DIY continued

Day 3
My pops came over as I was laying out the backerboard onto the plywood. You want to lay out the backerboard perpendicular to the plywood, staggering them in a brick pattern, while making sure that the backerboard joints don't lie on top of the plywood joints. Cutting the boards to size wasn't too bad. Using a straight edge, you score it several times with your scoring tool, then bend the board towards the score. If your groove is deep enough, the board rips at the groove. You have to make sure to wear a mask when cutting because the boards containg dangerous silica dust. While I continued on with the cutting, my dad began drilling pilot holes on the board. Because we weren't putting any thinset(concrete) between the plywood and backerboard, we wanted to make sure we thoroughly screwed the board onto the plywood. My dad was making pilot holes (small preholes) to make drilling the screws easier. After awhile, we noticed that our cordless drill wasn't going to cut it for this job. We needed corded electric drill for all the drilling. So, my pops left to go borrow a drill from my uncle. I continued cutting away, eventually finishing up with cutting out a square in the backerboard to fit around the toilet flange.

My dad came back just in time withn a power drill and Vietnamese sandwiches.

After lunch, my dad continued with the drilling while I went back to Home Depot to return the toilet flange and a masonry blade that I had bought. The flange I returned because replacing it would mean a MAJOR plumbing job. We would have to knock a hole in the floor to get access to the pipe, saw off the old flange and replace it with the new flange.

Once again, I spent just over an hour in Home Depot. I picked up a rubber grout float, grout, tile chalk, and a square notched trowel to spread the quick set. I also picked up type of flange that you can stack on top of your old flange.

Oh, and before Home Depot, I went to our floor guy to pick up 6 boxes of 13"x13" tile and a sample of the carpet that we're gonna pick up.

When I got back, I spent some time making sure that the screws were flush with the backerboard. If they weren't, then I gave them a couple more turns with the drill. Meanwhile, my dad went back to Home Depot to pick up more screws. While I was away, he knew that he was running out and started spacing them out farther. Unfortunately, with less screws, you could feel the backerboard wasn't secured to the plywood. We needed more screws.

He came back and we finished the job. This phase took us 5 hours. Next up, seaming together the backerboards with mortar and nylon tape.