I recently tiled a 1200sf condo, all by myself. I dare say that I’m pretty good at it because I don’t rush it. I have an MK tile saw that I bought for about $700.
Since, I’ve been DIY remodeling, I look at the fit and finish everywhere I go. Nothing escapes my trained eyes anymore.
One thing about DIY, I don’t need to go to the gym as much.[/quote]
LOL, I’ve been spending even MORE time at the gym (over and above my 3-4x wk) lately, just to be somewhere with A/C!
It’s great that you mastered the tile saw, brian. Yeah, DIY is good exercise but I prefer working out with weights and yoga/pilates classes. I’ve been slowly getting power tools as my confidence builds up (have five so far). Having been a desk jockey most of my life, I just never really learned to use them but usually did all the “grunt work” in my “off-hrs” (picking up debris/shop vaccing, etc) while someone else used them.
I don’t need any more tile. My large kitchen and 2 large baths are all done in mosaic and they are gorgeous floors (but a bit high-maintenance, with pets). I need hardwood floor to replace older carpeting. My friend has 3 folding tables and I have one that we can use in the garage to lay out the pieces first in sections so they look good together on the floor. I already know how to rip out carpeting, pad and tack strips and I have one more free pass for this year left for the Otay landfill and a pickup I could borrow to go there. I think I can get the hang of a laying a floating floor but its going to be challenging moving heavy furniture around.
And no, I don’t want “engineered laminate” such as Pergo, etc. I know a lot of the flippers use it but much of my competition around here has real hardwood floors (all original if the home has never been remodeled). Thus a prospective buyer around here would expect that in a ~65 yo ‘hood.
I just can’t imagine paying $10K++ to have it installed! I figured I have about 1400 sf to do, (total) but if I DIY, I won’t do it all one time.
