Almost

What a hard day.  Jym spent 6.5 hours literally cutting tiles.  It is ridiculous how long it takes to cut and measure and lay out the tiles.  I had hope that we would plow through this and then the mortar would go quickly and we could finish today.  But that did not happen.  We managed to get all the bathroom tiles and some of the hallway tiles cut but when we were laying them it was difficult to lay them and move around so Jym did half the bathroom and then decided to move to the hallway while enough dried so we could move back into the bathroom which left not enough mortar to finish the bathroom.  So that sucked.  But at least we got the part done where the toilet was because that is the most important part.  

Jym was amazing cutting the toilet piece.  We were lucky in that we decided to try to work the pattern so we could use a large rectangle under it and it worked out luckily.  Jym initially measured wrong and the hole he made was slightly off so we had to widen the hole more than we would have liked but honestly I think it will work and he did a great job with it.  He cut hash marks in the center and then broke the pieces out and then clipped and filed and clipped and filed.  Long process but it worked and he didn't break the tile.  

I was afraid to touch it then since I was terrified it would break and be my fault.  I had to wash it, seal it and butter it and somehow we managed to lay it perfectly and it was level!!  I am so excited and relieved that it is done.  Now if only the toilet install can go as well and we don't crack the tile.  That would be great.  

We now have about 9 tiles in the hallway left to cut and probably 15 total to lay including the few in the bathroom we didn't get to put in.  I am hoping I can grout the next few days and get what we did grouted and then at least install the toilet at some point and then lay the rest of the tiles.  

We will then be finished with everything we originally set out to tile.  We have decided to do the office as well but that will need to wait a few weeks til we can start that.  I need a break.  And I am hoping to just get the rest of the house back in order.  

Potty Parting

Yesterday Jym repatched parts of the giant crack and I have to say that the premixed concrete patch he bought works way better than the stuff we had to mix ourselves that we used on the rest of the concrete.  This looks way smoother and filled in much better.  And without all that pesky measuring and mixing and mess.  He also tore up the hallway and bathroom baseboards which was apparently exhausting.  I got home and he was crashed out in bed.  I think he needs a vacation as much as I do.  

Jym glued the baseboards for the kitchen and cut the ones for the pantry.  I want to get my kitchen back in order so badly.  It feels like my house is a disaster.  

We had a moment with the door stoppers that we bought.  There were no instructions and there was a screw inside that we struggled to get out.  Finally upon inspection I realized that we needed to spin the end piece off and presto!  We had the screw out and it was then obvious how we should install them.  Little victories.  We are certainly learning a LOT on this adventure.  That is for sure.  It seems we learn something new every day. 

Jym thanked me today for never saying anything when he flips the tiles.  I always hand him a tile to lay and he flips it around to see which way he wants to put it down and he throws it literally into the air and grabs it.  He says I always make a face of horror but I never say anything.  LOL.  

Jym mapped out the tile pattern in the hallway and guest bath.  This has worked well for us since it allows us to not focus on the pattern with every single tile which slows you down.  It does take work upfront but it is worth it.  Jym goes above and beyond and actually measures the tile space.  I would just mark a rough grid on the floor. 

We removed the toilet today.  It had to happen. We needed to get it out for the trash and it was time to stop avoiding the inevitable.  It was actually not awful in as far as difficulty.  We turned off the water and then flushed it to remove the water from the tank.  Left water in the bowl itself.  I guess we could have shop vac-ed it out (or as we call our shop vac...R2 Suck2.) But we didn't.  We then had to unscrew the bolt beneath the tank and disconnect that.  The excess water then came out onto the floor so we grabbed towels and tried to soak that up...but it was toilet water so those towels needed to be thrown out.  Jym removed the tank and the lid/seat and removed the pieces out to the trash.  We then unbolted the toilet and he carried it out but when he reached the lawn he tried to awkwardly grab it as he laid it down and his wrist bent backward so we iced it up (he had to have a beer while he iced it...beer makes it all better) and gave him a break while I swept the floors for the 30th time.  I swear I sweep and sweep and there is always more to sweep. 

I then spent a long time trying to clean the area around the toilet flange.  It was so gross.  The wax gets down in the flange and its hard to scrape off and sticky and then you just think about that fact that the wax is what has been sealing the toilet for 15 years and then you are cleaning around the hole where all the poop goes down and it was making me think I was surely going to end up with some terrible poop bacteria.  To make it worse I ended up with the wax and gunk under my fingernails.  I DESERVE a manicure.   

We mortared in some tiles and honestly I did not realize how trapped we would be.  Smaller areas require so much cutting and usually we could just lay all the middle tiles but now because the hallway and guest bath are so narrow there is really no way to lay the middle tiles until you cut and we found ourselves cutting as we went again.  This process did not work well at all before and did not again.  So I felt very unaccomplished with what we got done.  It seemed like we worked so hard and got so little done.  But there is always so much prep work you don't count on. 

Laundry Room finished

Went home after work and I worked tirelessly to put the laundry room back together.  The night before Jym finished the baseboards install and moved the washer/dryer back in (by himself after I had gone to bed!) AND he did 2 loads of wash!!  So I felt it my duty to finish everything in there.  Man do you accumulate crap.  I went through everything in there and cleaned it out and it is now all functional and beautiful again.  

Dynamo Jym

Tonight I got home and Jym had really surprised me.  He was off today and started his day by trimming our palm tree and then ripping up the carpet in the hallway and pulling the tack strip and getting it all out by the time trash pickup occurred.  I was very impressed.  

He found a huge crack which was the continuation of the crack from the other side of the dining room.  It went all the way to the toilet and onto the other side.  He decided to tear out the linoleum in the bathroom to be able to patch everything at once.  And then did.  

He then grouted the laundry room.  I came home and swept up the laundry room and we dug out the old paint and I was able to touch up the blue and olive but the cans were super old (10 years) and all rusted out so I need to go buy new cans but I think the paint is at least salvageable in a new can to be able to keep some for touch up.  I am not sure how it will be with touch up being so old but I touched up both colors and I am hoping for the best. 

The sand color however was all dried up and ruined and I accidentally used a small container that I thought was the right paint.  It was not.  And now it is terribly a mess.  So I need to repaint both sand color walls in their entirety but since Jym has not cut the baseboards I still have time.  I think after work tomorrow I will stop by Lowes and get some new paint cans and find a sand color to redo those walls.  I know its more work but at this point if I don't do this I will be upset at myself when everything is back in and the walls look like hell.  To be honest I should repaint everything.  Its 10 years old but I don't have it in me and the other 2 walls look ok (as long as the touch up takes...which it looks like it will).  

Then he actually ripped the baseboards out of the hall and patched the final cracks behind the toilet!  Man he was moving today and I am so glad.  He usually likes to relax when I am not around apparently to bark orders at him. LOL.  But today he was a man on a mission! 

I am sincerely overwhelmed by how much I need to get done this week.  I feel like I just really want my house back and if I can just get everything back into the laundry room and kitchen I will feel a lot better.  Of course I said that about every other room so far and it seems like the mess just expands as I go.  This is truly the worst its been since we started.  It has invaded every single room in my house.  As I sit here I am staring at a random door, a pantry shelf, my laundry room and washer and dryer all blocking my kitchen and livingroom.  And that does not even begin to cover all the mess that is strewn about the rest of the house.  

I think the next phase of this though will be less intrusive to my daily life as once all this is put away in the kitchen and laundry room it will let me have the middle of my house back.  The hallway and the guest bath are not really a necessity to my daily life right now so although annoying it will be less visible.  I think that might allow me to feel better about this whole job.  

Although I do have to say that the floor is beautiful.  I sweep it and I look at each tile and I just think how beautiful it is.  I am really happy with it and I think when this is all said and done I am going to be really proud of what we did alone with no help but together as a couple.  We are truly unstoppable if we can get through this successfully.  

Paper Crafting

So we are behind...again.  I know.  I should expect it by now.  I was unsure how to proceed today since I planned to grout but we had not yet finished the edge cut tiles and if I sit in the center and grout Jym would be unable to work on the cut pieces and would then get angry and frustrated so I considered what I could do to minimize that.  I decided to use construction paper and create each needed tile out of paper so he could just take the paper to the garage and cut them. 

This ended up being much more of an extensive job that I had previously considered.  It works fabulously for the edge piece we needed last week in the kitchen but making 15 or so tiles out of paper was time consuming.  But it was helpful to Jym and he was able to cut the pieces fairly easily.  While I did that he mowed the lawn.  Honestly one thing I have forgotten to do is to allow time to do the normal things we need to get done.  I find myself scrambling to clean and do dishes etc and of course the lawn work and even bill paying.  It is so easy to get off track with everything else.  

We were able to lay the tiles around 3:00.  I made sandwiches for lunch before we began and laying the tiles went very quickly.  We had a few pieces that were tough to lay because we had to make sure to slide them in under the door frame etc.  We opted to scrap the pattern inside the closet and just used 2 large rectangles which worked well.  It just took some maneuvering to make it all work. 

We decided to use up the mortar by laying 5 tiles at the hallway entrance.  I cut the carpet at the office door and Jym then mentioned that maybe we should be tiling that room too.  Yes that was not a mistake.  He wanted to tile another room!!  I honestly think he is probably right that we should do it.  At this point it is just more tile really and grout since we seem to have plenty of mortar left and we are becoming quite good at it all.  The office smells too and I don't know why.  I have been febreezing the hell out of it but it stinks.  Maybe if we cleared it out I could figure out what stinks.  Although it is probably the carpet.  And either way the carpet needs to be removed eventually anyway.  So why not tile.  I just told him that won't happen until after we return from vacation at least but if we are considering it I am glad he said it now so we can avoid cutting pieces there.   

I decided to then drive alone to Floor & Decor and get more grout and more tiles.  I sorted through piles of tile again and found a few more pieces.  Nothing overly spectacular but good ones. Jym helped me carry it all inside and I will have to seal them later this week. 

Avocado Rat

We woke up and our day started with Jym screaming like a girl as he tried to adjust the trash bag.  He then calmed down and explained as he pulled the bag up an avocado half shell slid up the side of the bag and looked like a rat.  I had to laugh because when I looked at it I could see how he thought that.  Always good to start the day with a good laugh. 

We then spent some time on the phone with his aunt and uncle who are on a cross country adventure right now and plan to be in our area soon.  We are excited to see them and it will be nice to know that if we have issues with the new toilet install his uncle can possibly assist us with it.  

It was also nice to talk to family.  We stood at the ladder with them on speakerphone and it was really nice to take a moment to step back and just remember what life is really about.  

Today was yet another day of running to Lowes and Walmart multiple times and I can honestly say I was over it by the end of the day.  We needed dry wall patch for numerous holes in the wall in the laundry room that had to be patched before we could lay any tile and then had to go back for spackle when we ran out.  I thought I had some here but it was dried up. 

We also wasted time trying to put back some of the shelf items etc.  Jym is like a monkey on the ladder which is good since i am terrible on ladders.  Although I give myself credit for climbing up and touching up the plant shelf paint that Jym scratched when he was putting the baskets back. 

We didn't even get to mix mortar until 5:15 and the minute we started it began to rain.  So Jym mixed what he could then stood under the porch and waited out the rain enough to get it mixed.  

We got the tiles laid at least by nightfall but we only laid one batch because it was not smart to try to mix mortar after dark.  

I feel like the house is closing in on me.  My view from the livingroom is all my laundry room crap and kitchen crap and washer/dryer in my kitchen.  Its a mess.  I keep thinking that eventually all of this will be fixed and back in its place and I need to just find some patience for it.  But that is easier said than done.