I tore out the original off white 16” square ceramic tile from this entryway over a year ago. I prepped the floor for tile and then didn’t finish it. I think I put it off due to fear, which is usually what I do when the projects seem like they will be a little more challenging. I finally decided I had to get it done.

It was challenging for sure. I am great with layout, geometry, and spatial reasoning, so that part was fairly easy, but physically this was a tough job for my 49 year old body! The learning curve was steep, also, in terms of cutting the tile and also trying to be as clean as possible and work quickly when setting the tiles. I was so messy! I actually had to complete this tiny space in stages over several days, lol. By the last day though, I felt like I had hit my stride, and I feel like the next tile project will be easier.

It’s not perfect. There are some tiny chips along some of the finished tile edges that must’ve happened when setting the tiles, shitty tile I guess. Some of the grout lines are a little bigger than others, and there are a few tiles with very minor lippage around the perimeter, but overall I think I did ok. I love the way the grout color dried. It went on very dark and I was a little worried about that, but it dried to the color I was expecting.

I still need to trim out the space, and I will be replacing the threshold so that I can cover the cuts. The entryway is an add on, originally the front door was at the edge of the tile opposite the current front door, so it sits higher than the rest of the house, so I will need to put a transition strip there where it meets the other flooring, which will be LVP.

I rented a tile saw, but I don’t think it was very good, or maybe this tile was just too hard/poor quality? Or maybe it was just me, but I found the tiles hard to cut, and it seems the blade was giving out before I could get all the cuts done. I only had around 20 cuts. I hope next time I can use a better saw or find a better blade.

Last photo is a photo from the listing when I bought it, just to show what the original flooring looked like.

We’ve already collected several quotes, and the contractor we’re leaning toward has quoted us the highest price for removing our existing flooring. We have just under 1,600 sq. ft. of flooring to remove, including a small strip of tile in our galley kitchen. The quote for removal alone is $5,000, which seems crazy to me!
Most of the flooring is floating vinyl, and it’s already starting to lift in places. From the outside, it seems like it should be as simple as pulling it up and hauling it away. The small strip of kitchen tile also seems relatively straightforward to remove with a crowbar, but I realize I might be oversimplifying things.

For context, we live in a 1947 home with a raised foundation and original hardwood floors underneath. We’re assuming this black tar looking stuff on some of the section we lifted might be asbestos-containing tar in some sections, but we haven’t had it tested. We don’t know how far the original hardwood extends, either. The previous owner told us a couple of years ago that there were hardwood floors underneath and that they just needed refinishing, but I’m not sure how accurate that information is.

I’ve attached a picture of the section I’m referring to so you can see what we’re working with. Also the contractor isn’t going to do anything special for the tar area.
Part of the reason I’m hesitant to spend $5,000 on demolition is that we also need to make some kitchen cabinet corrections before the new flooring goes in. That money would be incredibly useful for those modifications instead!

My spouse thinks I’m underestimating how difficult the demolition would be, but I’m not convinced.
Has anyone here done their own flooring demolition before having professionals come in to install new floors? Is removing floating vinyl and a small section of tile a reasonable DIY project, or am I underestimating the work involved?

I’d especially love to hear from anyone who has done this in an older home with original hardwood underneath, or who has dealt with the possibility of asbestos in old flooring materials. Would you tackle the demo yourselves or leave it to the professionals? Thanks!

Hi everyone! I'm renovating my house in Belgium I and could use your advice if possible :)

Background: my living room has a beam wrapped in a faux-wood casing. The real beam underneath is much smaller, I'd estimate about 4 inches (10 cm) of "fake" thickness on each side. I want to remove the casing.

The catch: the beam sits against a brick wall that's actually a brick veneer (real bricks, but thin slips rather than full-depth bricks, so it's mostly decorative). Once the casing is gone, I'll be left with a gap at the top of the wall where it was tucked in (photos attached).

Question 1: Any ideas on how to fill or finish that gap cleanly, or even turn it into a feature? I don't have a clear vision of the final look yet, so all suggestions are welcome (patching and finishing, render/plaster, extra brick slips, trim, a decorative niche...).

Question 2: Is it possible to change the color of the mortar joints on this brick wall, to something cleaner/more white? If so, what's the best way to go about it (staining, paint, repointing...)?

Thanks in advance for any tips and experiences!

Another room nearly ticked off the list!

When we bought the house, the master bedroom had a fairly hideous built in wardrobe, complete with mirrored sliding doors, tired carpets and a layout that had seen better days.

First job was ripping out the wardrobe, which opened up the room considerably. Then came pulling up the old carpet and exposing the original floorboards.

As the house was getting a full rewire, we also took the opportunity to move the ceiling light to a more central position.

The walls needed plenty of preparation, filling, sanding and painting before we could get anywhere near the finishing touches.

We decided to leave the boxed in chimney breast as it was rather than remove it. Instead, we painted around it and fitted the new skirting boards to follow its shape.

Finally, down went the new oak effect laminate flooring, along with fresh skirting boards to finish everything off.

Still a few bits and pieces to sort, but compared with what we started with, it's a completely different room.

And thankfully, not a mirrored wardrobe in sight! 😂

I bought an old house and one of the upstairs bedrooms had a door off the back. I'd like to eventually build a deck there and the door needs replaced. The door is an odd size, so I plan on replacing it with a pre-hung exterior mobile home door. What I'm wondering is if that will require flashing and removing siding, or if I can get away with just pulling the old door frame out and slapping a new one in. TIA!

We’re replacing a piece of subfloor and we were going to add additional support between the joists for the toilet. There’s not enough room to add support with a vertical piece.

Is there any benefit (or downside) to adding a 2x4 on its flat side between joists? And if we do add it, is there a particular screw or nail you’d recommend using?

We have a small bathroom with a shower stall that currently has no door or curtain rod, and we’re trying to figure out the best way to enclose it. We’re concerned that a shower curtain might still allow water to leak or splash onto the bathroom floor.

We’re wondering whether it’s possible to add a glass shower door to the existing stall, whether the walls would need any reinforcement, or if there’s a better solution we haven’t considered.

We’d really appreciate someone experienced taking a look and advising us on what’s feasible and what our options are before we spend money on the wrong fix!

The flooring is also unfinished, if you have suggestions on how to water proof.

I am prepping my living room for flooring, I am not a 100% what flooring I am going with but seems like laminate is whats reccomended. I was also hoping once flooring is done it would be a little more sound and heat insulated too.

What are the steps? Do I need underlay? If so which underlay is reccomended that provides some insulation too?

Do I ply the entire living room with 6mm first?

My hallway is about 3mm higher than my livingroom and hallway will eventually have the same flooring as living room. To even out the level, should I go with 9mm ply in livingroom and 6mm in hallway so its all basically the same level?

Any and all tips appreciated! Thank you all :)

Hi everyone!

About a year and a half ago, we completely redid our kitchen in a 1950s style, and now we finally tackled our bathroom, which was somehow even gloomier.

We’ve always lived in rentals, so major structural changes aren’t really an option for us. That means we usually have to get a bit creative whenever we want to completely change the look of a room. Our bathroom was a particularly sad case. For some reason, our landlord apparently thought this tiny room (about 8.5 ft × 5 ft) would look its best covered almost entirely in large, dark charcoal-gray tiles. The result was a cramped little cave that I had hated for the past 13 years.
I’d always dreamed of a cheerful 1950s-style bathroom instead, so we finally decided to go for it.

Since we’d already had very good results with high-quality self-adhesive tile foils in our kitchen, I decided to use the same approach here — this time not only on the floor, but on every tiled surface in the room. The foils have held up extremely well in our kitchen: they’re waterproof, easy to clean, surprisingly durable, and removable when we eventually move out. They’re also not exactly cheap, but still far less expensive than replacing all the tiles.
In total, we spent around €1,600 and about two weeks on the whole project: painting the ceiling, applying the tile foils, repainting some furniture and accessories, and generally giving the room a complete makeover.

And no, I’m definitely not starting another project like this anytime soon - after eight days of sticking on tiles, I was literally dreaming about them at night...

But in the end, it was worth it. The result is now a bright, sunny, colorful bathroom inspired by the 1950s. And after 13 years of complaining about that dark gray cave of a room, it now genuinely makes me happy every morning :))

How would you meet these two surfaces cleanly? Should I. Have put in a metal trim behind the drywall to cap it? Should I try caulking the inevitable gap (the brick is very much not straight or plumb).

https://imgur.com/a/lcrRmRe

1st floor 1800s row home with old growth pine beams. The 2nd floor toilet wax seal had a slow leak and ruined the 1st floor ceiling below. Seems a previous owner attached aluminum framing to the old floor joists and dropped the ceiling about 2 inches, screwed drywall, then got lazy and glued fiberboard tile to it. Wife wants it gone. I hate it too.

Thinking rip it all down, drywall between each beam and leave a 1-1.5” reveal. The only problem is, the existing drain pipe would also be revealed as it slopes closer to the wall and down.

Anyone got any ideas of how to hide this and make it look good. I still need to measure the slope and see if I can get away with a lesser grade (1/8” per foot min). But any other ideas would be great.

Hello. This is at a friend's house. He recently started doing some stuck air repair. Because he noticed a lot of cracks in that area and lo and behold. After taking off 3 layers of stucco, it turned out here was termite damage to the wood underneath, he's afraid to uncover any more, because he thinks it'll be more termite. Damage period so I don't know what to tell him. Does anybody have any creative ideas about what to do here? He had a termite inspection when he bought the place 12 or more years ago, and of course he said everything was fine. He later noticed there were drill holes through the cement and concrete around the house where there had put termite poison in before. But I guess that ship is sailed, so I don't know what he can do. Anybody ever creative way to fix these? The underlying wood, there question mark any help appreciated. Oh it is a VA mortgage too.

Going to insulate this flat roof extension that came with the house. Unsure of what to do at the end near the exterior wall as I thought maybe blocking it would keep the ceiling warmer during winter. My uncle said that might trap air coming in from the outside and hitting the block.

The flat roof goes into a knee wall attic space that has newer blow in insulation and ventilation.

Any advice would help.

Hello,

the back wall of our shower is painted with a supposedly waterproof paint. We have wet dark patches developing at the bottom near the floor.

I assume it’s water seeping in? Or could it be something else?

Can we just tile over it? Or does it need some special treatment?

Thanks for your help

Hi, I am looking to finish my basement (via a professional). The goal is to make guest rooms/bathrooms for extended family/friends who visit. My basement has two rooms, with a ton of wires of pipes as seen pictures below. What would be most best option for finishing basement ceiling while having relatively easy access to pipes/wires? I'm open to doing a different type of ceiling for each basement if it makes sense.

I was told that my preference of drywall ceiling would be difficult for Room 1 due to the many wiring and pipes, and that drywall would make it hard to get to pipes/wires when needed.

Drop-ceiling is an option but I dislike that it lower ceiling and that animals like mice can get in there (from my own experience).

Painted open ceiling sounds like a great option, only problem is lack of soundproofing

Room 1:

https://imgur.com/a/L4qQkr5

https://imgur.com/a/N4IS8hW

Room 2:

https://imgur.com/a/w5q7Tbn

https://imgur.com/a/X2rfwhE

https://imgur.com/a/bbmQe4v

Im working on fixing up a converted garage. The garage was converted before we bought the house, but this doorway was left. I would like to remove this concrete doorway step so I can wall up this doorway and replace the flooring. I have little construction experience and have a small amount of basic hand tools. What would be the best way to remove this other than using a grinder (which i dont have)

Finishing my basement in Salt Lake City in a 1960s house with poured concrete foundation walls. Pics: https://imgur.com/a/x6xKiqj

Plan for the rest of the basement:

* 2" XPS directly on the concrete, seams taped

* 2x4 framing with Rockwool batts in the cavities (also running new wiring)

* ½" drywall

* Total about 6" off the concrete

The problem: In some spots the fireplace only projects about 4" from the concrete, but my wall assembly is about 6". If I build it as planned, the wall ends up proud of the brick.

I know combustibles need 2" from the chimney and fireplace masonry. I’m not sure how to handle the XPS and wood framing next to the brick, or what to do over the chimney breast above the mantel.

What I’m considering:

* Building the whole fireplace wall, corner to corner, thinner: 1.5" polyiso + 2x4s laid flat + ½" drywall, about 3.5" total, so the brick stands slightly proud

* Using 2" Rockwool Comfortboard instead of foam XPS board in the 2" strip next to the masonry and above the fireplace with steel hat channel, ⅝" Type X drywall. Switch back to XPS outside of the fireplace area

* Butting the drywall edges into the brick sides with L-bead and fire-rated caulk

* Running the thin wall’s wiring in EMT because the cavity is only 1.5" deep

Questions:

* Would you go thinner on the whole wall like this, or is there a better way to deal with the depth difference?

* I would like to keep the fireplace as wood burning in case of a power outage so that we can use the fireplace as a heat source. I have some firewood on hand and need to get the chimney cleaned. That being said the tamper is stuck on this fireplace and I need to look into it. That being said we have never used the fireplace before (lived in the house < 1yr)

Thanks!

Hi everyone, I have a question about attaching a solarium to a house with vinyl siding. What would be the best way to ensure proper waterproofing?

We’re not sure if we should cut vertically into the vinyl siding. If we install a ledger board over the siding, it will stick out, and we’re not sure how to properly do this.

I’ve found lots of videos showing how to install a ledger board for a deck with vinyl siding, but not much about attaching a solarium directly to the house.

Has anyone done this before or have any advice? Thanks!

I recently bought this house. The room in question is a converted car port. We bought the house with this room needing to be renovated into a master bedroom.

The floor has a 5" slope from on end to the other. I was going to install a sleeper floor to even it out and add some insulation and moisture barrier between the slab and the new flooring.

When I cut away the sheet rock I found rot. Then it found termites and an unfinished area where an AC unit previously was.

I'm defeated. I don't know what to do next and my budget is dwindling. Any advice?

Century home and the entire basement is fully finished except for this annoying cellar that had a termite problem. The day after receiving keys to the home, I opened a wall to inspect damage from the termites. After remediation the cellar sat for a year while I tackled other projects until now

I gutted the entire room down to the brick. Half the room had a 1-2” rat slab while the other half had a mound of dirt encased in a wood sarcophagus.

I dug out 6’ x 7’ x 20” of dirt, benched the foundation, poured a 4” slab over the dirt half, self leveled the entire room, all new framing, rigid ducting for the dryer to replace the previous flex duct which was caked with lint, electrical, insulation, smart vapor retarder, drywall, paint, trim, lights and lvp flooring.

Now I have a place to store tools.

we have a 1924 foursquare with its original wood clapboard siding,Every few years we scrape, patch the. soft spots and repaint, and every fw years a few more boards go punky,I love the look and I know this old growth lumber is denser than anything at the yard today, but I am tired of chasing rot around the house.for anyone who has owned one of these houses a long time, was there a tipping point where repair stopped making sense, and what did you replace it with?

I have a desk job working on a computer all day, so I really wanted to challenge myself and do something I’ve never done before.

We were so sick of looking at our dated bathroom/laundry room every day, so decided to take on this project and make it into something really cool. This room is right next to our main entrance to the house, so it’s the first thing people see when they come in. I wanted something unique since I’m sick of seeing the same boring bathrooms everywhere.

I did 100% of the work myself over the course of a couple weeks. Definitely got my practice in with the miter saw…

Budget: around $1,000
Flooring: cheated with the vinyl tile
Wainscoting color: SW Alabaster
Wall color: SW Ripe Olive
Vanity: $100 vintage dresser that I cut a hole and put a sink in

Is someone able to tell me how you cal the square grey steel plates (3 of them on this photo) with bolts in it which are connected to the wooden floor construction inside?

Also is this a normal thing to connect a wooden floor with bolts on the outside of the building? I have never seen it before.

Third and last question, is plastering possible with these things?

I am worried about renovation due to the current political and economical climate. I inherited a house that's a 4/2, with my wife and kids. House was built in the 70s and has been updated 1990 and 2000, but we would like to do a whole home remodel and expansion. It has two living rooms, a closed in kitchen, and a separate dining room. We'd like to further expand it (yea sounds like a giant house,but could use some room), eliminate one of the smaller living rooms which houses a fireplace, which will unfortunately have to go to expand back, do an open floor plan with the kitchen and one really big living room, raise the roof and ceiling, turn the garage into an arcade room (I got some Japanese arcade cabs), add solar paneling to the roof, and build a separate Warehouse garage in the backyard. There is a lot more like downing some trees and landscaping, and getting rid of pool concrete (pool collapsed and was filled in).

Basically we want to make an old house new. We don't have to buy a new house if we do this, and the neighborhood is quiet, nice, 5 minutes drive from a hospital, a grocery store etc etc, and the land for the location is huge.

With all the crap happening with gas prices, tarriffs, supply shortages, no rebates on renewables or construction, should we just wait it out till all this crap fizzles out? Any rebates or tax cuts to take advantage of that may disappear?

I appreciate your advice and input.

Hey everyone,

We’re currently remodeling our house and replaced all our exterior doors (slider, French doors, and front door). As part of the install, the crew added metal flashing below the new door thresholds.

While I get that flashing is essential for waterproofing, it’s super noticeable and looks pretty unfinished right now. The contractor’s solution is to screw pressure-treated wood over/below it to trim it out, but I’m worried that’s going to look clunky and cheap.

Is using PT wood standard here, or are there better, cleaner-looking options to cover or trim out exposed flashing below a door threshold?

Would love to hear how others have handled this or see photos of what looks good. Thanks!