Appreciation post: I just hit 100 hours on my current kitchen floor tile job and I'm not even done

I mean, I knew it would take a while, but I started laying this 12x24 porcelain tile six weeks ago, working nights and weekends. I just added up my time logs and it hit 100 hours. That's not counting the demo or the leveling compound. It matters because I thought I was just being slow, but now I see the real cost of doing it right. Every cut around the island, every tricky corner by the pantry door, it all adds up. I'm using a DeWalt wet saw and it's a beast, but even then, the precision takes forever. It's made me totally rethink the 'savings' of DIY on a big job like this. Has anyone else been totally floored by the actual time a 'simple' floor ended up taking?

3 comments

3 Comments

brianm661mo ago

Found a laser level saved my sanity on those long cuts.

charles6401mo ago

Honestly, I kinda see it the other way. All that time is the real savings, because you're paying yourself instead of a crew.

samk771mo ago

Yeah, that "real cost of doing it right" part is the killer. It's never just the tile, it's all the fitting and fiddling that eats the clock.