Starting on Friday, 4/18, I’m going to attempt to remodel my kitchen in 5 days. With some luck, beer and a lot of hard work, I’ll complete it by 4/22, end of day. Each evening, I’ll document my progress. Here is my final update, #5 (4/22/2014).
I gave myself 5 days to complete my project. I got close, but didn’t quite finish. The big hangup was scraping all of the old tile mastic off. This took much longer than expected. A good base is critical to a good tile job. I’ll have to finish the tile over the weekend.
Being able to lay tile is a great skill to acquire because all of the money is tied up in the labor. Even our beautiful, 18″ travertine tiles were only 2$/foot. There is nothing like taking an old vinyl floor and putting beautiful tile in. Huge improvement, cheap and not difficult.
Now, I must admit that I allowed myself a 6th day. So, I could finish the work tomorrow. To hell with it though; I’m going snowboarding instead! Bye bye house, hello Breckenridge.
I’ll post pictures of the kitchen when completely done. The counter-tops show up on May 8th, so look for an update sometime after that.
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Dave @ The New York Budget says
April 22, 2014 at 10:40 pmLooking good! Go hit the slopes and come back to it over the weekend! You’ve earned a good break!
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1500 says
April 24, 2014 at 4:44 pmThanks! The snow was awesome and I didn’t break anything. Woo!
InMotion says
April 23, 2014 at 4:27 amI am becoming jealous after seeing your kitchen. 😉
This is more spacious than my kitchen and looking very good from here.
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1500 says
April 24, 2014 at 4:47 pmWait until you see the end product!
Mrs. Pop @ Planting Our Pennies says
April 23, 2014 at 5:59 amAhh, spacers. How I wish the folks that laid the tile in our house had used those. =)
Enjoy your skiiing, you’ve certainly earned it!
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1500 says
April 24, 2014 at 4:48 pmI never understood why people don’t use them? A big bag of them is 5$! It also drives me nuts when people embed them in the grout.
Done by Forty says
April 23, 2014 at 11:30 amLooking good, Mr. 1500! I think some snowboarding is well deserved. The kitchen’s not going anywhere, and 6 days is still pretty awesome.
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1500 says
April 24, 2014 at 4:49 pmThanks DbF. Snowboarding was a great time. The snow was great and since it was a weekday, no crowds!
Vicky says
December 29, 2014 at 12:26 amHi,
I really struggle. It sounds like giving yourself five days was a bit of a stretch, but it helped you get through a lot of the work. I imagine considering just how much you’ve saved by working for yourself is certainly motivating.
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Bex says
April 23, 2014 at 12:08 pmThis remodel has been so impressive – I read each post! I’m really impressed. Would be interesting to know how much the whole remodel cost since you saved a boat load with DIY labor! I want to redo my kitchen but it’s just not worth the money in my area and I don’t plan to live in my house too much longer so I’ll save it for my next one!
1500 says
April 24, 2014 at 4:46 pmHi Bex! It cost about $7500. About $5000 of that was cabinets and counters. The rest was appliances, tile (both floor and wall), various plumbing fixtures and lighting.
Quinn @ Wealth Out West says
April 23, 2014 at 11:28 amHow did you learn to lay tile? I am very interested. Any specific learning resources you would recommend?
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1500 says
April 24, 2014 at 4:49 pmI learned by watching someone else for a day. I’d hit up YouTube. It really isn’t hard. I’m also going to have a post on it soon…
The Wallet Doctor says
April 23, 2014 at 11:59 amIt looks like your hardwork is really paying off! I always want to do these sorts of remodels on my own, but then when it comes to finding the time, I really struggle. It sounds like giving yourself five days was a bit of a stretch, but it helped you get through a lot of the work. I imagine considering just how much you’ve saved by working for yourself is certainly motivating.
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1500 says
April 24, 2014 at 4:47 pmThe work isn’t hard. Just get some books and watch some YouTube videos. Time is always the issue. I with I didn’t have to sleep!
Laura aka Mrs Nickels says
April 23, 2014 at 3:00 pmWhat a difference a few days can make, huh? And I love tiling. It goes down fairly easy, and it provides a substantial visual difference almost immediately. Oh-so-satisfying. And I echo your comment that the foundation in a tile job is critical. It’s always worth the extra time to get the base right. I’ve even had to pour a self-leveling underlayment in the past, especially for older homes. A pain, yes, but worth it. Looking forward to your ‘after’ photos!
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1500 says
April 24, 2014 at 4:43 pmSelf leveling compound is AWESOME and I’ve used it many times for crazy houses with unlevel surfaces. It is $$$, but works spectacularly!
No Nonsense Landlord says
April 24, 2014 at 10:09 pmAwesome job! It’s fun when projects go as planned, even if they are a mess along the way.
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anna says
April 27, 2014 at 1:38 pmI love the floors, Mr. 1500! I hope you have a blast snowboarding, I’ll keep an eye out on the finished product!
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Mr. Grump says
April 30, 2014 at 7:30 amAnybody else worried where Mr. 1500 wandered off too or did he just tile himself into a corner? I already miss the Thursday rant so hopefully he makes it back for tomorrow!
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1500 says
April 30, 2014 at 7:55 pmMr. Grump, thank you for your concern, I really appreciate it. Soon, life will back to semi-normal (I’ll never be normal) schedule and I’ll have time again. Soon…
Chetan says
January 18, 2015 at 3:22 amHi 1500,
Awesome kitchen remodeling. Your kitchen is very spacious. I am planning to modify my kitchen. I’ll get some inspiration from here.
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Kamlesh Nishad says
October 10, 2015 at 6:03 amEager to see the complete picture of your remodeling kitchen.. Waiting for more photos out here.
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1500 says
October 10, 2015 at 3:28 pmI’m eager to see it too! We still have couple things to finish up…