Bathroom Remodel....

[quadman]

Well, I put this off as long as I could, but today we got to "demo-ing" the main bathroom. It's gonna be rough with the bath down in the lower level sorta out of commission due to all of my flooding last year, but it was far past time to get something done. My family THANKFULLY helped dear OLD dad since the knees won't take much abuse. Here are a couple of shots with my "gang" working away. Hopefully, they'll be as eager as we get farther into the project. Of course, we'll shoot some pics as we go.

I'm fairly excited about what we've chosen. We're going to do a "country" bath with lots of oak. I've got a garage full of wainscoat and trim to start staining after I get my cement backer board up and the tile in the tub surround set. This will be my very first attempt at tile, so I'm a bit nervous. :nervous: We chose a rough tumbled porcelin 4" x 4" tile for the surround, and a complimentary 2" x 2" mosaic porcelin tile for the vanity top. We'll be using the same grout color through out.

Just wondering aloud here.... since I have so much oak to stain and install (vanity, baseboard, panel cap, picture frame - for around the mirror, inside and outside corner, wainscoat), would I be better served putting up all the oak and installing the unfinished vanity base first and THEN staining and finishing? That seems like it would be a LOT easier to me.

Anyway.... the first couple of pics of my crew in action (of course, Sarah is trying to "supervise" and got caught :p)....



And another.... bevel down on those chisels Mom and Amy.... keep it low and just tap, tap, tap.... that tile will pop right up....

[django1]

I'm not a tile guy but I've done a lot of tiling. If you need any advice feel free to pm me.
Planning lay out before you start will help. Are the tub and ceiling level ( if you are going that far up ) and corners plumb ? If not you have to take these into account and plan accordingly.

[quadman]

I'm not a tile guy but I've done a lot of tiling. If you need any advice feel free to pm me.
Planning lay out before you start will help. Are the tub and ceiling level ( if you are going that far up ) and corners plumb ? If not you have to take these into account and plan accordingly.

The tub is surprisingly level. I'm not going all the way to the ceiling with the tile. I'll probably go one row higher than what was there. As for the corners, I'm not sure yet. I'll check after I get the Hardi-backer installed.

And, you already have a PM BTW.... :p

[django1]

You might want to check the corners before you put up the hardibacker. That way you could shim it out under the backerboard if necessary.

[dvenardos]

Better than hardibacker is if you float the tile. I had it done in my bathroom. It is basically a lifetime job.

http://kitchen-remodeling-pictures.com/bathroom-remodel/bathroom-shower-tile/floating-mortar-shower-stall.htm

[quadman]

Better than hardibacker is if you float the tile. I had it done in my bathroom. It is basically a lifetime job.
http://kitchen-remodeling-pictures.c...ower-stall.htm

If I were starting from scratch and/or replacing the tub, I would definitely consider it. But, the tub is getting reglazed. That thing is cast iron so trying to remove it and muscling in another tub is really out of the question as a DIY project for this old man and his crew.

I plan on taping the seams and "mudding" them with thinset just like a drywall seam. So, hopefully, I won't have any problems with moisture getting through any joints like is mentioned in the article. Especially since my new tile will extend beyond where the old tile stopped which will mean the joints are under the tape and thinset as mud, the thinset base for the tile and finally the tile itself.

[django1]

Better than hardibacker is if you float the tile. I had it done in my bathroom. It is basically a lifetime job.
http://kitchen-remodeling-pictures.c...ower-stall.htm

And it would take John a lifetime to do it.:huge:

That's pretty old school and quite labor intensive. I use this Kerdi waterproof membrane now when the client wants something top of the line.
http://http://www.ontariotile.com/kerdi.html

[quadman]

And it would take John a lifetime to do it.:huge:

Could you see the quadman renting a tar kettle and melting down the bullets? :rlmfao:

No, Stephen is quite right, that would be a job hired out for sure. I'm even debating whether my knees can take replacing this subfloor or not. It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow, so I may just call one of our guys and see if he wants to make some extra $$$ instead of sitting at home.

I just ordered some Tarkett Fiberfloor: http://www.tarkettna.com/Default.asp...d=71&sku=14043 (it's a lot lighter than the pic shows) which is ubber cool stuff. No adheasive is needed. It just floats under the molding. I'm going to put it down over the entire bathroom and set the vanity, new commode and all baseboard trim over the top of it. All we have to do is cut it correctly which shouldn't be to terribly difficult I don't think.

[dvenardos]

True, definitely beyond my skills.

When I tore everything out, I had rot behind the tile and I had to do quite a bit of repair. My cousin in law whom is a plumber said that he sees rot behind showers all the time. The tile guy that he uses only used this method so he is really efficient at it and he gave me a really good deal. He didn't use tar, just tar paper, chicken wire and mortar.

And it would take John a lifetime to do it.:huge:

That's pretty old school and quite labor intensive. I use this Kerdi waterproof membrane now when the client wants something top of the line.
http://http://www.ontariotile.com/kerdi.html

[quadman]

True, definitely beyond my skills.

When I tore everything out, I had rot behind the tile and I had to do quite a bit of repair. My cousin in law whom is a plumber said that he sees rot behind showers all the time. The tile guy that he uses only used this method so he is really efficient at it and he gave me a really good deal. He didn't use tar, just tar paper, chicken wire and mortar.

My plumbing wall was quite clean when I opened it up to replace the valve (went from three handles to one). Just the obligatory spider webs and dust. No signs of water leakage or rot.... whew. :applause:

[koa]

If you're concerned about leaky seams (I don't think you need to be in a tub/shower) there's a product by Laticrete called Hydroban which you just paint on. Link, click on install video.

http://www.laticrete.com/architects/products/waterproofing.aspx

Since it's expensive, you could do just the seams, corners, and tub/wall transition. Or for waterproofing around shampoo shelves if you decide to install any. I've used it and it works great and super easy to apply.

I'd be inclined to apply one coat of stain/sealer to the backs of the oak trim and apply final finish after install if that's easier.

If you think you ever want to add any support handles in the shower, add the blocking now that the wall is open.

[django1]

True, definitely beyond my skills.

When I tore everything out, I had rot behind the tile and I had to do quite a bit of repair. My cousin in law whom is a plumber said that he sees rot behind showers all the time. The tile guy that he uses only used this method so he is really efficient at it and he gave me a really good deal. He didn't use tar, just tar paper, chicken wire and mortar.

Definitely a good investment if you plan on being there for a while.

[django1]

If I were starting from scratch and/or replacing the tub, I would definitely consider it. But, the tub is getting reglazed. That thing is cast iron so trying to remove it and muscling in another tub is really out of the question as a DIY project for this old man and his crew.

I might be a little late with this but "reglazing" the bathtub isn't something I would generally recommend to a homeowner. If it is the same technique they use around here, it starts coming of after about five years.

I've had small time salvage guys come in and remove cast iron tubs for free. They actually break it in two or three pieces with a small sledge hammer (actually easier than it sounds). You could get a pretty nice fiberglass tub for the cost of the re-glazing. And all you have to do is reconnect the drain.

On the staining question, I missed the little part about the wainscoting :o. In that case I would stain in place with the possible exception of the top moulding and the base. YMMV

[quadman]

I might be a little late with this but "reglazing" the bathtub isn't something I would generally recommend to a homeowner. If it is the same technique they use around here, it starts coming of after about five years.

I've had small time salvage guys come in and remove cast iron tubs for free. They actually break it in two or three pieces with a small sledge hammer (actually easier than it sounds). You could get a pretty nice fiberglass tub for the cost of the re-glazing. And all you have to do is reconnect the drain.

On the staining question, I missed the little part about the wainscoting :o. In that case I would stain in place with the possible exception of the top moulding and the base. YMMV

I was concerned about the first pricing I was getting when checking out the re-glazing option. They all seemed "too cheap." But the last fellow I talked with takes a full day and does a six coat process. One cleaning, one acid - etching prep, primer and three top coats. He also uses a glass infused urethane coating of some sort which is supposed to be super high tech. He's been doing it for over twenty years and offers a ten year wear warranty.

The best price I got for labor of R&Ring a tub was $400, plus the cost of the new tub. Since I would never consider fiberglass (my Mom's condo tub was all scratched and didn't look very good at all), the only option I saw that looked nice was an "Americast" tub from American Standard. It was supposedly as strong as steel and almost as light as fiberglass and it was finished in porcelin. But that was another $400 for the tub. The Mrs and I discussed breaking up the tub ourselves, but a co-worker of her's told her horror stories about taking out their cast iron tub so we decided not to try it ourselves. :nervous:

On a side note.... DAMN I'm sore. The new can lighting and exhaust fan is in, I moved some switches around and added a GFI outlet (and it all actually WORKS :applause:). At the last minute we decided to replace the entire sub-floor instead of cutting and piecing in what was rotted. So after pulling the toilet and vanity, the damaged sub floor I'm officially on break. :shiftyeyes:

After my bones stop hurting, we're going to put the new sub floor down (I've already got it all cut and ready to go) and hang the cement board. I borrowed my buddies framing passload nailer so that will be nice and I've got my studs all shimmed and ready for the rock. If I'm not too weary, I'll shoot some more pics and share them later. If not, it'll most likely be tomorrow night before I'll be able to since I've got a full day booked tomorrow.

I gotta say though, I'm proud of my crew.... there is absolutely NO WAY I could have gotten this far without their help.

[django1]

I enjoy my job but sometimes it can become pain inducing. Especially as we age...

Ten year warranty sounds good. Just on the fiberglass bath topic, I've never had anyone complain about one and have one in the basement myself. They can be repaired and/or rebuffed and made to look like new. Maybe your mom might be interested in that. You can have it done or buy a repair kit and do it yourself.

You might already have this covered but I like to install a push button timer for the exhaust fans. Saves power when the kids forget it in the on position all day...