Bathroom Renovation | Anything I'm Missing?

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

I love tin ceilings. Fake tin ceilings that are dropped into grids still look like fake tin ceilings to me.
 

I wouldn't center the fan in the shower. Again, you are gonna want a light centered. 
 

Unless it's a fan/ light combination. I don't usually use them because I am a stickler for upgraded fans that are not noisy, and I have never found a combination unit that was silent.

A simple fan (that is not a combo unit) doesn't bother me being off-center or asymmetrical. 
 

If you decide to use those tin drop ceiling tiles, the fan is a different issue. It will be hard to find a fan with a trim kit that looks good with that tile (and I'd want the fan exactly centered in a 2x2 tile, which will be very hard to layout cleanly in that room). 

In reply to SV reX :

Good points!

Centered in the shower, I was thinking light/fan combo. I'll have to see what's around. I'm not opposed to separate, in which case, yes, the light would be better to be centered. 

And yes, centering all that on a ceiling tile would also prove difficult. It also gets difficult around the edges trimming the border tiles, honestly the main reason I am hesitant on them. Unless I do the border tiles as normal flat PVC, but then that takes away. It might just get drywalled...

If you put a fan in the shower enclosure, how are you going to evacuate the stale air coming from near the toilet? I think that all bathrooms need a separate 12" small fan blowing around the room to dry off the moisture covered surfaces. and then it doesn't matter where the ceiling fan is located.

My son has a drop ceiling in his downstairs bathroom with the typical crumbly paper like tiles. The one holding up his ceiling fan was falling apart so I bought a 2x4 foot 1/4" thick oak veneer plywood, cut it in half, coated both sides with clear urethane, and replace two 2'x2' tiles. They looked great but both tiles immediately started to curl and require bricks to hold them somewhat flat.

In reply to VolvoHeretic :

"Stale air"... you mean fart fan? 

That's  another description of what they do. 
 

OK. I'm good with that. But either way, the fan doesn't need to be centered in the room. 

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

I realized the link I posted was broken, here's a working link to the fan/light combo I put in the shower during our remodel: Panasonic

The trim won't match with the metal ceiling design, but will work with drywall. 

In reply to No Time :

How's the noise on that model? 

Any recommendations for a quiet, effective, bathroom fan? Looking for a fan only at this point, not a combo light/fan unit. 

Just ordered my floor tile, and heated floor supplies. (Aside from grout and thinset.) Getting close to having things ready. Need to get a plumbing order done for the main supplies I know I'll need. 

It'll soon be time to take a week off work and get to work. 

I have the broan 110cfm with bluetooth speaker. It is fairly quiet but we rarely use the speaker. I would skip that feature if doing it again.

Read the Schluter Ditra instructions before you purchase thinset. 

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

When looking at the bathroom fans, look at the sone rating. It's a measure of the sound level. 
 

Many bathroom fans have a sone rating 3-4 sones. Look for a rating less than 1.5 sones.  I prefer one that rates 1 sone or less.  The remote motor ones are amazing.   
 

If you end up doing the drop ceiling, I think the sound will transfer even more. 
 

As a reference, most refrigerators rate about 1 sone.

Also...  if you do the drop ceiling, you may need a fan with a mounting bracket for a drop ceiling (and you may not need to install the fan housing until you put up the grid- just the wire and hose hanging loose)

OHSCrifle said:

Read the Schluter Ditra instructions before you purchase thinset. 

I definitely plan to take some time reading through their manual here soon, I've glanced through it so far. I do recall them requiring a certain type of thinset, part of why I haven't ordered thinset yet. 

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

I was curious so I downloaded a sound meter app and it measured 45dB with the microphone pointing at the fan about 1 foot away. 

From a practical perspective, you can't hear it inside or outside the shower when the water is running, or if the sink is running to brush teeth or wash hands. 

If nothing else is on, it sounds like a white noise machine and the volume is low enough that it fades into the background.

One thing you can do to make the floor tiling easier is to prefill the decoupling membrane. 

When I did mine I used fast curing thinset for a fill coating level with the top of the ribs. once that set up I went back and placed the tile. That provided a smooth surface to work from when tiling and enabled me to use fast cure thinset for the tile since I wasn't working to fill the ditra and lay tile. 

I had to have the bathroom functional each evening, so my situation required some creativity to make sure that happened. 

Ok, next hurdle... I ordered this tub: https://www.lowes.com/pd/AKDY-Freestanding-Bathtub-59-in-Glossy-White-Acrylic-Bathtub-Modern-Clawfoot-Stand-Alone-Tub/5001048241

It arrived quite damaged, so I rejected/returned it. Now I am hesitant to even order another Acrylic Clawfoot tub, even aside from the damage it was so light that it felt like breaking would have been inevitable. 

So, I guess I'm looking at a cast iron clawfoot. Buying new, I'm looking at about 3x the cost of the above acrylic tub, or I can find an old one on Marketplace or something and try and give it a refresh. So here's my questions:

Any tips on refurbishing an old cast iron clawfoot?

If I don't have a tub before I start, should I just leave that corner of the floor in the room as subfloor, and tile it later, or tile it now and drill the holes later? 

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

I'm sure there is a grassroots way, but I usually just pay someone to do refinishing. 
 

For a free standing tub... rough in your plumbing first, then tile, then set the tub. You don't need the tub on site, but you do need exact dimensions for the plumbing rough-ins.  If is new, you can get a cut sheet. If it's used, you may want it sitting in the garage before you rough-in the plumbing. 

SV reX said:

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

I'm sure there is a grassroots way, but I usually just pay someone to do refinishing. 
 

For a free standing tub... rough in your plumbing first, then tile, then set the tub. You don't need the tub on site, but you do need exact dimensions for the plumbing rough-ins.  If is new, you can get a cut sheet. If it's used, you may want it sitting in the garage before you rough-in the plumbing. 

Just a general search for local "Tub Refinishing"?

The trouble is I took off work to start this project in about 2 weeks, so I somewhat doubt I will have one by then. I think my worst case, I just leave that whole path or 1 membrane roll width un laid, so that I can finish that area later. 

I did put in a call to a guy I know who might have an old one he could part with, we'll see if it pans out, and it's condition. If I can at least get it in my possession, I can measure for the rough in, and then place the tub after it has any necessary refurbishing done. 

Picked up floor tile and membrane last night. Home Depot shorted me a box and a half of tile... Yes, they sent a half box. Ordered 9, and I got 7 full and 1 half, apparently all that was available. No more in stock online currently. They returned the 2 missing boxes, so I did get a half of a box for free at least. I had ordered some extra for cushion, and a little more extra so I could have leftover to make the half bath match later on, so it should be close. I also have 5 half tiles that I ordered as samples, so using them on the edge or something I should be ok. Signed up for emails if/when they come back in stock too. In good news, the employees at Home Depot were very understanding and friendly through the whole process.

More supplies coming in over the next week, demolition starts next Friday or Saturday. 

There are/were a ton of clawfoots for sale cheap near us when we re-did our 1920 bath. I have to imagine there a bunch near you as well!

ReGlazing is probably what you want to search for an expert in if the inside needs to be corrected.

We kept our homes original free-standing "pedestal" tub and love the way it looks. Weighs a ton but I have no fear of damaging it!

In reply to classicJackets (FS) :

Looks nice! I like the nooks by the tub too, might have to consider some of those. 

Need to call back my buddy today, if he's not wanting to sell, I'll head to market place. I've found a few rough ones for $150-200, and some that look to be in nice shape for like $400, which is still less than the acrylic one was, just a lot heavier to move. 

Was that tub faucet existing or did you replace it? A lot of the ones I'm seeing have some pretty meh faucets. Might leave them for now, but I'd like a classier one like yours with those handles. 

That tub faucet came from marketplace! Someone was selling the whole tub, I asked if I could buy just the faucet. There was a similar one recently, or I could keep my eye out. Ton of turn of the century homes around Detroit,and a lot have been torn apart.

couple things here -The inside shower corner gets good blocking and construction adhesive to hold it together .Full blocking where the shower walls meet the floor .Screw all the studs ,predrill if you have to.If you doing a shower cubby / niche ,put it where it won't get wet. Use solid pipe for venting.Make sure you can remove the shower body from the rear ,so you can replace it .I install my fixtures so the next guy can work on them . I use small nuts and bolts.Full studs 2x6 for the shower doors .Shower door hardware ,make sure it's not to close to the edge of the tile ,it may crack. Make sure the back shower wall is plum and even ,this way you won't have tiles that have small angle cuts.I put  2x8 blocking on all my shower walls for a grab bar . Take lots of pics so you can find the blocking later ,Hold a ruler when you take the pics so you can see where it is . Make copies and put the in you renovation folder . Medicine cabinet ? on and exterior wall? It will be really cold if you set it in . If you using a pex type pipe ,go with the 3/4 size for a good shower .I think that's it for now.

There's a store in Baltimore that sells all kinds of stuff from older houses that were renovated or torn down. They usually have plenty of tubs and old style faucets. My Daughters house was built in 1928 (Philadelphia suburb twin house, probably very similar to yours) and we found plenty of period stuff to put it back to how it should be. Every door is back to solid wood with ceramic doorknobs, etc  

https://www.secondchanceinc.org

A good condition tub for $400 is a much better value than a poor condition tub for $150.

Reglazing is expensive and time consuming.  Plus, you have to move that darned tub twice as often. 

Working on lining up a time to pickup a tub off marketplace. Glazing looks to be in good shape, the outside could use paint, and it's already on the ground level, so loading up shouldn't be too bad. $450, but they said somewhat flexible on price. Oh, and it already has a fairly nice looking faucet.