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This is the last part of a four-part series on the retiling of the outdoor steps at Vicki's house. To recap, the steps are 12 years, but we discovered several tiles were loose which needed immediate attention for safety reasons. Ultimately, we found that all the tiles on the first step and most of the second were loose.
To fix them, we chiseled off the old mortar, cleaned the old tiles, cut new tiles, laid them on fresh mortar, and in this post, we do the final step: grout, sealing, and clean-up.
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When we first discovered a few of the tiles on the front outdoor steps were loose, but only one was broken, we thought we'd only have to cut one new tile.
Because of this we did not want to invest in a wet saw that we would probably never use again. We set out to find an alternative way to cut tile.
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In our last post, we shared an overview of the entire process of removing the old front door step tiles though the reinstallation of the tiles.
In this video, we take a closer look at how we removed all the mortar, cleaned up the tiles, and then reinstalled them. Products:
Tools:
We mixed up the mortar following the instructions on the bag. We added way too much water initially so we had to add more powder. Start with a little water and slowly add to it to better control the consistency. The mixer attachment to the drill was extremely helpful. Again, use appropriate protect equipment so you're not breathing in the mortar dust.
Whew! The mortar removal and tile clean up were very labor intensive, but the actual tiling process was fairly quick and very satisfying to see it all come together.
Please note: This is not a sponsored post. We are not professionals, and we don't claim to be. This is what we found worked for our project. Yours may need a little different approach. Safety first! Affiliate links are being used on this page. Purchasing via these links help support MDP. Related Projects
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Not going to lie, this project was hard!
What started with "oh, we can stick down three loose tiles" turned into a major undertaking. Once we started to survey the front steps and discovered it was way more than three tiles, we definitely were concerned we were undertaking something beyond our abilities. With a lot of help from an associate in the tile department of the Home Depot who gave us spot-on advice, and with his encouragement, we set out to undertake our very first tiling project... Here's how it went!
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In this video, we are going to show you how we utilized some parts from previous projects, wood from the scrap pile and a few purchased materials to create a mobile storage unit.
Steph has a growing collection of outdoor gear for hiking, camping, and kayaking. She had been using a variety of totes and an old plastic shelving unit to store these things in the garage. This old stuff was not working so she designed a unit that would hold all her stuff and would be movable.
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We made a sort of impulse purchase at The Home Depot of a Artika pendant light. I've been wanting to remove a ceiling fan/light from a space that doesn't really need a fan but it does need a light and this fixture looked like it would be great for the space.
We've actually installed quite a few Artika lighting fixtures. The instructions are clear and straight-forward making them relatively easy to install. text by Steph Sign up here to join our weekly email newsletter! Over the past three years, I have had many issues with the IKEA smart blind. And a month ago, it finally just stopped working. In the video above, I talk about what happened and where I am today.
Below I share some issues I had I had with the smart blind. I found through internet research, ways to fix them.
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Steph didn't love the traditional ceiling fan at her house and was ready for a change.
We and by we, I mean Steph, has installed a number of enclosed blade ceiling fans with integrated LED lighting. It's a fan but there are no large blades extending from the fixuture. We really like the streamline look. Steph had been looking for a replacement ceiling fan and when she saw this Artika brand one on the Costco website, she ordered it. We've installed a lot of Artika lighting and really like the modern, bright look of their fixtures. Take a look at how we installed this Artika Edwin LED Ceiling Fan Chandelier!
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We were send this circle jig by the woodworking store Woodcraft. We were excited to give it a try because we have never had a great way to make a perfect circle.
We also had the perfect project in mind that needed multiple circles. We did need a few extra items to go with the jig, but once we got that we were ready to go!
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Anyone with long hair can attest to the ongoing struggle to maintain a clog-free sink drain.
With her long hair, Steph is always on the lookout for the device that will keep the drain clear. In this video, she tests out two possible contenders. Take a look to see how each fared!
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There is an ongoing debate about having a TV in a bedroom. Steph just recently decided she DID want one in her room 'cause who doesn't want to watch a movie all cozy in a nice warm bed?
Although she wanted one in the room she didn't want to "see" it all the time. She came up with a clever wall-hung unit that hides the TV when not in use. text by Vicki Sign up here to join our weekly email newsletter! Steph bought into the Home Reserve sofa system to give her two greyhounds and humans room to spread out.
She did a one year video update video seven months ago where she shared that the couch has held up really well and the upholstery washed up without any noticeable change. The couch still looks brand new even after a year of use by the dogs. She did identify two issues with the couch but didn't contact the company about them. It wasn't that big of a deal to her. Well, fast forward to about a month ago where 'out of the blue' she heard from Home Reserve. They had seen her update video and wanted to send her a new arm piece with updated hardware that would solve the squeak problem she had with the original. They also sent a very unexpected and extremely thoughtful gift which you can see at the end of the video.
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This project just went on and on!
I set out to do one thing after the threat of the hurricane had passed: return the outdoor furniture to the patio. But I ended up with a whole bunch of cleaning, repairing, replacing, and painting projects BEFORE ever moving the furniture back! Here's what I ended up doing...
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This fall, I've been doing a lot of projects on the concrete patio in my back yard. The makeover was sparked from the removal of all loose articles when there was the threat of a hurricane last August.
Before I put everything back, I realized the concrete was dirty so I decided to clean it, which led to painting it as the concrete was in poor condition, which also led me to realized the wood expansion joints were in bad shape. One end of which had entirely disappeared! So, we ordered a new vinyl expansion joint product and set out one morning to quickly take out the old ones and replace with the new vinyl. BUT....It was not quick....
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The back patio at my house (Vicki) has been undergoing a refresh. Part of the refresh was moving the hardshell kayak which left the perfect place for a deck box.
The reason for the box was to store the kayak wheels and paddle. The squirrels have been nibbling on the paddle so we wanted to put it out of their reach. Plus, who doesn't need more storage for outside stuff or other stuff that needs a home?!
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If you have a dog and it doesn't have free access to the outside, you find yourself making numerous trips during the day to open the door to let it out.
When Steph had one dog, it wasn't that big a deal, but when Tosh arrived it became a bigger deal. That's when she got a magnetic screen door to put over the sliding glass door opening so she could leave the porch door open so the dogs could come and go as they pleased. This worked really well until a big wind blew up unexpectedly and damaged the open porch door. Steph needed a way to provide access to the outside without continuing to add stress to the porch door and that's when she realized we should insert a screen door into the existing porch door. It certainly was one of those "duh" moments! Here's how we did it.
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Most everything we use in the garage is built for long use, but there are things that are "one and done!" Those are our consumables.
In this post we share 12 consumables we use most often and are sure to always have on hand in the workshop.
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It's been a while since we've changed out faucets and in that time, changes to sink stoppers have occurred!
Most likely, you have the standard sink stopper mechanism. You reach round the back of the faucet to pull up the rod that opens and closes the actual sink stopper. On this faucet install, we were introduced to new and improved sink stopper technology! Well, time will tell whether this is improved technology!
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Steph is becoming quite the expert when it comes to installing faucets! She says it's quite straight forward with the only real problem is trying to get comfortable in a very tight working space.
Come along as she shares how she installed a new faucet in the guest bath makeover at my house.
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As you can tell from the "before" picture, this little half bath was in need of a refresh!
Take a look at the budget makeover of this guest bath or maybe if you're fancy, you call it a powder room!
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Once we learned how easy it is to fake a live edge, we were hooked. We've been looking for another project where we could use the technique and found one in this half bath makeover.
We will be adding three "live" edge shelves to this bathroom. Here's how we did it.
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I have two leaf blowers at my house. One I keep in the garage, and one I keep in my outdoor storage box for quick access. My backyard is covered in trees so it's nice to grab my Ryobi leaf blower anytime to clear the debris (although I do keep the batteries in the house).
Over the last few weeks the blower trigger switch has been intermittently not working. So I searched to see if there was a fix, and here is how I fixed it!
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Summer time activities with my grandkids included teaching the two younger ones to sew. Although, I have a Janome sewing machine that I use on a regular basis, I have a few vintage ones as well that I like to use.
Many years ago, my mom passed along her vintage Singer 401A to me. She purchased the machine in 1960 for the sum of $298.70. (That also included the wood cabinet). In today's dollars that would be equivalent to $3,078.92! This is the machine that my sisters and I learned to sew on as 4-H members. While teaching the grandkids, I decided to get the 401A out and let them use it to practice on. It was actually quite an emotional moment seeing them use this machine that I had learned on almost 60 years ago! We were humming along quite nicely with it when I decided it was time to learn to use the zig zag stitch. Well, I turned stitch selector knobs or at least tried and nothing happened! After, they left for the summer, I did a little research to see if I could fix what was wrong. Spoiler, yes, I did get it working once again over the course of three days. But it was not a quick fix!
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My daughter-in-law needed a place for all the things the grandkids bring into the house after school. She needed some kind of landing zone for backpacks, shoes, school supplies and more!
This is what we came up with. Since she is in an apartment and plans to move in the future, we built it with that in mind. It can easily be taken apart and moved to a new location.
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We have two amazing used bookstores in town. When my grandkids come to town, we have to visit the bookstores multiple times.
During their six-week visit this summer, all the grandkids accumulated so many books! All three of them love to read so I can't say 'no' to more books. The middle grand had run out of room for books in his room so he asked if we could make him bookshelves. So plans were made, lumber was bought and bookshelves took shape! It was fun to work with him on this project. This is a perfect beginner project. |