It's Hard Work Removing Bad Taste

The off again, on again bathroom renovation is back on. My progress has been pretty much non existant for the last 9 months or so. But I told myself that it would be 100% done by Christmas, and that is what I intend to do. This phase consisted of removing the hideous blue floor tile that is in the master bathroom, and replacing with new travertine tiles.

We had gotten a couple quotes from contractors for removing the tile and installing the travertine. The quotes were anywhere from $1200 to $700 for the bathroom tile and the foyer. I was on board with the $700 quote, but that guy ended up being very flaky. So, like any true McLaren would do, I decided to take on the project myself. I knew it would be alot of work, but $700 is alot of money for something that I am perfectly capable of doing. Here is a before picture with Gavin trying on my ear muffs.

This morning I headed to Home Depot to rent a demoltion hammer for removing the old blue tile. This thing was an awesomely manly tool! Keep in mind that manly also equals very heavy....

This thing is the very essence of the phrase "work smarter, not harder". While it wasn't real easy work, I had all of the tile and thinset removed in about five hours. And that was with many breaks for lunch, football, etc. It took me 20 minutes last night to just remove half a tile and thinset by using a hammer and chisel. Yes, it was a super messy process....

All done, and ready for the new tile to be installed.

I am hoping to finish everything up within the next week or so. Although that might be a bit ambitious since I am already pretty sore from bring on the working end of the demolition hammer all day long...I can only imagine how I will feel in a couple days.