Tile work gets a bad rap, but I actually found it more manageable than painting—at least in my old house. The key for me was taking the time to prep everything and not rushing the layout. I used a chalk line and a cheap laser level, and honestly, that made a world of difference. The first few tiles were slow going, but once I got into a rhythm, it was almost meditative. Grout lines can get tricky if your walls aren’t square (which, in a 1920s house, they definitely weren’t), but I just adjusted as I went.
I’d argue that patience matters more than raw skill with tile. You can always pull up a tile and reset it if you catch it early enough. Painting, on the other hand, is less forgiving—especially with old plaster walls that soak up paint unevenly or have weird textures.
As for plumbing surprises, I’ve pulled out pipes wrapped in newspaper from the 1940s... always something odd hiding behind those walls. TV reno shows really gloss over how much time goes into just figuring out what you’re dealing with before you even start swinging a hammer.
Tile is weirdly satisfying, right? I totally get what you mean about it being meditative once you get in the groove. I thought I’d mess it up left and right, but as long as I kept checking my lines and didn’t rush, it turned out way better than expected. Those old houses are a trip though—my bathroom walls waved at me every time I tried to do anything straight. Ended up with grout lines that kind of zigzagged in places, but honestly, adds “character,” or that’s what I tell myself.
And yeah, painting over ancient plaster is a whole different beast. I’ve had spots where it sucked up a gallon and still looked blotchy. Give me tile over that any day.
The stuff you find behind the walls... man, it’s like a time capsule in there. I once found a Coke bottle from the ‘50s stuffed behind my tub. TV reno shows make it look like you just demo and go, but half the job is figuring out what weirdness is hiding in there first.
TV reno shows make it look like you just demo and go, but half the job is figuring out what weirdness is hiding in there first.
Seriously, this. I always laugh when they gloss over the “surprises” behind old walls. Last time I did a bathroom, I found a squirrel’s nest in the vent chase—no joke. And yeah, those wavy walls are a pain for tile. I ended up using a ton of extra thinset to even things out, which added a bit to my costs. Still, I’d take that over painting ancient plaster any day... that stuff just eats paint and never looks right.
Yeah, demo always feels like opening a time capsule—never know what you’ll get. I hit a patch of horsehair plaster that just crumbled as soon as I touched it. Ended up re-framing half the wall. Wild how much “character” old houses have, right? But I hear you on the paint... I swear, nothing sticks to that stuff.
Old house “character” is right—mine had layers of wallpaper under the paint, like some kind of archaeological dig. I ended up spending about $8k, mostly because every wall was a surprise. And yeah, nothing sticks to that ancient paint... I swear it’s Teflon.
