figure i would just keep all the home improvements under one thread for this year to keep track of them
so on Sat. we replaced the front step to the house. now long story short, the original step that came with the house broke so we took this inside step used when the owners punched a hole in the living room and made it the outside step, full aware that it was not meant for out side but with some outdoor paint it held up for over 1.5yrs till right around Oct. then we knew time was limited. Ken and I were getting scared to even step on it.



yeah scarey!!!! we were only stepping on the left side.


so Fri. night we went out and bought stuff to make a new step Sat. in the 34 degree temps and half way into it it started to snow on us. but we got it done.

painting the pre-cut forms for the steps


we bought the composite decking planks to make the steps out of.


this was the hard part.... we have a concrete base under the steps that has sunk on the right side sooo much i had to make a 3" shim to go under the step. we used 2 levels on each side of the new 4' step. the bubble was in the middle so we attached it to the porch.


it was not till we attached it and finished it did we step back to look at it and notice how much higher the right side was even though the LEVEL said it was LEVEL!!! now were wondering if the porch has shifted.... we did not have a big enough level to check that. its on our list to buy.


good news is now we can walk on the step and not worry about falling through it!!!!
i plan on removing both concrete sections under the step and replacing it with level flagstone so we will fix the step then, when we have a level floor to start with.

oh the joys of home ownership

I didn't realize the step was that bad when I came over! Guess the snow had it covered lol

Well we started our 2nd house project of the year (garden stuff does not count)
the Guest bath has been an ongoing work in progress and its one of 3 things still on our to do list since we moved in. We hope to check it off by the end of the month. you can check here for the last up date
http://www.itsahuskything.com/t2200-no-hike-bathroom-remodel?highlight=bathroom
we got word that we will be having 2 guest staying with us in June and i would hate for them to use the bathroom with plywood floors! nothing like out of town guest to get you moving on projects!!!
I had NO idea removing a toilet that my guess is 13yrs old would be so hard, as silly as it sounds i was thankful for my home depot handy book that told me how to get the damn thing out. that was a huge hold up on Saturday, we had gone out and bought all the materials friday night so we were ready. Ken was working saturday so by the time i got the toilet out he was home and we laid out the tile to see what we were doing and came up with a game plan. we picked all the tile up and prepped the floor for the underlayment we got this stuff,
http://www.homedepot.com/Flooring-Hardwood-Flooring-Hardwood-Tools-Accessories-Underlayments/h_d1/N-bejlZ5yc1v/R-100562672/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051
worked well, only down fall was the sticky black shit will stick to anything and rubbed off on the walls when trying to lay it down and i had to paint over it as i could not get it off! it requires a glue to be painted on the floor first and needs to dry, we took that time to go walk the dogs to the park.
got home put the floor down and then re laid the tile so we were ready to measure for cuts. at that point we needed to rent a tile cutter for porcelain and it was to late so we were done for the day, i was mad we did not get more done.
Day one pictures

toilet removed and floor prepped


lucky for us the laminate was only kind of glued to the floor so we had little scraping to do.


Ken putting the glue down


tile relaid on the sub-floor and ready to figure out cuts.

Day 2:
i headed to the gym and by the time i got back and we talked even more about our game plan we were ready to rent the saw at 1:30. ( i think talking took more time then anything) but this was our first time doing tile.
power saws scare me, i think all the shop classes and art class lectures about safety really got drilled into my head how easy it is to lose a finger! i left the cutting to ken and i (being the everything needs to be perfect gal) did all the measuring on the tile, what we don't use i can return


we got the cutting done in the 4hrs we had the saw for! doing the door frame and the toilet was the worst.
ken ran it back to home depot and i walked and fed the dogs, that by this time really hated us for not spending any time with them! we were going to eat dinner but figured if we sat down the mortar would never get done, so up we went to finish the floor.


i did the first row to make sure we were straight and did a total of 3 rows before letting ken get his hands dirty.



WE DID IT!!! it was only like 9pm by this time.


let me just say this wedge system was a life saver! i just hope they kick out like they say they should.


i also got the sink tile in.

so we just have to mortar the bullnose in and let that dry and grout. then we need a extender ring for the toilet and we have to put that sucker back in but not after i give it a super scrub in the tub.
stay posted to see how fast we can knock this out.....

You'd better not make me use a bathroom with nothing but plywood on the floor!

Kidding... The project looks great, I can't wait to see how it comes out!

Looks great! Can't wait to see the finished product in a couple of weeks.

The tile you used looks very similar to what I have. It looks very nice!

Looks awesome! Come tile my entire home, okay?

Here is one reason i took yesterday off




got the bullnose mortared on only took an hr., now to grout on sat. also went and got the new toilet wax and screws to get that back on

Looks good, Jenn! I can't wait to see it finished

Wow, nice work! I'm hopeless with stuff like that. I'd totally mess it up.

Next project, I think you guys should come do our bathroom...

Kim, maybe after we finish the master we can come do your

I got the grout in on saturday and cleaned the toilet yesterday so its ready to be put back in place hopefully tonight! so the next set of pics will be the finished ones!


now on to the next concern, our deck.... because S&J liked to dig under the deck in the cool dirt they caused on of the main footers to shift and start to pull the deck apart, with 20ish some people hanging out in 2 weeks we got to get it fixed, im not sure thats something ken and i can handle so i called the guy who built it and he is going to come out tomorrow if the weather is good and pretty much deconstruct the upper part of the deck and fix it. Ouch to our savings account!!!! but no one will die and thats better then a law-suite. were going to have to put up lattice or something to keep them from getting under there but i feel bad cause thats the nice cool shade area of the yard but we can't afford to fix the deck a 3rd time. maybe i will build a covered sand box next to the deck for them..... i will try to get pictures tonight or tomorrow morning before they get to work. this deck has been by far the highest expanse we have had on this house, well the yard maybe is more but thats done in sections, this deck is only 3 yrs old. oh the joys of being a home owner.

Well here are the GIANT craters to China S&J dug and have now caused $100s of bucks to fix





this is the center footer causing all the issues, well i should say its the hole that caused the issues....


the one that i think is close to hitting the craw space



damn dogs