What does lis pendant in the foreclosure process mean

In our case, we discovered in the process, that in removing the original tile we ruined the sheetrock (sp?) walls and new walls had to be put up. So in the end we ended up getting a contractor, but doing a lot of the work ourselves per his direction.

Apparantly, in new developments this is almost always the case, but in older buildings you will be fine.

All in all it took a lot longer than anticipated - more than two weeks.
Skill level (1-10) - me 0, my husband 3.

Posted by: fkb at June 23, 2008 1:48 PM in response to DIY bathroom tile?

Mosaic tile is really hard.

I laid my own hex tile, and I think it looks terrible, and I am really really handy--I make things for a living and have laid quite a bit of tile before. It's hard to keep it flat and keep the seams tight at the same time.

If you're married to mosaic tile, I would do a serious self-assessment. If you are extremely anal and detail-oriented, and if you are extremely patient, AND if at the same time you can live with a less-than-perfect result, then maybe it's a good idea to get a good tile book with a detailed chapter on mosaic tile and figure out how to do it yourself.

If you decide, after deep introspection, that you are not anal-yet-relaxed enough, or if while reading the book you don't commit fully to the most important aspect of any tile job (the planning phase), or notice yourself skipping important preparation steps...

...then I would abandon the task and hire a tilesetter, and do the grout yourself. It would be $1500 well spent.

Posted by: vanburenproud at June 23, 2008 1:54 PM in response to DIY bathroom tile?

Thanks for the honest opinions! My brother, who is a fix n' flipper in the Midwest, assured us tile is easy, but my brother-in-law, who is an actual architect, has tried to steer us away from DIY tile. The books make it look so easy, but hearing real stories make it seem so hard!

Posted by: brookelen at June 23, 2008 2:26 PM in response to DIY bathroom tile?

You know, a good way to figure out whether you've got it in you is to do a really small project. Do a backsplash with field tiles, or the area in front of your mantle, or you can even just get a 4x8 piece of OSB and tile that, just as a test.

If you enjoy it, do another test with mosaic tiles, and then maybe try your bathroom. If you don't, it's not worth it.

Posted by: vanburenproud at June 23, 2008 3:27 PM in response to DIY bathroom tile?

I dunno. I laid 180 s/f of hex tile in my kitchen and it wasn't that tough. It took a weekend. The tile I got from Dal Tile came in 12x24 sheets so it went down pretty quickly. You use heavy shears to cut away tiles to get a sheet to fit around pipes, etc. then use tile nippers and/or a cheap wet saw to cut loose tiles to fill in the holes and finish the edge. Use plastic tile spacers to keep a consistent grout line.

Tip: color your thinset mortar to match your grout, or vice versa. It's a bitch cleaning oozing mortar from all those joints.

http://www.brooklynrowhouse.com/house/kitchen

Posted by: Steve at June 23, 2008 3:34 PM in response to DIY bathroom tile?

Brookelen, for what its worth I wanted to alert you to a new service we've started for help DIYers in a similar situation - folks who want to do the work but are a bit unsure how to proceed throuh various steps.

Not sure if it would help, but figured I'd at least suggest - you can see more at www.constructioncoachesny.com.

Eitherway best of luck.

Posted by: ConstructionCoach at June 24, 2008 12:57 PM in response to DIY bathroom tile?

http://renovatingonthecheap.blogspot.com/search/label/Bathroom

Posted by: guest at June 24, 2008 4:30 PM in response to DIY bathroom tile?

i have to throw my two cents in...

You can proclaim youself a DIY and feel proud of your bootstrap pulling uppity ways and at the same time you are spoiling the historic fabric and record of these buildings...

It reminds me a story my grandfather told me... The May day parade in Moscow proceeds rank on rank, file by file of soldiers and armaments... Missles and rockets... all manner of the war industry... the generals look down over the procession with a paternal fondness... But then a platoon of a disorganized lot of folks with power tools with frayed cords and mismatched handles. The generals are shocked at this and look to the parade marshall for explanation...to their question why are these mottley crew among our finest fighters.... oh but generals sirs... those are the Do It Yourselfer-niks, and trust me they can do alot of damage.

Do the future generation a favor... hire an historic designer who can source authentic materials and can have competent installers put it in.

Posted by: guest at June 24, 2008 10:31 PM in response to DIY bathroom tile?

Authenticity is quite an arbitrary standard when it comes to a home.

I'd rather have a home that is entirely within my means, and that is comfortable to live in. With rooms that are big enough for furniture, and modern toilets and a dishwasher and efficient heat.

Future generations can go screw. It's my house now. I bought it, and I am using it.

Posted by: vanburenproud at June 24, 2008 10:55 PM in response to DIY bathroom tile?

We are talking tiles... not toilets, dishwasher, or heating...

I will not grant you that authenticity is an arbitrary standard. The reason that these houses have stood proud is because of their scale, style, and grace. By replacing (needlessly) historical detailing with product designed for tract housing, you are failing as steward.

Are you so bitter from your experience with hex tiles that you have become blinded to the fact that there are things beyond the scope of the DIY-niks. Comfortable to live in you say..."I laid my own hex tile, and I think it looks terrible, and I am really really handy--I make things for a living and have laid quite a bit of tile before. It's hard to keep it flat and keep the seams tight at the same time". You should have been working to make money to pay professionals to do what they do best.

You want DIY... build a birdhouse.

Future generations=resale value... by sending the future generations off to screw, you are compromising your nest egg... "monsieur le spite... I think this is your nose"

Posted by: guest at June 24, 2008 11:30 PM in response to DIY bathroom tile?

Silly me, I thought this was an uncontroversial topic. I appreciate all the advice, both from folks who have done it themselves and those who have not. Even though our apartment is in an 1890's brownstone building, there were drastic changes in the mid-1980's conversion. We still luckily have much of the lovely molding on the doorways and unfortunately have icky laminate cabinets/counters and cheap tile floor. In a million years I could never make enough money to restore anything to it's former historic perfectness. I am hoping to keep all our minor renovations simple, clean, and (maybe) charming, all within our budget.

Posted by: brookelen at June 25, 2008 1:12 PM in response to DIY bathroom tile?