Mission: Get The Highest Appraisal or How To Replace Pool Tiles

Our first project of “Mission: Get the highest appraisal” was to replace some tiles in our pool.  This is earthquake territory so it is not unusual for pool tiles to pop off here.

 

You can see some of the missing tiles in this picture taken in 2010.  We had them replaced by a pool contractor but he did a horrible job, using all the wrong products and they popped off again.  Surprise, surprise!

 

So I did some research on the web and came up with my own plan on how to fix the problem.  Unfortunately we were so intimidated by this project that we put it off until now.

 

 

I ordered EZ Patch on the internet and it was fabulous.  It is especial made to replace pool tiles.  Of course we ran out of it with some 30 tiles to go.  It was off to the Home Depot, or as we like to call it “Home Deposit” where we found a similar tile adhesive that worked equally well.

 

 

We assembled the necessary tools. The hammer and chizel were to chip away some of the grout that was left behind when the tiles fell off.

 

 

All of our project require a large Dr.Pepper for me and a large Coke for my hubby. 

 

The first step was draining the pool down below the missing tiles.  We have a submercible pump that we use to drain the pool when needed and if you don’t have one you can rent one at a pool supply store.

 

 

After cleaning off the area we applied the adhesive to the back of each tile, there were about 70 tiles, using a 1/4 inch notched trowel and pressed it into place.   It was warm that day so the tiles stuck to the side of the pool with no sagging or slipping.

 

 

We had about 75% of the tiles re-attached when dinner time rolled around and we took a pizza break.   It was dark by the time we were ready to start again but it had been a pretty warm day and the pool water was still comfortable so we hauled out our work lights and went back to work.  Leaving the plaster exposed during warm weather can cause it to crack and that was the last thing we needed so we were eager to finish up.

 

 

The only problem was that since the temp had dropped the tiles were now slipping and sagging once we pressed them into place.

 

 

We didn’t have any of the tile spacer thingies so I searched around the house and all I could come up with were some plastic utensils.

 

 

It was a pretty funny site but they worked unbelievable well.  I thought maybe I would link it up to a tablescaping linky party just for a giggle.  I will purchase the spacer thingies if we do this many tiles again.  We were up until after Midnight and our neighbors probably thought we were nuts we were having a blast.

 

The next morning we did the grout.  For some mysterious reason my pictures of the grouting process have disappeared but it was pretty straight forward.  We mixed the grout according to the instructions although I would say it was the consistency of a brownie mix rather than the mashed potatoes the directions referred to.  We pushed the grout into the spaces around the tiles with a grout float and after the grout hardened just a bit we wiped off the haze with a towel.

It went on easily and we were done in less than an hour.   

 

We did end up dropping some grout into the pool but it was a small amount and so my husband helped it “dissolved” by squishing it with his foot.  That kept it from adhering to the plaster.

 

 

It turned out beautifully.

 

While we had been dreading this job (because we thought it was going to be hard) we were extremely surprised at how easy it was.

 

Now the pool looks great and we know that we can fix it if more tiles fall off in the future.

 

Thanks for reading,

I will be linking up to these wonderful parties.

What’s Going On At The Dog House?

Well, not much has gone on at home for the last week because I haven’t been there.

I have spent 8 of the last 10 days at the coast.  First with my daughter and then with friends.

I spent Mother’s Day weekend with my daughter in San Diego, where we did our best to boost the economy by doing a bit of shopping.

First it was breakfast in bed.  Apparently there was a problem with the a/c in our room in the middle of the night and a repair man had to come up and fix it.  I slept through the whole thing but my clever and frugal daughter got our breakfast compted.

It was yummy!

Then it was off for a Whale and Dolphin Cruise.  Mothers were free on Mother’s Day.  You can’t beat a free breakfast and a free cruise.

I had a total blast on the trip.  We got into a group of over 100 dolphins.  They were swimming next to the boat as we sprinted through the water.  Unfortunately my daughter had a terrible bout of sea sickness.  But she was a trooper and did get to see the dolphins while leaning over the side of the boat. 

After the boat docked and we were making our way to the car my daughter said she hoped she had not ruined the day.  Such a big difference from the way she would have handled the situation even a few years ago.  I welled up with love and pride at how adult my baby had become.  An adult who is both thoughtful and considerate.  I couldn’t have asked for a better Mother’s Day gift.

I was only home for a few days and it was off to Cayucos as a guest of our friends.  You have never heard of Cayucos?  I am not surprised.  It is a sleepy little town on the California Central Coast snuggled between Pismo Beach and Hearst Castle.  It is a sweet little town where the beach is always waiting.

This was my view on Saturday afternoon.  I couldn’t ask for anything better.

Of course no vacation to Cayucos would be complete without a stroll through town to check out the cute little homes like this little blue cottage.

Then it was out to dinner with our friends where we had fish and chips at Ducky's.  What a great time and so relaxing.

Now that I am back at home the relaxing is over.  We are trying to refinance our home and I am determined to get the highest appraisal we can.

So while I thought I would be spending the next few weeks posting about my break up with Blogger, I will be putting that on the back burner and sharing the appraisal process with all of you.

Not only have I done my research but I have a punch list of things I want to complete before the appraisal. So stay tuned because the work starts tomorrow.

Thanks for reading,

Traci

My Vinyl Spray Paint Experience

Three weeks ago I was looking high and low for a king-sized headboard (to go with my new very comfy bed which deserves an entire post of its own).  I had promised myself I was not buying anything thing else but that promise didn’t even get me passed my first stop.

 

This great office chair had me breaking my vow to look only for a headboard.  I spotted this beauty at my local Salvation Army Thrift Store.  They usually have great items but they are usually over priced these days so I was surprised that this chair was only $29.

 

 

Sure it was a little tired looking but I figured I could fix that with no problem. 

 

 

There was quite a bit of wear on the arms of this faux leather, aka vinyl chair, but the rest of it had a shabby English library feel to it.  Good thing my husband needs a new office chair because this puppy was coming home with me.

 

 

After a good cleaning I taped over the tacks on the arms with Frog Tape I decided it was time to try out the vinyl spray paint that I had spied at Home Depot.

 

 

According to the Rust-Oleum website Rust-Oleum Specialty Vinyl Spray restores color and gloss and is ideal for vinyl or fabric car and boat seats, dashboards, upholstery, luggage, furniture, sports equipment and more because it contains actual vinyl for maximum flexibility.

 

 

My goal was to cover the worn places on the arms completely and to give a light dusting to the top and seat of the chair to freshen up the chair.  It was easy to cover the arms with a few light coats.  It covered well on the arms and dried to a glossy finish as promised.

 

On the places where I just sprayed on a light dusting the finish was not smooth.  It was warm here that day so that may have caused this problem but I painted other items that day with regular spray paint that turned out just fine.

 

I gave the rough areas a light sanding and wiped it down with furniture polish which

 smoothed out the finish.

 

I added a little stuffing to the seat cushion and it was done, or so I thought.  Within a few days the painted areas on the arm began to crack.   Don’t be scared this is only a close up of the cracking not part of some poisonous lizard.

 

 

With the exception of the arms cracking I was happy with the chair.  Adding a bit more stuffing made a big difference in the look of the chair.

 

 

Over all I was disappointed with the Vinyl Spray Paint.  The vinyl on the arms of this chair are only padded a bit so the material doesn’t have to flex very much and it still cracked the paint.  There is no way this finish would hold up on something like a car seat or couch cushion but if you are using it on a hard surface I think it would work very well.

 

As it turns out my husband doesn’t like the fit of the chair.  He says it is uncomfortable so it looks like my son just inherited an office chair.  Hopefully he will like it.

 

Have you used this or any other type of vinyl spray paint? And how were your results?  Did any of you have a better experience with this type of paint?  If you did I would love to hear about it.

 

Thanks for reading,

 

 

I will be linking up to these wonderful parties.