Day 73: Bye Bye Crappy Kitchen

I had a flex day on Friday so decided this was to be the weekend that I would demo the rest of the kitchen and lay the tile. I was on nephew duty all day Sunday (starting at 6:00 am), so I decided early on that I wasn’t going to be laying any tiles this weekend. Besides, I was so thoroughly exhausted after Friday that I wouldn’t have had the energy to lay tiles this weekend.

I got started about 11 am on Friday and began by disconnecting the sink. The hot water supply wouldn’t completely shut off, so I had to place a bucket beneath it. I worked around the slow drip and it wasn’t long before the sink was out, the countertop off, and the base cabinets a massive pile in the middle of my kitchen.



Upon removing one section of the base cabinets I was greeted by the most hideous carpeting. Not only was it brown with a crappy “floral” pattern, I couldn’t see how it ever matched the green and gold striped wallpaper or the bright orange countertops! That must have been one butt ugly kitchen. And to think a developer would install carpeting in rental unit kitchens!



After some super tasty food from the Noodle Box, I was ready to tackle the next step – break the pieces apart, remove any screws, and start taking it downstairs to my car. I forgot I owned a power screwdriver so after removing several dozen screws, I plugged it in, put the remaining pieces aside and took up the last of the green peel and stick flooring. I have nothing against peel and stick flooring, but after a decade or so, it wears out and if it is an ugly pattern, there is just nothing positive I can say about the stuff in my place.

I filled my car with about 2/3 of the pile of junk and headed to Ellice Recycle Ltd (David St near Bay Street Bridge). It was about 4:30 so to avoid the bridge traffic, I headed down Hillside to Gorge St. Some bonehead was trying to turn left onto David St despite signs saying not to at that time of day. But when I approached David Street I saw an opening and decided to turn left…right into the open arms of the law! Curses. The cars behind me followed like lemmings and we all got pulled over. While explaining to the others why they were pulled over, I got my license and registration ready. The cop approached and I handed him my stuff at which point he jokingly told me they didn’t take Master Card. I wasn’t the least bit worried/scared/panicked, so I laughed and swapped it for my DL. Meanwhile, he hollered over to the Chief and told him that I was trying to bribe him with money. I tried to explain to the cop that I was a very good driver, had never gotten a ticket, and that I was actually doing traffic a service by making room for all the people behind me who were backed up because of that bonehead woman who was trying to turn left. He didn’t buy it, but we both got a good laugh out of it. He finished writing up the $120 ticket, said it was nice to meet me, and sent me on my way.

With 5 minutes to spare, I was happily unloading the crap…flinging pieces with gusto as I bade farewell to my crappy kitchen. I returned home and loaded up the last third. It was about 6 times as heavy though thanks to all that peel and stick flooring. The next day I took it to the dump but it was so heavy I didn’t fling it with nearly as much enthusiasm.

Since I wasn’t going to tile this weekend, and the waterproofing membrane only needs 24 hours to set, I decided to paint the walls while the kitchen was clear. It is very liberating to haul out the paint roller and just start painting without having to tape or cover up the flooring.

Next steps: Install waterproofing membrane and then the tiles.

Those damn cats!

This morning I awoke at 5:00 am with a sore back and two cats (whose names I will not mention...cough...cleoandevin...cough) doing jazzercise on my bed. Evin tries to put it to music by pressing a bunch of buttons on my clock radio.

At least once a week, I feel the need to remind Evin, who's brain is about the size of an apricot, that there will never be a need for him to brush my face, chew on my hair, or turn the radio on, so he may as well stop it!

By sheer coincidence, I arrived at work with this video in my inbox:



Anyone that has cats knows exactly what it is like.

Day 66: Washing Tiles and enjoying the view

I now have 13.5 of the 15.5 boxes of tiles in my condo. The last two are still sitting in my car. I figure there is no huge rush to get them up here as I still have 4 unopened boxes yet to wash. That means I have washed approximately 9.5 boxes of tile, or for those who like err on the side of mind boggling -- a whopping 95 12" square tiles. The cleaned tiles are stacked against any vertical surface I can find. I’ve categorized them into a few groups: perfect tiles that are great for the open areas; really dark grey or black tiles that I’ll need to place as randomly as possible; broken, uneven, or otherwise odd tiles that I can use for half pieces/coaster sets you are all getting for Christmas; and the ugly pile for those I find unattractive and will use under the stove, dishwasher and washing machine where I don’t have to look at them. Once they are all washed, I will further categorize the perfect tiles into coloured groups: purple, green, grey, and rust.

I really want to make sure the layout is random which means that after I categorize them I’ll have to lay out a bunch on my living room floor until I am happy with the “random” pattern. If I don't do all this sorting and planning ahead, I just know it will be hard to be random on the spot while the mortar slowly hardens. Besides, I'll need the extra time to back butter some of the tiles which are not a uniform thickness.

Cleaning the tiles means taking a pile of 10 into the kitchen, inspecting each one and removing all loose pieces with a paring knife. Then I wash the tiles one at a time and put them in the dish rack to air dry. I admire each tile as they go from a dusty bland colour to a beautiful array of fall colours as the water hits the surface. Many of them have a metallic tinge such as copper or pewter. Some tiles are so full of colour that they remind me of a Monet painting. The sealer will bring out those colours so I can’t wait to see them all laid out throughout the kitchen.

The rack can confidently hold a meagre 5 tiles at a time, and they take several minutes to dry, so you can see why I have only washed 95 tiles! I’ve managed to injure my right wrist in the process so I haven’t washed nearly as many tiles as I had hoped this weekend.

My plan for the next week or two: Finish washing the tiles and paint the ceiling and walls with finish coats so that on Friday (the 26th, day 71, and a full moon) I can remove the sink, lower cabinets, and counter top. I’ll move the appliances into the living and dining rooms where I am quickly running out of room and finish removing the rest of the peel and stick tiles. With a lot of luck, I’ll lay the waterproof membrane (I call it orange waffly stuff) that night so I can get going on the tile laying Saturday. I don’t think I’ll get all the tiles laid that weekend, but I’ll sure try. If not, I’ll resume the next weekend. Once all done, I’ll apply the sealer after which I need to block off the area so a certain orange flea circus doesn't ruin the finish. I really want the floor to be completely cured/sealed before the cabinets arrive, so I have opted to get an early start.

Going with slate was a labour intensive choice but it is all stuff I can do which really kept the costs down. Unfortunately, it means being without a kitchen sink for a very long time. I think I’ll hook up a laundry sink temporarily if it looks like the tile sealed up long before the kitchen cabinets are due to arrive. Meals and laundry will be a fun challenge.

Day 62: The Tile Arriveth

I checked my messages before leaving work and to my delight the tile store left a message saying my tile was in. Woo hoo! That put a spring in my step.

I picked up the tile but could only manage half the batch. I didn't want to see if my car could handle the full weight, but I might have been too cautious. No matter, I'll get the next batch tomorrow.

The woman at the store (Dacora Tile) remembered me even though I didn't actually deal with her when buying the tile. She was super friendly so I'll go back there again any time.

I took a detour past my folks place so I could pick up the dolly. They thought the tile was lovely and seemed impressed that I was going ahead with the installation myself.

I struggled a bit with the dolly and needed a break after bringing in the first three boxes. I got side tracked by my friends basement reno blog and only just finished bringing in the last 2.5 boxes.

I immediately laid the tiles out in the front foyer and here is how they look.



You can really see the pink I was talking about, though there is a lot of dark grey in there too. In fact, the tile is more grey than pink. Stupid camera. I'm a bit concerned about how porous the slate is. There are many "bubbles" and I just peeled of a good size chunk of slate leaving a "crater" where it was. Sure, that adds to beauty and it isn't really a surprise. It just means I have to inspect all my tiles, remove any loose spots, and place them with the least porous pieces out in the open. I hope there isn't too much waste.

While I wait for time to pass (3.5 weeks) before I start laying the tile, here is what my living room looks like. What a mess.



And here is my "workshop":

In other news

So I was reading on the CBC news site about the latest taser incident which happened to be at YVR.

According to stats, BC has had a significant number of fatalities -- 6 of the 16.

I wonder if that is because we are so wet and therefore conduct electricity more!

I am totally joking. Besides, there seem to be underlying conditions causing the deaths. I guess I'd want to see the number of fatalities compared to overall use per province. There I go again, questioning the stats I see.

In terms of the YVR death, I wonder if he was a drug mule and the capsules broke. We'll have to see.

Day 58: Not much going on...but I bought the tile

With the kitchen cabinets on order and not due until early Dec, there isn't a whole lot I can do.

I did decide to find/buy/order the tile for the flooring in case it has to be ordered from India or some far off land. I took home a few samples from Tile Town but just wasn't satisfied. I was trying to find a similar tile to what is in the bathroom not only for consistency, but also because I know it works with the countertop.

I decided to see what Gazola Tile had. The choices were overwhelming, but I brought in a large sample of the countertop (the whole that was cut out for bathroom sink) so it made it easier to find the right colours. I found one that was great, and it came in a few different colours so I could do a bit of a checkerboard pattern. Unfortunately, it was over $7 a square foot. I don't need a $1500 kitchen/hall floor. The next choice was a tile they actually had laid down on thier floor in the front entrance way. It was darker than I had planned, but it was a good match. At $5.00 a square foot, the price was coming down.

Still not happy, I decided to go back to Tile Town and wade through the boards. I stumbled upon the brand of tile that my bathroom tile was made by so I thought maybe I could get the same one. The guy led me to believe it could be ordered but I had to come back after the long weekend. I did and he was wrong, so back to the drawing board.

Yesterday was a flex day, so I went in to Dacora tile. We checked out the slate and prices were $5.00 and up a square foot. So, we started looking through the slate boards and found one with a lot of redish pink in it. It is a stunning tile and it really complemented my countertop. And it would match my living room furniture which are dark jewel tones. So I ordered it on the spot. I had yet to react so positively to a tile that I knew it was the one. Besides, it was $4.00 a square foot, so a pretty good deal.

I've always loved the look of slate, especially when there is so much variety in colour. I've never seen a slate with so much red/pink in it and despite how it sounds, it is not at all girly. I wish they had some in stock so I could have taken it home with me yesterday. I'll take a pic and post as soon as it comes in.

Fortunately, the tile is in stock and will be here next week. I'll have to use a lot of restraint when it comes to installing it though. Once I rip out the lower cabinets and sink, I will be out of a sink for good, so I don't want to lay the floor too quickly. I also don't want to lay it too late in case it takes a long time to cure. My guess is I'll install it mid Nov.

In the meantime, I guess I could paint the kitchen ceiling, fix the bathroom floor, and put a second coat on the dining room wall. I am pretty curious to see if the tile matches my hallway walls so there may be a condo wide repainting in the works if not.