Bad news. The dry wall looks so bad I think it should be pulled out, the previous and original homeowner tore the bathroom drywall up pretty good. I scraped all the wallpaper off the walls and found five different patches, why the walls have so many patches is a mystery. I even found an electrical junction box under the wallpaper! I peeled the paper back with my scraper and there it was, 3 romex wires, wire nuts, and the junction box is just hanging in the air, it is not attached to the studs.

I think this job will have to be a complete renovation from the studs on out.
I'll be considering what to do with the floor next. There is some kind of strange 1/8 or 3/16 inch plywood tacked to the subfloor( or finished floor?). The nailheads are sticking up, and have popped thru the vinyl tiles in several places. Know I understand why my wife had throw rugs laying all over the bathroom floor, it was ugly.

 

Being the kind of guy that does things to save money, I too, have remodeled my master bath. (Out of necessity!)

One day, I noticed that there was a water spot on my kitchen ceiling. Our house was about 4 years old, and the 'seal' around the shower drain was shrinking, causing the leak.
It was my unfortunate surprise to learn that the builder put a $24.95 shower stall in my house.

Well, I found out that the manufacturer of the shower stall had discontinued the model, and that parts were 'un-available'. (My luck.)

To make a long story short, I wound up ripping out the 'junk' tile and the shower stall, and installing a 4 piece shower with 'seats' on each side.
It turned out really nice. So nice, my neighbors wanted me to do theirs, when they developed leaks!
(Sorry. I just forgot how to do it!)

Lastly. . . . this project could lead to the "avalanche effect."
(The snowball at the top of the hill starts rolling down. . . . . . by the time it gets halfway down, it's the size of your house. When it reaches the bottom. . . it's taken out everything!) Voilá! The avalanche effect.

 

The toilet drain has been leaking. The wood is rotten around the flange, it is wet. There was nothing holding the flange to the floor, but I guess that doesn't matter as the flange snugs against the bottom of the porcelain crapper, thereby securing the drain pipe at the correct position.

I have half the drywall off, I can finally get access to the other bathrooms plumbing. The jerks that designed this house did not leave any access to the plumbing!!! If my other shower stall faucets had decided to fail, the only way in, is to go thru the drywall I just ripped down. Needless to say, there will be an access panel in my new wall, I think I can hang a mirror over it, to keep my new bathroom looking sharp.

The Avalanche is starting to build.....

I have the stall loose, it was secured by a few galvanized 1 and 1/4 inch roofing nails. There were plenty of drywall nails in it also, as the drywall overlapped the stall flange.

 

Thats the problem I have with my plumbing...no access. And where you can access it, you have to stand on your head and turn yourself inside out to get at it. And the water coming out to the toilets... the pipes are cut off tight against the wall, with soldered fittings...so in order to replace them I had to hire a plumber, who cussed and charged me an arm and a leg to replace them with fittings that "modern" hoses and toilets would connect to. And this place is barely over 30 years old. Man... sometimes American contractors CHEAPNESS is really pathetic. Cut every corner at any cost! Now... the older homes..built by real carpenters..ya know..a house that still stands and is strong? One that took more than one week to throw together? One that the carpenters stood back and looked at and were proud to sign their name to? Those are days long gone. Shame too. Oh--yeah there are a FEW quality homebuilders...they ain't all bad.
Sorry if I stepped on any modern day "carpenters" toes, but I'm living in an area where there is a development BOOM. I see these shoddy homes go up every day and sell for a mint. I'm sorry, but there's no way these modern techniques are "better" than the old fashioned way of making a home.... quality over quantity.
lol..boy am I in a good mood today! ( Flame on..lol..but don't get too hot, you'll ruin the environment!)

 

Sounds like a normal bathroom job... Check for dryrot at the ends of the tub. You'll probably find when you rip that thin plywood up, it was used to hide problems under. If you end up replacing it with real 1/2 or 3/4 inch from the subfloor, they make a spacer adapter for the toilet - if you end up being high.

Bathrooms are almost as fun as kitchens.

 

on those floors, pergo and the other clones, make sure to use a decent mitre (chop) saw and a finer blade than comes with the saw. seams will look much better, and once you get the hang of snapping it together it goes a lot faster than you'd think.

sorry about the shoddy work you guys have been seeing. not that it's my fault, just seems to be a fact of life nowadays:"put in the hours and pick up my check" seems to be the mindset of most of the people I work with(construction, cabinets). hard to find people who still have a sense of pride in their work. too often I see the attitude of "screw it , can't see it from my house!", but what they forget is that if everyone takes this attitude, "their" house is built the same way. my stuff is right out there to see, and if I took that attitude, I would still have a job, I'm sure, but I wouldn't feel as good as I do when it's done right!

 

uhhhhhhh, just wanted to mention that I saw a product on a re-modeling TV show that slips right over your *existing* one-piece shower/tub unit or your porcelain bathtub, and yes it is glued in place. I don't know anything about the longevity of it though, and I think it was 3 pieces that fit together and were glued/bonded onto the old one-piece unit. Just a thought

 

Great, now you tell him, after he tore the old one out... It was fiberglass anyway, time to check for mold and dryrot.

My house was built in '72 and it's the same way. It was this building boom where you started seeing the modern building styles. Before then, a lot of builders would never think of using anything other than #1 select lumber. It was the '70's when 2 or better became the norm. Same with T-111 siding, fiberboard in the subfloor and basic dark stained interior wood trim.

On the plus side, these houses are pretty easy to work on. Sometimes you luck out and things are actually square.

 

Ok, demolitions complete...unless I opt for a 72 inch tub...I only have room for a 60 incher now.

The one piece shower/tub stall removal process is a nightmare, if you are ever thinking of replacing an old one-piece fiberglass unit, then plan on remodeling the entire bathroom.
Even if you were very very careful, you couldn't get one of these out without making a big mess.
I pulled it out today, last night I ripped all the drywall out of the bathroom, removed all the nails around the fixture, there were four or five nails from the plumber, and about 20 nails from the drywall. The next step is to unscrew the drain fitting at the bottom of the tub, and remove the overflow hole cover and draincock control. Once the drain and overflow are loose, just wiggle them off, they stick a little bit after years of the gasket being there.I removed the hot, cold, and shower *****, then I shut off the water supply ...just in case I cut any pipes.
Next I put on a respirator, and started cutting ( using a sawzall) at the top corner of the stall and went straight down to the top of the tub. Then I cut straight across the top of the tub, just under the faucets and controls, to meet my first cut. I then slid the cut section over the pipes and pulled it away. Then I made another downward cut in the second corner to the top of the tub, same as the first cut. Then I made a horizontal cut along the top of the tub to remove the large back section that runs from front to back. I then made one last horizontal cut to remove the third section. I managed to drag the tub downstairs, and throw it outside.

There was fiberglass dust everywhere!!! You must wear a respirator if you chop one of these up with a sawzall!! I vacuumed everything up. I am very glad to get that old tub out of there!!!

As far as the floor goes, I am screwed! The previous tenant put luan plywood over the subfloor, in order to lay some vinyl tile down. No problem, I ripped that up, and it is in the trash. The original subfloor isn't rotten, just the luan was, the leak happened recently and wasn't a chronic long-time leaker.

Here is the biggest problem....There is no finished floor on the third level of the house. The SOB builder didn't put a finshed floor down!!!!
The whole level is nothing but rough plywood subfloor with those stupid plywood clips. I can live with that fact in the other rooms as they are padded and have wall to wall carpet. Right now I am trying to figure out how I am going to get a finished floor in the bathroom and get some ceramic tile installed. Ceramic may be out of the question, after a layer of 1/2 inch plywood, grout and 1/4 inch tile, I'll have a one inch tripping hazard as I walk into my new bathroom. I may have to live with the fact my bathroom floor will be higher, no sense in creating a nice tile floor only to watch it self-destruct.

 

sawzall or chainsaw...

 

Make sure you take your Sawzall apart and clean the fibreglass out of it, as it will eat the tool up. For the floor, check your span verses the joist dimension, you may be able to rip some off the joist to get enough space for the floor you want. could even screw and glue 3/4" plywood to the side of the joist or box the joist with 3/4" plywood for strength and to cut down on the flexing.

 

I would like to thank everyone that replied
All the responses helped me out, and I got the job done.
Time to rebuild now. Install finished wood floor, ceiling lights w/dimmer and fan, run power line for new tub, new whirlpool tub ( reposition water and drain lines and heater duct), drywall, plaster, make access door for other bathroom plumbing, primer, painting, toilet,(move pvc drain) vanity, corian counter, medicine cabinet, and mirror and lighting for make-up. Then tile and grout, towel racks, soap dishes, toothbrush holders, toilet paper holder, new entry door,, shower stall sliding glass door, wallpaper...should be finished by thanksgiving

PS send money to me ASAP!!!!

 

if it's not too late.....if your going with tile it might be worth looking into some thin (1/4") hardboard(concrete centered wall/floor board). there's a few name brands and it might limit the rise of your bathroom floor.

 

Sounds like an option...anymore details? Do I nail or glue it down? How is it cut?

 

It's a thin concrete board, size is something like 3.5'x4'. Very ridged, but the subfloor needs to be stiff under. You're suppose to be able to snap it like sheetrock, but I've used an abrasive wheel on the skilsaw. You use special screws to put it down. Like a Tapcon screw. (It might be Tapcon, I've got a couple boxes in the shop, if you want to stop by..)

Hardiboard http://www.jameshardie.com/backerboard/