# Complete bathroom remodel



## Rivethead (Dec 26, 2008)

Your taking that floor out???


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## Termite (Apr 13, 2008)

I moved your thread here to the project showcase section. If you have questions as you go along you can post them in the appropriate subforum.

Looks like a heck of a project. Definately time for that old lead piping and the drum trap to go!


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## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

That's a big job! What is the stuff on the wall behind the plaster? Was that used in place of wood lath? 

Thanks for posting the pictures, I'd like to see more of them as you progress.


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

Than You all for the repllies;

Yes I am going to remove that floor and also the shower walls.
That stuff thats behind the wall is metal,they used it to hold the plaster up and then they installed the tiles. 
It has about an inch of plaster and then the tiles. I am doing this after work and in the weekends,it is good that this is a second bath so I could live without it for a month or two...lol...
I have a few questions about the material that I need to buy for the floor and walls.

For the floor I am thinking 3/4" plywood and then cement board, any suggestion on what brand to use? 
Can any of you guys give me any advice on what kind of backer board to use for the walls? 
I want to do this right the first time so any help would be appreciated.Thank You.


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

Rivethead said:


> Your taking that floor out???


Looking at the floor I don't know what to do, should I take the floor out or should I install the tile on top of the floor?
It is a cement floor and on top of that they did the tiles.
Here are some pics;


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## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

Here's my 2-cents-worth. Take it all out so you can see what's under there and fix things now, if necessary. 

In the middle picture, in post #6, did they cut through the floor joist to run that pipe? If so, that would be one good reason to pull up the entire floor. Maybe they cut through other joists that also need to be fixed or replaced.


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

*Bathroom remodel*



gma2rjc said:


> Here's my 2-cents-worth. Take it all out so you can see what's under there and fix things now, if necessary.
> 
> In the middle picture, in post #6, did they cut through the floor joist to run that pipe? If so, that would be one good reason to pull up the entire floor. Maybe they cut through other joists that also need to be fixed or replaced.


Thank You that is what im thinking, Its going to take me a little longer but you are right, do it right the first time. Any suggestions on what kind of new subfloor materials to use?


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## wis_remod (Feb 23, 2009)

WOW! Glad to know I am not the only one with a bathroom from hell. We gutted our bathroom last summer in our 60 year old house we had just purchased. Floor was small tile on top of 2½" of concrete. Chipped all the old green (i.e. hideous) tile off concrete with small hand held jack hammer. Our walls were tiled around the perimeter up to 6½' high. However, instead of plaster over the metal lathe it was and 1¼" of concrete with tile on surface. Hitting it with a sledge did nothing except shake the house and separate the drywall from the studs on the other side of the wall and knock studs loose from sole plate. After getting two bids of $3,000 to gut the bathroom I decided to do it myself since we had a budget. Also, one bidder said they were going to use a sledge & air chisel - figured that was not good since I knew the effect of the sledge method and that was not even on the wall with the plumbing that goes upstairs. Spent $100 on good diamond blade and went through and made a vertical cuts in the wall every 16" and peeled it off. Have a chunk in my office as a souvenir and wife has a couple of large chunks in her garden as "decorative" (ha ha) stepping pads. Bathroom was closed off, air conditioning was turned off and vents were sealed. It was middle of July - it was a hot, extremely dusty miserable experience that I do not plan on repeating. This stuff was very well constructed. When I got the old 350 pound cast iron tub out and in the garden it slipped off the hand truck and landed on one of the "decorative" stepping pads. All that happened was it cracked the tile on the surface. Fortunately we had basement under the bathroom so the plumbing was for the most part under the bathroom.

Hope all goes well!! Even though the room is small it is a very big, messy project.

Matt M


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## ccarlisle (Jul 2, 2008)

One thing I would look at to incorporate into my plans _now, (_i.e. at this stage of the game rather than later) would be waterproofing. Walls and floor... 

That might require an extra half an inch or so in floor height.


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## wombosi (Apr 22, 2008)

holy crap!
i thought my bathroom floor was bad.
dude, am i looking at it right, that the entire depth of the joists are filled up with cement? sweet jesus, you are going to have a miserable time getting that up, let alone the tile.

you'll definitely sleep better if you took it all out. is this upstairs or downstairs? i hope it's not upstairs. 

anyway, find a way to gut it all out.

then, straighen out all your plumbing.
then, assess joists (clean up/sister/brace as needed)
i would then go over with 3/4" plywood (not chip board).
depending on joist size and span, you may want a SECOND layer of plywood, glued and screwed to the first (angus the master tile guy will tell you this). this will keep things stiff enough to avoid cracking tiles.
on top of that you could use the 1/8" schluter waterproofing membrane, or the durock.

probably want to use some kind of waterproofing membrane, at least under and around the tub, look into schluter products, avails at home depot or online.

what i did in my bathroom:

3/4" plywood over joists
1/2" durock on top of that
thinset and tile on top

good luck dude. i feel sorry for ya.


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

schmolze said:


> holy crap!
> i thought my bathroom floor was bad.
> dude, am i looking at it right, that the entire depth of the joists are filled up with cement? sweet jesus, you are going to have a miserable time getting that up, let alone the tile.
> 
> ...


 
Yes ,, me too, I feel sorry...lol... but really, I already started the work so I am going to finish it. I am not going to do the hard part of the job and then leave the easy part for the contractors...lol... Thank you all for all the replies and advice.


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

wis_remod said:


> WOW! Glad to know I am not the only one with a bathroom from hell. We gutted our bathroom last summer in our 60 year old house we had just purchased. Floor was small tile on top of 2½" of concrete. Chipped all the old green (i.e. hideous) tile off concrete with small hand held jack hammer. Our walls were tiled around the perimeter up to 6½' high. However, instead of plaster over the metal lathe it was and 1¼" of concrete with tile on surface. Hitting it with a sledge did nothing except shake the house and separate the drywall from the studs on the other side of the wall and knock studs loose from sole plate. After getting two bids of $3,000 to gut the bathroom I decided to do it myself since we had a budget. Also, one bidder said they were going to use a sledge & air chisel - figured that was not good since I knew the effect of the sledge method and that was not even on the wall with the plumbing that goes upstairs. Spent $100 on good diamond blade and went through and made a vertical cuts in the wall every 16" and peeled it off. Have a chunk in my office as a souvenir and wife has a couple of large chunks in her garden as "decorative" (ha ha) stepping pads. Bathroom was closed off, air conditioning was turned off and vents were sealed. It was middle of July - it was a hot, extremely dusty miserable experience that I do not plan on repeating. This stuff was very well constructed. When I got the old 350 pound cast iron tub out and in the garden it slipped off the hand truck and landed on one of the "decorative" stepping pads. All that happened was it cracked the tile on the surface. Fortunately we had basement under the bathroom so the plumbing was for the most part under the bathroom.
> 
> Hope all goes well!! Even though the room is small it is a very big, messy project.
> 
> Matt M


Thank You...


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

*update...*

Hello all;

Just an update of the progress.
I need help with the insulation for the outside walls I only have about 2" cleareance from the wall to the window molding.
Any ideas?
Here are some pics.


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

*Update*

More pics...

The last pic is the outside wall in the hallway.


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## wombosi (Apr 22, 2008)

nice looking window. not sure what youmean aboiut the 2" c learance, but use "door and window" expanding foam stuff. 
yank out that knob and tube crap...

good work, man, thorough.


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

*update*



schmolze said:


> nice looking window. not sure what youmean aboiut the 2" c learance, but use "door and window" expanding foam stuff.
> yank out that knob and tube crap...
> 
> good work, man, thorough.


I want to put insulation on that outside wall but there is only 2" of space between the wall and the window molding so I dont know what kind of insulation to use.


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## Speedball (Nov 2, 2008)

Look at all that plaster and lathe......:laughing: 

We are down to the studs in our bathroom and ours must be easy compared to yours.


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## Mike in Arkansas (Dec 29, 2008)

schmolze said:


> nice looking window. not sure what youmean aboiut the 2" c learance, but use "door and window" expanding foam stuff.
> yank out that knob and tube crap...
> 
> good work, man, thorough.


The outside wall studs are turned sideways. Not sure why they would do that. If it were me, and I was going to the trouble you are, I'd go ahead and build out the wall to get a decent amount of insulation in it and then extend to window casings to compensate.


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

*Demo is finished*

Finally the demolition is finished:thumbup: 
here are some pics...


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

Fun demo huh ?

You can't insulate around knob & tube
So to add insulation you need to replace that
Have you looked into spray insulation?


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

*demo finished*



Scuba_Dave said:


> Fun demo huh ?
> 
> You can't insulate around knob & tube
> So to add insulation you need to replace that
> Have you looked into spray insulation?


Yes the demo was a PITA but I am glad is finished. By the knob & tube do you mean the electric wires?


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

Twinvtec said:


> Yes the demo was a PITA but I am glad is finished. By the knob & tube do you mean the electric wires?


Yes the electric wires
Maybe you already removed them?


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

*Demo finished*

I am going to be replacing the wires. 
What is the reason that we can't insulate around those wires?
I am also thinking about using the space where the shower used to be a make a laundry closet for a double stack.


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

*Demo is finished*

Now that the demo is finished, I need some advice on what would be the best brand of materials to buy (plywood,cementboard,sheetrock).
I also need some advice on where to cut into the old sewer pipe to install the new one. Here is a pic of the drain pipe. Any help would be appreciated Thanks.


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

Twinvtec said:


> I am going to be replacing the wires.
> What is the reason that we can't insulate around those wires?
> I am also thinking about using the space where the shower used to be a make a laundry closet for a double stack.


Knob & tube need to dissipate heat in the air


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

*Update*

Here are some pics of the framing work tell me what you all think.
Can anyone tell me which brand of drywall would be the best one to get?Thankz


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

Mike in Arkansas said:


> The outside wall studs are turned sideways. Not sure why they would do that. If it were me, and I was going to the trouble you are, I'd go ahead and build out the wall to get a decent amount of insulation in it and then extend to window casings to compensate.


Here is my problem the radiator is real close to the window, so it is going to be too close if I framed the wall out 4" . I am thinking about building a frame 3" or 2" out from the wall and then using a fiberglass insulation. What do you guys think?


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

*More progress pics inside.*

Hello everyone,

Here are some new pics of the drain pipes.Tell me what y'all think.Thanxz


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## LawnGuyLandSparky (Nov 18, 2007)

Where does that cast iron stack lead to get to the basement? Consider replacing that with PVC too...


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

*Plumbing is done*

The plumbing is done here are some pics.


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## LeviDIY (Apr 16, 2009)

Wow... please keep the updates coming.. I just caught up on all the posts and and very impressed, and if you don't mind.. as I am in the middle of a bathroom project (recovering now from down to the studs as well) that is considerably easy compared to yours... I will make myself feel better by looking at your pictures  You're a beast!


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

*Update*



LeviDIY said:


> Wow... please keep the updates coming.. I just caught up on all the posts and and very impressed, and if you don't mind.. as I am in the middle of a bathroom project (recovering now from down to the studs as well) that is considerably easy compared to yours... I will make myself feel better by looking at your pictures  You're a beast!


 
Thank You.

here are some pics of the subfloor.


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## jackie treehorn (Jan 27, 2009)

I know nothing of plumbing, but it looks like it's coming along nicely


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## Quadfam4 (Apr 29, 2009)

I am about to embark on this journey myself and I have an old house as well. Thank you so much for sharing.


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

*New pics*

Today I framed and insulated the outside wall. 
Here are some pics.


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## perpetualjon (Jan 30, 2009)

Lookin' good!


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

*Drywall is going up, pics inside*

Hello everyone; here are some pics of the progress. Opinions,comments welcome.Thxz


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## LeviDIY (Apr 16, 2009)

Maybe an idiot question, but remind me the material on the walls? Looks "greener" than the green board I've seen, and CBU I've seen isn't green...


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

*Some more Pics*

New Pics


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## Mrnagrom (Oct 7, 2008)

I admire your hard work but damn is it painful to see that beautiful old tile floor and all those great fixtures get retired... I'd kill for one of those tubs, buying stuff that's made like that now costs thousands and thousands of dollars.


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## Twinvtec (Feb 5, 2009)

Mrnagrom said:


> I admire your hard work but damn is it painful to see that beautiful old tile floor and all those great fixtures get retired... I'd kill for one of those tubs, buying stuff that's made like that now costs thousands and thousands of dollars.


I agree with you, but unfortunally everything was so badly damadge that it came apart while I was removeing it. The supply lines were cast iron and were rusted and came apart in my hands they were also leaking water. I found some newspaper clippings dating back to 1927 so I think that was the year the bathroom was build and everything was original. Now everything that is going in is new and up to code and will last for a long time. Thank you for looking, some more pics of the progress are coming keep looking.


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## gregdonovan (Jun 10, 2009)

Twinvtec said:


> I agree with you, but unfortunally everything was so badly damadge that it came apart while I was removeing it. The supply lines were cast iron and were rusted and came apart in my hands they were also leaking water. *I found some newspaper clippings dating back to 1927* so I think that was the year the bathroom was build and everything was original. Now everything that is going in is new and up to code and will last for a long time. Thank you for looking, some more pics of the progress are coming keep looking.


 that reminds me, i need to remember to leave some bits of newspaper from this summer inside the walls.


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