DIY home repair can suck me
The carpet removal machine keeps rollin'. We completed putting the new flooring in the guest bedroom and accompanying closet and bathroom. I won't tell you how long it took; suffice it to say we're not going as quickly as we could.
We started in on the living room, moving half the stuff in it into the newly floored guest bedroom and the other half against the far wall. We took up the carpet up to the tiled floor in front of the fireplace. As I was removing the last nail out of the last fucking tack strip, the nail gave way easier than I expected and I cracked a tile. Since we have no replacement tiles for this part of the house, this of course means that every tile must be removed and replaced with new tiles. I have no idea what I'm doing as far as tiling, but after spending the weekend perusing the internets I think I can fake my way through it. Spent last night with a floor chisel and a tiny sledgehammer getting the tiles off the floor.
When you take a hammer and chisel to ceramic tile, it has this unpleasant little property of breaking into either A) toxic dust that goes everywhere, B) tiny pieces of tile gravel that goes everywhere, or C) razor sharp shards that will cut you deep and painlessly. I didn't even realize it until I took a break and noticed that both of my hands were covered in blood, and I didn't even know where exactly it was coming from. After running them under water it turned out to be multiple tiny cuts (and one pretty big one) that I had no idea I had gotten. Gloves, people. And eye protection.
Anyway, the tiles are gone. Now I have to figure out how to glue the new ones down. Fortunately I don't have to cut tiles. Oh, and I have to figure out how to get ink out of clothes after a cycle through the dryer. Check your pockets for pens, folks. Learn from my mistakes.
We started in on the living room, moving half the stuff in it into the newly floored guest bedroom and the other half against the far wall. We took up the carpet up to the tiled floor in front of the fireplace. As I was removing the last nail out of the last fucking tack strip, the nail gave way easier than I expected and I cracked a tile. Since we have no replacement tiles for this part of the house, this of course means that every tile must be removed and replaced with new tiles. I have no idea what I'm doing as far as tiling, but after spending the weekend perusing the internets I think I can fake my way through it. Spent last night with a floor chisel and a tiny sledgehammer getting the tiles off the floor.
When you take a hammer and chisel to ceramic tile, it has this unpleasant little property of breaking into either A) toxic dust that goes everywhere, B) tiny pieces of tile gravel that goes everywhere, or C) razor sharp shards that will cut you deep and painlessly. I didn't even realize it until I took a break and noticed that both of my hands were covered in blood, and I didn't even know where exactly it was coming from. After running them under water it turned out to be multiple tiny cuts (and one pretty big one) that I had no idea I had gotten. Gloves, people. And eye protection.
Anyway, the tiles are gone. Now I have to figure out how to glue the new ones down. Fortunately I don't have to cut tiles. Oh, and I have to figure out how to get ink out of clothes after a cycle through the dryer. Check your pockets for pens, folks. Learn from my mistakes.
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