I'm doing some mainly cosmetic upgrades on the only bathroom in our 1947 house. I already tore out the old sheet vinyl flooring and put in a porcelain tile floor. I had a plumber come in and move the sink hook ups so that a new, larger vanity can be installed with the sink in a better location, and I've patched the hole in the plaster from the plumbing work (using green board).
The remainder of the plan is to tear out the existing tile tub surround and install new tile over CBU, do a new tile back splash above the new vanity, put in new baseboards (old rubber(?) base boards were removed when I did the floor), and paint.
I've started tearing out the existing tub surround, and I have some questions about this part of the project. First, now that the wall is open, should I be replacing any of the plumbing in there? The mixer valve seems to be somewhat recent--there was a patch of different tile there making it obvious that it was changed out after the original tile job--which is not original to the house. (I think the mixer is a Delta Monitor 1700 series). The pipes are galvanized, I guess, and there is always rust etc. coming from them. I'm not as confident about plumbing as I am about other DIY stuff, so I'm not sure I should try to do anything with this stuff just because the wall is open. And, it's an alcove tub with the plumbing in a partition wall that separates the tub area from the toilet, so even after I tile, the plumbing can be accessed from the toilet side of the same wall by cutting through the plaster on that wall. I've considered everything from just leaving it all alone because this is meant to be a very basic remodel on a very limited budget, to maybe at least unscrewing the galvanized pipes that go to the tub spout and up to the shower and replacing them with either new galvanized or copper if it's not too difficult.... Am I better off just leaving it until we can re-plumb the house?
My second question is what to do about the corner where the old plaster walls will meet the new tile over CBU. The existing tile was applied over original plaster (I guess it was originally just a tub with a painted plaster surround, and then was later upgraded to a tub/shower and the painted plaster was tiled over. After tearing off the tile and some of the plaster I can see that there is a metal corner bead that was embedded in the plaster at both of the outside corners of the tub alcove. I don't think there's a way to incorporate that corner bead when I install the CBU, which means I'd have to possibly demo a couple of inches of plaster on the walls just beyond the edges of the tub alcove, and do something to make a good corner where the CBU meets the plaster at these outside corners. Any suggestions?
Sorry for the length, but I wanted to be thorough. I'll see if I can post some pictures to show what I'm dealing with.
Alix
The remainder of the plan is to tear out the existing tile tub surround and install new tile over CBU, do a new tile back splash above the new vanity, put in new baseboards (old rubber(?) base boards were removed when I did the floor), and paint.
I've started tearing out the existing tub surround, and I have some questions about this part of the project. First, now that the wall is open, should I be replacing any of the plumbing in there? The mixer valve seems to be somewhat recent--there was a patch of different tile there making it obvious that it was changed out after the original tile job--which is not original to the house. (I think the mixer is a Delta Monitor 1700 series). The pipes are galvanized, I guess, and there is always rust etc. coming from them. I'm not as confident about plumbing as I am about other DIY stuff, so I'm not sure I should try to do anything with this stuff just because the wall is open. And, it's an alcove tub with the plumbing in a partition wall that separates the tub area from the toilet, so even after I tile, the plumbing can be accessed from the toilet side of the same wall by cutting through the plaster on that wall. I've considered everything from just leaving it all alone because this is meant to be a very basic remodel on a very limited budget, to maybe at least unscrewing the galvanized pipes that go to the tub spout and up to the shower and replacing them with either new galvanized or copper if it's not too difficult.... Am I better off just leaving it until we can re-plumb the house?
My second question is what to do about the corner where the old plaster walls will meet the new tile over CBU. The existing tile was applied over original plaster (I guess it was originally just a tub with a painted plaster surround, and then was later upgraded to a tub/shower and the painted plaster was tiled over. After tearing off the tile and some of the plaster I can see that there is a metal corner bead that was embedded in the plaster at both of the outside corners of the tub alcove. I don't think there's a way to incorporate that corner bead when I install the CBU, which means I'd have to possibly demo a couple of inches of plaster on the walls just beyond the edges of the tub alcove, and do something to make a good corner where the CBU meets the plaster at these outside corners. Any suggestions?
Sorry for the length, but I wanted to be thorough. I'll see if I can post some pictures to show what I'm dealing with.
Alix