Paul, has anyone ever told you how professional your narration is? You speak loudly, distinctly, slowly, and without hesitation. Listen to professional newscasters. They do exactly the same. That's one of many things you guys do that make your videos so great. As for your skills, you have great talent. Your son agrees. What's unique is how humble you are. You're like an experienced test pilot trying a new plane for the first time. You got this!
I live in New Zealand, I moved here from the states 21 years ago. I do renovation work for a living and when I first moved here and saw how different it was here as far as work, it was wierd to me. One of those things is that they didn't use wet saws for tile work. They used grinders and cut dry. It works great. I'm sure you found it great as well. Good looking work guys
“I am 60 but I’m still teachable”. Best mentality. That right there is why Paul is amazing and why he’s so knowledgeable. If you won’t allow others to teach you what they know, it’s so much harder to improve yourself.
I kind of think this is just a mentality you naturally have or don't have. I'm 32 in a trade and understand I don't know close to everything. Trying to learn everyday. Been in the field about 6 years now. I don't think I'll ever stop learning and lose my willingness to say I don't know everything and have a lot to learn. Especially with all the new technology and equipment that has yet to come out. Yet I see people in the field younger than me and less experienced thinking they know everything. Overconfident and unwilling to take responsibility. Worst kind of people to work with.
As a 49 year old "know it all" that is in the trades. The worst thing that I hate hearing is, "I have been doing it this way forever." I am always looking for better ways and best practices. Nothing worse than the person that acts/says that there way is the best and they get anger when you question it. I always notice that those peoples tend to be drunks and are angry. i could/ work with paul any day.
I had to have my gall bladder removed 10 days ago. The laparoscopic tools were on the fritz. The surgeon made an emergency call to Paul to come freehand that sucker out of there with his angle grinder. You saved me Paul. True Story. Thanks man, I am healing up great!
Bittersweet video to watch knowing what was coming the next day with the shower tile slab install. Almost makes what happened even more of a crime after watching that beautiful floor install. Always fun watching Paul learn something new and excelling at it.
Brother seeing the care and attention to detail yall invested the day before the wall panels were installed makes the eventual outcome all the more heartbreaking. 😟 Here’s to knowing you all will persevere regardless. 👊
Yeah dude, after seeing that video and now this one, I wanted to get in a time machine and tell them to not worry about the "pros" installing the shower walls and instead do it themselves. A similar thing happened to me when I finished my last basement. I was feeling really intimidated with tiling, breaking up the concrete to run the shower drain, under layment, heated floor, etc... I should've just done it all myself, it's really not that hard and I know it would've turned out better.
I was literally writing this exact comment when I saw yours: "It's honestly kind of heartbreaking seeing all the care and attention these guys are putting into this tile knowing what's about to happen with the porcelain." I hope the folks at Elevation Stone are cable of being humble and honest enough to learn some lessons from this and do better in the future. Everyone makes mistakes. That's normal. It's how we handle those mistakes that makes all the difference.
That comment about grout getting away from you ... that triggered bad memories from when I had that happened and I had to work ten times harder at the end of a long day to get it done right. I learned a hard and important lesson about grout that day. I mix small batches, do them sections at a time and don't let it get away from me.
I learned the hard way about grout lines and thin set. After spending many hours cleaning the thin set out of the grout lines, i discovered that there exists a grout brush. I bought a grout brush and used it on my next DIY tile project. After laying the tile and wiping clean, you wait a bit and before the thin set hardens and is still a bit soft, you use the grout brush to clean out the grout lines. After the thin set dries out, you vacuum up the crumbs. Virtually no grout line cleanup needed afterwards.
Nice work with the grinder Paul. I had a job where I was cutting 3/4" porcelain flagstones that were close to 3' square. and instead of buying a big saw, i bought a 4" dewalt wet saw, and used a track clamped to the tile to guide the line. Worked like a charm. It was slow because of the thickness, but gave a perfectly straight line, DWC860W and only $160. Paid for itself in the first day!
Its humbling to see someone as skilled as Paul still doubt his abilities and being nervous. Glad Jordan knew you could do it and you leveled up your tile cutting skills. Great work and appreciate the videos. It has boosted my confidence it wanting to remodel my bathroom.
Paul you make it look very easy working with the large size tiles. For your first time, a very professional job. I've watched all the videos of this build and I am very impressed with your professionalism. I discovered your channel after seeing you working with the Perkins Brothers another one of my favorite channels. You and your sons keep up the great work. I can't wait to see the house build.
I've been watching you guys since shortly before you started the Dream House build. I love Paul's comment about being 60, but still teachable. I'll be 60 next week, and I'd like to think I'm still teachable. I definitely feel like I've got a lot to learn yet, especially from guys as skilled as Paul is. I recently started doing handyman work full time. This past week I've been doing a variety of projects for a client. Their 20some year old nephew has been watching me all week. Yesterday, he asked me, "How do you know how to do so many things? You do plumbing, and electrical, and roofing, and irrigation. Where did you learn all that? I want to learn to do all this stuff like you do." I laughed out loud. Not because his question was funny or anything. I laughed because in my mind, I'm a complete amateur compared to guys like Paul. Thirty years ago, I bought my first house with plans to completely remodel it. I had learned a few things from my dad, but for the most part I was pretty clueless about everything. One of my first sources of information for DIY projects came from the predecessor to Lowe's, called Eagle Hardware. They had a display full of pamphlets on virtually every skill imaginable. From framing, to hanging drywall, to sweating copper pipe, to wiring a three-way switch. You name it, they had a pamphlet for it. I had a stack of those pamphlets several inches thick. These days, I feel a lot more comfortable doing various projects, but hardly a day goes by when I'm not looking something up on RU-vid. I'm so grateful for guys like Paul and Jordan and Rad, and so many others who share their knowledge and expertise so that amateurs like myself can learn enough to look like a seasoned professional to guys like my client's 20some nephew.
The water is there to make it so you don't wear out so many diamond tip blades, when it gets red hot you are losing some abrasion quickly. You need to cool that disc not keep the medium wet. Edit: sorry that was not meant to sound too critical, I know you guys like some feedback, love your content, love from across the pond.
Dude! I found that thought awesome! All they needed was a spray bottle. Not 4L per minute stream of water. Then they found out they could Dry Cut. I am guilty as they are! I don't read enough anymore. Cheers Man! Great Comment!
Paul, I have a construction company in the Netherlands (I'm an all-round handyman) and I do a lot of tiling, and I always use a grinder and no water. I also use those spacers with large tiles, but I never use a rubber mallet to remove them, you can simply remove them with your foot by kicking against them in the length of the joint. That grinder with water is nice, I need that one too. Where can I find it? The porcelain problem is a bummer, but if it's a good company, they will solve it regardless of the cost.
Paul, You Really did a Great Job with This Tile Job. Your Attention to Detail is Above and Beyond what most people would do. As far as the water on your cutting blade. Get a gallon Bleach container and put a small nail hole on the lower side across from where he handle is. Fill with water and then pull the Nail or Screw out when you start cutting. Another thing, get yourself a Glacier Suction Cup. We used this many Times on Polished or Honed Marble, Granite, Onyx Slab Installed. You Guys are the Best!!! Thanks for Bringing All of Us this Great Channel.
Remember when you guys made the ultimate extension cord? Put a junction in it with a motor speed control you can pick up at any box store and dial back under 50%, or even just a dimmer switch
1 benefit of leaving the wood in place is that if something happens (someone tripping over the cord of the grinder for example) your grinder won't go skating across the piece you are cutting.
Paul, just wanted to say that it looks like you and Jordan have a great father-son relationship. That's the most impressive part of this channel and I commend you both for that.
You're doing better than what most people do but you also could have used a handheld circular saw and a clamp-on straight edge with a guide for a circular saw And what would have been the best method is to find a granite fabricator that has the overhead saw bring him all your material and say how much to cut these lines for me slip him a hundred maybe up to 200 at most but that would be steep and not get dusty or wet and have perfectly straight lines 🙂👍
Way to go Paul on the tile cutting.... LOVE that the 'old dog' is still learning new tricks. I cannot wait to see what you guys come up with to fix that mess with the wall tile install.... Keep the videos coming. One of the things I look forward to every week.
I’m 60 but still teachable, and this is why you have so much success. Very impressive as we are always learning but not always teachable, you guys rock- you’re an inspiration.
They would turn it into a drama fest with the three men fake fighting and arguing about something pointless for half the episode. Reality tv is cancer.
I know you guys get so many questions but I'd love to know some of the thought process you had How do you get a quarter inch per foot slope if you're using tile levelers on the diagonals? Why didn't you guys put the drain in the middle? Since the drain was on the middle why picture frame it sort of? Just draw your diagonals from the corner to the drain corner and cut your tiles that way 🤷♂️
Jordan, thank you. I’m so glad you decided to share your dad with us. Love his passion and precision! My lady watched a bit with me for the first time, and she was a bit taken back by his positivity and passion.
I was really hoping Paul was a few years younger so I could believe his energy and enthusiasm was due to youth. Now I have to suck it up and stop whining that "I'm too old for this".
Awesome job Stud Pack! Love the fact that you are showing all the decision making processes for these projects. I have picked up quite a few tips and tricks over the last couple of years from checking out the videos. As Essential Craftsman says...keep up the good work!
Ok, now I'm mad. Seeing the effort you put into those tiles, polishing the edges, even if they were dang straight for my taste, i can't but feel mad for the trouble with the shower... As someone else suggested in top comments, suck it up as a loss, tear it down, and DIY it. You'll get results that you'll be proud of looking at. And it might seem that I say this just to grind more on that bad work, but really, I mean it for your mental health and peace of mind. That bad work is going to stick in your brain and consume you every time you enter that bathroom. Myself, I couldn't bear it long term.
It was SO FUN to watch your skill and confidence level increase cut by cut! While watching it all I could think was "well, that's a marketable skill." I bet the folks that have done 5,000 cuts are magnificently good at it. The human brain is pretty neat, and you guys all have good ones! Thank you for the entertainment and education!
Paul, hold that sponge against the blade tight. That'll give you the control and support you're wanting by having two hands on the grinder. If you're worried about getting zapped putting a wet sponge on a power tool, it takes quite a bit of overspray to do that. You don't need a dripping sponge. Just wet enough so you get a few drops when you wring it out. Cut 12"-18", wipe up any standing water, rewet your sponge, keep going. For jobs when you don't want to use your polishing setup, get your hands on a small terrazzo grinding stone. They're better than any tile rub stone that I've ever used. They'll give you that beveled edge without a whole lot of work. Not going to polish the edge, but they do a fine job of softening a cut edge.
You guys work ethic is amazing but your father son friend relationship is inspiring..Been watching since the floating platform bed.Thanks for sharing your journey.
been loving this series. I think I can speak for everyone; we appreciate and respect your transparency and passion in explaining everything to us viewers! much love!
Congratulation, Paul, on leveling up with cutting tiles. Well done! Can't wait to hear about the resolution of the shower wall and it's good to see you in better spirit after the major letdown of the porcelain shower wall installation.
after seeing how the walls went in... I'd rip off the walls, get a refund. I couldn't look at that mess after all the hard work you guys put into that space.
General PSA...Ive used that same grout and you got it, definitely do not want to use a high speed mixer. I used a small mixer attachment on my drill and barely feathered the trigger to mix it slowly and in small amounts. Some ppl even recommend hand mixing to be safe but err on the side of caution for sure.
Great job Paul! Free handing a tile takes a lot of practice and you did it like a pro! Don’t listen to the haters you guys did great!! One suggestion I have if you’re planning on doing large tiles like those invest in grabo it’s a game changer
I've used a grinder to cut tile. It looks like you are pushing the grinder. I learned, at least for me, that pulling it worked better for me. What is most comfortable for you to do is what will be the best.
I just JUST bought 600 square feet of Township Beige plank tile from Floor and Decor to complete my living room and kitchen. The countertops are done and now it's the floors!! Floor and Decor was the most helpful and knowledgeable.
Paul great job on the tile cutting. As us old guys say never to old to learn or try new things. Also great job Jordan encouraging your dad 31:47 that he can do it. All of you are great to watch . I think they should replace all of the porcelain wall tiles. As always great video of the dream garage.
Hey guys, Awesome work you three are doing. I would suggest getting a water bottle and poke the top, making a hole. Use that water bottle to squirt a light stream of water on the grinder disk. Not too much, not too little, just enough. Cheers to the great work on the house.
Rarely is anyone excellent the first time they try something. You definitely have to put yourself out there and be willing to fail in order to learn something new. Thanks for sharing it on video because that inspires confidence in the rest of us. A well thought out plan executed with lots of patience and skill. Plan your work and work your plan. Great advice.
A garden hose? - No wonder DAD got so wet! You didn't need THAT much water, when a small tube spraying water on blade or even immersing tile in a shallow pan of water while cutting tile could have sufficed. I love your TOOL TIME moments! - It reminds me of my own early DYi adventures. I love that you let us see your own work, especially the "unpolished" moments. Mistakes happen but most home improvement TV shows don't want us to see theirs. So thanks for that - it gives the rest of us Hope and a sense of comraderie with you.
Wow! Dad's hands are exceedingly skillful. All covered in tile dust and making those cuts look so easy... which is dangerous for us DIY-ers! 😜 Great episode, fellas!!
People asking about the wall tiles and if they've heard from the installers really need to read the text in the video and watch all the way to the end before commenting 😅 All the info you're asking is in the video.
Learning something new at Paul’s age is tuff especially with his level of talent. The videos continue to impress and will be useful for generations to come.
SO excited with your continued success and keeping BIG projects going .... I do miss the early days tho ... when there wasn't a million comments and felt like I discovered a NEW band. CHEERS STUD PACK!
I used a small speed square to make sure my blade was at 90 to the material and then cut a 1-inch-wide long strip of wood to go under the grinder head at the right height. I set the strip and cut using the strip to keep my cut 90 from the material and works great. You can get many cuts before the wood swells.
Amazing that you just put this video out today. I just did my first free hand rip cut of a 72 inch tile. Will be free cutting 30 x 60 tiles on Monday. I found that two hands are better than one as well. Good job.
I just remodeled my entire kitchen & for the counter tops I went with 24x48” porcelain tiles from Floor & Decor. I used a Vevor 48” manual tile cutter, went through the tile like butter & a laser straight edge. Large format tiles are amazing. Thank you for sharing this video, I appreciate YOU!
Agree that it was a bittersweet watch, knowing that the walls were not going to go to plan. Ironically a few observations from an armchair builder. 1) An indoor watering can. Such a device with a narrow spout...might have provided the water flow you needed without the higher pressure of a garden hose. Better than a sponge. 2) Not that you needed it, but I noted that the profile of the 'nut' that tightened the disc to the grinder looked uniformly flat. You could have placed a piece of wood along the tile and ran that nut along the wood edge to maintain a perpendicular aspect to the tile. Wouldn't have had to eye ball it so much. 3) I know you must have one, so where was your electric suction cup device? Could have used it especially for laying that last tile. Hope things work out for the walls, looking forward to the next video. Cheers
When amateur hour beats "professional" hour. Well done Paul. I've cut more brass webbing for cabinet doors then tile but some things transfer. For a grinder clamp a second piece of plywood to hold the blade in a straight line ,and dead vertical . I've also sacrificed 1 guide rail for rough stuff like steel etc. A tracksaw has a speed dial,and you can flip the inner flange to go from 20mm arbor,to 5/8 standard 6 1/2 blades. Its important to note this shifts the blade slightly (heavy 1/32) away from the rail and motor. Steel cutting blades want slower rpms,just like the polisher. Most diamond blades come with a bushing from 7/8-5/8. You could use your old tracksaw for all rough cuts,and buy a new one for finish work.
My stone guy sets up a fan that blows the dust away from him while dry grinding outside. Works quite well I now setup that way for outside tablesaw cuts as well - especially mdf.
I’ve watched enough Studpack (from 14K subs) to know one thing if that shower porcelain doesn’t get made right. Jordan is going to be suddenly awoken by a bunch of commotion early one morning and find his Dad redoing his shower because there is no way Paul is able to sleep at night with it like that 😂😂❤❤. It for sure is eating him up. If they don’t make it right then perhaps once the main house is done you guys can come back and fix it right and show us that StudPack can do it better than the “pros”.
To help keep it square, a mate of mine welded up a screw with a nut on it that could screw in normal holes on the angle grinder for grips, then made a threaded rod with a flat nylon plate on the bottom, so he can adjust to perfectly square and just let the grinder slide over the surface leaving no marks.
What caught my attention a few years ago was a thumbnail with Paul, I thought it was Raymond Cruz from breaking bad and I was intrigued as to what he was doing home remodeling. Well that’s how I found Stud pack and I have been watching since; I have even done some binge watching to catch up in the beginning. You guys have never ceased to amaze me with how you work together and how you show the whole project, mistakes and all. One thing that I love about the channel is you guys never fail to admit when you make the mistake or call out someone else when they do. You also give credit where and when it’s due. If they don’t step up to fix that shower make sure you let your viewers know, and when you don’t use them in the house remind everyone why. Can’t wait for the next video! Now I’m thinking Paul kinda resembles a young Charles Bronson.
The walls may have their flaws, but the floor turned out quite well. Great work! I completely understand the talking instead of getting into what you don't really want to do even though you can definitely do it. I'm keeping this video in mind if I find myself installing any large tiles in the future.
That floor looks great. What I like about the work is that it was a skill builder project and you nailed it... rather, you thin seted and grouted it. I almost think you could have done the shower porcelain walls too and avoided what happened with that (not to give away that story in the comments) but you pay attention to details and do it right! I think the installers should watch some of your videos to hopefully up their game, because that was not their "A" game that day when they did your shower. I pray it gets resolved, any issues you have, because you guys work sooo hard on making everything Excellent! And I mean Excellent. If I had a project I needed absolute perfection I'd HIRE you in a second, it's a no-brainer. Cheers on your progress and so excited for you Jordan for your new apartment, it's coming together!
Heres a tip when using a stone blade on an angle grinder or circular saw. The sponge tip is great, I use the sponge to control the water mess and a plastic water bottle with a tiny hole punched in the cap to squeeze the water on the blade when needed.
Computer crashed when I was commenting. We know the tile job will go better with you guys doing it because you care about how it turns out and you try to do things right. Such a pity the contractors hired for the shower walls didn't have that same work ethic. I wonder if there's an alternative to wetting the tile to cut it that doesn't use as much water. Sponge wasn't enough, hose was too much. So, my idea-- spray bottle of water. Wet the surface first and have Rad or someone else use a spray bottle to keep the surface wet but not have too much water all around. Could reduce some of the dust coming off. For next time of course. Another alternative would be to use the tubing to put air in aquariums (smaller diameter than the tubing you used for your water level) and siphon water from a bucket with it. Have the bucket higher than the work surface. I know those smaller ones allow water to come out at a decent pace but not overwhelming amount. So, you could have someone aim that tube to have water come out to cool the blade, keep dust from flying up, and do the wet cuts that way. The plywood envelope actually looked really neat. First thing I thought was epoxy and then Paul said it. LOL. The envelope cut thing is very cool. Paul really has good steady hands to make those cuts so cleanly. I can't even cut straight with a straight edge. Hell, I can't draw straight even with a straight edge. LOL. Waiting on deliveries can be so aggravating. My jet pump died last week. I ordered a new one. They shipped it out fast and UPS had it in a facility an hour away from me yesterday at 1:50am. They didn't bother to try to deliver and bc Sundays are closed and Monday is a holiday, I won't get it until Tuesday at earliest. So, no running water until then. So aggravating! Doesn't help that we had a power outage the week before (which is part of what killed the pump) but the power surges killed my air fryer and today my microwave died. Surge protectors are something you guys may want to invest in. Whole house surge protectors and then show how to wire them! LOL. Hope you guys are having better luck than I am. I hope you can get things resolved with the shower walls. I'm looking forward to seeing the tile on the walls outside the shower.
This was a quality video, I’m still upset with the previous video. Cause that tile company did you all dirty. I hate seeing there bad work next to your high quality work
Love the persistence with the grinder. I think after one or two cuts I would have given up and hired a tile saw from my local equipment hire shop. So great job here with the grinder
😮 Paul is a treasure for sure. Rad easy days today make up for all the climbing & hanging off the roof & sides of buildings you do. Not to mentioned the work & behind the scene shopping / editing Jordan does. Great team.
The next thing you guys gotta do is get a power suction cup for your tile setting, it’s a huge difference on anything bigger than a 1’ by 2’ tile, super clean and easy to manipulate
