The first day of my home improvement weekend featured the greatest amount of destruction. Because nothing says "have a relaxing weekend" like tearing stuff apart and filling the living room with equipment and Christmas decorations.
In must be noted that when my friend T sets her mind to fixing up your hovel of a home, she means business. While I got supper to the table on Friday night, she unloaded supplies into the house. Then, she and JT fired up her compressor to use the air gun to nail up my indigent cabinet kickplates. And presto, a problem I've been living with for years was magically fixed. Ten minutes into home improvement weekend, and we were off to an impressive start.
After that appetizer, a little destruction was on the menu. The bathroom door was removed from the hinges to enable a little more breathing space in the tiny room. That kind of job is always more fun if the screws are stripped, as were the screws holding my door. The toilet was pulled out and carried to the dining room, where the throne would spend the better part of the weekend as the butt of many jokes.
The tile was torn up, revealing a rather corroded floor underneath, including barely recognizable lino that last saw daylight circa 1960, I'd guess. The worst part of the corrosion featured some black ants who were less than delighted to see us. The feeling was mutual. Bug spray and bleach were deployed to aid in 1) their demise and 2) ensure mildew removal. The old tile was hauled to the trash bin. That work completed, we headed to Lowe's to contemplate some new sub-floor materials.
The new sub-floor would be a combination of heavy mesh metal nailed to the floor and finished with Mega Bond mortar. And no December trip to Lowe's is complete without securing a Christmas tree, so we did that as well. Upon our return, T played with the sheet of metal in the living room.
Her next challenge: nailing the mesh into the bathroom floor.
JT and I secured the Christmas tree in its stand and left it on the front porch to shake out (not to mention taunt the cats).
By the end of the evening, the new floor was in place, providing a nice even surface to affix tile the next morning. While the floor was still wet, T encouraged me to carve my initials in. I deferred, but that's a story for tomorrow.
In must be noted that when my friend T sets her mind to fixing up your hovel of a home, she means business. While I got supper to the table on Friday night, she unloaded supplies into the house. Then, she and JT fired up her compressor to use the air gun to nail up my indigent cabinet kickplates. And presto, a problem I've been living with for years was magically fixed. Ten minutes into home improvement weekend, and we were off to an impressive start.
After that appetizer, a little destruction was on the menu. The bathroom door was removed from the hinges to enable a little more breathing space in the tiny room. That kind of job is always more fun if the screws are stripped, as were the screws holding my door. The toilet was pulled out and carried to the dining room, where the throne would spend the better part of the weekend as the butt of many jokes.
The tile was torn up, revealing a rather corroded floor underneath, including barely recognizable lino that last saw daylight circa 1960, I'd guess. The worst part of the corrosion featured some black ants who were less than delighted to see us. The feeling was mutual. Bug spray and bleach were deployed to aid in 1) their demise and 2) ensure mildew removal. The old tile was hauled to the trash bin. That work completed, we headed to Lowe's to contemplate some new sub-floor materials.
The new sub-floor would be a combination of heavy mesh metal nailed to the floor and finished with Mega Bond mortar. And no December trip to Lowe's is complete without securing a Christmas tree, so we did that as well. Upon our return, T played with the sheet of metal in the living room.
Her next challenge: nailing the mesh into the bathroom floor.
JT and I secured the Christmas tree in its stand and left it on the front porch to shake out (not to mention taunt the cats).
By the end of the evening, the new floor was in place, providing a nice even surface to affix tile the next morning. While the floor was still wet, T encouraged me to carve my initials in. I deferred, but that's a story for tomorrow.
Ooh - these are the kinds of projects I can't wait to tackle in our house. I know that we have maple floors under the linoleum in both bathrooms, though. What to do, what to do. I hate the idea of tiling over century-old floors, but I'm also not wild about wooden floors in the bathroom. I wonder what kind of homeowner conundrums people with suburban mcmansions face? Probably whether to buy the 5hp or the 7.5hp riding snowblower.
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