[Dutchrudder]

Hi everyone!

First I would like to say, awesome forum. I've been doing a lot of research lately and have found this site to be the most informative/friendly. I hate forum heros.

My wife is heading out of town for a week with our kids on December 14th. I'm off the entire time she will be gone. My Christmas present to her is that I will be redoing our main bathroom on the second floor of our house. Everything has been purchased and is stashed in the detached garage (she's been there like twice in the last two years we've lived in this place.)

So I've got 5.5 days for my bathroom remodel. The room is small 5' x 7'. here is my schedule.

Day 1 - Demo. Toilet is new and will be the only thing that wont hit the bin. Tile flooring, tub, tub wall tiles, vanity. All gone. Also the ceiling in the shower has a bulk head that I'll be removing as I want the ceiling to be full height.

Day 2 - install the tub, cement backer board, and Kerdi on the tub shower walls and Ditra on the floor (25sqf)

Day 3 - Tile the floor and start tiling the shower. I have done a lot of construction work in my life but I have never tiled. I'm dedicating 1.5 days to tiling. Ambitious?

Day 4 - Finish tiling the bathroom walls and install the hanging vanity

Day 5 - Paint, new lighting, new wall cabinet, grout.

Day 5.5 - finish the odds and ends, towel rack etc.

Schedule doable? Thoughts? Beer will be consumed on the first and last day only to help with productivity.

The tub install is going to be weird. It's a 5' bathroom, so how do you get a 5' tub in? Well, I'll be cutting out the back of my sons closet. I'll be able to pull the existing tub out and slide the new one in. The wall repair on my sons closet wont be bad. his closet is 4' wide, so I'm thinking of just putting 1/2 drywall over the opening and then 1/4' drywall up to his top shelf, just cover the scab up. I'll mud the screws and just put some 1/4 round up the corners, it's a closet not a dinning room. I don't want to keep the existing tub because it's shallow and disgusting. I've ordered a nice soaker tub, and I can't wait to use it.

I'm looking for any tips or advice to help keep this project on schedule. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Chris.

 

[TheEplumber]

Hmm, a little ambitious for me.
A couple of thoughts- Be sure to but a good base under the tub such as masons mortar
I don't do much tile but it seems to me if you do the floor first, you can't walk on it until it's dry. So how can you proceed with the wall tile right away? I've seen a lot of tile setters do the walls first- floor last.
Are you planning to tile behind the vanity or hang it first and tile to it?

 

[Dutchrudder]

Thanks for the input, it wouldn't be difficult to put the floor in last or at least after the shower is tiled, giving the floor enough time set.

No tile behind the vanity, if I have enough left over mosaic tile I will put in a little bit of a backsplash.

 

[joecaption]

No mention of how old this place is or what type plumbing you have.
Depending on how old the shower contol is I'd also plan on replacing that.
Old steel supplys or old cast iron drains need to go.
You can almost bet the drain will not line up, your going to need a differant drain assembly most likly since your going to use a taller tub.
They sell a kit that is adjustable to fit.
Always do the floors last!
You just turn the tub on it's side to get it through the doorways.
I always remove the door on the room I'm working in so it does not get damaged.

 

[gregzoll]

It will never get done in 5 days. Took 6 weeks of work to do mine, my neighbor next door took about the same, and that was continuous work on both of us having them done.

Five days, you may be able to change out the toilet, sink & cabinet, paint, change out fixtures, but not a total gut and redo.

 

[Dutchrudder]

You worked continuously for 6 weeks on 1 bathroom?

 

[Dutchrudder]

No mention of how old this place is or what type plumbing you have.
Depending on how old the shower contol is I'd also plan on replacing that.
Old steel supplys or old cast iron drains need to go.
You can almost bet the drain will not line up, your going to need a differant drain assembly most likly since your going to use a taller tub.
They sell a kit that is adjustable to fit.
Always do the floors last!
You just turn the tub on it's side to get it through the doorways.
I always remove the door on the room I'm working in so it does not get damaged.

Sorry, here are some more details.

Place is only 6 years old, copper plumbing. The water valve is a moen, so I'm just planning on changing the trim. The soaker tub is obviously larger then the existing tub, so the valve will be raised about 4 inches. I've already got the new drain assembly for the tub.

I get what you're saying about turning the tub sideways to get it in the door BUT the room is exactly 60" wide, and the tub is 60" wide. Not possible to turn the new tub and install it. The closet wall will be a tub tunnel. This is on the second floor of my house, the trusses span the length of the house and the wall is not structural. The interior walls are on 24" center so only 1 stud will be trimmed temporarily.

 

[gregzoll]

You worked continuously for 6 weeks on 1 bathroom?

Part was waiting for the base cabinet for three weeks, three days of gutting the room, a day of prepping, two days for plumbing, electrical and a day for the surround install. Then there was two days for tile work, a week for drywall & painting. Plus going to work on those days that I did not work on it.

My neighbor's, it was their guy working on it five days a week, some days shorter, some longer, but still theirs took the same time. Baths & Kitchens are not something you can rush through, no matter what you see on tv. You will end up looking like one of those episodes of Renovation Realities on DIY.

 

[Dutchrudder]

Well I've got 7 days off. My remodel schedule is 5.5, but I've got an extra day and a half buffer. Everything is purchased but paint, if it takes me over 7 days to replace a tub, vanity, floor and wall tiles... I'll be very disappointed in myself. This is a bathroom with 25sqf of floor, including the space the toilet and vanity take up, it's tiny. There is no electrical work besides changing the vanity light fixture. The only plumbing is the tub drain and moving the valve 4 inches higher. The tiling is going to be the only challenge in this remodel, only because I haven't tiled before.

 

[oh'mike]

If you remover some drywall you can get the tub in by letting the shirt tip into the open stud bay---

I just placed a cast iron Mendota soaker into a 5 foot wide room---

Demo doesn't include drywall?----

You mentioned demoing the soffit above the tub---I didn't see that in your work order---

With a helper---you might make it in 7 days----No electrical up grades? Fan/light combo? Switches and outlets where you want them?

Need blocking in the wall for that vanity? Vessel sink? Drain high enough?

I can pull off a full gut with a highly trained assistant in 10 to 14 working days---

Just tub--plumbing---drywall patching---rock/ tile and vanity--mirror--lights --base molding---door reducer---paint---shower curtain---assorted trim---I just don't know how fast you work---

 

[funfool]

problem I see is Day 1, removing the bulkhead.
Everyone has their own ideas about a bulkhead, I am thinking is a dropped ceiling or a chase.
This is extra work and usually done for a reason, Will find ductwork or plumbing, electrical in it.
And I do not see a schedule for drywall repairs and mud. Takes time for the product to dry.
Using hot mud, I can get 2 coats of hot mud, 1 coat of topping on in 1 day, in a small room like that.
That is really pushing it hard, And with all the moisture and drying going on ... cross fingers and hope does not shrink and crack by morning.
Then you want to paint as soon as is ready for it. Saves time masking and covering new floors and cutting in around tile ... is big time saver to paint first. then after all work is done, touch up the bumps and scratches you created while working.

The tile will take longer, possibly 3 days. You want to do the shower walls first.
The first course is a time killer. The tub by design is not level for drainage.
You need to find the low spot, measure up for a full tile of whatever size tile being used. Then with a level, draw a line all the way around tub.
You start with a full tile, then you cut each tile to the line you drew.
Will need to shim the tile, usually the cardboard box the tile came in small strips folded in 1/2 gives about 1/4" and makes good shims.
First course is critical and time consuming.
Now what size tile will it be?
A 4"x4" self spacing tile is ok, but they butt against each other. Meaning, you can install a few courses the first day, but first course needs to dry to support the weight above that will be sitting on it.
Day 2 you can finish it off.
A 6"x6" tile with a 3/16" grout line is nice to work with. Looks nice and gives a little more fudge factor with the grout line to keep things going straight, you can use a roofing nail to support tile as you go up the wall. Also tile spacers, butt a occasional nail to support the tile while drying is a good option.

Then there is the plumbing wall with shower valve and shower head. If possible, you want to level a line down the center of them, this way you have a grout line there and can use tile saw to cut from edge of tile, just nibble out what you need.
Works well if you have a single handle shower valve, if you have a 3 handle .... is going to slow you down, something to think about when you start the first course of tile.
Once you tile that shower, it will take longer then you think, floor will be a cake walk and while tile drying on walls, you can cut the floor tiles and install them in a couple hours before quitting for the day, walk on them next morning.

No, you wont finish in 5.5 days, you will have majority of work done, but still a few days to go ... depends on your skill set and how much beer is available.

 

[SuperJETT]

I've done several bathrooms including tile in our current/past houses and I'd say it's too optimistic since you've never tiled before. It is doable, but tight. Just things like trips to the store for odds/ends you don't have take up a lot of time, even at our new house which is less than 2 miles to both a HD and Lowes.

 

[Dutchrudder]

Appreciate all the advice and input, keep it coming.

 

[Dutchrudder]

Everyone has their own ideas about a bulkhead, I am thinking is a dropped ceiling or a chase.
This is extra work and usually done for a reason, Will find ductwork or plumbing, electrical in it.
And I do not see a schedule for drywall repairs and mud.

Good point. Investigated the bulkhead today and it's empty. Just a dropped ceiling, maybe so the builder uses less tile, I don't know. Remember this is the top floor of my house. so there is no HVAC running through my attic or plumbing in the ceiling.

The tile I'm using is 4X16 white gloss for the bath, and the floor is 8X24 porcelain that looks like slate. The shower will get a row of mosaic and I'm contemplating doing the ceiling in the mosaic. We'll see how this progresses.

The dry wall repair. Well there wont be much I hope. The only walls in the bathroom that will be damaged will be covered in cement backer and then kerdi membrane. The wall in the closet that will be cut to access the tub will be a quick repair. I'll patch the hole with 1/2" drywall and then I'm going to run a sheet of 1/4" drywall up the entire back of the closet, since it's 4' wide it will be one nice clean sheet. The corners I'm not going to mud, I'll put some quarter round up them. So I'll just have to cover the screws, prime and paint. That's the plan anyway.

Again I appreciate all the thoughts so far.

 

[md2lgyk]

Well I've got 7 days off. My remodel schedule is 5.5, but I've got an extra day and a half buffer. Everything is purchased but paint, if it takes me over 7 days to replace a tub, vanity, floor and wall tiles... I'll be very disappointed in myself.

Then prepare for disappointment. While not a pro, I have done a lot of remodeling, and my wife and I built our current house almost entirely by ourselves. The schedule you expect follow only works on reality tv home shows. There is always something that crops up.

A case in point: I replaced the tub with a fancy corner shower in one of my bathroom renos. The wife had seen the thing on the internet and just had to have it though it cost over $1200. She even drove to Phladelphia (5 hours away) to pick it up. When I went to install the pan and connect the plumbing, I discovered that the drain fitting was metric! That alone set things back several days.

 

[scottktmrider]

And to think people say contractors charge too much.

 

[creeper]

Regardless if you are completed or not you will still be the hero in her eyes. Its a great idea and a fantastic surprise for her. Very thoughtful. I hope she doesn't find out early.

 

[hand drive]

during prep and before putting tile down screw down the subfloor good so there is no possibility of squeaks and cracks later..

 

[wwkayaker]

Good luck. I wish you the best of luck. I am just finishing up my bathroom Reno and it has taken me a lot longer than I anticipated and I have done a bathroom remodel once before. I thought I knew what to expect but, the mess I found when I opened walls, etc was not something I expected.

 

[Dutchrudder]

Day 1 is done. I got in about 7 hours of work with a couple set backs, but in the end I finished on or even a bit ahead of schedule.

Demo is complete and the new tub is installed. The floor tile was a real PITA to get off! I beat the living hell out of my wonder bar but in the end I won. Took about an hour just to remove the floor tile. The wall tile was easier. I took my sawzall and cut through the bulkhead, right through the ceramic tiles, dry wall, cement board, and framing. Then I just ripped the ceiling down, after that I could get my hands behind the cement board on the walls and I just pulled it off in 4 big pieces. Tub popped right out.

The best news is that I got to start one day sooner than planned. My decided to take the kids to the inlaw a day earlier.

Plumbing, because the tub is so much deeper I had to move the thermostatic valve up about 6 inches, and because I took out the dropped ceiling the shower valve is now 6 inches higher, and I'm for sure happy with this because I'm 6'2". I raised everything but putting in sections of 5" copper pipe and joining them with shark bite fittings. I know that I'll take some flak for this but I'm just not confident in my soldering skills. Also shark bite fittings pass code here, even for natural gas. Good enough for gas, good enough for the chicks I went with.

PICS: