The Home Improvement Thread

[Anathollo]

That tile is great. I did my bedrooms in carpet and halways/living room in laminate 13+ years ago. Said to myself a few years later Ill never do carpet in anything ever again especially having roomates.

Now that foe wood tiles are out and looking great I'm pretty certain Ill never put anything else in a house. Screw carpet, laminate, and wood. Tile is the ultimate lifetime flooring IMHO. Throw a decoupler like Shluter's ditra under it with some radiant heat and that's my dream set up .

I have all tile in the rent house I live in now. I miss carpet and real wood floors now. So much easier on your feet. But...the clean up is really quick and I don't really have to worry about staining (unless it falls into grout).

Also, it costs a little extra but try to use Epoxy grout. It'll hold up a lot longer.

 

[TacoXpo]

I agree. 95% of the people that own trucks don't really need them. More of a feel good status symbol than anything else. Hell I bet at least 1/2 of diesel owners have less than 100 trailer miles on their trucks.

Honestly a suv would work better for most people I would think. Protected storage > bed storage.

I couldn't agree more. I still would love to have an stout, light weight all-wheel drive desert toy. Only problem? Stout and light weight don't really go together for much more than RZRs and Motocross bikes.

 

[achirdo]

I have all tile in the rent house I live in now. I miss carpet and real wood floors now. So much easier on your feet. But...the clean up is really quick and I don't really have to worry about staining (unless it falls into grout).

Also, it cost a little extra but try to use Epoxy grout. It'll hold up a lot longer.

I'm ready to rip the rest of the carpet out of the house. Especially with a 100# German Shepherd it's just a big ol odor sponge spread across the house. I could pay a carpet cleaner to come out twice a year and it's still not often enough

 

[CowboyTaco]

I have all tile in the rent house I live in now. I miss carpet and real wood floors now. So much easier on your feet. But...the clean up is really quick and I don't really have to worry about staining (unless it falls into grout).

Also, it costs a little extra but try to use Epoxy grout. It'll hold up a lot longer.

speaking of grout. the new house we bought has a tile shower. I doubt they did anything to protect the grout from soap scum, water, etc. Should I do anything to it to keep it looking good for years to come? I have done zero googling on the issue.

New houses are a pain. I bought new thinking "I won't have to do anything to it to make it liveable."

Little did I know how much I would have to do to "complete" the house. blinds have been installed in all the bedrooms and the upstairs living area. Paid someone to build custom plantation shutters for the downstairs front facing rooms and front door. Currently installing cabinet hardware....which is more of a pain in the ass than it should be.

 

[Anathollo]

speaking of grout. the new house we bought has a tile shower. I doubt they did anything to protect the grout from soap scum, water, etc. Should I do anything to it to keep it looking good for years to come? I have done zero googling on the issue.

New houses are a pain. I bought new thinking "I won't have to do anything to it to make it liveable."

Little did I know how much I would have to do to "complete" the house. blinds have been installed in all the bedrooms and the upstairs living area. Paid someone to build custom plantation shutters for the downstairs front facing rooms and front door. Currently installing cabinet hardware....which is more of a pain in the ass than it should be.

No such thing as a "move-in ready" house. Every house still has issues. I had dinner at my Sister-in-law's new McMansion this past weekend and just walking around it, I already had a fix-it punchlist in my head.

But anyways, you need to seal the new tile as I'm sure they didn't do that. You should also see if they siliconed the corners on your tile showers or not.

 

[CowboyTaco]

They did silicone the corners.

...googles "sealing tile" (not to be misread as Ceiling tile)

 

[Anathollo]

They did silicone the corners.

...googles "sealing tile" (not to be misread as Ceiling tile)

Search Results for grout sealer at The Home Depot

Take your pick. Basically, you'll want to have the tile grout as clean and dry as possible. Then you apply the grout sealer. It's something you should do yearly...but if you do it every couple of years you'll probably be ok.

 

[SecretSquirrel]

Contractor pulled the carpet in my back room and found my subfloor is fucked, so plans changed from just a bathroom add to a total remodel of the rear part of the house including exterior siding.

Only money...

 

[Silverback]

Well it can only add value to the home. How long do you plan to stay in it?

 

[SecretSquirrel]

Long enough to enjoy it. If I was flipping it, I'd cover it up

 

[tx_shooter]

Might as well do it right the first time and hope it lasts past the next hurricane.

 

[tex]

Floors are in. Had to also do new baseboards. Hid some cables in the wall on the corner and patched up some holes from the big built in cabinet that was in the corner before.
Going to hire a painter to paint the living room and dining room along with scraping popcorn but that will be a few months. And will remove that giant mirror before the painter comes.

 

[tex]

Also got a freezer for free from a neighbor so I modified the shelves to get it in the laundry room. Now I can get rid of the chest freezer in the garage to free up some space out there.

 

[balakay]

Those floors look good. Will definitely be using the wood look tile in my next place.

 

[Taco Loco]

Floors are in. Had to also do new baseboards. Hid some cables in the wall on the corner and patched up some holes from the big built in cabinet that was in the corner before.
Going to hire a painter to paint the living room and dining room along with scraping popcorn but that will be a few months. And will remove that giant mirror before the painter comes.
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Looks great!!!

Just curious why you didn’t run the tile with the length of the room? (normally it’s less cuts, and makes the room appear larger)

 

[tex]

Looks great!!!

Just curious why you didn’t run the tile with the length of the room? (normally it’s less cuts, and makes the room appear larger)

Because of the riser between the living and dining room. Actually each room is almost square so didnt matter too much what direction it was ran.

 

[Taco Loco]

Because of the riser between the living and dining room. Actually each room is almost square so didnt matter too much what direction it was ran.

Oh, ok I see that on the left side of the picture.
Makes much mo sense now.

I have always like that style of tile, great choice!

 

[Silverback]

In our old condo the rooms were pretty small (total place was maybe 1100 sq ft) so I laid everything (wood and tile) at a 45 degree angle. Total PITA but it turned out pretty nice. I replaced all the baseboards, did the stairs with the treads in wood and risers in tile. Even did the underside of the treads so that you would see the same wood on the underside when looking up the stairs.

Shitty pics ahead

 

[PSU Taco85]

After replacing the water heater it makes me think. I give the following advice to all of my clients that buy a new home.

Once a year do the following - and do it when you don't mind making a repair - cause things could go wrong but at least it will be scheduled...

1. Flush your water heater once a year - in hard water area it will add years to your water heater.
2. Cycle all your angle stops - they may end up leaking or not working but that's typically cause they need to be replaced - use 1/4 turn brass ones when you replace
3. Cycle all your circuit breakers once a year - a few times each.

The funny thing is I probably do it every 2nd or 3rd year! But that water heater I just replaced was installed in 1987!!! It was WAY beyond it's time!!!

Maybe we can agree to disagree here, but I've been in the shitter business for 60+ years and the only clients I recommend flush their water heater are ones that I want to replace their heater sooner I've never seen anything beneficial come from "flushing" the water heater. Usually a few weeks after the flush is when we get the problems reported. I like to stay in business so please keep recommending it! The second one I can for sure recommend, having a isolable valve is always nice. Cycling a breaker is never a bad thing if you have the money to replace, but it my theory is ignorance is bliss and I've worked for a commercial nuclear power plant for 11 years and now an electrical transmission company for 1 year and their theory is the same Cost vs. benefit is always my thought and I've never seen it important enough to replace all the breakers in my house. Usually the fuse at the pole will blow if there's a real problem

 

[Silverback]

So after over a year of construction on the house next door they are nearing completion. Construction supervisor spoke to me earlier in the week and said they wanted to replace the fence along the side the houses meet up. I was SHOCKED because in the past those cock biters just did it and didn't bother to ask for anything. So I told him it was nice he asked and yes that would be great. They had it done in about 24 hours and I turned out nice. Better than what was there before... well the same really, just 5.5 years newer.