Renovation to my kitchen floor!

britishbandit · 10-09-2006, 04:47 PM

When PJ first arrived here last November, he had some "issues"...LOL. He decided he didn't like the laminate flooring in my kitchen, and made sure that I HAD to replace it!

Well, it took me almost 2 months (obviously I didn't get to it right away...LOL), but I did it!! I put ceramic tiles down....check out my handywork!!

Not too shabby eh?
Just have to paint and get new baseboards now.

fireworksinjuly · 10-09-2006, 05:09 PM

Nice!!!

Sweetpea · 10-09-2006, 05:19 PM

Great Job!!

When can you come over to do mine?

I live close.

IceyBlueSibes · 10-09-2006, 05:24 PM

Cool!

Looks great!

TinyAlbinoDancer · 10-09-2006, 06:30 PM

Ooooh PJ has good taste, too.

Great job, it looks nice!

britishbandit · 10-09-2006, 06:34 PM

Thanx everyone!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Great Job!!

When can you come over to do mine?

I live close.

Hey, I had a blast doing it! I wouldn't mind doing it again!

Shadowkins · 10-10-2006, 07:03 AM

Okay, first Sweetpea then me

. Nice job , bet you PJ likes this floor much better!!!

mulroony · 10-10-2006, 07:17 AM

Looks great

ewarp · 10-10-2006, 07:52 AM

I'm impressed!

I hope you don't mind if I ask a zillion questions... the boy lived in our house as a single guy for too long- it needs some work.

Did you lay the tile right over the laminate flooring or did you have to pull it up? How big is your kitchen and how long did it take you? How did you cut the tile to fit properly?

We've got an area where it goes from laminate to carpet with a little brass thing over the edge of the carpet to keep it down and help keep it from fraying... how would you do an area like that?

And, if you're uncomfortable answering, please don't... about how much did it cost you to do this?

It looks so nice! I'm itching to fix our floors!

shaerenae · 10-10-2006, 11:04 AM

Very nice, Karen! 2 of our dogs "helped" us with our kitchen floor last year, too...Rus and I took a short vacation and left my daughter at home to dog sit. We had a small tear by the fridge, and when we got back, there was a big piece missing! LOL Rus and I spent New Year's weekend "re-doing" the floor in the kitchen. We didn't kill each other, and now the floor looks much nicer!

britishbandit · 10-10-2006, 11:57 AM

No problem ewarp....I don't mind the zillion questions...LOL

No, the tile didn't go on the laminate flooring. It was all scraped up (was a bugger to get up too, that was the hard part!!)
My kitchen is HUGE. I had to buy 21 boxes of tiles (16 tiles in each, 13x13). I have one box left over though.
I rented a tile cutter from home depot to do the cutting, and made a lot of scrap too! You don't have to be totally accurate on the measuring, if it's a bit short, the baseboards will cover it, and you can grout up the space too.
The metal between the laminate and carpet (the threshold), you'd probably have to replace. The one I got had a flat egde to put the tiles up against, and an angled piece that lays over the edge of the carpeting.
You have to get spacers when you tile. I got the 1/4 inch ones (but you can get larger ones too), and they go in to keep the tiles spaced while the cement stuff dries, and get pulled out after. Then you grout, and seal the grout. The pain in the butt part is the drying time. The cement you are supposed to leave 17 hours or so before you can step on the tiles, the grout is 12 hours, and the sealer is only about an hour.
If you go to Home Depot, they have seminars you can walk into (just have to call and find out when), and you can find out how everything is done, and ask any questions as well.
It also depends if you want the tiles level with the walls, or diagonal. I wanted the diagonal, just thought it would look better. The problem with diagonal is marking the lines (with a chalk string), to center it to the room. I needed help with that part, but once you have those first square of 9 tiles, you don't really need to mark it anymore, the spacers do a pretty good job of that.
When all was said and done, it cost me about $800. But the area is HUGE. The tiles were 99 cents each, good deal on those, but generally around here for decent tiles that aren't white, they are around $1.50 each, and the really really good ones, you can spend up to $5 per tile. I couldn't afford to do the tiles I really really liked, but the ones I got turned out really nice anyway.

I took me about 6 weeks to do it all. Having the dogs and cats I just did a bit at a time, so there were always areas we could walk on. Plus I had a few days here and there where I wasn't feeling good. I'm sure if you went at it full tilt, you could get it done in a matter of days, depending of course on the size of the area.

Whew, hope that answered what you asked! LOL

rmci · 10-10-2006, 01:00 PM

Wow, impressive! Looks great!

britishbandit · 10-11-2006, 06:31 AM

Ohh, guess I should mention, I had the floor quoted to get done professionally, and would have cost me around $2500 for an area that big. You save a lot to do it yourself!

ewarp · 10-11-2006, 06:33 AM

Man, that looks so nice!

We've been discussing redoing the floors downstairs- half is this hideous laminate, and the other half is a bluegray carpet that's really seen better days. With all the dogs that have been in and out lately, and many of them not housetrained, I've really been pushing for either hardwood or tile.

That said, I'm hesitant to put a lot of work into our townhome... I want to be moving out and into a house with a yard soon!

***Swiftwind*** · 10-11-2006, 06:40 AM

It looks like you've done a really great job with the tiling!

10-09-2006, 04:47 PM	#1 (permalink)
britishbandit Rottweiler Mum Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Windsor, ON Posts: 4,122 Rep Power: 176	Renovation to my kitchen floor! When PJ first arrived here last November, he had some "issues"...LOL. He decided he didn't like the laminate flooring in my kitchen, and made sure that I HAD to replace it! Well, it took me almost 2 months (obviously I didn't get to it right away...LOL), but I did it!! I put ceramic tiles down....check out my handywork!! Not too shabby eh? Just have to paint and get new baseboards now.
	__________________ "No matter how little money and how few possesions you own, having a dog makes you rich." - Louis Sabin

10-09-2006, 05:09 PM	#2 (permalink)
fireworksinjuly Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 2,585 Rep Power: 143	Nice!!!
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10-09-2006, 05:24 PM	#4 (permalink)
IceyBlueSibes Eyes = Mirror to the soul Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Jupiter, Fla. Posts: 7,757 Blog Entries: 1 Rep Power: 273	Cool! Looks great!
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10-09-2006, 06:30 PM	#5 (permalink)
TinyAlbinoDancer Always room for one more Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: CA Posts: 2,580 Rep Power: 166	Ooooh PJ has good taste, too. Great job, it looks nice!
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10-10-2006, 07:03 AM	#7 (permalink)
Shadowkins Shadowkins Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Saskatchewan,Canada Posts: 2,726 Rep Power: 129	Okay, first Sweetpea then me . Nice job , bet you PJ likes this floor much better!!!
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10-09-2006, 05:19 PM	#3 (permalink)
Sweetpea Emma and Lacey's Mom Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Windsor, Ontario Canada Posts: 568 Rep Power: 80	Great Job!! When can you come over to do mine? I live close.

10-10-2006, 07:17 AM	#8 (permalink)
mulroony Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Champaign, IL Posts: 2,100 Rep Power: 119	Looks great
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10-10-2006, 07:52 AM	#9 (permalink)
ewarp sabooooooo Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 457 Rep Power: 80	I'm impressed! I hope you don't mind if I ask a zillion questions... the boy lived in our house as a single guy for too long- it needs some work. Did you lay the tile right over the laminate flooring or did you have to pull it up? How big is your kitchen and how long did it take you? How did you cut the tile to fit properly? We've got an area where it goes from laminate to carpet with a little brass thing over the edge of the carpet to keep it down and help keep it from fraying... how would you do an area like that? And, if you're uncomfortable answering, please don't... about how much did it cost you to do this? It looks so nice! I'm itching to fix our floors!
	__________________ Get on with living and loving. You don't have forever.

10-10-2006, 11:04 AM	#10 (permalink)
shaerenae Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Des Moines, IA Posts: 711 Rep Power: 80	Very nice, Karen! 2 of our dogs "helped" us with our kitchen floor last year, too...Rus and I took a short vacation and left my daughter at home to dog sit. We had a small tear by the fridge, and when we got back, there was a big piece missing! LOL Rus and I spent New Year's weekend "re-doing" the floor in the kitchen. We didn't kill each other, and now the floor looks much nicer!
	__________________ Sherilyn Winjammin' Corgis http://winjammin.home.mchsi.com/ We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made. -M. Acklam

10-10-2006, 11:57 AM	#11 (permalink)
britishbandit Rottweiler Mum Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Windsor, ON Posts: 4,122 Rep Power: 176	No problem ewarp....I don't mind the zillion questions...LOL No, the tile didn't go on the laminate flooring. It was all scraped up (was a bugger to get up too, that was the hard part!!) My kitchen is HUGE. I had to buy 21 boxes of tiles (16 tiles in each, 13x13). I have one box left over though. I rented a tile cutter from home depot to do the cutting, and made a lot of scrap too! You don't have to be totally accurate on the measuring, if it's a bit short, the baseboards will cover it, and you can grout up the space too. The metal between the laminate and carpet (the threshold), you'd probably have to replace. The one I got had a flat egde to put the tiles up against, and an angled piece that lays over the edge of the carpeting. You have to get spacers when you tile. I got the 1/4 inch ones (but you can get larger ones too), and they go in to keep the tiles spaced while the cement stuff dries, and get pulled out after. Then you grout, and seal the grout. The pain in the butt part is the drying time. The cement you are supposed to leave 17 hours or so before you can step on the tiles, the grout is 12 hours, and the sealer is only about an hour. If you go to Home Depot, they have seminars you can walk into (just have to call and find out when), and you can find out how everything is done, and ask any questions as well. It also depends if you want the tiles level with the walls, or diagonal. I wanted the diagonal, just thought it would look better. The problem with diagonal is marking the lines (with a chalk string), to center it to the room. I needed help with that part, but once you have those first square of 9 tiles, you don't really need to mark it anymore, the spacers do a pretty good job of that. When all was said and done, it cost me about $800. But the area is HUGE. The tiles were 99 cents each, good deal on those, but generally around here for decent tiles that aren't white, they are around $1.50 each, and the really really good ones, you can spend up to $5 per tile. I couldn't afford to do the tiles I really really liked, but the ones I got turned out really nice anyway. I took me about 6 weeks to do it all. Having the dogs and cats I just did a bit at a time, so there were always areas we could walk on. Plus I had a few days here and there where I wasn't feeling good. I'm sure if you went at it full tilt, you could get it done in a matter of days, depending of course on the size of the area. Whew, hope that answered what you asked! LOL
	__________________ "No matter how little money and how few possesions you own, having a dog makes you rich." - Louis Sabin

10-10-2006, 01:00 PM	#12 (permalink)
rmci aka Red Dogs Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: CA Posts: 1,221 Rep Power: 89	Wow, impressive! Looks great!
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10-11-2006, 06:31 AM	#13 (permalink)
britishbandit Rottweiler Mum Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Windsor, ON Posts: 4,122 Rep Power: 176	Ohh, guess I should mention, I had the floor quoted to get done professionally, and would have cost me around $2500 for an area that big. You save a lot to do it yourself!
	__________________ "No matter how little money and how few possesions you own, having a dog makes you rich." - Louis Sabin

10-11-2006, 06:33 AM	#14 (permalink)
ewarp sabooooooo Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 457 Rep Power: 80	Man, that looks so nice! We've been discussing redoing the floors downstairs- half is this hideous laminate, and the other half is a bluegray carpet that's really seen better days. With all the dogs that have been in and out lately, and many of them not housetrained, I've really been pushing for either hardwood or tile. That said, I'm hesitant to put a lot of work into our townhome... I want to be moving out and into a house with a yard soon!
	__________________ Get on with living and loving. You don't have forever.

10-11-2006, 06:40 AM	#15 (permalink)
*Swiftwind* Believe in Yourself Super Moderator Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: NSW, Australia Posts: 5,786 Blog Entries: 3 Rep Power: 206	It looks like you've done a really great job with the tiling!
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