What did you do today?

[C.J.]

I said heck with it and just ran the two patterns into each other. I broke it under the door so if I ever demo the bedroom I can just go right up to the grout line. My tile saw is in my shed in NC so all the cuts were made with a grinder with a tile blade on it. That kinda ruled out anything fancy or that requires precision. Hoping that after it’s grouted and I’ve looked at it a thousand times that it will just look dumb and I’ll forget all about it. Besides, it’s my brothers room. Lol

 

[Floorist]

Did you ever wonder if them attacking on 9/11 is because we dial 911 for emergencies or was it a coincidence?

 

[Mark Brown]

I said heck with it and just ran the two patterns into each other. I broke it under the door so if I ever demo the bedroom I can just go right up to the grout line. My tile saw is in my shed in NC so all the cuts were made with a grinder with a tile blade on it. That kinda ruled out anything fancy or that requires precision. Hoping that after it’s grouted and I’ve looked at it a thousand times that it will just look dumb and I’ll forget all about it. Besides, it’s my brothers room. Lol

View attachment 12896

Man... I cant look at that. It looks like it was really poorly photoshoped lol

I mean, you did what you could and I think it was the right call but holy hell brother. You gotta get home

 

[Floorist]

I have actually seen worse.

 

[Mark Brown]

I have actually seen worse.

Hell i have done worse
.....thats not my point. It always sucks when you get forced into something. There is no win for this.

 

[Floorist]

 

[C.J.]

Man... I cant look at that. It looks like it was really poorly photoshoped lol

I mean, you did what you could and I think it was the right call but holy hell brother. You gotta get home

I’m makin a trip to NC in a few weeks. Gotta get new tags for my van. Gonna grab my tile saw and a few other things then but I’ve really been in no hurry since most shops here only pay $2.50/ sq ft for basic tile. ****, I was getting $3.50/ sq ft in the ‘90’s for tile. I’ll throw my saw off a bridge before I work for what they pay here.

 

[Floorist]

Almost all tile and laminate is DIY here. And since vinyl-backed vinyl, much of it is too.

 

[C.J.]

Did you ever wonder if them attacking on 9/11 is because we dial 911 for emergencies or was it a coincidence?

I thought that the date 9/11 was chosen on purpose because we dial 911 for emergencies. I was heading back from a job that wasn’t ready a couple years ago and went right by the Pennsylvania memorial site so I stopped in and checked it out. People see it on TV and read about it n such but when you’re right there in person it has a whole different reality that you just don’t get without being there in person. Seeing the exact place where the plane went down really brings it home. Haven’t been to NY since the ‘90’s so the towers were still standing then. I remember going to the top of them. There was a helicopter ride simulator at the top of one of them. Didn’t think much of it then but now that they’re gone I don’t really know what to think of it now.

This really got me thinking of that day. I was in L.A. and the BIL woke me up and turned on the TV. The first plane had already hit. I remember flipping the channel thinking I was watching HBO or something cus it surely couldn’t be the news. Then the second plane hit. I didn’t know what to think, was just thinking WTF is this real? I was supposed to hop on a plane later that day but I knew that I wasn’t flying anywhere for a while. Had to call and cancel my jobs for a week or so till I eventually ended up having to drive home but people were obviously understanding. Things were weird after that. Work was hit n miss. There was still work but people were hesitant to spend money because nobody knew if we were going to war or what the hell was gonna happen.

 

[Mark Brown]

I’m makin a trip to NC in a few weeks. Gotta get new tags for my van. Gonna grab my tile saw and a few other things then but I’ve really been in no hurry since most shops here only pay $2.50/ sq ft for basic tile. ****, I was getting $3.50/ sq ft in the ‘90’s for tile. I’ll throw my saw off a bridge before I work for what they pay here.

I know you know..... but in gonna say it anyway lest someone take it wrong, I wasn't trying to say YOU did a bad job, I know you better than that.
That clears that right up

 

[C.J.]

I know you know..... but in gonna say it anyway lest someone take it wrong, I wasn't trying to say YOU did a bad job, I know you better than that.
That clears that right up

No worries. I’m just getting the room ready for when my brother shows up Tuesday. If nothing else I’ll loose lay a wall to wall rug that goes right up to the grout line under the door. I mainly did it that way so when that room does get redone I don’t have to worry about taking out a threshold and filling in tiles a second time.

 

[Mark Brown]

Tile can be the worst. There isn't anything that really hides blending it and when you get tired of it, its a bloody nightmare to deal with.
That being said, me, bathroom tile....nothing else.
Getting ready to do hardwood throughout my whole house pretty soon... its about time to replace those carpet tile lol

 

[C.J.]

Hardwoods for the win.

 

[Mark Brown]

Always the win
I have avoided working on this house for the past 5 or 6 years, its a **** hole. Problem is with 3 kids now I have to do something to get more bedrooms which means removing the wall I took down, that way the kitchen we have and the dining room I walled in and accessed off the porch that was outside can be two rooms.
So now with the walls down and a bunch of other crap getting ripped out, well I need to do something and that something is the whole house.
If we are being positive its only 1000 sqft and the 80 sqft of the bathroom is already done and the 100 sqft mudroom isn't getting done. Nothing I drive wheelbarrows on needs to be pretty.

That wall is all gone and the beam is up and holding. So here we go!

 

[C.J.]

Living in a house at the same time you’re remodeling it is definitely an experience. You need chickens.

 

[Mark Brown]

Living in a house at the same time you’re remodeling it is definitely an experience. You need chickens.

This will be the second home I gutted from top to bottom. Last one was a complete tear down to stud of the whole thing and the best part is I did it 3 months after we had our first kid. To clarify, we were living in it at the time. That whole thing started because we had water come into our ceiling via the roof and an ice dam in the gutters that kept building up under the soffits and traveled into the roof cavity and then melted. I will never forget waking up from sleep, laying in bed and saying "Why is it raining inside".
I cannot say the timing was ideal, but the wife puts up with me. What sucked with that home is that we sold it just as I finished it and the wife never even got to live there. Oddly enough, after our kid turning 6 months old, she decided she wanted to move back home to be closer to her family and I could not really argue. Turns out Saskatchewan is not nearly as nice as the coast.

 

[Floorist]

I lived in Kansas City from 1972 to 1992. Did not want my kids in school there. The transition back to my home town was easy. I still knew enough people to get my installation business up and running. We bought a house in an all owner occupied neighborhood. House was paid off years ago. Three years ago,we sold and moved to the other end of town. The area we bought that house in 1992 had become all rentals and in bad shape. Even several drug houses. We were the last of the owner occupied. Sometimes, you just have bad luck. Back to making house payments again.

 

[C.J.]

Prolly not nearly as expensive either. Seems the closer you are to water the more you’re gonna pay. I wonder how many more houses I’m gonna have to fix the way I want them to be just to end up moving after I get them the way I finally want them. Living in a skoolie does have some appeal to it. When you’re ready to move you don’t have to worry about remodeling again. Some day.

 

[Mark Brown]

Not making mortgage payments is the reason I will tolerate this insanity. I'm 37 and my house has been paid for for 2 years now. My whopping whole house renovation will barely run me 10K so I can afford that.

I really hope by skoolie Chris, you mean a school bus because then you really are my hero.

 

[C.J.]

I lived in Kansas City from 1972 to 1992. Did not want my kids in school there. The transition back to my home town was easy. I still knew enough people to get my installation business up and running. We bought a house in an all owner occupied neighborhood. House was paid off years ago. Three years ago,we sold and moved to the other end of town. The area we bought that house in 1992 had become all rentals and in bad shape. Even several drug houses. We were the last of the owner occupied. Sometimes, you just have bad luck. Back to making house payments again.

Cities change. Neighborhoods change. No house payments is the way to be but I do understand that sometimes that’s just not how things work out.

Mark, I’ve dreamt of a skoolie for some time now. Half the fun will be turning it into your home. A lot of detail in a small space. I would be in heaven working on that thing. Makes my brain hurt just thinking about all the details though but it would also be a dream come true to build one then travel in it. Don’t think I’ll ever have a house payment again if I can help it and a skoolie fits that bill with the ability to travel yet always be at home. I’m already lookin for one. I can park it at my NC home and work on it when I want according to my schedule.