Day 1, gutting a very old bathroom

[Remodeling Maidiac]

You do your wet bed before hardi? Why?

I don't use Hardi. Trash DIY garbage. Concrete board or nothing.

And the preslope has to go before the wall board because the liner has to go over it and behind the Concrete board. My showers have 2 layers of mud.

 

[Paulie]

I don't use Hardi. Trash DIY garbage. Concrete board or nothing.

And the preslope has to go before the wall board because the liner has to go over it and behind the Concrete board. My showers have 2 layers of mud.

It’s just a name, like calling a tissue a kleenex. Although I don’t agree it’s so horrible that nothing would be a better option lol. I never understood the 2 layer pan. Such a waste of time and money. I always do one layer, silicone the perimeter of the bed and wall board, red Gard the shit out of the bed right down to the drain collar weep holes, and tile. Tight as a bug’s ass and passes inspection. But do whatever you’re accustomed to I guess

 

[JohnDB]

View attachment 525192View attachment 525193

Look at this non code mess lol.

Were those wires soldered?
If so...that was code at one time.

Wires were twisted together and dipped into a cup of melted solder and then wrapped up in tape.
Sometimes even now you will see "solderless wire connectors" printed on a bag of wire nuts.

But...
Today tape joints are trash...but common for this guy named "Bubba" who apparently has worked everywhere and had lots and lots of apprentices.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

It’s just a name, like calling a tissue a kleenex. Although I don’t agree it’s so horrible that nothing would be a better option lol. I never understood the 2 layer pan. Such a waste of time and money. I always do one layer, silicone the perimeter of the bed and wall board, red Gard the shit out of the bed right down to the drain collar weep holes, and tile. Tight as a bug’s ass and passes inspection. But do whatever you’re accustomed to I guess

Hardibacker is a britle product. Under stress it cracks. Also if not kept saturated during the installation process it sucks all the water out of the mortar which causes the mortar to cure incorrectly and MANY job failures. It is NOT just a different name. It is an entirely different product. It is also essentially a sponge inside your shower with any water that gets to it through cracks etc.

And the 2 step pan is to create a sloped floor that leads to the drain under the bladder. Without it water sits in the pan and eventually turns to a moldy disgusting mess.
Trust me, I've torn out thousands of showers and I see the results of every technique possible.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Were those wires soldered?
If so...that was code at one time.

Wires were twisted together and dipped into a cup of melted solder and then wrapped up in tape.
Sometimes even now you will see "solderless wire connectors" printed on a bag of wire nuts.

But...
Today tape joints are trash...but common for this guy named "Bubba" who apparently has worked everywhere and had lots and lots of apprentices.

Nope. As soon as I started pulling off the wallboard the vibration made the lights flicker and I was like ummmm....shit. There were SIX leads coming out of 1 tiny box and all kinds of burn marks from the sparks.
Rewiring all of it tomorrow with new wire, boxes and GFI's

 

[JohnDB]

Nope. As soon as I started pulling off the wallboard the vibration made the lights flicker and I was like ummmm....shit. There were SIX leads coming out of 1 tiny box and all kinds of burn marks from the sparks.
Rewiring all of it tomorrow with new wire, boxes and GFI's

This is the time to do it since all walls are down to studs. Do it ONE wire (piece of Romex) at a time and immediately replace all connections as you do them....or use marking numbers or something so you don't get confused about what went where exactly. I can do such things without doing so....but I'm an Electrician by trade. I definitely know the how's and why's.

And replace all plugs with 25 amp GFCI outlets. Not 15 amp. Hot goes on line side and downstream goes on load side.

You will need a ground for them to work....make sure you are grounded to the main panel in some fashion. (Usually by connecting to another ground wire that does go back to the panel) Some older homes don't have this....if the home run wire doesn't have a ground....go through the floor and you can usually find ground on the cold water line. Buy a bonding bracket and attach the ground wire there. If he hands you a teardrop bracket throw it back at him and ask for a two piece.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Paulie



Watch this test video. Trust me.

I've torn out some NASTY showers that didn't leak but because of the lack of preslope they had an unbelievable amount of mold under the tile and growing up through the grout joints.
Especially do it if it's your own home or demand your contractor do it.

Edit: BTW I'm not trying to tell you what to do. Just trying to offer all the tips I know and have learned over the years. The first few years I too skipped the prefloat part until I had a limestone shower pan flake from water retention. Ever since then I do prefloats.
But you do you bud

 

[Paulie]

Paulie



Watch this test video. Trust me.

I've torn out some NASTY showers that didn't leak but because of the lack of preslope they had an unbelievable amount of mold under the tile and growing up through the grout joints.
Especially do it if it's your own home or demand your contractor do it.

Edit: BTW I'm not trying to tell you what to do. Just trying to offer all the tips I know and have learned over the years. The first few years I too skipped the prefloat part until I had a limestone shower pan flake from water retention. Ever since then I do prefloats.
But you do you bud

No I get you on the preslope, I always slope my mortar bed 1/4 inch per foot I just do one layer of it and then coat it red Gard really thick. The red Gard basically just takes the place of the membrane that would be between the 2 mortar layers. My local plumbing inspector who isn’t easy to please always passes it

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Skirt boards set all around the room to stack on. Gotta wait on the box & bench to dry before going any further. Last row of bottom tile goes on after all the floors are done. Shed water away from the wall that way rather than down a crack.

 

[JohnDB]

View attachment 527543View attachment 527544

Skirt boards set all around the room to stack on. Gotta wait on the box & bench to dry before going any further. Last row of bottom tile goes on after all the floors are done. Shed water away from the wall that way rather than down a crack.

It appears that you aren't going to use a corner tile for outside corners or inside corners....
Any particular reason other than cost savings? (They are expensive)

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

It appears that you aren't going to use a corner tile for outside corners or inside corners....
Any particular reason other than cost savings? (They are expensive)

I have them for the final trim but I prefer clean corners on the bench, curb and outside corner.
Benches and curbs the little pencils we use are easily broken off if stepped on with too much weight because the are less than a half inch wide which is too small for a strong bond.
We do have a company here that will cut and fire any tile in a kiln with whatever color you choose but the colors are never a good match and it's 9 dollars per foot.
If you look at some of my old job photos you can barely tell where the trim is missing. Just makes for very clean and sharp edges but most importantly STABLE.

Years ago I used to use various trim pieces and would inevitably get calls back years later because the customers either broke them or knocked them off.

 

[JohnDB]

I have them for the final trim but I prefer clean corners on the bench, curb and outside corner.
Benches and curbs the little pencils we use are easily broken off if stepped on with too much weight because the are less than a half inch wide which is too small for a strong bond.
We do have a company here that will cut and fire any tile in a kiln with whatever color you choose but the colors are never a good match and it's 9 dollars per foot.
If you look at some of my old job photos you can barely tell where the trim is missing. Just makes for very clean and sharp edges but most importantly STABLE.

Years ago I used to use various trim pieces and would inevitably get calls back years later because the customers either broke them or knocked them off.

Just so you know....I was asking to gain information not judge. I'm a sparky...not a tile man. I haven't ever done it. I probably will one day...just not yet.

 

[Rigby5]

I don't like soap tray indents. I prefer a glue on later, like a corner tray.

 

[Mr Natural]

I like the your use of lasers for level and plumb!

Very 21st Century!

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

I don't like soap tray indents. I prefer a glue on later, like a corner tray.

And I don't like doing them lol. Tedious time killing crap just to hold soap.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Tedious trim around the soap niche slows things down tremendously.

Leveling clips to keep 2 to 4 foot tile level despite bowed and crooked studs.

 

[progressive hunter]

View attachment 527965View attachment 527967

Tedious trim around the soap niche slows things down tremendously.

Leveling clips to keep 2 to 4 foot tile level despite bowed and crooked studs.

is that window in the shower??
if so I did all my trim in PVC and used PVC glue to connect them, its worked for 5 yrs now with no problems,,

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

For those curious here's how the clips work. The further in you force the ribbed wedge the more pressure it puts against the back of the tiles.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

is that window in the shower??
if so I did all my trim in PVC and used PVC glue to connect them, its worked for 5 yrs now with no problems,,

No, the window is outside the shower.