Home Improvement Today?

This came with my home I moved into this summer. I have high vaulted ceilings in the living room where the stove is but still heats up very nicely. This burns very efficiently and easy to control the heat, which is surprising for a wood burning stove

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Summers-Heat-2000-sq-ft-Wood-Burning-Stove/999918844

 

So, I decided to be a nice guy and clean the oven so my wife wouldn't have too. Being a guy I decided the self-clean feature sounded right up my alley. After about 45 minutes of cleaning the display shut off. WTF?

After the usual shut off power. Wait 5 minutes. Turn power back on . Verify power routine a get on the comp. Google leads to a high limit switch problem that is so common class action lawsuits have been filed over it. After pulling the oven out and removing the back panel I tested the switch and it had no continuity. It's literally a $5 part. FML.

I jumped the switch for now and ordered the replacement. What should have been an easy day turned into an hour of my time to get the unit functioning again. Oh, and I still have to clean the damn oven. lol

 

I almost forgot. I don't think I showed a photo of the kitchen remodel in it's finished state.

 

I made the mistake of spraying oven cleaner on the oven heaters last time...

 

What's it worth? For reasons my brother in-law asked if I'd be willing to tile his guest bathroom. It about 5' x 5' and a pretty simple job. The idiot builder installed the particle board wood laminate that's so popular nowadays. Seriously, who puts something like that under a toilet? Anyway it has gotten wet and started to buckle and swell. I've done a number of big bathroom remodel tile jobs, but they've always been for me, never for someone that is paying.

I'd do it for free, but he absolutely insists that he pay me the same as he'd pay a contractor. So what's a fair labor rate on something like this? By the hour, by the job?

 

Around sf Bay Area for low end you’re looking at roughly $200, mid range is around $400 and high end would be around $1200 just for install. Lots of factors including materials, how much is already done(underlayment, demo etc), and also complexity. Costs a lot more to do a floor in those tiny 1/2” tiles than it does to do some 12x24 staggered and do the job in a couple hours.

 

That's a tough one. Not what you should charge but the fact he insists on paying. Keep offering to do it for free and if he doesn't buckle $10 sq/ft is a very fair price for the install.

 

He wants 12x24 staggered with a 1/4" grout line. The demo is on me and consists of pulling the base boards, old floor and toilet. The sink is wall mounted so nothing to do there. I won't know until the old floor is gone if there are problems with the sub-floor. There are no funky smells so it is probably OK. I'll be using Ditra for the underlayment. He is going to pick up the costs for materials and I already own all the tools.

 

$500-600 range imo if you want cash make it $575.50

 

1/4” grout line...

Last time I used a 1/4” spacer was a restaurant kitchen 4 years ago...

 

Whats normal?

 

1/16 or 1/8 at most is what I would do. Most tiles have an eased edge so even a 1/16 spacer means 1/8+ grout joint when filled in

 

For my clients 1/32nd of 1/16th I haven’t pulled an 1/8th inch spaced out in probably 2 years?

 

He wants it to match his other bathrooms. Personally I’ve never done a grout line that wide.

 

I used 3/16th on my kitchen backsplash. My wife wanted to pull some color out of the countertop and floor using a larger grout line with Haystack grout. The cabs are City Oak, the backsplash is gray with white randoms. The counter top is Cambria Sheffield. The existing floor also has some tan in it. I was skeptical at first but it actually did exactly what she wanted. That's why she gets to do the color palette and I'm just the install guy. lol

 

When we remodeled our house about 20 years ago, we used 1/4 inch grout for the floor tiles. Then again, we were just winging it, not having any prior experience.

 

20 years ago it was “in” you did well for the time period lol. I remember when Slate was all the rage, 5 days a week laying that shit, 1/4” grout lines galore

 

The tile install instructions will indicate a recommended grout line or tile spacing.

1/4" seems wide, but if that is what the owner wants.....then right or wrong, that's what they get.

 

1/4" is ugly . Sometimes your role as a builder is to tell people what they are asking for is going to be ugly .

 

^Smart man^

My wife and her sister will talk about shades of white for days on end. They will try and drag me into the discussion, but I've learned to refuse. There's no winning in that conversation. Them "can't you see the difference between Cloud White and White Dove?" Me, "Yes, they are both shades of white and I like them equally." is apparently the wrong answer.