Hi Barrybud, the subway tiles have a few issues unfortunately. I had to ditch my beautiful wall mounted console sink and buy a sink w/ vanity to cover the subway tiles that he cut much shorter than the rest to adjust for the unlevel floor in one corner. Yes, I knew this would be done but was told it would be "hardly noticeable" esp. after he floated the floor to make up for some of the floor uneveness. I did NOT have to pay for the new penny round tile at least...I subtracted the 700$ from the GC's bill (after extensive discussion with him....I don't think he wanted us to end up in small claims court either). Bill, I'm still learning (more than I ever wanted to know about tiling) and it's much more complex than I'd thought. You're right...to make the floor completely level, it would have to be raised and therefore raise the threshold. But I don't want it LEVEL, I want it FLAT. I mean, I do want it level but I can't afford to do it and I don't really notice the inch difference from one end of the room to the other. His attempts to level the floor really made no difference that I could see anyways based on the way the tile looked after he cut the lower row so that border would be straight. My new tile guy is planning to put a cementous substance (I don't remember the terminology exactly) under the thinset for new tile which will make the floor completely flat (no dips) so the penny round can be laid correctly. If I had wanted 12" square or 18" square travertine instead of penny rounds on a mesh backing, I probably wouldn't have even noticed a problem. The other major problem with the wall tile (just while I'm on the subject) is instead of attaching greenboard to the studs that was flush with the drywall and then placing the top decorative liner over the seam between greenboard and drywall to cover it (I thought this was how most tilers did it?), he installed a thinner greenboard that was slightly recessed compared to the drywall. I thought when he did it, "well I guess that will work but he'll have to be very exact on his measurements". So what happened of course. A few areas are right up under the drywall and the rest had a big gap between tile and drywall which he just gobbed grout in. People actually accept this kind of work?? We're hoping to add another liner and bullnosed tile on top to cover that mess. Oh, and also the tiles aren't evenly laid on the wall with some "jutting out" from the wall more than others if that makes sense. I do wonder if I should have ripped the wall tile out also but I would have had to taken the GC to court to recoup that cost and labor and I just don't have the energy for it.It came down to the budget and what I thought I could live with (no way I could have lived with that floor tile though).

It sounds like you have several issues: A) Squeeks B) Cold Floors C) Concern about floor level differences Regarding A, the builder is basically correct - 3/4 OSB is a building standard now. It is tongue and groove and glued down and together. Over time is will begin to squeek. You know where the squeeks are and when removing existing flooring, nail the subfloor tight again. Should eliminate, or at least reduce the squeek. Regarding B, See if you can have foam insulation injected into the cantilevered space. As to heating, it still may be necessary but why not minimize its burden by controlling the root cause. Regarding C, Several things here. Your current vinyl should be installed on a thin underlayment. Combined they are about 1/4" thick. It will be necessary to remove these. (This will be the time to inject foam insulation) A tile floor needs 1.25" minimum structural support which means a 1/2" thickness of concrete board will be cemented and screwed atop the existing subfloor. Then your heating mat followed by tile. So, you'll be gaining about 3/4" above the current level. Your tile shop will have a marble threshold with a beveled edge to minimize this effect. We have this same situation is our home and it is negligable. You may or may not have to trim the door. Base trim would be removed in the bath to do this work. It can then be reinstalled, replaced or have the tile setter install tile as base trim - that's what we did. Here is a link to an updated bath we did and amongst the photos you can see the threshold and tile base trim. Hope this helps. Good luck. Here is a link that might be useful: Bathroom

I'm feeling pretty ticked off at myself for even hiring those guys. We were planning on doing it ourselves, but we were just too flipping tired after all the work we've poured into the kitchen, we decided to go with our neighbor's recommended tile guys. We laid the backerboard and taped the joints, so at least we know that was done. I am really, really upset that I didn't do my research more, because it turns out they used premixed thinset. Which I now know is not good. So in between kicking ourselves, my husband and I now have to decide do we want to bring these guys back to fix one loose tile and a few poorly grouted sections, or should we do it ourselves? Live and learn, I suppose. Too bad it costs so much. Thanks for your input; I really appreciate it. I think we'll try to do the cuts, but if that doesn't work out it's good to know there are other options. Toni

thx shades. I'll stop by HD in a few days and see if they have the larger ones. Lowe's had a space for them but it had cafe rods in it. I need 2 of the larger ones for my west windows. I'm going to hang that foil looking insulation (lke for duct work) in those 2 windows during the summers - using tension rods. I can easily then take them down Oct - May. I'll have curtains up over them. I also don't have doors on my closets right now so I'm going to hang curtains there for now - to try and keep a bit of puppy fur out of them. probably a lost cause - lol! I think lowe's and my back door have a conspiracy against me. I can't see where the vinyl spline part is connected on the door frame on the hinge side. That one doesn't look damaged, so I'll just not replace it for now. I'll check to see if my front door needs it replaced on either side. The pkg comes with 2 long (hght) sections and a short one for across the top. There have been several times when i've thought I'd just forget vinyl or laminate flooring and put down carpet (when lowe's or HD have a pay to install 1 room and the others are installed free) just to have it over and me not the one doing it. That thought doesn't usually last long tho. The thought of all that hair, dirt and dust from puppy and the desert is more than I can bear anymore.