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kitchen remodel 37
Oct. 2nd, 2021 11:37 pmI spent a couple of hours hooking up the microwave oven, including trips to a couple of stores. I got anchors that were sized more closely to the drywall. After I compressed them, I switched to shorter bolts. It's all hooked up except the blower is not connected to the roof vent. I was glad to see that the cord reached the outlet that I had installed.
And then I did tile. It was the worst project ever. I don't know why. I've done tile before, and I only remember having trouble with the grout.
I know why - it was the thin-set adhesive. I wanted premixed, but when I was at The Tile Shop and asked for adhesive, the guy didn't ask which kind I wanted, and I just accepted what he gave me. I'm not sure whether they don't have premixed or he thought I looked more competent than I really am.
I've got three walls. I was trying to decide whether to mix it in three parts. I decided it would be tough to portion out the powder in the three parts, and also harder to get the ratio with water correct, with smaller portions. So I decided to just do it all at once. This was my biggest mistake, and led to many problems. The main problem was that I couldn't mix it! I have a mixer on a hand drill, and it drill wasn't strong enough to mix it all the way to the bottom. I used the recommended amount of water, and still kept adding water to get it thin enough. It still might have been too thick. Not sure.
First I spent a couple three hours setting up - getting my tools, putting plastic down, figuring out how I would lay the tile, setting up the tile saw, cutting a few pieces, etc. I took my time with all of that. I was pretty nervous I would screw something up. For some reason, I figured it would only take a couple of hours to put up the tile. It took six (starting when I mixed the thinset), and I only did two walls.
It looks fine at distance, but up close it doesn't look very good. The tiles are not pushed in evenly. Some stick out farther than others. I measured the first wall, and decided I had an inch and a half to spare. So I cut three quarters of an inch from the tiles on the left. That would give me cut edges on both ends. But when I got to the opposite end, I was quarter of an inch short. You can't put in a sliver of tile that narrow. So I had to slide several tiles down a little bit, so they'll have wide grout lines. When I was done tonight, I was going to screw down the outlets and switches, and tile covers up one of the screw holes. I have to figure out how I can grind that out. And the boxes are at just the wrong height, so I will probably need to put a sliver of tile over them, that I can screw the switches down against.
Then I did the part behind the sink. I started on the left, and when I got to the right side of the area above the sink, I again was just a little short, and had to shift tiles down to make up the difference. I had started the tiles on the left, just a little farther right than I had intended, and I'm sure glad I did, or I don't know what I would have done where I came up short.
I had Cindy helping a little bit. Mostly she was cleaning up behind me. Wiping up the thin-set before it was completely set. But I didn't have her clean up the thinset that was stuck to the wall on the left by the sink. So there's cement all over it. No idea what I'm going to do there. Chisel it off and fill it back in with joint compound?
As I mentioned, when mixing the thinset adhesive, I couldn't mix it all the way to the bottom of the pail. If I had been able to mix it, or hadn't tried to mix it all at once, I would have had enough for the whole project. I was trying to mix it by hand, but I couldn't get enough of it out of the way to reach the bottom of the pail with my trowel. So now I have to go back to the store and buy more. And they're closed on Sundays. But by the time I was done with the second wall, it was after 9:00. I stopped, and spent the next hour and a half cleaning up. Cindy too. And it was a good thing I did (aside from the fact that I would have been at it until well after midnight), because I needed to clean some things before the thinset cured. Including the (brand new luxury vinyl) floor.
Tomorrow, I'll probably still have to do more cleanup, and then I'll install the dishwasher. I hope.
.
And then I did tile. It was the worst project ever. I don't know why. I've done tile before, and I only remember having trouble with the grout.
I know why - it was the thin-set adhesive. I wanted premixed, but when I was at The Tile Shop and asked for adhesive, the guy didn't ask which kind I wanted, and I just accepted what he gave me. I'm not sure whether they don't have premixed or he thought I looked more competent than I really am.
I've got three walls. I was trying to decide whether to mix it in three parts. I decided it would be tough to portion out the powder in the three parts, and also harder to get the ratio with water correct, with smaller portions. So I decided to just do it all at once. This was my biggest mistake, and led to many problems. The main problem was that I couldn't mix it! I have a mixer on a hand drill, and it drill wasn't strong enough to mix it all the way to the bottom. I used the recommended amount of water, and still kept adding water to get it thin enough. It still might have been too thick. Not sure.
First I spent a couple three hours setting up - getting my tools, putting plastic down, figuring out how I would lay the tile, setting up the tile saw, cutting a few pieces, etc. I took my time with all of that. I was pretty nervous I would screw something up. For some reason, I figured it would only take a couple of hours to put up the tile. It took six (starting when I mixed the thinset), and I only did two walls.
It looks fine at distance, but up close it doesn't look very good. The tiles are not pushed in evenly. Some stick out farther than others. I measured the first wall, and decided I had an inch and a half to spare. So I cut three quarters of an inch from the tiles on the left. That would give me cut edges on both ends. But when I got to the opposite end, I was quarter of an inch short. You can't put in a sliver of tile that narrow. So I had to slide several tiles down a little bit, so they'll have wide grout lines. When I was done tonight, I was going to screw down the outlets and switches, and tile covers up one of the screw holes. I have to figure out how I can grind that out. And the boxes are at just the wrong height, so I will probably need to put a sliver of tile over them, that I can screw the switches down against.
Then I did the part behind the sink. I started on the left, and when I got to the right side of the area above the sink, I again was just a little short, and had to shift tiles down to make up the difference. I had started the tiles on the left, just a little farther right than I had intended, and I'm sure glad I did, or I don't know what I would have done where I came up short.
I had Cindy helping a little bit. Mostly she was cleaning up behind me. Wiping up the thin-set before it was completely set. But I didn't have her clean up the thinset that was stuck to the wall on the left by the sink. So there's cement all over it. No idea what I'm going to do there. Chisel it off and fill it back in with joint compound?
As I mentioned, when mixing the thinset adhesive, I couldn't mix it all the way to the bottom of the pail. If I had been able to mix it, or hadn't tried to mix it all at once, I would have had enough for the whole project. I was trying to mix it by hand, but I couldn't get enough of it out of the way to reach the bottom of the pail with my trowel. So now I have to go back to the store and buy more. And they're closed on Sundays. But by the time I was done with the second wall, it was after 9:00. I stopped, and spent the next hour and a half cleaning up. Cindy too. And it was a good thing I did (aside from the fact that I would have been at it until well after midnight), because I needed to clean some things before the thinset cured. Including the (brand new luxury vinyl) floor.
Tomorrow, I'll probably still have to do more cleanup, and then I'll install the dishwasher. I hope.
.
