Those seldom used tools.....

[Ken Fitzgerald]

A few weeks ago , I gutted a tiled shower I built over 20 years ago. In my 70's I came to the conclusion that a pound weighs more going up the stairs as I tore out the Wonderboard and took it to the main floor and onto the carport. At one time I know I had a full sized wrecking/demolition bar but I couldn't find it. I quickly remembered and got one of my flat bladed short handled shovels and it made the demolition quicker.

In 1978 I offered to build a fence for a young widow and mother of a 7 year old son if she paid for materials and the cost of a new circular saw. I had reassigned that worn out old saw to a diamond blade and have been using it to cut concrete blocks and Wonderboard for the last 20+ years. The saw will be going into the trash tomorrow after I removed the diamond blade. The bearings have gotten so bad that I moved the blade marker on the body along the line I had marked on the Wonderboard and the blade just chose it's own path sometimes straying off as much as 3/16-1/4".

I looked online at HD for a replacement CS but then remembered my Bosch angle grinder. I got it out and inside the box was several blades rated for mortar including a 4.5" diamond blade. What a blessing. It was easier and quicker than even using the CS.

And, when I need to follow a seam in the old wall to remove the cement panels (Wonderboard) a section at a time, my oscillating Dremel multi-max was a thing of beauty equipped with a diamond blade.

Both the angle grinder and the oscillating tool are seldom used but when you need them, they are worth their weight in silver....

[Doug Garson]

Forget the Wonder board, Schluter KERDI board cuts with a utility knife and you can pick up a full 4 x 8 sheet in one hand.

[John K Jordan]

Forget the Wonder board, Schluter KERDI board cuts with a utility knife and you can pick up a full 4 x 8 sheet in one hand.

The best installers here use nothing but the Schluter system. I was quite impressed by the method used to seal everything before the tile was installed.

Ken, you are right about the usefulness of the angle grinder and multi tool. With the farm, I might have more use for these than many - I have 4 angle grinders plus two battery operated and use them a lot, especially for metal working. On the other hand, I don't use the multitool much but when I need it often nothing else will do the job as well! I bought the Fein years ago and it's been a dream. (and I think it's the only power took I have that came with a 12' cord)

JKJ

[Jim Becker]

Ken, you just reinforced while I keep some things around that rarely get used. Example...I have a tile saw that I bought in 2003 when I was doing a gut-level renovation of our kitchen at the old property. (It's a wet saw with a diamond blade...kinda an inverted table saw, if you will) I needed it for the handmade subway tile I used for the back splash. It then got stored away...until 2016 when I renovated the original master bath in that house to have a shower that was larger than a phone booth. There was some necessary tile work require to fill in some areas. (Fortunately, I was able to get the same tile that was originally installed by the previous owner in the early 1990a) The saw got stored away, was moved here to the new place a few weeks ago and used to cut exactly one piece of tile for the foyer floor as part of my stairway remediation project. I'm still going to keep it...'may need it for future projects here.

[John K Jordan]

...renovated the original master bath in that house to have a shower that was larger than a phone booth. ...

I'll bet you're lovin' it! We did the same thing.

We renovated the bath off the master bedroom and went from a dark and dreary fiberglass "phone booth" shower (great description) to a 4x8' shower with glass wall and door, a tiled seat, and tile overhead that follows the 45-deg slope of the timberframe ceiling up to about 10' on the high end. What an astounding difference!

For a bonus at certain hours and times of the year sunlight comes into the shower from 2x2 skylight in the sloped ceiling in the middle of the room. We had to take out an antique claw-foot tub but the result was so worth it. My Lovely Bride is the genius who had the vision, my only task was the design, a friend did the carpentry, and a couple of professionals from Moldova did the extensive tile work.

(I asked the guy how he learned the trade and he said he watched some YouTube videos. :))

I've never done any tile work. After watching them I decided I don't want to do any tile work.

JKJ

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Ken, you just reinforced while I keep some things around that rarely get used. Example...I have a tile saw that I bought in 2003 when I was doing a gut-level renovation of our kitchen at the old property. (It's a wet saw with a diamond blade...kinda an inverted table saw, if you will) I needed it for the handmade subway tile I used for the back splash. It then got stored away...until 2016 when I renovated the original master bath in that house to have a shower that was larger than a phone booth. There was some necessary tile work require to fill in some areas. (Fortunately, I was able to get the same tile that was originally installed by the previous owner in the early 1990a) The saw got stored away, was moved here to the new place a few weeks ago and used to cut exactly one piece of tile for the foyer floor as part of my stairway remediation project. I'm still going to keep it...'may need it for future projects here.

My old tile wet saw got thrown out a few years ago as I and others had worn that thing out. I bought a new for this job. It's better than the one it replaced!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Forget the Wonder board, Schluter KERDI board cuts with a utility knife and you can pick up a full 4 x 8 sheet in one hand.

The Schluter system was too expensive for me. Wonder board costs about $11 for a 3'x5' sheet here. For $77, I was able to redo the subsurface for the whole shower. BTW, in my 70's, it's pretty heavy coming down the stairs too!:D

[Rich Engelhardt]

I buy those limited use things all the time.
I usually buy them well ahead of time when I'm in the "thinking about it" stage of things.

Then I get it home, take it out of the package to fondle it and pretend I'm some kind of expert at using it.
I get tired of doing that after a week or so & it ends up on top of the dog's crate in the living room.

When the eruption of crap on top of the crate becomes too much for my wife to stand for, she goes on a tear and makes it all vanish.
When it comes time to use what I bought - I have to go out and get another one just like the one I can't find :(.

[Jim Becker]

I'll bet you're lovin' it! We did the same thing.

We renovated the bath off the master bedroom and went from a dark and dreary fiberglass "phone booth" shower (great description) to a 4x8' shower with glass wall and door, a tiled seat, and tile overhead that follows the 45-deg slope of the timberframe ceiling up to about 10' on the high end. What an astounding difference!

Actually, the project referenced was for our daughter's bathroom. We already had a walk-in-room-sized shower in the "new" master suite that was part of the 2007 2200 sq ft addition. I'm actively trying to think of a way to deal with this here at the new place...master shower is back to the phone booth with a huge tub next to it that will NEVER get used. Guest bath has an old tub shower. Homeownership always provides for renovation opportunities.... :) :D

[Tom M King]

I do so many different things, that most of my tools are seldom used. There are storage buildings to hold it all, mostly well organized. 24x40, 24x30, 16x36, and numerous smaller ones, with multiple sheds for stuff that doesn't need inside storage, like scaffolding. Getting ready to add on another 40', to the 24x40, when I get time.

I still use Wonderboard too. No one around here stocks the Schluter stuff, and I've never had it in my hands. Putting up the Wonderboard is a quick job anyway, so not worth a premium price to save a few minutes of time, for me.

[Charles Lent]

I had a full bathroom replaced and converted into a handicap bathroom. The bathroom being removed had the expanded metal screen with concrete under the tile. The contractor was expecting that and was prepared, but not for the steel tub. If cast iron, they usually just hit it a few times with a sledge hammer, and then carry the pieces out. This steel tub refused to break more than the enamel on it when hit. I never even knew that tubs were available that were made of steel. Sheet metal tubs, yes, but not steel. This tub was poured steel as thick as a cast iron tub and made by Kohler. They ended up cutting it in half with a right angle grinder and diamond blades. The process took 2 guys and countless diamond blades two days to complete the cut and remove the tub. We are all glad that the rest of the job went easier.

Charley

[Wes Grass]

Using a diamond blade on steel is a waste of a diamond blade. The diamond, carbon, is soluble in the steel, iron.

I thought the Kerdi foam boards were too expensive as well, so I used the membrane over cement board. Wish I hadn't, way more work. And then I started tiling myself, first time ever. The cost ... plus the hassle of finding someone. Again, wish I hadn't ;-)

[Charles Lent]

I actually didn't go there to see exactly what they were using, but they said that it was diamond blades. The noise and dust kept me away, with the window open with fan and the door closed during the process. Then I watched them struggle getting the pieces out to the dumpster.

Charley