Amber and I have been busting our butts for the last 5 weeks working on getting our bathrooms remodeled while my son is away for the summer. It's something we've been wanting to do since we moved in, but we never wanted the inconvenience of sharing a bathroom.

We finished the first bathroom this weekend and started on the second. The first bathroom (Justin's) was the only room in the house that hadn't been touched since we moved in.

We started out by completely gutting it. The old flooring all had to be ripped out which took quite a bit of work and time. There was tile, 1/4" backer board on top of the original 1/2" particle board that was glued and stapled to the subfloor. The old flooring leaked so a section of the subfloor around the toilet had to be replaced.



Then we installed a new tub and faucet.




1/2" concrete board went on the walls and floor.



We also installed a vent fan and wired it in to the existing light switch. The bathroom has a window so it did not have a vent fan.


The original cabinet was repainted and reinstalled with a new Swanstone countertop. We have a matching double sink countertop in our bathroom already. We also put in a new outlet, switch, switchplate and medicine cabinet.


Next came the floor tile. We went with 12" slate "multi-dark" with stone enhancer sealer. The second picture is with the tile sealed.



We grouted the floor tile then installed the wall tile. The slate wouldn't last in the shower so we went with tumbled quartzite (Ostrich Grey). We used the stone enhancer on the walls too.




The first bathroom was finished up with a new glass shower door, a second coat of sealer to seal the grout and tile, caulk and the installation of the faucet and knobs.

Damn Brent, that looks nice

With the first bathroom finished and usable we started on the master bathroom. My daughter is coming out on the 24th and my son will be back August 5th so the goal is to be finished with the master bathroom before the 24th. We partially remodeled our bathroom when we moved in. It has already been painted, has a new cabinet, countertop, mirror and medicine cabinet along with a vent fan and electrical work. The second bathroom will go much quicker because we know what we're doing now (we've never done tile before) and there isn't as much to do.

I remembered to snap a "before" shot of our bathroom. It had the standard tub with white "cultured marble" walls.


The teardown went much quicker in the master bathroom since I knew how to remove a tub at this point. I pulled out the walls, drywall and tub in a couple hours.


Amber and I normally conserve water by showering together so doing that in a tub sucked. We decided to go with a "retrofit" Swanstone shower pan that matched our countertop. I modified the drain plumbing and installed a new faucet higher up in the wall. The pan was set in on top of a mortar bed so it filled in all the spaces underneath making it feel very solid.



We took it fairly easy today and just installed the concrete board on the walls.


We're going to do the shower walls first in this bathroom. That will make it easier so we're not making a mess on the new tile. We had already scraped the tile off the floor in our bathroom one night while we were waiting for sealer to dry in the other bathroom.

I think it took us a week and a half to get this far on the upstairs bathroom. We did it in 2 days.

Looks great, Brent.

There is a vapor barrier between the Durock and framing? Or were you depending on the desert heat to get rid of that

Nevermind, It looks like Durock only calls that out if required by local code.
USG "Durock" install guide

Looks awesome dude

quote:

Originally posted by hillbille:
Looks great, Brent.

There is a vapor barrier between the Durock and framing? Or were you depending on the desert heat to get rid of that

Nevermind, It looks like Durock only calls that out if required by local code.
USG "Durock" install guide

I did not install a vapor barrier. The walls were just drywall before (not even greenboard). This is a huge improvement over what was there. I did read the durock guide before installing it.

I'm sure it's fine. My murphy's Law instinct was just kicking in. After reading the guide, it looks like there's very little chance of vapor making it through. And even if- you've a big dehumidifier outside...

It- might be an issue- if you did this in Wisconsin ,taped the seems poorly ,and used that other cement board that's just a layer of fiberglass on either side w/ the cement center. That stuff breaks up so easy and sucks water like a sponge.

I'll be over to poop shortly.

No offense, Datz, but I'm staying with reddog next AZ Run. That is outstanding!

I only have one question, why keep the old copper pipe? Around here most places are upgrading to PVC.

quote:

Originally posted by LordBiotree:
I only have one question, why keep the old copper pipe? Around here most places are upgrading to PVC.

That way, if he ever needs to score some crack, he can tear it out of the walls and sell it.

PVC is garbage..

Copper pipes last damn near forever. PVC plumbing will eventually crack and leak.

My gf's father just had to gut all the water piping out of their house because they used PVC piping that started leaking everywhere. He replaced it all with copper.

quote:

Originally posted by Desert Rat:
I'll be over to poop shortly.

I hear that is good luck.. and am still waiting for you to bless my home in Show Low..

I've never heard of any problems with copper. I've heard of a lot of problems with PVC.

A lot of new housing developments are going with PVC because it's less likely to be stolen during construction.

quote:

Originally posted by datz510:
PVC is garbage..

Copper pipes last damn near forever. PVC plumbing will eventually crack and leak.

My gf's father just had to gut all the water piping out of their house because they used PVC piping that started leaking everywhere. He replaced it all with copper.

CPVC of the correct schedule ,properly installed ,will last as long as copper or longer. TRick is to get somoene that will take the time to do it right, and not use a thinner wall schedule, and a smaller diameter than it should be.


Smaller diameter piping increases velocity of water running through it. A properly designed system will keep velocities below 5 f/s.

This comes into play when the water is shutoff- water hammer- that's what breaks it, as the instantaneous pressure increase is on the order of 5 times the existing water pressure.

SAy street pressure is 80psi but the owner doesn't like his pressure reducer turned down- so he leaves it high- it's now 400psi w/ the "hammer" factored in.


I still like copper.

I installed a "well saver" air bladder on top of my water heater. It pretty much eliminated the water hammer problem I had before.

I've seen whole houses destroyed by PVC water pipes bursting.

I'd never buy a house with that in it.

I wasn't too thrilled about the piping in our new build. I was surprised that they didn't use copper, and when I asked them about it, he said they use this pipe that's plastic, but not PVC. It is more flexable, and stronger than traditional white PVC. This stuff is comes on a roll, and is almost clear.

your house is a giant beer bong

That looks flippin awesome! It looks like you did a really good job. I really like the tile you guys used. Congrats on the finished and good luck on the next one. Hope it goes smooth!