44 sq ft bath remodel

[Tiger Mountain Tile Inc]

Do you know whether you have a concrete subfloor? or do you have wood floor joists underneath?

[tilecustomer]

I remember one contractor saying they have experience with homes in our neighborhood (built in 40s-53) and said it would be concrete. The designer was in the attic, outside, in the basement and seemed much more thorough in his examination of our house than the others, but I can't recall if he said it was concrete or joists. I heard him talking to his GC about joists in the wall, but don't remember what they said about the floor.

Our walls are plaster.

[cx]

Anna, it'll help if you'll keep all your project questions on one thread so folks can see what you're working on and what's been previously asked and answered. A moderator can give it a more generic title any time you'd like to suggest one.

We really need to know (more importantly your designer needs to know) more about your floor structure to help with that aspect of your design.

We covered the code compliance aspect of your curbless shower, but there are other considerations, such as having a swinging door without that curb and the inability of having any sort of mat outside the shower. I think you'll find that an important consideration.

I would caution you about that COF rating. The S(static)COF rating of 0.62 or greater was the ANSI Standard requirement, which changed to 0.42 when the D(dynamic)COF testing was adopted by the ceramic tile industry some years ago. Be sure you know which you're dealing with. Along with that I would caution that all common ceramic tile is slippery when wet, especially in large formats and without a mat outside the shower door.

Originally Posted by Anna

I heard him talking to his GC about joists in the wall,..

Caution again about small details. There are no joists in your walls. The vertical framing members there are called studs.

It's the floor joists, if any, that you're most concerned with at this point.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[tilecustomer]

Be sure you know which you're dealing with.

Here are the specs:

Yes, he was talking about wall studs, not joists (just one example of why we will never be DIYers)

How about "44 sq ft bath remodel" for title?

[Tiger Mountain Tile Inc]

The designer was in the attic, outside, in the basement

So, you have a basement. Is this shower in the basement or is it on the main level and has the basement immediately underneath?

If you have a concrete floor underneath, then you can pretty much do whatever you want as far as a curbless shower goes.

But I'm guessing that yours probably has wood joists so it's a little trickier.

[tilecustomer]

But I'm guessing that yours probably has wood joists so it's a little trickier.

We had a pinhole leak through the ceiling below a smaller bath on the same floor (2nd floor, 2 flights up from basement). This is what it looks like underneath.

Could the one contractor talking about concrete be talking about the existing tub subfloor? His specs say "sister on new 2x4's to existing joists to level floor"

So what is trickier about joists and what questions do I need to ask? (the entire floor is supposed to be waterproofed.

I am wondering if the mini-curb is recommended to keep within our budget, because GC labor and construction materials for 2 contractors so far is estimated between $23k and $25k, excluding plumbing, electric and tile install. A 3rd contractor doesn't break things down as detailed, but the bottom line on all is in the $50k range total.

[cx]

Anna, without a geographic location in your User Profile and more detail about the scope of work, it's not realistic for any of us to make any judgement about the proposed costs.

Trying to make a curbless shower over existing wood framed floors is tricky business in the best of circumstances. It's necessary either to cut down the height of the joists, requiring some sort of engineered reinforcement, or raising the rest of the bathroom floor, or both. Without knowing what the existing framing is and the plan for the shower receptor, I can't even guess what might be required.

Depending upon the circumstances, the $25K guy might be high, or the $50K guy might be low.

My opinion; worth price charged.

[Tiger Mountain Tile Inc]

From your picture, it looks like you have T&G car decking so it'll be difficult to determine the best path until the flooring is removed and we can see how far apart your joists are, how wide they are, and how frequently they are supported.

However, by cutting joists you are affecting the structure of the home. In my area, that requires a building permit and a complicated and lengthy process to obtain.

It can be done but whomever does it needs to re-strengthen the floor system after cutting into it.

Another way of doing a curbless shower is to use one of the new foam shower pan systems that are on the market. Wedi Ligno is the one that I am familiar with but Schluter has one as do other companies.

But, it's hard to know if that will work for your home because of all the things that I mentioned in paragraph 1. You don't have the typical floor structure that is in most homes.

Also, I don't know the reason for a "mini curb". Maybe your floor joists aren't wide enough and they can't cut them down very far?