One more thing...
Shut down your HVAC system when you are making dust. The air handler is strong enough to overpower most exhaust fans, and will pull that crap throughout your house.
Then swap your filters frequently during construction.
One more thing...
Shut down your HVAC system when you are making dust. The air handler is strong enough to overpower most exhaust fans, and will pull that crap throughout your house.
Then swap your filters frequently during construction.
We're finishing up one bathroom remodel right now, and about to start on a second. Lots of good info here. Our house is 1800's built, in central MD, so similar construction style. Old farmhouse.
For the fan- we went went with a Panasonic Whisper fan, fan only, no light, heat, Bluetooth, etc. Install was pretty straightforward. It has a switch to choose either 80 or 110 cfm, I put it on the higher setting and Mrs VCH (who hates fan noise) thought it was perfectly fine. IIRC the sone rating was 0.4 at 80 and 0.8 at 110.
Looking strongly at doing the ditra heat in the next bathroom. Anyone know how many watts it uses per sq ft of floor covered? The Schluter website doesn't seem to have this info - at least not that I have found, yet.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
That's funny, I believe I picked up the same vent fan last week. Haven't gotten to the install yet obviously, but I'm glad to hear it's pretty quiet even on the higher power setting.
Some people appreciate the sound obscuring qualities of a loud fan. 
I personally would insulate every interior wall I could reach with friction fit fiberglass insulation. And speaking about insulation, how are you going to insulate the about 1" space between the 1x4 boards on your exterior brick wall?
I would also suggest using a moisture resistant type X fire rated gypsum board for your ceiling covering. Something like this which is a fiberglass reinforced gypsum board wrapped in mold resistant paper:
In reply to VolvoHeretic :
Hahaha, yeah, some fan noise could be helpful.
I do plan on rock wool or something on the interior walls. Might find some insulation board for the exterior walls, I'm not super worried about it since the rest of the house doesn't have any on the exterior walls.
I was planning on the purple moisture resistant stuff for the ceiling. I'll have to see if my local lowes has that fiber reinforced stuff.
Looks like these are my options locally.
1/2-in x 4-ft x 8-ft PURPLE XP Mold Resistant Moisture Resistant Regular Drywall Panel https://www.lowes.com/pd/Gold-Bond-Common-1-2-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-Actual-0-5-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-PURPLE-XP-Drywall-Panel/1002062128
1/2-in x 4-ft x 8-ft M2Tech Mold Resistant Moisture Resistant Regular Drywall Panel https://www.lowes.com/pd/CertainTeed-Common-1-2-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-Actual-0-5-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-Drywall-Panel/1002992836
In reply to VolvoHeretic :
Out of stock :(
Walls are stripped, ceiling stripped, tub removed, chimney removal finished, stick on tile and plywood from the old bathroom floor removed. Almost time to start installing the new material!
Strange to walk up the stairs and see the outside wall.
Side note, technically this wall with the bathroom door should be load bearing, but it doesn't seem over built for that. It's just the attic above, so not a big deal. I'll still frame it like a proper load bearing wall, just makes me that much more confident that moving the door won't be a big deal at all.
Also, you can see the patchwork of floorboards found underneath, I'm going to go ahead and rip them out.
I saw advantech on the shelf at my local Lowe's earlier so I'm going to call tomorrow and double check pricing. I'm thinking I'll go ahead and do the Advantech subfloor and then 1/4" cement board.
Dumb question, how important is it to use the cement board screws they sell right next to the cement board?
In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :
Looks great! Don't forget to take lots of photos of everything. It's best to take straight on photos, move over and take another, move over and.... Then a bunch of close ups and angle shots. I want to see how the floor joist attach to the outside brick wall. I have no idea about the screws but you might want to buy a dedicated screw gun.
In reply to VolvoHeretic :
I'll have to get a pic, but I was looking closer earlier and the joists pocket into the brick wall.
Coincidentally I just got a drywall screw gun since I end up with drywall projects semi regularly. We'll see how I like it compared to the ol 1/4" impact.
It might not make sense for a single room, but I bought one of these (gently used on Marketplace) for a whole-house remodel and deck, and it's freakin awesome:
In reply to STM317 :
That looks quite handy!
In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :
The cement board screws work MUCH better. Bugle head screws (like drywall screws) pull through the cement board.
You will use a lot. Every 8" in both directions across the entire sheet.
In reply to SV reX :
I saw that the cement bird screws are corrosion resistant too, I guess drywall screws don't like come of the concrete board material over time.
For laying subfloor, should I glue? Joist to subfloor? Subfloor to concrete board? Both?
If so, general construction adhesive or something specific?
New to the forum but not new to remodeling. I have not read whole thread but perhaps can help with a couple of things. First off, good choice of fans. Panasonic originated the whole truly quiet fan idea and still remain at the top despite many copycats. Although many think fans are all about odor control, their primary function in bathrooms is water vapor removal. The tighter the house the more important this becomes. Good venting to the structure exterior is crucial, don't blow into attic unless you love the idea of mold. Current wisdom is to have fan running for 10 minutes after a shower. I installed many of these for clients...highly reccommended.
Assuming tile will be finish flooring, take the time now to flatten out structure before plywood. Also plan on thinset mortar between cement board and subflooring. It's often overlooked but in the manufacturer installation instructions for a reason. Use the recommended screws, they're coated for corrosion resistance and designed specifically for the purpose. Not the place to save a buck. If you want the last word in tiling the right way, I recommend this place. It's pros helping DIYs and not in an arrogant way.
Tile Forum/Advice Board - Ceramic Tile Advice Forums - John Bridge Ceramic Tile
Take the time now to rewire, airseal and insulate or anything else you think you might need as you'll never get better access. Airsealing can really make drafty old houses a lot more comfortable but is difficult to retrofit, but its more about time than money. Take care in the installtion of vapor retarders as i varies with climate. Again, you don't want to create a moisture trap.
While I really like Schluter products and have been to their installer workshops, Ditraheat is an expensive extravagance that often won't do what people expect. If it's cost-no-object remodel for sure consider it. Functionally the money could be better spent IMHO, but I'm a function first kind of guy and thats how I advised clients.
I could write for hours but I'll desist for now and check in later.
We used to use Locktite PL400 polyurethane construction adhesive 30 years ago although I see several other choices from Locktite now. put a good sized bead on the top of each joist enough that it squishes out.
I don't know about under the tile backer.
I don't remember the size of screws or the on center spacing and I can't find my IBC code book.
In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :
Carbidetooth is correct. The manufacturer installation specs for the cement board say Thinset should be used behind it.
I will admit that I have installed it many, many times dry without failure.
Cement may be the preferred method, but I would also check the manufacturer's specs for the Advantech. I've had issues with cement not bonding to it. Make sure whatever product you use will bond to BOTH the cement board and the Advantech.
Also look hard at the manufacturer's recommendations for the decoupling membrane. Your cement (or glue) is gonna have to work with ALL the products.
I don't have the answer to your question. I only know the successes (and failures) I have had.
Thanks all! I was curious if the cement bond for the cement board would work with the Advantech. I'll do more research, but plan to at least use adhesive under the Advantech.
Not a ton of "work" today, but progress nonetheless.
Started the morning off scrapping the old tub, and picking up supplies for the new walls, door framing, subfloor, and floor cement board. Brought the dog with since my wife was out, and she loves saying hi to all the people at Lowe's.
Then I took a drive (2 hours each way) and picked up this tub Originally posted for $450, I got it for $300. Includes a decent faucet, though the inside isn't quite as clean as the pictures made it look. The outside and and feet will get painted. I am hoping the inside will clean up enough for now. Also, this tub is somehow lighter than the one we removed, which is wonderful news to my back!
After dinner I hauled the lumber upstairs, and cut out a section of floor to begin the new wall. Pictures right now don't really do it justice, so I'll post tomorrow when you can see better what's going on.
Sounds like my wife's grandfather might be around to help tomorrow so I think I'll make use of the extra hands to pull my pex and electrical wire up from the basement. I also have a goal to have the new wall framed and the hallway wall framing adjusted for the new doorway tomorrow so I can give my brother in law his nail gun back. (DeWalt 20v nail gun is pretty sweet, but I can't quite justify the cost for my own yet.)
Here are some screws rated for subfloors which need to have at least the same shank diameter as a 8d common nail (0.131"). Screw spacing is (I believe) 6" o.c. along the butt ends and 12" o.c. in the field (interior) of the panel. Predrill the subfloor on the butt ends.
The thinset mortar under cement board should be combed out with notched trowel and is not really intended to bond to subfloor. Screws and gravity do that work. Rather it's there to come as close to 100% surface contact between subfloor and cement board (tile backer). The tile backer is there to give a good bonding interface for the eventual tile install. If one were trying to bond tile directly to subfloor, the surface treatment on Advantech might prove problematic. Beads of construction adhesive leaves voids between subfloor and tile backer...not ideal and easy to avoid.
Using construction adhesive can add a little stiffness and squeak proofing when applied to tops of joists, but I would certainly have your pieces pre fitted or you'll get into a real mess. I'm a huge fan of PL Premium and it has pretty amazing bonding properties but is not at all easy to undo. I've used it to do all sorts of things.
I assume you've calculated the deflection of your framing and subfloor structure to accommodate tile. Tile backer doesn't add appreciable strength or stiffness. I'm a big fan of decoupling membranes such as Ditra or StrataMat but with these you actually are depending on the mortar bond between subfloor and membrane which is less questionable with plywood than OSB. Porcelain tile is more demanding of substrate than almost any finish flooring. I've seen many failures and almost all were attributable to installation errors. This has been exacerbated by large format tile.
In reply to carbidetooth :
That makes sense on the cement board Thinset underneath being to optimize a full contact patch.
In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :
Did you ever get the floor joist layout starting from the left wall? What size are your floor joists?
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