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Paying someone to install tile

BelemNole

HR Legend
Mar 29, 2002
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They're putting in ~1100 sqft of tile on the ground floor of our house. I'm not doing anything but moving some furniture. Paid someone to do the demo and will probably pay someone to put back the baseboards.

Come at me poors.
 
A lot of people on facebook are asking if I'm installing it myself. I'm over 50 with a bad back. Hell no, I'm not installing it. Demoing my kitchen to save $1200 because my wife was balking at the upgraded cabinets was a dumb enough idea.
I know at least 2-3 people that just finished tile jobs they started during the quarantine. I'm not that young or stupid anymore.
 
A lot of people on facebook are asking if I'm installing it myself. I'm over 50 with a bad back. Hell no, I'm not installing it. Demoing my kitchen to save $1200 because my wife was balking at the upgraded cabinets was a dumb enough idea.
I know at least 2-3 people that just finished tile jobs they started during the quarantine. I'm not that young or stupid anymore.

The pros do a better job than the DIY guys, too. If you make a mistake laying tile, it's virtually forever.
 
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Pay someone. You will hate yourself if you attempted that yourself.
You don't have to tell me, they got ~600 sqft done this am. Will do the rest of the big pieces tomorrow and then all the small cuts. Guys come in next week to grout - although the tile we picked has almost no grout lines.
 
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A lot of people on facebook are asking if I'm installing it myself. I'm over 50 with a bad back. Hell no, I'm not installing it. Demoing my kitchen to save $1200 because my wife was balking at the upgraded cabinets was a dumb enough idea.
I know at least 2-3 people that just finished tile jobs they started during the quarantine. I'm not that young or stupid anymore.
I think any guy will lay the lumber down on your wife for free. Not sure about tile though.
 
A lot of people on facebook are asking if I'm installing it myself. I'm over 50 with a bad back. Hell no, I'm not installing it. Demoing my kitchen to save $1200 because my wife was balking at the upgraded cabinets was a dumb enough idea.
I know at least 2-3 people that just finished tile jobs they started during the quarantine. I'm not that young or stupid anymore.

Good for you. DYI peeps are annoying. Home and car.

Some idiot: HaHa, you pay to get your oil changed? I do it myself in 30 minutes and save $40.

Me: Uhm, your time is worth less than $80/hour?? WTF.
 
I am also a weak sissy bitch that would rather pay someone else to do it. A buddy of mine has set tile for about 20 years and is really good at it. Well, about 5 years ago, we did my Roughly 400 sq ft. kitchen/dining room over a 3 day weekend. It took me 2 weeks to recover. That is some hard ass back breaking work. Setting the tile wasn’t terrible, but the grout sucked ass, which of course I had to do most of as that is the grunt work. Pretty much the last time I have diy’ed anything. My weekends and free time are far to valuable.
 
They're putting in ~1100 sqft of tile on the ground floor of our house. I'm not doing anything but moving some furniture. Paid someone to do the demo and will probably pay someone to put back the baseboards.

Come at me poors.


OP has a pussy, unlike OP’s mom. :)
 
What size of tile? There is a huge difference in the amount of work. I did my own bathroom but used 12” x 12” on the floors and 4” x 4” for the shower surround. Trust me, the floors were much easier and basically idiot proof. The surround kind of sucked as it is a basement bathroom with a glass block window.
 
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I did my bathroom and it looked great. But that was a 4 day job. Took my time. Ditra. Laser level. Those cool wedge spacers and levelers. Whole 9 yards.

I wouldn’t even think to take on 1100 square feet. F that.
 
op, what size tiles and type?
i had a bathroom tiled not long ago. used large ceramic ones. the installer did an ok job overall but theres a couple spots right in front of a sink where tile corners are not level. guy said he couldn’t do any better coz the concrete base wasn’t level. does that make sense? ive now got a rug covering that area but still annoying to know.
 
op, what size tiles and type?
i had a bathroom tiled not long ago. used large ceramic ones. the installer did an ok job overall but theres a couple spots right in front of a sink where tile corners are not level. guy said he couldn’t do any better coz the concrete base wasn’t level. does that make sense? ive now got a rug covering that area but still annoying to know.

Yes, it makes sense. A pro knows how to float them so that doesn't happen.
 
op, what size tiles and type?
i had a bathroom tiled not long ago. used large ceramic ones. the installer did an ok job overall but theres a couple spots right in front of a sink where tile corners are not level. guy said he couldn’t do any better coz the concrete base wasn’t level. does that make sense? ive now got a rug covering that area but still annoying to know.
An average tile guy should have been able to level that. Most of the time a basement concrete floor isn’t completely level. Just need to use more mortar or a self leveling compound even on the entire floor if not too large. Clearly your tile guy was not all that good at what they do
 
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I always hire out flooring. In fact I hired a painter to put a fresh coat on the entire interior last year.

but I do change my own oil :)

Same here. Takes only 30 minutes.

tumblr_m9m30rMFoW1qkktc4o1_500.gifv
 
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A lot of people on facebook are asking if I'm installing it myself. I'm over 50 with a bad back. Hell no, I'm not installing it. Demoing my kitchen to save $1200 because my wife was balking at the upgraded cabinets was a dumb enough idea.
I know at least 2-3 people that just finished tile jobs they started during the quarantine. I'm not that young or stupid anymore.
I did the demo w a high powered hammer drill I borrowed from the contractor. We put in 1400 sq ft of 24”x24” tile. He used the wedge system that levels everything. Amazingly perfect job over a beat up surface. My general was going to use one of his guys but balked when they saw the unprepped floor. Took 4 days including grout. We did the same w 1/8” grout lines.
 
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They're putting in ~1100 sqft of tile on the ground floor of our house. I'm not doing anything but moving some furniture. Paid someone to do the demo and will probably pay someone to put back the baseboards.

Come at me poors.

Only someone in that category would feel the need to add that last sentence. Who in their right mind would do it themself?

PS - did you say “tile”? 😐

PSS - Congratulations on the work being done.
 
I did the demo w a high powered hammer drill I borrowed from the contractor. We put in 1400 sq ft of 24”x24” tile. He used the wedge system that levels everything. Amazingly perfect job over a beat up surface. My general was going to use one of his guys but balked when they saw the unprepped floor. Took 4 days including grout. We did the same w 1/8” grout lines.
They did the demo the first day that was 70% carpet and 30% tile. Our tile guy recommended the demo guys. When he saw the state of the floors where the tile had been he called the demo guys back. They sent a guy back and he spent another 9 hours with a giant jackhammer on wheels trying to get the old thinset up. I was really glad I didn’t atte
 
They did the demo the first day that was 70% carpet and 30% tile. Our tile guy recommended the demo guys. When he saw the state of the floors where the tile had been he called the demo guys back. They sent a guy back and he spent another 9 hours with a giant jackhammer on wheels trying to get the old thinset up. I was really glad I didn’t atte
Ours was too bad to smooth. The tile guy used a 1/2 x 1/2 square tooth trowel for the cementitious mortar. The whole floor was floated using this leveling system. Perfect job on a rough floor.

 
Good for you. DYI peeps are annoying. Home and car.

Some idiot: HaHa, you pay to get your oil changed? I do it myself in 30 minutes and save $40.

Me: Uhm, your time is worth less than $80/hour?? WTF.
The "I saved × amount not doing myself" crowd is worse. Just say you don't know how to change your oil (or are too lazy) and move on. Not that big of a deal. If your sitting at home on a Saturday, your time isn't worth anything. Changing your own oil (or doing other projects) saves you money.

If there is a project that needs to be done ASAP and I will have to take work off to accomplish it, then I will pay someone to do it. If there is a project I can do over the course of two or three weekends and I save myself thousands, I do it everytime. Thats money I pay myself, not the other way around.
 
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The "I saved × amount not doing myself" crowd is worse. Just say you don't know how to change your oil (or are too lazy) and move on. Not that big of a deal. If your sitting at home on a Saturday, your time isn't worth anything. Changing your own oil (or doing other projects) saves you money.

If there is a project that needs to be done ASAP and I will have to take work off to accomplish it, then I will pay someone to do it. If there is a project I can do over the course of two or three weekends and I save myself thousands, I do it everytime. Thats money I pay myself, not the other way around.

I think you’re right - at least about the “hourly wage” folks being insufferable.

The obvious flaw is I work hard and get paid well so I can pay people to do stuff and have nice things. Relaxing on a weekend is an investment to recharge me for later.

However, if I enjoy doing something and can make it look nice I’ll usually do it. I do my own landscaping and painting, but I would not touch flooring.
 
I think you’re right - at least about the “hourly wage” folks being insufferable.

The obvious flaw is I work hard and get paid well so I can pay people to do stuff and have nice things. Relaxing on a weekend is an investment to recharge me for later.

However, if I enjoy doing something and can make it look nice I’ll usually do it. I do my own landscaping and painting, but I would not touch flooring.
Nothing wrong with that at all. Thats not the point I was addressing. I do a lot of projects on my own because I have the time and skills to complete them in my free time. Thats not costing me money, its saving me money. I change the oil on my truck because it saves me $40 everytime and takes me less then 30 minutes to complete, not because I'm a poor who needs the money.
 
The video doesn't show how they remove all the white braces before grouting. How does that work?
They have a necked down score line that breaks below the grout line when hit by a rubber mallet. Took two guys an hour to knock out the wedges and break off the tabs on 1400 sq ft. My 24” x24” tile took 2-4 wedges per side depending on position and how thick the mortar was underneath.
 
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