Newbie: Are we NUTS???

[MN Newbie Vannilee]

NEWBIE ALERT: I don't know some technical terms (is "goop" a technical term?) but my DH is very competent when he does something, so no need to fear! We are able to do a quality job, but try to gather all the info to make sure we don't miss something we didn't know about!
We are going to be moving into our new home in December sometime. One of the last projects we have to do ourselves is tiling. We have 7 rooms to tile (3 bathrooms, 1 mudroom w/attached powder room, 1 laundry room, 1 kitchenette, 1 daycare entrance)and have the Durock placed. We need to "goop" it down, screw/nail it, and goop/tape the joints. THEN we will start with the 12" tile. The bathrooms we may go with an 8" tile that has the corners notched so small colored tile squares can be place to make a nice pattern (there must be a term for this type of tiling!) The rest of the areas will be 12" ceramic tile.
Is there an average amount of time/sq ft a person needs to use as a reference when they are planning their time? We want to try to avoid all-nighters!
Any other input will be appreciated. We have done a lot of work ourselves already on the house and the sweat equity will pay off in the long run. If/when we recover from being our own GC and the building process! LOL

[tileguytodd]

With 12x12 tiles i use 50 s/f per hour as an average.Knock that down for an 8x8 dot pattern to about 35-40 s/f per hour. Now this is of course with many years experiance.You shoud figure around 15-20 s/f per hour and hey if you do better great. Todd (way up north near Grand Rapids MN )

[John Bridge]

Hi Barb, Welcome aboard.

Bathroom floors take longer on a square foot basis than do larger floor areas. Lots of cuts, etc.

The little pieces that are inserted between octagonal tiles are called "dots" or "spots," depending on where you're standing.

The goop, of course, is thin set mortar, regular under the backer board and modified above.

You'll do fine as long as you steer clear of that guy in Northern Minnesota.

[tileguytodd]

I think i am gonna have to resign my position and forego my 8 weeks of unpaid vacation after that comment!!
Of course ,then again,damn yankees never listen to people named Bubba anyways

[cx]

Let's get the terminology straightened out here afore y'all git confused.

Yes, "Goop" is a technical term. There are several types of Goop made for specific uses, but generally speaking, Goop is just one specific type of "Pookie", which is what you meant to say when you said goop.

All Goop is Pookie, but not all Pookie is Goop. Got that?

The stuff you're fixin' to pewt under your backer board is, as John points out, a specific kind of pookie called thinset. On top of your backer board and under your tiles, you will use a different pookie called modified thinset, which is mostly regular thinset modified with some latex-type additive, which is not a type of pookie.

Hope that clears it up for ya?

If you go to Home Despot and axe for Goop, they should give you Goop. If you axe for pookie, ain't no tellin' what you might get, and it might even be Goop.

[MN Newbie Vannilee]

We are using latex modified thinset in the first 2 rooms...this is what Menard's (like Home Depot) told us works better because it has a little bit of give to it. My husband will need to pick more up today unless you guys tell us we need to use something different. Thanks!!!!

[davem]

Good stuff CX
Barb, you can save a little money and buy un-modified thinset for under the cement backer board. The modified pookie is flexier and stickier. The current thinking is that you don't want your cbu stuck to the subfloor, just well supported.

[John Bridge]

Where is Menards? Is it throughout the northeastern part of the country? Northestern being everywhere north and east of Texas.

[drew]

Gee I thought Menard was a federal pen in Ill.
I thinks they're just like the Meeks stores we have in central Mo, a home grown version of the big box joints, but with a very noticable & pleasant difference, their people are knowledgable on the products they sell, not just where they're located in the store, but how & where to use the product. They really care about their customers and want to make sure you get the right product for the job at hand. My other favorite part about those guys is that they deliver for free, on time, and oh yeah, the most important part, you actually get what you axed for on the first try.

[tileguytodd]

You just went overboard Drew
Menards is as bad as any other big box and in some cases worse.
I ordered a 15" round sink from them in a special order color.Paid for it and expected to pick it up in a week or so.Had it picked up for me a week later.When i opened it it was a 19" sink(too big for my custum vanity or i would have ordered it ) sent it back with the same person.It seems they dont even have a 15" sink for sale that can even be ordered.So they returned my money(except for a restocking charge for the special ordered color.Needless to say I hit the roof.I talked to everyone right down to the home office in eau claire WS.It seems they dont take responsibility for thier employees errors. Now that is the pleasant story,wanna hear the others??

[John Bridge]

I'm tryin' to find out where Menards covers and you whip Meeks on me.

I'd still be interested to know the parts of the country Menards covers, and is Meeks only in Missouri?

[tileguytodd]

I am not sure how far south they go John.They do cover Minnesota Wisconsin and Michigan quite heavily.They started as a Sawmill lumber distributor in Eau claire Wisc.Opened a retail outlet for lumber & Building materials and just kept growing.Thier largest growth has been in about the last 8-10 years.They give virtually no preferance to contractors over DIY.They do have a large selection but no qualified help.Tile from them in my experiance is second rate and products for setting are minimal with an emphasis on Fuller i Mean TEC (keep forgetting they changed names) Never liked the stuff anyways

[Bud Cline]

We have Menard's also and I can vouch for the fact that Menards employees are second only to Home Depot employees in lack of product knowledge and lack of training and lack of giving a shit.

Todd when Menard's first opened here they would not refund money for anything, any reason no matter what. They would give you a "Store Credit" after a slight restocking fee and this crdit had an expiration date. People were up in arms over this policy but Menard's stood fast.

It was the State Attorney General that had different ideas about their refund policy.

These are the most rude untrained bunch of would-be's in this part of the country but that's all changing in January next year. Home Depot is opening a new store here.

Menard's also races NASCAR did you know that John? Big bucks NASCAR. NASCAR big bucks. It's all stolen money.

[tileguytodd]

See john, ya aint missin a thing