Vinny was right!

[tileman]

Well I picked up a taylor k-2005 kit today and got some slightly differnt readings than with my strips. Chlorine was the same but Alk, Ph, and calc. hardness were different.

Strips read ph 7.8ppm, Taylor was 8.0 ppm.
Strips read alk 80ppm, Taylor was 120ppm.
Strips read ch  150ppm, Taylor was 250ppm.

It wasn't confusing and seems alot more accurate.

Thanks Vinny,
Chad

[Pathfinder]

In my 8 years I have never seen an accurate reading for  Hardness on a pool and spa test strip.      With the taylor kit Im sure you will feel more comfortable with your readings and your tub in general     Just dont leave your kit outside in the winter

[tileman]

I was trying to get my ph to 7.4, so I added 1tbls of spa down and my alk dropped about 10ppm while my ph went from 8.0 to 7.2! I guess I'll wait and see what happens w/ ph over the next couple of days and adjust accordingly. I wasn't expecting such a significant drop in ph as I followed the instuctions. Though I did just realize that the reccommended dose strength was at 93.7% while my spa down is 95%. That 1.3% must have caused the .2 decrease. Oh well, live and learn.

[Vinny]

You're Welcome Chad!


BTW I have 2 bathrooms that I plan on tiling ..... You know what they say about payback!!

After all I'm Italian, we LOVE tile!!!

[tileman]

I too am Italian.
If you have any questions at all about your install, don't hesitate asking as you have helped me plenty. Normally I would advise to hire a proffessional but your a good guy and seem to gather knoweledge on what ever your trying to accomplish, so you can do it right. I can admire that as a fellow info junkie.

[Vinny]

I'm in my 2nd house and I've done 3 tile jobs. My last house I did a kitchen floor and the wall behind my kitchen counters and here I did behind the kitchen counters when I redid the kitchen. The floor job was porcelain and what a PITA.

I have a 10" diamond wetsaw blade always ready to go, just need the wetsaw! Actually, I HATE working on my house but do so to make the project money go further. When I told my wife about tiling the bathrooms, she thought I was nuts (She ain't Italian). When I explained that I wanted to do it floor to ceiling in tile - she knew I was nuts. I even want to rip out the fiberglass shower stall floor and install tiles there as well.

I told her that I will be doing a lot of soaking at night whan that project gets under way, probably next year.

[tileman]

You're "Vinny the tileman" from now on.  8-)  I'm with you in that theres no such thing as too much tile. My whole main floor is 21x21 and 16x16 porcelain, laided in a pinwheel pattern. My kitchen backsplash is 6x6 on a 45 degree angle. All three of my bathrooms and laundry room are floor to ceiling tile. My house is only 1300 ft2, so materials weren't that bad. I too was wanting to tear out my one piece fiberglass showers but I've already priced myself out of the neighborhood. I'll just have to wait for now until I can afford a nicer house.

[hot tub Frank]

i take the bigger house with less tile

[Silent Water]

After all I'm Italian, we LOVE tile!!!

I too am Italian.

Right.  I'm NOT Italian - but I eat like one!
And I'll take hardwood over tile, thanks (except maybe in the shower) .

[Vinny]

After all I'm Italian, we LOVE tile!!!

I too am Italian.

Right.  I'm NOT Italian - but I eat like one!
And I'll take hardwood over tile, thanks (except maybe in the shower) .

OK now!

My whole house is hardwood except the kitchen, family room and bathrooms ... I'm going to the best of all 3 worlds ... hardwood mostly (white oak at that!), laminate flooring in kitchen and family room and eventually tile in the 2 full bathrooms, 1/2 bath may get tiled too eventually. We tossed around the idea of hardwood in the family room but between the pool and tub and water dripping we opted for the laminate and glad we did - it wears like iron and no problems with water. We also have a dog and was told by someone who had a dog they can dent the hardwood floor up.

My son "needs" to get out of the cold quickly when tubing in cold temps and drips all over the place, I could just imagine the water stains on an oak floor.

[tileman]

The reason I dislike hardwood is because of the maintenance and durability. Unlike wood, tile is  permanent and has virtually no maintenance besides the grout discoloring. But this can be solved by using an epoxy grout that is indestuctable.
Hardwood is very popular again here in the midwest. It's funny how people follow the trends. Almost 100% of my work is new home construction, so I see it all. In particular there are these million dollar villas we do and some people put hardwood in heavy moisture areas such as laundry rooms, kitchens, and foyers because that's what they saw in a magazine, not realizing that nobody has lived in that picture yet. You would think spending all that money you would know not to do this. But rich people want what they want and there's no changing that. We try and explain to them that it's not a good idea and they just snub you off. I however would put wood in studies, bedrooms, and even family rooms but never in a room that has water in them on a consistant basis. Just my educated opinion. As I always think long term.

Vinny, if you have a dog there is no way wood would keep it's luster long. My friends that do wood get callbacks on scatched wood floors all the time because the homeowner has a dog. It's funny to hear them tell the stories about how the homeowner is in disbelief that that's the problem.   Even funnier is that it's not covered under warranty. So they get really PO.

[Vinny]

I was impressed at the floor store when the salesperson took a key and slammed the piece of laminate a few times - nothing happened!

[Silent Water]

I'm very pragmatic.  Function for me always takes precedence over aesthetics.
Normally, I prefer the warmth and organic look of hardwood over tile (which I sometimes find cold and sterile), but I have seen some gorgeous tile jobs that have made my jaw drop!  

I've laid tile (kitchen and bathrooms), laminate (basement office) and hardwood (familyrooms and hallways) and although I'm a realtor, not a professional tradesperson, I take care in what I do - and try to get it right.  It matters to me that I use the right product in the right place!

But now I'm stuck with a dilemma and could use your help.  I have a family cottage on the shores of Lake Huron that desperately needs a new floor throughout.  The original floor from 1957 was a peel-and-stick tile that came in long strips and looked marginally like wood. Years of exposure to wet feet, high humidity in summer and freezing temps in winter (this is a seasonal place and not insulated) have caused the strips to curl up from the plywood subfloor.  Any ideas what product(s) would tolerate these extremes in temp and humidity levels?  :-/  Oh ya, and resist the effects of sand, - which gets EVERYWHERE, btw.
Is this a job for Tileman!? (Now there's a superhero name for you!)

[tileman]

Tileman to the rescue!
 The only flooring that can withstand that kind of conditions is TILE. I would suggest going with a porcelain tile in your particular install, as it is the most durable tile out there. As far as the coldness that comes with tile it can be solved be using a heating element under the tile. There is some pretty easy installation products out there nowadays. In particular there is this felt type mat that has wire ran between the 2 layers. You just mortar and roll out, then set tile right on top. It's fully controlable w/ a thermostat and can be programmed  as well. It's not cheap but would be a worthy investment. Not to mention having some toasty toes and help with your insulation problems.

[Silent Water]

How did I know you would say that?

I intend to use tile in the kitchen/bath area but the rest of the "feel" of the cottage would be changed if I used tile throughout.    Oh well.  Thanks for the help.

As for the radiant heat floor idea, it's brilliant!  We see that a lot up here now in high-end installations, usually with hot water plumbed below a concrete floor.  The wire mat is an interesting concept - but wouldn't work in our location.  The cottage is in one of those rare remote areas that still only has 50 amp service.  That's barely enough juice for the spaceheater and the well pump to share as it is.  The lights dim as the pump comes on.