Vent: My bathroom reno turned into a 3 day field trip to Home Depot

Okay so I decided to retile my bathroom floor last Saturday. Small space, like 40 square feet, thought it would take a weekend. Big mistake. I got the old tile up fine, but then I found the subfloor was all soft in one corner near the toilet flange. So now I'm cutting out a 2x4 foot section of plywood, which sounds easy but my jigsaw blade snapped halfway through. Fine, whatever. I run to Home Depot on route 9, grab new blades, come back. Cut the patch, screw it down. Then I realize my self leveling compound was lumpy like pancake batter that sat too long. I poured it anyway and now there's a 1/4 inch high ridge right where the door swings. I ended up renting a floor grinder from the same Home Depot for $68 and spent Sunday grinding it down. My back hates me. The tile itself went in alright after that, but the grout dried way too fast in the heat and now it looks chalky in spots. I thought about redoing it but honestly I'm just gonna seal it and see. Has anyone else had a simple DIY turn into a multi store run for tools you didn't know you needed? How do you stop the bleeding before it starts?

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jordan18410d ago

Ugh, the chalky grout thing happened to me on a backsplash last year and I still stare at it every single time I'm in the kitchen. It's like the universe just kicks you when you're already down on the floor with a sore back. I swear every project I start comes with at least one surprise trip to the store for something I didn't even know existed, like a flange extender or a special spacer. The worst part is you can't plan for it either, you just gotta accept that the first trip is never the last trip. At least you got the tile down and it's mostly level, that's a win in my book. Just seal it and call it done, nobody's gonna notice the chalky spots but you.