Charlie's first bathroom remodel - Project thread

[ss3964spd]

I'm a little skeptical too, Charlie. One thing I can see right off the bat is that since the top of the bracket sits on top of the joist, it means the subfloor can't sit directly on the joist top; it'll be held up by the thickness of the bracket and possibly the heads of the screws/nails.

With out fastening the them directly to the joists the 2X4's that lay in those brackets would have to be, and remain, dead straight.

[cbaum]

Yeah not loving it. There's another kit called rapid recess that looks far better but it's $400 and without much info on it I really struggle to spend that cash.

So back to my joists. I think....I can get away with 2x dimensional lumber glued and screwed up under the lip. Gives me 3/4" to screw the plywood into. Only negative is it's 1.5" deep so I'd need 2 layers of plywood to come up to joist level, but if it can work that's a minimal cost. Waiting for the joist company to open (PST time zone) to check with one of their engineers. Here's a pic though...

[cbaum]

UPDATE: just talked to a structural joist engineer at Weyerhaeuser. He said I can simply use 2x and get it up under the lip like my pic above shows. However, he made it very clear to NOT nail/screw into the top joist flange. Glue and screw into the webbing only. Now I have a path forward.

[Elkski]

if your joist is going to be double sided blocked how do you screw the far side after you attach the first side?

SS3964 "I'm a little skeptical too, Charlie. One thing I can see right off the bat is that since the top of the bracket sits on top of the joist, it means the subfloor can't sit directly on the joist top; it'll be held up by the thickness of the bracket and possibly the heads of the screws/nails.

With out fastening the them directly to the joists the 2X4's that lay in those brackets would have to be, and remain, dead straight." it would be like a floating hanging subfloor. wouldn't you just put the shower base right on top? or you need another 1/2 min subfloor on top of the joists? so all that work would only save you 3/4" not 1 1/4"?

[cbaum]

Not sure I grasp your first question. I am screwing in from the face of the 2x lumber into the webbing.

The idea is for the shower pan to sit directly on top of the joists. Doing that still forces me to build up the bathroom floor 9/8"x 1/8" of which is ditra. That's doable.

[cx]

Charlie, I'd rather see you screw through the webbing into your new cleat, after applying construction adhesive first, of course. The cleat on the other side you can screw through the new cleat, through the webbing and into the opposite cleat.

My opinion; worth price charged.

Teddy, if you'll visit our FAQ or the Liberry you'll find a brief tutorial showing how to post and properly attribute quotes here on the forum. Presuming that's what you were trying to do in post #94.

[Elkski]

Thanks CX, that was my intent I've been using some sites that you just copy and it auto quotes even a portion of a previous post.
Would you want cross bracing at the walls? seems like it would be luck to have two layers of plywood meet the surface very close.

[Tool Guy - Kg]

Charlie,

Have you considered cutting a rabbet along the 2x material so that rather than it stopping under the lip as pictured in post #92, you could raise it to whatever exacting height made the new plywood dead flush with the top of the joists?

[Elkski]

I got in the furnace room yesterday... I think the last place I can see my I joists. Mine measures 1.75" wide by just shy of 1.5" tall but I also noticed there maybe places where glue is at the webbing joint so the 2x4 may need a chamfer or to clean up the glue.
IT does seem like this will allow a walk in shower if my drawing is accurate to what you guys are thinking.

[cbaum]

One thing to watch for, the depth of the top joist flange in my case is about 1.25". 2 layers of 3/4 plywood will put you proud of the top flange. I am doing the same thing but I will drop the 2x4 below the top by about 1/4" so it's flush. I'm not dealing with sanding or planing. Glued and screwed through the 3/8 webbing to a cleat on the other side will do me just fine. Since I'm not fastening to the top flange at all I figure it won't matter. I'll just have to pay closer attention to leveling the framing as I won't have the top flange to do that for me.

[ss3964spd]

Originally Posted by Charlie

I'm not dealing with sanding or planing

Don't get too married to that notion, Charlie, as it's unlikely your sawn 2X material will straight, or consistent in size along its length. Even though I picked the best pieces I could find I still had to sand some high spots and shim some lows.

Maybe you'll get luckier than I did.

[cbaum]

Good point. What I meant was no interest in planing off 1/4" or anything. So far things are lining up within 1/16" so it's looking good.

Quick question about mold. There's two or three places in the wood studs around where the old pan and shower wall was that has what appears to be some surface mold or at least staining from mold? The spots are not soft, I can't push into them. A screw goes in and holds just like it would with new wood. Just appears to be on the surface. Does have a faint smell of mold. Do I need to remove it? Or can I mitigate it on the surface before I close it back in with my new shower?

[ss3964spd]

Since the staining is just on the surface, and the wood seems solid, just clean it off. It doesn't appear to be actively growing. I would want to peel back that insulation to make sure there isn't anything behind it, or in it.

[cx]

Charlie, if you've removed the source of the moisture there, the mold is dead or will be dead soon. I'd be not concerned at all.

My opinion; worth price charged.