Anyone retiled a bathroom?

[OldBay]

I am going to retile my bathroom in the near future. I have been told that you can save time and get a better look if you remove the camode first. Has anyone done this project before? Any tips, advice, mistakes you made that will save me time and headaches?

There are two layers of laminant on the floor now. I am debating removing the laminate.

Thanks!

[OldBay]

I meant to put this in the BS forum.

Thanks for moving my message.

[Digger]

You need to remove the camode, and all trim around the floor. You probably need to put down some leveller and sand smooth if you remove the laminet, but the project will look better in the end. Also pickup 2 wax rings and have them on hand when resetting the camode.
I did one about 12 years ago.

[Wilber]

Don't be scared of the toilet, it's easy. Just remember when you put it in on top of the wax ring, sit on it for a minute to seat it.

Don't worry you'll do fine.

PS Why are you tiling a bathroom when the Red Drum just showed up?

[TRIGGERFISH]

He has to please momma first,before he can drown bait. LOL

[OldBay]

I have been meaning to do it for about 6 months. If the red drum aren't running, its the smallies on the new, the largemouth on the potomac, the blues and flounder in VA, you know how it goes.

Wax seal. Got it. Thanks!

I'm going to hatteras for a long weekend in 3 weeks. Game on!

[OldBay]

Trigger - If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

[catman]

Used to do ceramic for a living, that's why the knees are shot now. What kind of floor are thinking about - vinyl or ceramic?

Catman.

[OldBay]

I retiled my bathroom with 12X12 ceramic tiles. It turned out great, maybe I will post a pic after the final clean-up today. The total tally was about 24 hours of labor over Fri night, Sat, and sun, including cleanup, and $263.47 in tools and materials.

Here are a few tips should you find yourself knee deep in a similar project.

1. Wear shoes - I didn't, and my feet are pissed at me.
2. It takes 2 jugs of Admix to make 1 50lb bag of mortar, not one like the guy at HD said.
3. Spend the extra $$ and get a good tile cutter. I got the cheap ($16) one, and saved about $20. It took quite a while to cut each tile.
4. If you are making some complex cut with the nippers and you are just about done, and the corner of your cut snaps off, just superglue it back on, and you will never know.
5. Premixed grout with Scotch-guard in it works well. Do about 4 - linear feet of grout at a time and then clean, not 4-5 square feet like the grout instructions say.
6. Take everything out of the bathroom, including the sink cabinet and tiolet. This way you can tile the Whole room. Thats what I did. If I had just tiled around the cabinet, I wouldn't be able to get a smaller cabinet.
7. Wear gloves. I have blisters out the ying yang.
8. Have a bottle of Makers Mark handy for relaxing after hours of hard work.

It's easier than you think, just dive in.

[Orest]

Did you remove the old flooring?

[OldBay]

There were 3 layers of flooring: the original tile, covered with linolium, covered with vynil. I took up the vynil because it wasn't very secure in a lot of places. The linolium was very secure so I left it and just tiled right over it. Thats why I had to use the Admix with the mortar. The admix is for tiling over wood, or other tile. You can use water with the mortar if you are tiling over concrete.

[Orest]

How are your knees?

[OldBay]

My knees are fine. I had been forwarned about the complete and utter destruction of the knees during a tiling project. I stayed on my feet most of the time, except for cleaning the grout where I put a towel under my knees. It wasnt too bad.

[catman]

Glad everything worked out. When are you going to seal the grout? If you have any more ceramic jobs coming up rent a wet saw.

[SeaSalt]

Thanks for the recommendation Oldbay. I'm also looking to remodel both of our bathrooms. Did you tile the bath/shower also?

I was thinking about hiring someone to do this but if it is not that difficult I might want to give it a try. My wife likes the big marble looking tiles.

[OldBay]

Catman - The grout that I used was premixed with ScotchGuard already in it. It says you dont need to seal it, its mildew resistant, stain resistant, and gauranteed for 25 years. I am going to HD today to make sure I can really skip the sealer. I think you are supposed to wait 2 weeks to seal the grout anyway.

SS - Don't be intimidated by a tile job. If you have two rooms to do, buy a wet saw like Catman suggested. It will save you much time, busted knuckles, blisters, cursing, and tiles. I did not do the shower, but I cant imagine it being very much different than doing the floor. The big marble is nice, but you have to order them ahead of time at HD, as they are not stocked in many colors. Go for it.

[Rugger]

Buy, rather than rent, a wet saw. HD always has a small-but-decent one for about $80 which is what Rent-A-Center will charge you to rent one for a day. I wouldn't want to tile a whole house using the sall saw, but if you're just doing a bathroom, and entryway, a mid-size kitchen, hearth, etc it's the way to go.

[OldBay]

My buddy just got the $88 tile saw from HD and he says it works fine. I opted for the $16 hand cutter which worked OK, but took forever. The saw would help with cutting inside corners also, which can not be done with the hand cutter. The saw would have been great, and definately worth 80 or 88 bucks. You could probably even sell the saw when you were finished with it.