I have a new project! Totally redoing main bath in house!!!!

[welsummerchicks]

Well this wasn't something I expected to be doing this month!

But the former owner of the house evidently put a few pipes together with putty when they leaked instead of repairing them properly - so the bathroom wall and its partner wall downstairs, have been destroyed - totally from the inside up til now(now it's obvious), and the pipe, which leaked for a long time without making any visible signs, suddenly gave way and soaked the bathroom floor as well.

We just finished tearing up all the plywood down to the subfloor. Evidently the previous owner put a layer of luan board over the damaged plywood, filled in the sunken areas with concrete leveler, put vynil sheet over the luan, and hid all the damage. When we tore up the vynil and luan, we found another layer - with tile adhesive on it perhaps, and it appears rather than replacing the original layer or repairing the leak, he just covered it up.

We had a plumber come in and put in several shut off valves in the basement, to help us track the point of the leak.

Now that we've found the leak and removed all the layers of floor we need to let the subfloor dry out. It seems to be completely intact.

I'll have to tear down one wall of the bathroom - the wall the sink pipes come through. It's got tile on it, and textured paint, but part of it is damaged from the leak.

I'm sorely, sorely tempted to make a few changes.

We already took out the room-long double sink and cabinet. It was ghastly - it can hold tools in the basement, I suppose. Except for the one box (of the 3) which is damaged.

There's a kind of well - TOMB - totally closing in the toilet(and containing the shower pipe for the bathtub next to it), and some of it was damaged as well.

I'd like to get a hand held sprayer instead of the overhead shower, so that I can dispense with the full height wall between the toilet and sink. It's a small bathroom and that full height wall makes it look a lot smaller.

I'm examining the merits of steel-fiberglass, fiberglass or iron tubs, and trying to see if I can just have the original tub (enamel-cast iron) reglazed. I'm not sure it's worth it - fiberglass tubs are inexpensive and reglazing isn't.

THEN there is the matter of removing textured paints from the other walls! Around the tub is tile, but some grout on some tiles needs to be repaired and of course all the calking around the tub needs replacement.

AND the window needs to be repaired or replaced.

So lots and lots to do and we're learning along the way. My SO is doing an awesome job - I read out of the book what to do and he goes at it like mad. It's been awful so far - the plywood and luan were murder to remove. I could barely get him to break for lunch though. He's really tackling this job.

I'm sure we'll get some very inexpensive fixtures - nothing fancy, but the tile and new paint will look really nice!

Feel free to mention any trials and tribulations and advice you have!

 

[EweSheep]

Oh believe me, it would be worth it when it is done!

I do not know how many times my family renovate houses including the one they are retiring in. Oh such job! My dad is now approaching 70 and we knew no more major jobs for him. It took him six months for him to do a small bathroom for my sis. I would love him to do the tile but decided, no, let him retire from renovating. He has been doing it for almost his entire life, tearing down and putting up from foundation to roof and in and outs of interior work.

With the water damage, you better of tear out all the subfloors until you get into the rafters and inspect the rafters for any weak spots or mold. Take care of that first before installing subfloors.

With me having a new fiberglass one piece tub/shower combo, stress cracks or inferior cracks are showing last year. I don't think they are cut out to be that durable anymore. If I had to it it all over again, I would have kept my cast iron tub, reglaze it and tear out the walls, insulate and put in new plumbing. Be sure to have shut off valves near the tub fixings and another one at the main branch in case you have something cracked between your first shut off to second shut off. Particuarly if you have a basement, its a great idea. AND be sure to line those HOT and COLD. Not funny when you expect HOT water to come out and got COLD water.

Use tile board or green boards for your bathroom walls as it gets humid in there and get paint that is suitable for bathrooms. Nothing worse having a bathroom wall just "runs" after a year later with paint or walls looked rough. We didn't realize how much humidity it got in there when we didnt have vents nor have any room for a vent or condensation issues in certain location of our bathroom.

Here is our bathroom:

After that has been said and done, there were a few things I would have changed.

 

[welsummerchicks]

Is there any reliable test for the subflooring?

We're down to the real base at this point - diagonally set boards that are very thick and sturdy looking and nailed to the ....rafters?

I'd like to have a good test to determine if I need to replace any of them. If they must be replaced I'll need to remove the tub at this point to do so.

To be honest I am surprised that the subfloor looks so good when the upper layers looked so poor. I've tried walking on it - there are no soft or 'giving' areas, even near the leak.

I'll try today to use a pocketknife, and see if I can poke around and find any soft areas. Are there any better tests?