Home Improvement Is Taking Forever!

It truly is not as difficult as you think it would be. Tile, once the plan has been laid out and the floor prepped correctly, is not difficult if you have the right tools for the job. Take the class at home depot, it is quite informative. There are also some excellent tutorials on e-how.com. Once he sees you taking a genuine interest in the job, he'll most likely jump right in and give a hand. If not, you have learned a new skill and will have a new floor to be proud of. This is no longer the day of shrinking violets, there is nothing we as women cannot do.

I will let you in on my secret to getting things done around our house. I pray my husband doesn't ever figure this out. I have a deadline in my head and I just let it go until that time and then I go get all the items I noticed my husband needed to do the project. I then begin to ask my husband a million questions as to how the project is to be done as if I were going to complete the project. For example. The last time I wanted a light fixture changed out so I could paint. I started the painting process and then noticed that I would have to paint under the old fixture so I took the old fixture nearly down. It was kind of hanging from the wall. I then began to ask all the questions. " So I turn off the light or do I need to go to the basement and shut of the power from the power box? Does it mater that the wires are colored? Do the colors mean something? Do I just twist of these little plastic cape thingies? What are their names? They probably have names. So is there a wire that is a ground? What is a ground? I think I can do this. I think I have it straight." My husband gets up off the couch and finishes the project. It works nearly every time.

I'd give my husband a month to finish it and then I'd hire someone.

Tell him you've got Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner and you'd like to actually walk through the house for those holidays.

:P

As others have said, why not try doing it yourself? I was always busy with home improvement projects when my kids were little, and even though I've never laid tile I think it's pretty straightforward. My SIL did it in her kitchen and it looks great, I think she just looked at some tutorials online for advice. Her husband did help her with some of it on the weekends, but she did most of it herself. It's very satisfying work IMO :)
On the other hand, maybe if your husband sees you doing it he will panic and say, "let me finish this" which is probably what my husband would do lol!

Why don't you do it yourself. It took me two days to lay sheet rock, tile and grout a 20 by 30 area. No big deal.

My husband gets things done quickly because he is well aware I will do it myself and may not do it the way he wants.

Tell your husband you've hired someone to do it-he is coming next week and only charging $1700-watch him move!

Home depot has classes in tile, I think. If he just wants to save money by DIY, and if you're at all handy, maybe see if you could do some. And if he doesn't want you doing it, you could always tell him that someone has to and see if he suddenly speeds up when you go to the DIY workshop at home depot LOL!

Exactly what Dana K. said. I do the same thing LOL

You aren't alone! When you do your renovation on the side, it has to fit in around everything else, and that can happen.

My first thought was for you to find the web site of one of the home improvement/do it yourself channels. There used to be programs in which the experts would finish a remodeling scheme the homeowner started and couldn't complete. Maybe there still are such programs, and you could sign up...? :^)

Only you know where the line is with your husband that goes from statement-making to nagging. I wouldn't want to be a nag - that's definitely counterproductive - but I'd go up to that line. I'd even take a book out of the library to read about tiling so perhaps I could do it myself. Not that I could; I've talked to tiling professionals and know how tricky that work is. (Maybe your husband has found that out, too!)

I don't nag. I let my husband know what I want done, and give him a reasonable deadline to work with (any work remaining after the deadline will be done by a contractor). I think that's back-fired a couple of times because he literally does nothing until just before the deadline, and then scrambles to finish, but it does give me the comfort of knowing when a job will be done. It's much easier to deal with an unfinished project when the end is in sight!

Tell him you are going to hire someone. If he does not move, do it. Mor you can try doing it yourself.

We are in the same boat. My husband works closer to 60 so home improvement is done when there is time. Ours is outside right now (siding, corner boards, garage doors) so the weather has to cooperate as well. But a professional gets between $60-$100 per hour around the Boston suburbs where we live (the higher number is if the carpenter has a helper which is required for some jobs - but hubby can just holler for me).
The thing to also keep in mind: your husband is learning as he goes which means he will be slower than someone who does this all day every day. Plus my husband made some mistakes so some boards had to be removed and re-installed (or your hubbie might break a tile).
The advantages of doing home repair yourself are not only the cost savings but while you work on your house you really figure out what state it is in. A "professional" can make things look nice but cover up the real underlying problem - as can be seen on Holmes on Home shows (among many).

I love Robin's suggestion! I would have gone insane long ago . . .