Total Remodel - Intro & Project 1: Master Bath

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JeffInFL
Posts: 171
Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 6:52 am

Hi guys and gals .. I've already posted a few questions here and really appreciate everyone's knowledge and help. My girlfriend Tiffany and I live in central FL, and are about to begin a total remodel of a 1982 Fleetwood double wide and then move into it. We really don't have a timeframe for completion .. basically we're going to do what we can with the money we have. I plan to post our progress as we go from project to project, documenting what we did and what issues we faced. I'll also be posting approximate costs.

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Here we are on 2 acres, 1 of which is protected wilderness or something. All the other MH's in the area are well taken care of, and the people across the road from us have horses and goats.

The place was in really bad shape when we got it. Filthy, lots of mouse turds, and had a horrible dog/urine smell. We immediately removed all the carpets and furniture which helped a bit with the smell but more needs to be done. The floors are surprisingly in good shape, except for a few spots along the outside walls and in the bathroom. I plan to replace those sections, then prime the entire floor with Kilz Original (oil-based) primer to seal & block any remaining dog smell. Every bit of existing drywall will be coming down and replaced with new.

So onto our first major project - the master bathroom. The room is 11x5 with a 2x2 notch in the outside corner where the hot water heater is. The existing toilet and sink will be replaced, and the giant 5x4 tub will be replaced with a 4x3 shower pan and tiled walls. In the extra 1' of space between the shower and outside wall, I'm going to build a custom slide-out cabinet to store all of our (read: her) bathroom stuff. The sink/vanity combo will be replaced with a sleek pedestal sink, and the new toilet has a special button for flushing #2's. Here's a quick rundown of our plan:

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Giant tub being replaced with a custom shower.

1 - Remove the toilet/sink/tub

2 - Replace the entire subfloor with 3/4" plywood. There's a heating duct in the floor, so I'm not sure how it's secured to the subfloor underneath. I plan to cut around it enough where I can pop my head down there and take a look. I'm guessing the duct is just screwed into the subfloor?

3 - Put the shower pan in place and figure out where the drain needs to be moved to. Then move the drain. I've never done plumbing before, and will know more once I see what's under the tub.

4 - get rid of the tub filler and diverter, and raise the shower head up a bit

5 - frame out a 3' wall that will sit between the shower and back wall. Build the frame for the custom cabinet in the remaining 1' of space. Can I attach whatever cabinet material I'm going to use directly to the 2x3 studs on the outside wall? Should I put some sort of vapor barrier first?

6 - replace the existing drywall with new 1/2" drywall, and replace the existing insulation with new stuff. A 15" x 48" roll at HD is only $10, so no reason not to do it.

6 - install the shower pan and hook up the repositioned drain

7 - Install 1/2" cement board around the shower, going up 6'. The 2 feet between the cement board and the ceiling will be 1/2" drywall. The ceiling is 8.5" and the shower pan is around 6" high.

8 - Redgard the cement board and new plywood floor

9 - Tile the shower. I won't be using premixed thinset since it doesn't work well over Redgard. The corners where the back wall meets the side walls will be caulked instead of grouted.

10 - Paint the drywall

11 - Lay down sheet vinyl for the floor. Found some decent stuff at HD and a 5 x 8-ish piece will run about $40. Glue isn't needed, but I may use double sided tape around the edges per the manufacturer's suggestion.

12 - install the new sink & toilet

13 - reconfigure one of the interior walls so we can install a pocket door between the master bath and master bedroom. The existing door swings inward, and pretty much hits the toilet when opened all the way. We wanted to get a new door anyway. A pocket door kit is about $60 and HD, and a door is around $50.

I'll update this post with pics as I take them. I look forward to any comments or concerns you may have! I also have a few questions:

- How hard is it to move a tub drain? It only has to move about 6" closer to the center of the room, and maybe 6" to a 1' closer to the water supply pipes.

- For the custom cabinet that sits between the outside wall and new inside wall, can I attach the cabinet directly to the outside wall's 2x3 studs? Any type of barrier between the wood and studs?

- How are floor ducts connected to the subfloor underneath the home? Is it just a matter of unscrewing it from the existing floor, cutting a hole in the new floor, and reattaching the duct?
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JeffInFL
Posts: 171
Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 6:52 am

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Toilet and sink that will be torn out. You can see some water damage to the floor around the toilet.

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This is the wall between the toilet and bedroom. Yay mold!

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This wall is just some 1x3's. it will be torn out and reframed with 2x4's to accommodate a pocket door.

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The plumbing for the bathtub. What is the black pipe? A vent? The 2 short hoses close to the ground are the hot & cold which run into the tub's faucet/diverter (all 1 piece). The longer curved plastic tube runs from the faucet/diverter to the shower head. I need to remove the faucet/diverter and make the water go directly to a (new) shower head. This wall will also be torn out and replaced with 2x4's. The black pipe and water pipes go through holes cut in the 1x3 header and footer though .. I'm thinking maybe I can remove a section of that black pipe temporarily so I can remove the old header and footer boards and replace it with 2x4's. The other option is to notch out a big section of the 2x4's to fit around the pipe.

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A closer look at the plumbing. Hopefully it's not too much work to reconfigure to use a normal hot/cold shower knob and shower head.

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All the junk that was removed from the house so far. I've seen crack houses in nicer shape.
ponch37300
Posts: 622
Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2008 6:12 pm
Location: wisconsin

Yes that black pipe is a vent for your drain. You can cut it and use couplings to glue it back together. If you can't get enough flex out of it to get the couplings in they do make "slip" couplings that don't have the little lip in the middle inside of them like a regular coupling. Or just use a "fernco" coupling, a rubber coupling with clamps on it.

The heating vent should just be stapled to the subfloor. If you take the cover off you should be able to see how it's attached. When you start to move the tub drain don't try to guess what fittings you will need. It sucks to be under there and not have the right fitting you need! They are cheap, go to the store and buy a half dozen or so of couplings, 90s, 45s, etc. all my vents and drains are 1 1/2" so just one size of fittings to buy. You should have some sort of vapor barrier, either faced insulation or unfaced and plastic, but not both. This isn't just for behind the cabinet, you should have a vapor barrier on all outside walls. Like you mentioned DON'T use premixed mortar in the shower, not because it doesn't work good over redgaurd but because it's not meant for wet locations. Since tile and grout isn't water proof when water gets behind the tiles it can actually loosen up the premixed mortar and have tiles popping off. Mix your own and follow the directions and make sure you use the right mortar. As you said any place two different planes meet needs to be caulked instead of grouted, the wall corners and where the tile meets the tub base.
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JeffInFL
Posts: 171
Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 6:52 am

Thanks ponch! The insulation I plan to get is faced.

Any thoughts on changing the plumbing to get rid of the tub filler/diverter piece and separate hot/cold knobs and going with a single piece hot/cold handle and shower head (no tub filler)?
ponch37300
Posts: 622
Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2008 6:12 pm
Location: wisconsin

JeffInFL wrote:Thanks ponch! The insulation I plan to get is faced.

Any thoughts on changing the plumbing to get rid of the tub filler/diverter piece and separate hot/cold knobs and going with a single piece hot/cold handle and shower head (no tub filler)?
Then the paper face is your vapor barrier and all you need.

You can do the plumbing however you want while it's apart. After you frame up your new wall you can run the new plumbing. Bring the old lines to the new valve and then run a new line up to the shower head fitting. I personally like to use copper between the valve and the shower head fitting, it gives it some rigidity and strength. Use a 2x4 behind your valve and shower head fitting int order to support everything, the valve and shower head fitting will get screwed to these. You can use pex or other without any issues, the copper is just what I like to join them with. You will want to raise your valve up to around stomach height probably. You can google and get a more specific measurement or just put it wherever you want. That's the beauty of doing things from scratch!

The only issue I see after looking at your pictures again is that vent pipe, it looks to go right down the center which is where you probably want your valve and shower head. If that is the case you can re route the vent pipe. When you cut it to frame the new wall keep a few inches of pipe sticking up threw the floor so after you put your 2x plate down you still have enough pipe sticking above the 2x4 to attach to. Then use a 45 degree elbow to run the vent over a foot or so. Do the same at the top and connect them. Like this


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/
/

Just make sure everything lines up and stays within the wall. Can be easy to get angles and measurements off if you've never done plumbing before. Then just cut out the a hole in the cement board for the valve and shower head pipe and do your tile, then enjoy!

edit: I see my rough drawing didn't come out when it's posted. Hopefully you get the idea, if not I can do another and post it.
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JeffInFL
Posts: 171
Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 6:52 am

Thanks again! Fortunately the vent pipe is centered for the existing tub .. the shower pan is not as wide, so the new valve and shower head will sit a bit to the left of the vent pipe (when viewing it from the angle in the pic).

I think I'm going to cut off the hot/cold PB lines near the floor and convert them to PEX. One last question (for today) .. Having never worked with PEX before, can it be connected to any type of shower valve that I'd find in a big box store? Or do I need a PEX-specific valve?
ponch37300
Posts: 622
Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2008 6:12 pm
Location: wisconsin

The valves usually come with threads on the inlet And outlets. So any valve should work and then just buy threaded pex fittings. Screw them into the valve with a little Teflon tape and then crimp your apex onto them.
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JeffInFL
Posts: 171
Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 6:52 am

I'll be sure to post pics of the progress. I stopped at HD at lunch to get some other things and took a look at the PEX stuff .. they have all sorts of fittings, so I think I'm going to be in good shape!
ponch37300
Posts: 622
Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2008 6:12 pm
Location: wisconsin

They also make "shark bite" fittings, think shark bite is just one brand name, that you just slide the pex into. If you don't have the tools to do pex and don't want to buy them this might be an option for you. I've never used them but I've read good things about them. HD carries them also. You can just screw them in and slide the pex into it.
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Greg
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Location: Weedsport, NY

If possible I would recommend using the crimped type fittings, especially where they are hidden. I have had the pushlock type develop leaks, not a good idea inside a wall.

Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
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JeffInFL
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Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 6:52 am

I plan to do the crimp style.. I think the tool was around $50 at HD and there's the other doodad that checks the crimps.
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Greg
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Thats a go-no go gauge. It simply slips over the crimp to make sure it is tight enough.
I found a whole set of crimpers 3/8", 1/2" , & 3/4" for $25. on craigslist. may be worth checking.

Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
bobfather99
Posts: 195
Joined: Fri Nov 13, 2009 2:09 am
Location: Indiana

Great idea to get the crimp tool. Once you have the tool/rings/gauges, every project in your house (and future houses) is covered. You can also help out friends and neighbors with their plumbing work, in exchange for some beverages. :)
Tip your bartender.....
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JeffInFL
Posts: 171
Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 6:52 am

I removed the tub yesterday.. found out the drain wasnt connected to the p trap. Also, there was a 12x12 opening in the floor where the drain plumbing was. Based on the number of mouse turds found under and behind the tub, it must have been a cozy spot. The toilet and sink came out without a problem. Installed compression type shutoff valves on the sink for now. Today I cut out the subfloor and replace it with 23/32 plywood.
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JeffInFL
Posts: 171
Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2013 6:52 am

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This was what was under that hideous bathtub

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The P trap for the tub. The X on the floor marks the approximate location of where the drain needs to be for the shower pan. I believe the lighter colored 2x6 can be moved/removed

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Sink and toilet removed. The giant wet spot is my fault .. I didn't install the compression style shut off valve properly and it squirted water everywhere when the well pump was turned back on

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This is where the vent pipe goes into the ceiling .. I'm not sure what happened there, but the pipe has a bit to a curve to it. I can manually force the pipe back into place, but not sure what it's doing to the part on the roof. I'm replacing that top 2x3 with a 2x4 at some point. Any ideas on how to correct this?

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The not-connected tub drain. Fortunately there wasn't a lot of water damage, but I'm guessing it's because of the 12x12 hole in the floor around the P trap
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