Yeah, leave the sheetrock an inch or so lower than the top of the tile. Tape & float (and even paint), then just tile right over the backer seam.

Circular saw works. Also a 4" grinder. You'll need a diamond blade for either. I'd get a segmented rim one for that, since I'm assuming you don't need a super clean cut. They're much faster and last a lot longer.

If you don't already have a grinder, the price difference between a 4" and 7-1/4" diamond blade will make buying one sound like a good idea. You can get a decent DeWalt for something like $60.

btw, diamond blades range from kinda expensive to lol wtf, and there's not enough difference in quality to explain that range. These are fine:

http://www.toolstoday.com/p-6047-seg...aw-blades.aspx

When you posted this I hadn't gotten any rain at all. But it came later and it was good.

Ordered a tub. Pretty much the cheapest clawfoot Lowe's has. I'll never use it.

Also decided to get a tile bid from Lowe's.

Probably gonna hire a plumber to move some stuff around before I start tiling.

I'm building a wood store for fire wood (actually two - one inside, one out). It seems like it's not enough for it to just store wood, it has to be some expression of your inner creativity, be it pallet based recycling or high end chic. I think the look I'm going for is 'crap at DIY'.

Post some pics!

Continued demo on the bathroom.

I've really been fretting about the wall by the shower (noted earlier). I started to demo it and it was pulling the shower wall away. So, my plan was to cut the backer board.

Well, the stud was a bit further back than I anticipated but it actually was ok because the shower tile came off much easier than the wall tile. I think the backer board is OK.

I went to lowe's to get a diamond blade as zikzak suggested but I couldn't stomach the price. I saw a grinder blade that said it was for cement board and it was only $3.00 so I got it.

First, though, I thought I would try an old hardi-blade. Sparks went a flyin' and I was pretty sure I would burn the house down if I continued with it. So, I put on the grinder blade. Worked like a charm. The top and bottom I just used a scraper. I'm super pleased with the result (2nd pic). Nice straight line. On a stud. All I need to do is sister up that stud for the new backer board.

All the demo is done except for a part of the floor in front of the shower. I'll wait on that until I'm ready to put down the floor backer board.

I think I"m pretty much done until a plumber comes to rough in the plumbing for the tub.

All in all this gave me some renewed hope. Getting that board cut away from the shower was a major obstacle (for me anyway). I might be able to do this after all.



Kinda hard to see but here's that cut I made.

Oh yeah, I forgot those cheap abrasive blades exist. Heh, oops.

How big is the blade after that cut? About 2"?

Mrs k made this out of some pallet wood and the end of an old futon we were chucking out:



I think we'll end up shrinking it to half the height and maybe half the width given how big it looks indoors, but we are gonna wait until we've painted and put our bookshelves up to see how it looks.

This was my effort, the look I went for I the end was "my neighbour gave me some bits of wood so I stuck them together":



We will put some side pieces on for extra shelter, and probably a second matching one next to it when I get around to it. It probably also needs some weatherproofing.

This is the rest of the wood the wants housing:

That's a lot of firewood.

A plumber came out to give me an estimate. A bit higher than I expected but not enough to keep shopping around. They will be back tomorrow to do the work.

I'm rethinking the wall tile. I might just put wainscoting up instead. Cheaper and easier.

It's never enough.

The plumbers came today to move stuff and cap stuff off. It was a bit pricey but they did a great job. They re-did some lines that I didn't even ask for. I'll use them again.

Went to Lowe's to get the hardiebacker and thinset for the floor. I have some more tile to pull up and some subfloor to repair but hopefully I get it in tomorrow.

Aye aye aye.... I went to look for wainscotting. I thought there might be some 4 x 8 sheets of something I could use but it was all carppy looking paneling. There was something that sort of resembled beadboard but it had a sheen on it that I don't think I can paint over well.

They have some smaller pieces that will work but they are pretty pricey. I may have to go back to tile. It might actually be cheaper. I asked a friend who is an aspiring designer which would be better and she strongly suggested the wainscoting because of the style of the house.

There are a couple more items I want to check out that I found on their website but they are at another store.

I need to make this decision pretty quickly because I'll be ready to put walls up soon and I need to decide between sheetrock and hardiebacker for the bottom.

And, speaking of sheetrock... I doubt seriously that I can do that myself. I'll have to get a laborer to help hold it up while I fasten it.

I really flipflop a lot on what I want to do myself and what I'm willing to pay for. It sort of depends on how much work I'm doing at the time. If I've taken a few days off I sort of get a bit of WIM. But, when I'm knee deep in it I'm ready to hire it out.

I've been knee deep in it. So, I called Rudy to get a sheetrock/paint estimate for the bathroom. He made me an offer I couldn't refuse. He did my small bath and laundry room. I was pretty happy with the job. But he bid me really high on the living room so I used Jose for that. I called Jose but he's busy. I might use him for other stuff. Anyways, back to Rudy. He'll be here either Saturday or Monday. Woot!

Lowe's coming to give me a tile bid today.

Finished the demo on the bathroom. I had to patch up the floor in a couple of places which was a bit tricky. The subfloor are 1x 6s running diagonally. So, the plywood has to be cut at weird angles. I ended up putting a board(s) on top of the hole(s), getting under the house and marking the outline. I also took the "Jill" door out and framed it. Well, put one 2x4 in. But it sounds like I did more if I say "framed" it.





I'm a bit disappointed with the grass. It came up almost immediately but hasn't done much since. It's really spotty and very tiny. We've had a ton of rain recently so that's not an issue.

Whoever Lowe's uses for tile doesn't have their act together.

A girl called me Tuesday to set up an appointment for yesterday. I asked her if there was someway we could narrow down the time to something better than all day. She told me that someone would call me that night to confirm. I gave her my home number.

Nobody called.

Yesterday about 1:00 someone called me at work to tell me they were waiting at the house. I informed him that I couldn't just leave work right then. I told him that the girl said someone would call me the night before. He informed me that he did. However, it turns out that he didn't have the correct number.

So, he calls me this morning AT HOME (I took the day off) to see if I would be around between 2:30 and 3:00. I said that I would be here. Nobody showed up. So, just to see if they screwed it up again I checked my voicemail at work. Sure enough, he called WORK and asked to be called back. I called him back and he said he was no longer in the area so he wouldn't be here today. I asked why he didn't come by like he said and he told me he decided to call to make sure I would be there. I told him that he called a different number this morning and this afternoon. He mumbled some explanation that made no sense.

So, now I have to wait for the girl to call to set up another "day" to do this.

The Lowe's estimator guy called again and agreed to meet me this afternoon. And, he showed up. He wouldn't give me an estimate. Apparently I have to wait for Lowe's to call to give me an estimate. I may end up doing this myself so I don't have to deal with those turkeys.

The sheetrock guy called me to see if he could deliver the sheetrock since there's a break in the monsoon here.

He left a message earlier and the text translator on my phone translated it into something other than he intended I'm sure. I won't quote the whole thing because it is long but it started like this:

"Hello.. honey hi there's no water.. hey honey so can you please call me whenever you get my message thank you I wanna see if I can barely them to arrive today.. just wanna raise.."

Sheetrock guys delivered the materials. I have sheetrock and backerboard all over the house now.

Since the sheetrock guys are ready to go, I needed to buy paint which means I needed to pick tile. In one night. I agonize over picking colors.

I had a friend that was going to help me but she is out of pocket so I'm on my own. I went to Lowe's and fortunately there was a guy there that wasn't busy and was super helpful. He had some good advice.

I originally picked a sort of white tile with a little black in it. It is almost identical to my marble countertop. I described what I was going for and had some sample tile from my shower. He thought the white would be too much and after thinking about it I agree.

So, I picked out a sort of grey tile which really looks nice. But, he had another suggestion. It is sort of out there. It is a grey tile that almost looks like fabric. It has just a touch of blue if you look at it carefully.

I told the guy I was thinking about painting the walls either light green or light blue. He suggested going with a light grey. That seemed a bit much. I took the two pieces of tile over to the paint department and found a color that is sort of grey blue. Very very light, though.

I had to make an executive decision so I bought the paint. I took a couple of sample of the tile home to look at.

One of the tiles only sells by the case. They charge $10.00 for one frickin' sample. I called b.s. on that but they said it's like a deposit and I could bring it back. Sort of didn't make sense since the tiles were loose anyways. Oh well.

Drywall guys start in the morning.

One guy showed up to do the drywall. He hung the drywall and taped and floated the entire bathroom. I'm amazed. This would have taken me 3 days and I would have had to hire someone to help me hang it.

The drywall guy finished up today. He smoothed out some stuff then he put texture on. It looks great. I'm super pleased. I won't post a pic because it basically looks just like the last one (still drying).

Meanwhile, I finally got Jose out here to give me some bids. He does tile work so if he's not outrageous I'll get him to do that. And, I am getting bids from him on repairing all the drywall cracks and painting the two bedrooms. Much like he did with the living room.

Today I put a little door on the opening to under the house. Not my best work but it does the job and I don't care. It needs a second coat of paint but this is what it looks like.

I know everyone is anxiously awaiting a grass update, so here is a grass update.

The tub arrived. I had someone from Lowe's help me put it in the truck but I had to unload it and get it in the house by myself. Fun times.

I'm a bit worried the plumbers did not place the pipes properly.

I had no idea this log/blog existed (or that this section of 2p2 existed.

I read like, the first page or two and the last one. JFC. You do this and work some job and lift? JFC

I put up some blinds in some of our windows a couple months ago. Yeah, that's about it.

Maybe this has been asked (again I skipped many pages) but is there a reason you seem to do and then redo and possibly redo again lots of house stuff? How did you obtain this house since it seems when you started the log it needed to be almost completely rebuilt? Did you think about just tearing it down?

I guess at a fundamental level I would have said "F this **" a while back and gotten a new house or sold it and moved into an apartment. Or something.

There's other outside non-house related factors that got me to do this. Although I'm pretty sick of it now I can't say I regret it. Can't say it was worth it either.

Rudy finished up painting the bathroom today. I got him to look at the two bedrooms to give me a bid on those. I'm not sure I can wait on Jose to get around to it.

I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. I thought the color was going to be grey with just a hint of blue but it really was more of a powder blue. Those swatches never seem to be right. But I kinda like it. I think once the wainscotting is up it will look really good.

The pics, as usual, give you no clue on how it really looks. I doubt I'll ever get a good bathroom pic.