Bathroom Renovation | Anything I'm Missing?

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

A good tub faucet could be worth several hundred dollars. That's a win!

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

Have any room gutting progress photos to report?

In reply to VolvoHeretic :

Nothing new so far. I have been wanting to demo some more areas that don't affect function yet, but I haven't had time so far. Saturday is go time though. 

Ok, I can wait a little longer.  Before I forget, you might want to screw your existing flooring down to the floor joists before the heating grid and tiling. Who knows, but I would guess that you have full 1" subfloor diagonal boards under finished 3/4" fir boards = 1.75" thickness. I would use 3" screws and lots of them.

VolvoHeretic said:

Ok, I can wait a little longer.  Before I forget, you might want to screw your existing flooring down to the floor joists before the heating grid and tiling. Who knows, but I would guess that you have full 1" subfloor diagonal boards under finished 3/4" fir boards = 1.75" thickness. I would use 3" screws and lots of them.

That's a disagreement I was having with my brother in law actually. The whole house is pine board floors, then the bathroom currently has plywood over top of that and some type of glue tile on top of that. Since the room is going to be larger, the plywood at least would need to go, but I was planning on going down to the joists, and then doing new subfloor from there. 

He said keep the pine boards, then do subfloor. Maybe that's smart, but I also don't want a huge threshold into the room. 

To be quite honest, that's one of the things I will have to figure out as I go. 

You should have a 1x10 subfloor, usually placed diagonally over all of the floor joists and running under the wall studs. The Douglas Fir finished flooring is placed between and after the wall studs are built. You could remove the existing plywood, screw down the rest and start you tile project or you could also rip out the Fir finish flooring down to the sub flooring and place 3/4" T&G subfloor plywood over that screwed down threw everything to the floor joist. You could also use 1/2" butt joint plywood to gain another 1/4". Either way should get rid of any squeaks. How tall are the tiles with heating system? I'm also a big believer of using LOTS of Locktite PL 400 sub floor adhesive.

The floor you see here, is what the whole house is. Just basic I think pine floor right onto the joists, no diagonal underneath. A few of the rooms downstairs got a much better floor on top of this stuff, but this is the "subfloor" throughout the house. 

There are pluses and minus to each, and none of them are that significant. 
 

Looks like your existing subfloor is 3 1/2" T&G.  If the goal is to remove the squeaks, VH is right- use lots of screws. The challenge with this is with your narrow subfloor you risk splitting the wood when you screw that many screws into it. That won't alleviate squeaks, it will create more. 
 

I normally like the idea of leaving the subfloor because it ties the existing exterior wall into the diaphragm of the entire floor system.  It's a structural advantage.

However, in your case I'm pretty sure the subfloor runs parallel with the exterior wall, which means it's not really tying the exterior wall in much at all.  Plus, I'll bet that exterior wall is balloon framed (meaning the studs are really long and continuous from the first to second floor). Again, this means there is not a meaningful structural tie between the exterior wall and the floor diaphragm.

I think the focus for your job is not a structural consideration.  It's about controlling squeaks and keep the threshold low.  Therefore, you might as well rip out the subfloor and replace with plywood.  Plus, this will give you better access for doing the plumbing work.

Hopefully, I've given you some fodder for the debate with your BiL. 

If you end up leaving the subfloor, add a well glued and screwed layer of 1/4" thick tile backer board on top of the subfloor before starting your floor. 
 

Actually, do that even if you remove the subfloor and add new plywood.  It's just a better bond for the tile. 

SV reX said:

If you end up leaving the subfloor, add a well glued and screwed layer of 1/4" thick tile backer board on top of the subfloor before starting your floor. 
 

Actually, do that even if you remove the subfloor and add new plywood.  It's just a better bond for the tile. 

Yeah? Like this stuff or hardie backer? https://www.lowes.com/pd/DUROCK-Brand-0-5-in-x-36-in-x-60-in-Cement-Backer-Board/1000383889

The Schluter manual says the uncoupling membrane can go right on top of plywood subfloor, but if it makes more sense to add the backer board as well, I can do that. 

For the shower walls, should that be drywall or backer board? I got the Schluter waterproofing membrane to seal it. 

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

Durock and Hardie backer are both good products. I think Durock only comes in 1/2", so it would make your threshold higher. 
 

It depends on what you use for subfloor. My favorite is Advantech.  It's incredibly dense, lays really flat, is waterproof, and is stiff enough that you generally only need 1 layer of 3/4" (on 16" centers). 
 

If you use actual plywood, the Schluter stuff will bond fine.  But if you use a product like Advantech, cement products won't bond to it. 
 

NEVER use drywall in a shower surround, no matter how good the waterproofing is.

Everything that SV reX said is good advise. Let me just add that old 100 year old wood is hard as a rock. Always predrill nail and screw holes with a bit that allows the nail or screw to easily pass threw the first board you are trying to attach. I would predrill as many as you can reach on your knees without moving and then screw everything down before moving to the next spot. That way you are using the screw to pull the boards down to the joists and don't have to stand with both feet straddling the screw to trying to use just your weight to keep it down. It should just take one screw at each joist to hold the 1x4 board down.

I wonder how the joists are attach to the exterior structural brick? Are they placed into a beam pocket in the brick?

I also notice your nice 100 year old double hung window. Just a fyi, Marvin Windows makes a modern replacement insulated pane insert that replaces the old windows glass sash panel and side jam yet leaves all of the original frame and trim. I have been out of the loop for about 25 years so things might have changed some since I installed any. 

Marvin.com: Elevate Double Hung Insert

Marvin.com: Essential Window Installation

And for todays quiz, here is a diagram of the parts to a double hung window for everyone to learn which I had to find to look up some parts names.  

I'll definitely look into those windows. Mine need help sooner or later...

Since we're on the topic of windows, just because I knew mine are old I figured I'd get a quote, so last year renewal by anderson came out... Anyone want to guess what that quote was for 26 windows?

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

I'll bite and toss in a guess of $42K since you mentioned RBA.

In reply to 11GTCS :

I would've been tempted to figure out a way to do it at that price...

They quoted me $110k! 

SV reX said:

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

NEVER use drywall in a shower surround, no matter how good the waterproofing is.

So cement backer board?

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

Yup

I usually use cement backer board under tile (wet areas) and green board or purple board in damp areas that won't receive tile but need to be painted (rest of the bathroom)

In reply to SV reX :

Noted. Thanks!

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

That is insane.  No wonder they offer financing! 

11GTCS said:

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

That is insane.  No wonder they offer financing! 

That's because they're selling financing, the windows are just the way to get there. It's like Kay Jewlers, they're not selling nice jewelry, they're selling credit. 

AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to 11GTCS :

I would've been tempted to figure out a way to do it at that price...

They quoted me $110k! 

Insanity. It's like the "leaf guard" gutters guy who quoted me $19k. I laughed and said literally "my over under was $4k - just pack up your E36 M3 and go".

For windows.. I replaced seventeen 1977 vintage wood double hung windows (not old growth pine "historic" windows, but painted wood) for under $300 each. Replacement wood sashes made by the lumber yard, with low-e insulated glass and new insulated PVC jamb liners. That's material cost, and it was ten years ago but I installed them myself - the first one took about an hour with a carpenter friend patiently showing me how - and the rest around 20 minutes each. Easy. 

Now back to your bathroom. 

Starting point for the day: 

All the wall panels sent out the window. 
 

Got a good bit of plaster down too but apparently didn't take a picture before this lunch break. 

You probably should put a box fan in the window blowing out and a fan in the doorway blowing in. Be sure to use a KN95 mask.

Lots of stuff removed. The ceiling being the worst due to blown in insulation above. 

picture taken from the bedroom beside it, can't open the bathroom door at the moment from debris.

Suggestion...

Get above the ceiling with a shop vac and suck up that insulation before taking down the ceiling. Just letting it drop makes a huge cloud of mess. 
 

(And it can contain friable asbestos- dangerous)