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Many people think they can remodel their own bathroom but are unsure about what to expect during the process. They know they want to paint it a certain color and they want to use this tile with that pedestal sink, but they don’t know anything about the guts of a bathroom, what lies underneath all that old tile, and that leaky toilet. This article will discuss some of these obstacles.
Let’s assume you are handy, otherwise remodeling your bathroom is a fool’s errand. There are 4 parts to a successful bathroom remodel and planning for each is crucial to having a successful project. Assuming you have pulled a permit from your local governmental agency, planned out all the finish details and you have already picked out the sink, toilet and shower/ tub valve then we can begin with phase one.
Phase 1: Demolition.
Make sure you cut off the water and bleed out the hot and cold lines. The most important thing about the demo process is dealing with the copious amounts of debris you will have to dispose of. If you own a truck then you can make a couple of trips to your local dump. If not then you will need to rent a dumpster which runs around $100. As you demo out the bathroom make sure you put everything possible in contractor trash bags. That will help prevent bigger messes elsewhere as you move the waste from the bathroom to the dumpster. Make sure and put down drop clothes the entire length of the run from the bathroom to the outside. If you are successful with tearing out everything then you are now down to the bare studs and the sub floor. This usually takes 1 day for a crew of 2 people.
A few tips: Take off the door and place it out of the way so it is not damaged. If you are demolishing a mirror wear long sleeves, tape the mirror to prevent large shards and wear thick long gloves. When demolishing an old iron tub a sledge hammer with eye and ear protection is a must.
Phase 2: Rough in
After the bathroom is demolished then it is time to assess the damage. If your bathroom is old then it likely has wood rot and all of that will need to be replaced. Frequently with older bathrooms the floor joist are rotten in several spots and new joist will have to be joined in next to them to provide adequate support. If you don’t know how to proceed then you should hire a carpenter to come in and make the repairs.
The next piece to the puzzle is all of the plumbing. Often the old water valves need to be replaced along with the shower valve at this point, it is advisable to hire a plumber to inspect the plumbing and make the changes. You make also have drain problems if your pipes are iron and are rusting out. If you have a shower then the shower pan needs to be installed along with a new drain. You may have to install the tub at this point. Electrical is another issue. Is your lighting adequate? Do you want to install more lights or a vent. Do you have a jet tub and need to run a dedicated GFCI circuit to it? If you are knowledgeable about electricity then you may know how to do this, but if you are not, then you are going to need an Electrician to make the necessary changes. Once all of this is done you are ready to move on to the next step.
Phase 3: Build out
After all the plumbing, electrical, and carpentry has been completed it is time to close the walls and finish them. We usually begin by installing the ¾ inch wooden sub floor if necessary then installing cement backer board on the floor for tile, if your have a pier and beam foundation. Then you are ready to go to work on the walls. Since this is a bathroom it is recommended that all wet areas in the shower and tub use cement back board. Use either roofing nails or special cement backer board screws. Do not use sheetrock screws, these will rust over time and break down. Sheetrock (even green sheetrock) is not adequate to protect against water in wet areas and is one of the most common problems down the road in bad shower installations. Green Sheetrock should be used around the sink and other areas that may be exposed to moisture. Once all the walls are up it is time to tape and bed the seams and sand (sanding is very dusty and will clog a shopvac quickly). This needs to be done in layers, slowly building up the seams so they look right and don’t bulge out of the wall. You should also tape and bed your cement backer board with mortar and mesh tape. At this point you should have a basic looking bathroom with all the walls and floor in place. If you miss cut any holes around lights or otherwise you can use hot mud (comes in bags with drying times of 20, 45 and 90 minutes) to quickly patch them with mesh tape. If there are large holes then cut out a piece of sheetrock to fit inside of it and cut a piece of 1x2 wood that is a few inches longer than the hole and slide it in and use screws to hold it in place on either side of the hole. Then fasten the small piece of sheetrock into place and tape and bed. You are now ready to move on to the finish work.
Phase 4: Finish out
If you have made it this far then you are at the half way point. A crew of 2 men can usually get all this done in 4-5 days. So you are looking at around 100 man hours to reach finish out. If you’re a weekend warrior it would take you 7- 8 weeks to get here by yourself. So I would advise you to get a friend or sub contract out some pieces of the project along the way to speed it up. The first thing to do in finish out is to texture the walls, prime and paint them. Once that is done then you need to tile the shower or tub and then the floor. Then it is time to grout the tiles and seal them. Now you can begin to see what the finish product is going to look like. It is now time to install the toilet, sink and any other finish items you have. Trim, light fixtures, plates, and vent covers all should be installed last. It is crucial that you install the toilet correctly. If you do not correctly seat it, it will leak and cause you many headaches down the road as it seeps water after each flush. It is advisable that you hire a plumber for this.
You should be finished by now with your project. If you did it your self on weekends it may have taken 3 to 4 months. If you hired a reliable contractor then it should be done in 2-3 weeks. Hopefully it was worth your time and you have learned a lot about the remodeling process.
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