Remodeling my bathroom. A progress report with photos (floors, jacuzzi, water heater)

[nicet4]

I have been putting it off for a few years now but the condition became such I couldn't put it off any longer.

My house was built in 1940 and except for new linoleum and refinish cabinets, done a good 20 years ago, it was all original. Original as in one duplex receptacle above the sink and a single light bulb in the middle.

I wanted to tear walls, floors and ceiling back to bare studs starting everything completely new.

I will post photos of the original when I am done... don't want to do it now because it was so terrible.... I've seen better public bathrooms at Billy Bob's gas station in the middle of the Mojave desert... it was really bad and well overdue.

With inside dimensions of 8'-4" x 7'-8 1/2" I didn't have a lot of room to work with.

The plan:



Before I started I figured 5 days but at the end of Wednesday it will be closer to 7 days. I didn't figure having to replace the entire floor.

Monday, February 27th.

Today I started my bathroom remodel by tearing everything out to the stud walls.

This is noon on Monday.



It was pretty bad but the mirror gives view of the other side too.

The tub was the original 1940 cast iron... the guys helping took it to the scrap yard and got $40 for the scrap iron. All two strong guys could do to get it moved out of the house.

I have between 2 and 4 guys working on it with me acting as my own general contractor. I would love to do the work myself but at 64 years old I am afraid those days are over.

I do have construction and contracting experience. I am well aware of IBC Residential building code requirements.

Today was day one and we have everything gutted to bare floor joists. Tearing up the old floor we discovered some rotten floor joists and will replace them with 2x8's 12" OC covered with two layers of 3/4" plywood.

Here is the other corner where the head of the bathtub was.



As you can see there was a hole in the floor and what we discovered was a nest of pine straw... some years ago some sort of animal, probably squirrel, made nest under the tub near the drain.

Photos taken at end of day Monday with floor tore up.







I knew the floor was not in good condition but it was worse than I thought. I don't know what was holding the floor up.... the only thing to do was replace all the floor joists and start with new.

And the old plumbing lines were in worse shape than I thought too. The plan always was to replace everything so it didn't effect the project when it fell apart (literally) the moment we put a wrench to it.

But that is how it looked after stopping work on Monday.

[nicet4]

At the end of the second day all plumbing under the crawl space has been replaced with new. All new water supply, drain and sewer pipes.

Here is part of the old 1940 stuff they tore out.



6:00 PM on Tuesday the new floor was down. I replaced the old joists with new 2x8'x (8' span) 12" on center. 16" centers is standard but I wanted a floor that was solid.

Decking is two layers of 3/4" good quality plywood.



All pluming in crawl space was replaced... now I got all new and up to code.





That was the end of the day Tuesday.

Now it was time for electrical.

[Threerun]

Nice.

We're smack dab in the middle of ripping out a big pink soaking tub and building out a standing shower area, tiled and with nice glass doors. Not near as bad as this, but lot's of tile work to do.

Will look forward to the pics.

[nicet4]

This is the end of day three.

All new plumbing under the house is completed. That was a big part of the job, house built 71 years ago and while I did install new from the house to the city sewer a few years ago all plumbing in the crawl space was original. Started having drain problems with the old cast iron and 1 1/2" galvanized steel pipe.

Today we finished sealing, roughing in walls and completed the rough in of all electrical fixtures.

Tomorrow we start drywall.

Soffit ceiling with two can lights over Jacuzzi.











As already said floor joists 8' span 2x8's 12" on center. To layers of 3/4" plywood.

For electrical I am a bit fanatical. I added five breakers to the panel so I would have four separate circuits.

Jacuzzi is on dedicated circuit with with GFI breaker.

Heat lamp is on dedicated circuit.

Lights are on dedicated circuit but I have vent van and light combo wired in on the electrical circuit as well. I am using compact fluorescent throughout so even with all lights on there won't be a lot of draw.

Wall receptacles (there are four duplex receptacles for eight outlets) on dedicated circuit with GFI breaker.

Of course new water heater is on dedicated circuit as well. While I was at it I decided to scrap the old water heater and get an energy saver. I suspect the one we had, installed about 20 years ago, was an energy hog anyway.

So that is how it looks right now... tomorrow it should start to look like a bathroom.

Oh, in case you are wondering it will be a Jacuzzi tub/shower combination. I would have loved a separate shower but just didn't have the room.

[nicet4]

Originally Posted by Threerun

Nice.

We're smack dab in the middle of ripping out a big pink soaking tub and building out a standing shower area, tiled and with nice glass doors. Not near as bad as this, but lot's of tile work to do.

Will look forward to the pics.

Thanks.

At the end I will post pictures of what it looked like before demolition. It was really bad but I didn't want to borrow to do it and then I wanted to save enough to where if I spent $8,000 - $10,000 I wouldn't notice it gone. Well, it finally dawned on me I would always notice the money gone and when I felt a soft spot in the floor I knew it was beyond time.

My wife is really looking forward to the Jacuzzi. I'll probably never see her again.

[TFW46]

Great photos! I love to see photos of a job from start to finish. You did a great job of designing the layout. I'm anxious to see the progression!

[BobKovacs]

Looks good, but you really need to tighten up the insulation. You've got some pretty big gaps around the blocking above and to the right of the orange level and above the bench.

[nicet4]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

Looks good, but you really need to tighten up the insulation. You've got some pretty big gaps around the blocking above and to the right of the orange level and above the bench.

Of course.

They weren't 100% completed when we knocked off yesterday.

Except for the ceiling non of the house had any insulation at all.

[Dollydo]

Enjoy following your progress!

[Barking Spider]

Nice job!!