...thanks for asking, Kendra. I did start out this project as simply covering an air return between the bathroom and the playroom. One I got on the ladder and started checking things out, though, I realized we had some old water damage to the bathroom ceiling. I got to removing the damaged plaster, and soon my 12"x10" hole was now about 3'x2'. So, in all, your typical old house project that starts out small and gets bigger and bigger.
In any event, the hole has been patched with drywall, taped, and has a coat of joint compound on it. By the weekend, it should be ready to paint, which is the whole reason I was up on the ladder in the first place.
With the ceiling painted, we can move to the walls, then the trim. Except I'm pretty sure I'm going to pop all that trim off the wall, strip it, and repaint it. Stay tuned.
Showing posts with label demolition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label demolition. Show all posts
2.02.2011
Involuntary Bathroom Remodeling
"What's THIS?!" we heard Max bellow from the bathtub. We had a suspicion something was wrong, but we had no idea what was ahead of us.
It was about two months ago that Kendra and I rushed into the bathroom to see what Max had found during bath time. In his hand was a small plastic sliver--which, unfortunately, had chipped off the bottom of the bath tub. As we inspected the tub, it became obvious that the tub's useful life had ended quite some time ago. We always knew the tub would need replacing soon, but it wasn't really a project that was on the front burner. But with the cracked bottom the tub was now unusable. It was decided--we'd install a new tub, with a new tile surround.
The first order of business was demo. Since I didn't take any "before" pictures, I'll have to describe the old setup. Our bathroom walls are textured plaster. We had a tub/shower combo, with the tub being a non-functional whirlpool tub. There was vinyl paneling on the shower walls for waterproofing. Demo started with removing the vinyl paneling. Unfortunately, this involved just peeling the panels off the walls, as they were stuck directly to the plaster with some type of adhesive. That was the extent of the wall waterproofing, and it showed. When I removed the panels, I was greeted by soggy plaster and drywall, which just crumbled off the wall in places. It made demo easier, but it was more than a little concerning how much water was passing through to the structural elements of the house. With the help of my craftsman multitool, I was able to cut out plaster from the area to be tiled. The multitool gave me a nice, straight cut, which should make the cement board installation that much easier:
After cutting/demoing down to the wood lathe, it was time to remove the tub. As I started to take a closer look at things, I noticed that the old tub actually penetrated one of the walls. I guess I always knew this, but before now I never paid much attention. You see, the wall-to-wall measurement is 57 inches, 3 inches too short for your standard 60 inch tub. That didn't stop one of the previous homeowners from "installing" a 60 inch, drop-in style jetted tub, though -- just shove it three inches into the wall and call it good. This would not do for our replacement, so this was one area we'd need to address during the new install.
After getting the tub out, I was able to assess the floor. It was awful. The tub was resting on a piece of plywood, which was so rotted I was able to fold it in half like a piece of cardboard. Tongue-in-groove hardwood flooring was laid underneath the plywood. It also appeared a little wet, so I poked at it with my finger--and a chunk of the flooring crumbled and fell into the basement below. On the optimistic side, the rotted wood made for an easier demolition, and soon I had removed the existing subfloor. I could peer into the basement (which is a crawlspace under that particular part of the house) and see the floor joists. Unfortunately, what I could see was that the top 1" or so of several joists was also rotted. When the demo was finished, here's how things looked:
The amount of water damage wasn't really surprising, but it was disappointing. With substantial rebuilding required before I could even start replacing the tub, the "new tub" project was taking on much more of a carpentry feel than I would prefer. But that's probably enough for now. You'll have to wait for the next blog post to see how the carpentry went.
It was about two months ago that Kendra and I rushed into the bathroom to see what Max had found during bath time. In his hand was a small plastic sliver--which, unfortunately, had chipped off the bottom of the bath tub. As we inspected the tub, it became obvious that the tub's useful life had ended quite some time ago. We always knew the tub would need replacing soon, but it wasn't really a project that was on the front burner. But with the cracked bottom the tub was now unusable. It was decided--we'd install a new tub, with a new tile surround.
The first order of business was demo. Since I didn't take any "before" pictures, I'll have to describe the old setup. Our bathroom walls are textured plaster. We had a tub/shower combo, with the tub being a non-functional whirlpool tub. There was vinyl paneling on the shower walls for waterproofing. Demo started with removing the vinyl paneling. Unfortunately, this involved just peeling the panels off the walls, as they were stuck directly to the plaster with some type of adhesive. That was the extent of the wall waterproofing, and it showed. When I removed the panels, I was greeted by soggy plaster and drywall, which just crumbled off the wall in places. It made demo easier, but it was more than a little concerning how much water was passing through to the structural elements of the house. With the help of my craftsman multitool, I was able to cut out plaster from the area to be tiled. The multitool gave me a nice, straight cut, which should make the cement board installation that much easier:
After cutting/demoing down to the wood lathe, it was time to remove the tub. As I started to take a closer look at things, I noticed that the old tub actually penetrated one of the walls. I guess I always knew this, but before now I never paid much attention. You see, the wall-to-wall measurement is 57 inches, 3 inches too short for your standard 60 inch tub. That didn't stop one of the previous homeowners from "installing" a 60 inch, drop-in style jetted tub, though -- just shove it three inches into the wall and call it good. This would not do for our replacement, so this was one area we'd need to address during the new install.
After getting the tub out, I was able to assess the floor. It was awful. The tub was resting on a piece of plywood, which was so rotted I was able to fold it in half like a piece of cardboard. Tongue-in-groove hardwood flooring was laid underneath the plywood. It also appeared a little wet, so I poked at it with my finger--and a chunk of the flooring crumbled and fell into the basement below. On the optimistic side, the rotted wood made for an easier demolition, and soon I had removed the existing subfloor. I could peer into the basement (which is a crawlspace under that particular part of the house) and see the floor joists. Unfortunately, what I could see was that the top 1" or so of several joists was also rotted. When the demo was finished, here's how things looked:
The amount of water damage wasn't really surprising, but it was disappointing. With substantial rebuilding required before I could even start replacing the tub, the "new tub" project was taking on much more of a carpentry feel than I would prefer. But that's probably enough for now. You'll have to wait for the next blog post to see how the carpentry went.
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