently posted…April 2015 Recap & Net WorthMy Profile

    Reply
  2. Financial Samurai says

    May 18, 2015 at 2:21 am

    I guess the race is still on! I left SF yesterday and my bathroom is not done. But my contractor promised me it will be done by the time I come back in mid-June! lol
    Financial Samurai recently posted…Mortgage As A Forced Savings Account To Build WealthMy Profile

    Reply
  3. Financial Samurai says

    May 18, 2015 at 2:22 am

    BTW, the tile looks much cooler with a big picture. It was hard to see the details on my phone.

    Reply
  4. Brian @DebtDiscipline says

    May 18, 2015 at 5:09 am

    Looking good. Did you put the beer in the cap’n crunch?
    Brian @DebtDiscipline recently posted…ResumeMy Profile

    Reply
  5. Chris @ Flipping A Dollar says

    May 18, 2015 at 6:20 am

    Ah, I really want to re-do all 4 of our bathrooms. Yes, we have 4. Only 2 full, but still. They all have linoleum. We’re planning on doing it DIY though and we have some other priorities first (our basement walkout sliding door for instance). That’s going to be done by a contractor (probably have him do another door while he’s in there too). But man, that tile looks great. We’ll try to do it by getting the tile from our local Habitat Re-Store. They have 1 metric butt-ton of tile there, and the first priority bathroom is just small enough to be able to use another guys leftovers!

    *sending this post over to my wife*
    Chris @ Flipping A Dollar recently posted…eBay Flops – Crap I shouldn’t have boughtMy Profile

    Reply
  6. Amanda S @ Passionately Simple Life says

    May 18, 2015 at 6:44 am

    It’s coming along nicely! Can’t wait to see the finished project! Perhaps one day we will take on a challenge like this (we means the bf and me sitting outside drinking lots of wine).
    Amanda S @ Passionately Simple Life recently posted…Why I’m Maxing Out My Roth IRA Every MonthMy Profile

    Reply
  7. Fervent Finance says

    May 18, 2015 at 7:25 am

    That dinner is about as “bro” as you can get! Can’t wait to see the finished project. Will ounces of blood be included in your total cost post?? 🙂
    Fervent Finance recently posted…Savings WaterfallMy Profile

    Reply
  8. Hannah says

    May 18, 2015 at 8:02 am

    Your tile saw love is almost enough for me to show my husband this blog post. Which will result in the purchase of more tools. I’ll probably wait until after our laminate is installed 🙂

    Reply
  9. Even Steven says

    May 18, 2015 at 10:37 am

    Had me laughing at the Captain Crunch and taquoitos, everyone once in awhile I like to divulge in the best tasting/worse for you cereals, it’s the kid in you trying to capture a sugar rush.
    Even Steven recently posted…National Bike Week, Bike Month, Bike Year, Bike LifeMy Profile

    Reply
  10. Mrs. Frugalwoods says

    May 20, 2015 at 5:08 am

    Looking good! If you think your house isn’t level or straight… you should see our 120+ year old house. You can roll a marble from one side to the other—and the ceiling is a whole other experiment is what a straight line actually is. We once hung long drapes and realized there were three different lines to measure off of–the ceiling, the window opening, and the floor. All that to say, I feel you pain on the unevenness. Also, I LOVE Cap’n Crunch. And beer, but probably not together ;). Good luck with the final push!!
    Mrs. Frugalwoods recently posted…Why I’m Grateful For Morning SicknessMy Profile

    Reply
  11. Warren Lee says

    May 20, 2015 at 5:49 am

    I approve of the Capt Crunch and brew dinner, you’re a dude. When my wife leaves the house I eat like an animal. Just don’t TELL on yourself, ha. That I cannot approve of.

    P.S. Got a glitch in this sentence (double thats)…”I tell you now that that a similar rule applies to tile jobs though, especially mine:”
    Warren Lee recently posted…Derivatives Trading & Peer-to-Peer Lending Is InevitableMy Profile

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