Shout out to Do it yourselfers!

[harley]

It's ceramic tile. And thanks for all the info. I see the "don't tile over" recommendations, but what us the reason? Not that I'm doubting you, but I like reasons, especially when I have to explain to DW. "Because the folks on the internet said so" doesn't go over too well.

The floor is in the entire house, and we may do it a room at a time over a period of years. When we bought the house there was some water problems in a bathroom, and when we removed the vanity to fix it we discovered there was no tile under the vanity. I'm suspecting it's the same in the kitchen and the other bathroom. So removing the tile is probably the best way to go, but from what DW has read it's an incredibly messy, dusty mess requiring face masks. Probably for scraping up the mastic.

Luckily, this particular job is not at the top of the priority list so I've got some time to do some research and education.

 

[zinger1457]

It's ceramic tile. And thanks for all the info. I see the "don't tile over" recommendations, but what us the reason? Not that I'm doubting you, but I like reasons, especially when I have to explain to DW. "Because the folks on the internet said so" doesn't go over too well.

Actually it can be done as long as the existing floor is solid. Probably need to roughing (sand) the old tile first and lay down a coat of thinset to level everything and fill in the grout lines. The problem you might run into, and the reason I didn't do it, is the added height of the floor would have messed up the transition to adjacent floors, interfered with doors, etc.

 

[imoldernu]

Love the courage in tackling these projects.

That said, thoughts on flooring (for us, anyway) come into play. We will never go back to hard floors. Great for cleaning, and good looks, but not so much for safety in the later years, when the possibilty of falling becomes greater. One fall can mean a lifetime of being wheelchair bound. It's not so much the "softness" of the carpet, but the traction, although with the right mix of padding and style of carpet, there is a cushion effect.
Our carpeting is high quality, tight, low pile, and (gasp) off white... easy clean and no spots or apparent wear after 12 years. We plan to replace the few places (bathroom, and hall), where we use throw carpets now, with commercial carpeting as in businesses and theaters.
The other part of carpeting that we like, is the warmth underfoot, and the sound absorption.

 

[travelover]

It's ceramic tile. And thanks for all the info. I see the "don't tile over" recommendations, but what us the reason? Not that I'm doubting you, but I like reasons, especially when I have to explain to DW. "Because the folks on the internet said so" doesn't go over too well.

The floor is in the entire house, and we may do it a room at a time over a period of years. When we bought the house there was some water problems in a bathroom, and when we removed the vanity to fix it we discovered there was no tile under the vanity. I'm suspecting it's the same in the kitchen and the other bathroom. So removing the tile is probably the best way to go, but from what DW has read it's an incredibly messy, dusty mess requiring face masks. Probably for scraping up the mastic.

Luckily, this particular job is not at the top of the priority list so I've got some time to do some research and education.

No doubt that removing the old tile is the cleanest way to go. For the projects I've done where I tiled over, it was either / or. I just wasn't up to a massive removal project followed by a tiling project. If the tile is held on by mastic, it might not be too bad to use a heavy duty tile stripping machine to get the floor smooth. But if the tile is held on by thin set, it may break into pieces that have to be individually chiseled off.

I'd encourage you to do a few searches over on the John Bridge forum that I linked and perhaps post there as well.

 

[pb4uski]

I designed and built my own dock. The aluminum docks that are common to our area run ~$100/linear foot and mine is 48' so that would be ~$5k. I built six 8' sections from 2x6 cedar from a local sawmill, bought plastic decking hardware for the supports over the internet, and support pipes from Home Depot and am quite pleased with the result. It cost about half of an aluminium dock but is still low maintenance (just making sure the fasteners are snug each spring).

The sections are light enough that I can pretty much handle them myself (though it is much easier for two people). It takes me about 20 min to put in each spring and take out each fall.

I also improvised wheels for my boat lift with big plastic dock wheels ordered online from Home Depot and iron pipe and fittings locally.

 

[Moscyn]

Does learning to play piano by myself count as DIY? If yes, am doing it now.

 

[DAYDREAMER]

Quick update on my ductless heating/cooling DIY project. Its been 32 highs, and 24 lows the last few days, and the system is keeping our house at 72 with no problem. Did learn that the outdoor condenser goes through defrost cycles that scared me the first time it cycled. Created a whooshing sound when it started. I thought the coils blew up. The sound is normal, and happens when the refrigerant valve reverses to melt the frost on the outside coils.
So far, the house is very comfortable. This weekend will test the system when the temps drop in the teens.