It's about fucking time....
 

One o fthe most tedious, frustrating and infuriating endeavors of my life is almost done.... Im almost finished redoing my master bathroom.

It has been endless headaches from the beginning. Originally, we were hoping to get it done in one night. then over a weekend. then by the end of the week. Now it has been roughly amonth since i started, and im almost there. I put up the last of the tiles last night (we cheated, we used 12 inch flooring tiles. they look nicer anyway) and holy shit was that a pain in the ass.

Try fitting a 60 inhc tub into a 60 inch wide room. Its a good thing we are repainting, and that the edges of the tub are covered with tile, i'll tell you that.

To fit the pipes through the tiles, we had to put holes in them. Enter this thingy:

http://www.toolavenue.com/images/dribit.jpg


the one we had was for dry cutting using any standard drill.

Lesson number one:
cordless drills are wrong for this. to drill through an average tile takes 45 minutes, and drains 2 batteries. Oh, and the drill bit in the middle started to warp from the heat and had to be straightened with pliers.

eventually, we borrowed an ac drill. This thing on the lowest setting had to have been going at about 10,000 rpms.... It drilled alright, anbd much faster than the cordless. but, it was unpredictable and fucking scary. I had to wear hearing protection because it squealed so damn much.

At one point, it got loose and jumped, hitting me in the foot. Right in the middle of one of my toenails, i have a quarter inch hole that goes down to the skin. ouch.

The fucking thing also built up so much heat, it was glowing cherry red at one point. needless to say, after 6 holes, it is a useless hunk of metal now. the bit is dull, and almost all of the cutting grains on the collar are gone.

The last tile i cut last night got so hot, a chunk craked off of it, and the tile burned a pattern on the piece of mdf i had under it.

the mortar got all over eberything (i was a woodworker, not a fucking tiler, that is pretty obvious now...) but it look sokay. Now all i have to do is grout, which from wjhat i knpow, should be pretty easy.

I just hope the plumbing doesnt fall apart a week after finishing....

Anyone else ever go through home improvement hell?

No one huh? Fine. FINE. fine. :P

lol no wonder you had trouble with drilling the holes.... floor tiles are hardened to take punishment, and most of the time you'd only need to score and snap them laying a floor.

I rent, therefore, no I don't:D

iu hope you wear safety glasses too

Actually...Some subjects are just a little too sensitive...I was avoiding this thread, for fear that the nightmares might start up again... :p


Try tearing out an entire kitchen, from floor to ceiling, and completely rebuilding it (cabinets, counertops, and flooring included) in THREE days...

Also...I SILL have to finish putting up 2 walls in the basement bathroom...

I'm afraid if I get started on this topic, it will NEVER end...Because, as a homeowner, home improvement and mainteneance NEVER end..

Hammer Drill ;)...Can cut holes (with a masonry bit) and put screws (the right kind, of course) in concrete...

have to watch out with hammer though, can chip the edges or worst crack the tile around the hole.

You have to be careful with it...If you use a sharp bit, and a running, wetting lubricant, you won't get the chipping :)

Always thinking of sex....ain't ya?:D