# Bathroom remodel - what drywall to keep?



## ClarenceBauer (Mar 4, 2005)

you can leave any selected drywall in place that skim with a product called Master of Plaster you can get a smooth finish & bonding to paint is not a problem. You need to estimate the cost of removal V replacement cost to see which would be better.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Clarence brings up a good point, but I have found that removing all the sheetrock on the walls is the best starting point. There will be electrical and plumbing that may need to be altered. Certainly if you have full walls of drywall that is intact and shows no need for replacement, then leave it.


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## 195795 (May 24, 2013)

Agree w/ 48 - I always like to remove it all so no patch work, just easier in the end and allows me to see everything going on.

When you re-rock, you may want to use mold-resistant drywall just for a little extra protection in bathroom, that's what I have started doing now on these jobs.

That's some goofy electrical on that door wall - get rid of that for sure


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## dtbingle (Jul 19, 2017)

Sounds like a plan! It's all coming down then. Including the ceiling. Good tip Texas, forgot about the mold tough sheets. Costwise increase is next to nothing too considering it's only a few sheets for the entire bathroom.

Another question. Where do you start/stop cement backerboard in the shower where it meets the mold tough drywall? From what I've read, it seems like you stop the backerboard a little short of where your tile will go. So if you wanted to tile 60 inches up the shower wall from the top of the tub, you would stop the backerboard at around 57-58 inches. Then your top tile would be part on the backerboard and part on the drywall.

Likewise if you wanted to extend the tile out from the edge of the shower a couple inches, you would stop the backerboard flush with the tub so that your last tile sits on the backerboard and also extends on the drywall past the edge of the tub.

This allows for thinset/tape and waterproofing membrane to fully cover the backerboard to drywall seam with a nice finished look leading into the main area of the bathroom. Does this sound correct?

EDIT: And the goofy electrical on the wall is just the start. Our two bathrooms are back-to-back. One 15A circuit has a few basement lights, both bathroom's outlets, one bathroom's lights, and one bathroom's vent fan. There's also the fact that the vent fan dumps straight into attic. For supply lines, it's all copper running in basement below bathroom. The line turns up from the horizontal run before splitting between the two bathrooms. One side was updated to copper, but the other (in the bathroom being redone) was left as galvanized pipe with no shutoff valves. Honestly, it was probably more work redoing half of it in copper opposed to converting both at once.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

dtbingle said:


> Sounds like a plan! It's all coming down then. Including the ceiling. Good tip Texas, forgot about the mold tough sheets. Costwise increase is next to nothing too considering it's only a few sheets for the entire bathroom.
> 
> Another question. Where do you start/stop cement backerboard in the shower where it meets the mold tough drywall? From what I've read, it seems like you stop the backerboard a little short of where your tile will go. So if you wanted to tile 60 inches up the shower wall from the top of the tub, you would stop the backerboard at around 57-58 inches. Then your top tile would be part on the backerboard and part on the drywall.
> 
> ...


 Yes to all your questions


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## dtbingle (Jul 19, 2017)

Nealtw said:


> Yes to all your questions


Perfect! Time to start clearing out the bathroom!


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

dtbingle said:


> Perfect! Time to start clearing out the bathroom!


 Loose insulation above ceiling??


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## dtbingle (Jul 19, 2017)

Nealtw said:


> dtbingle said:
> 
> 
> > Perfect! Time to start clearing out the bathroom!
> ...


Nasty old r-13 pink fiberglass batts. Definitely needs more insulation up there, but delaying it until bathroom attic work is done haha.


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## 195795 (May 24, 2013)

Are you subject to NEC ? Even if not, you should bring the electrical up to code, e.g., separate GFCI-protected 20a circuit for receptacles, etc. Make sure you have a clear, detailed, up-to-code, electrical plan.


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## Domo (Nov 9, 2018)

It's a 7 X 5 bathroom with tub alcove, I'm guessing.

Pull all the rock, including the ceiling. It's take you 30 minutes longer to remove it all and will eliminate all the headaches about mating to old work. Plus, it gives you a chase to plumb/square the studs before you rehang.

Plan on tiling all the way up to the ceiling for the surround and you'll have no transitions between board types to worry about. Also, make sure you wrap and outside edges of the tub area with tile all the way. This will make the low spots where the tub/shower always weeps water (kids splashing) waterproof also - thus no future problems.

You might also consider tiling all the walls up to 4' or so - easy to clean, little boys missing the porcelain is easy to clean up and won't mess up your paint job, etc.

Partial jobs are just that - partial jobs.


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## dtbingle (Jul 19, 2017)

Definitely bringing the bathroom electrical up to code! Planning for each bathroom to have a 20A circuit for the outlet and a 20A circuit for heater/vent combo unit. Thinking the since the bathrooms are back-to-back to share the lighting needs of both onto a single 15A line. And with all projects, you run into additional work. Extra circuits for the bathroom runs into the issue of not enough breaker slots. Might use tandem breakers for now until I upgrade to a panel with more spaces and up the service wires from 100A to 125A in the spring.

Domo, you are correct. Just under 8 ft deep and a tad over 5 ft wide (including the bathtub alcove). Will be pulling everything down and putting new. After looking at patterns online, my fiance and I plan to do the tiling in the shower all the way up to the ceiling and wrap the edges. However, she's pretty opposed to tile a few feet up the rest of the walls in the bathroom despite the ease of cleaning consideration. I'm seeing fake shiplap for the rest of the walls coming in the future.....


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## Domo (Nov 9, 2018)

Sound like you're making good choices for the walls - I think you're life will be easier when you tile to the ceiling.

Post some pics as you progress - everyone on the forum loves to see folks covered in dust and dirt with insulation/plastic/tile all over the floors!

You might consider moving your shower controls to a spot where you can adjust without getting your hand wet. See the attached... The other thing we did in this bath was remove the tile floor, poured self-leveling cement to the height of other floors and then stained the surface. We also saved money on the vanity by finding a dresser on CraigsList and simply refinished it - cost $100 instead of $400.

Just be creative and have fun!


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