Specific sheetrock to replace this?

idlewatcher

Hi all, you guys saved my rear with floor tile for my dining room last year so now I've finished that and am now in the process of redoing our very tiny bathroom!

It's an older home (60's) and have what appears to be concrete backerboard with some sort of metal lath/mesh embedded. I personally have never seen this stuff before. Seems everything I bring into HD or Lowe's, there answer is always "man, no one even makes this stuff anymore"



Here is what I'm busy tearing out which will be replaced with Greenboard and a vapor barrier behind the Greenboard which will attach to the studs and framing.



For areas which aren't in direct contact with water, is Greenboard still a requirement or would regular 1/2" or 5/8" sheetrock work? Seems like most agree that GB is ideal even if water isn't going to be in contact.

Also, I've obviously wasted some time pulling off some of the tile, but the reasoning behind that is that I needed to get to the studs to tear out the sheetrock and the backerboard in chunks and I have to be careful b/c I have a gas heater as you can see in the frame. So my question here is do I still need some sort of concrete backerboard ontop of the GB or could I tile directly on the GB?

I would appreciate any help and guidance you guys and gals could provide a rookie! Thanks!

747

regular Sheetrock would work. Actually some guys use green-board in water area's and tile over it to save money.

joecaption

They not only still make it but they also sell a replacement for it back in the masonry area at both Lowes and HD.
Get a measurement on how far it is from the stud to the face of the old mud.
Your going to have to shim out the stud to make up the differance in thickness.
I use wooded lattis as shims.

idlewatcher

Hi Joe and 747 - thanks for the replies.

So why exactly would I need to replace it? Are you saying that it would be ideal to have both the GB in addition to the backerboard? I was hoping to get away with just using GB to give myself some extra wiggle room in there.

The bathroom is already tiny as it is so even an inch or 1-1/2" extra space would really help.

skk

I finsihed 2 bathrooms in my own house and another 5 for my friends and their friends - not a professional but i have some experience.
What I used is Densheild Tile Backer Board. It is only 1/2" thick and has a moisture barrier built in. you can put tile directly on it.

joecaption

Green board is all you need but if you remove just the bottom part of the wall it's not going to line up with the old materal above it with out shimming it out.
May need a 4-1/2" right angle grinder with a diamond blade on it to cut the line.
Some times I use a brick chisle to break away any tight areas.

idlewatcher

Oh, one more thing if you guys would:

When putting up the drywall in the non-water contact areas, couldn't I just put up a vapor barrier and then one layer of GB (instead of VB + GB + backerboard)? Seems counterproductive to use 3 layers when 2 would more than likely suffice. Thanks.

idlewatcher

As it stands now (just talking about the non-water contact areas - the area in the photo), the drywall is secured directly to the studs so if I removed the area where the backerboard is and replaced it with the VB and GB, it should line up perfect I would think as there is nothing between the old sheetrock and the studs. Am I missing something?

joecaption

Nope sounds like you have it. Did not know it was sheetrock above it.

idlewatcher

Here's a photo of what I'm referring to as it stands now



Awesome man, much appreciated. Confirmation on projects like these from people who know what they are doing is quite helpful. Thanks!

joecaption

If I was you while I had that wall open anyway I'd shut the water off and remove all the shutoffs and install caps over the pipes, so the sheet rock will slide right over them. Replace all the shutoffs when your done with new ones.
Also replace that chrome piece for the drain.

idlewatcher

Will do Joe. Kind of funny when I took the valves off so I could get some leverage on the tiles, the inside of the pipes have a thick coat of rust in them. Houston water really sucks for those type of pipes!

joecaption

If there old steel pipe get rid of all of it you can, At some point it's all going to fail and close up on the inside.

747

Great ideal.

You could grab some shark bite fittings at HD I think Shark-bite makes caps for waterlines. Then crab some sharkbite new water shutoff valve. This way you don't have to sweat anything. Unless guys here don't shark-bite.

danpik

Do they make sharkbites that fit over galvanized steel pipe?????????