Bathroom remodel

[turracemsar]

I'm in my new house with nothing to do so I decided to help a friend redo his bathroom. Nothing is level. The bathroom is part of an addition that used to be a porch. 1850's house.

The sheetrock was gutted last week and last night we took out the tub. note to self: Steel tubs do not break like cast iron. When the tub was put in the floor joist was cut out for the plumbing. It was never replaced. Plumbing is galvanized pipe and 1 1/2 inch (or is it 2 inch) copper for the drain.

Questions:

Should I get rid of the big copper stuff and replace it with pvc? I have not worked with the big copper pipe. Can I cut it and connect pvc with the copper with a fernco fitting? The best way to fix this problem would be helpful. Rob, any ideas?

The tub is a fiberglass tub. Do I need to set it in mortar? If yes, which type?


The other tile jobs I did already had an acceptable surface, here we are taking everything out to the joists. how should i build up my substrate for tile? Is it 3/4 inch Ply + 1/2 inch ply + cement board?

The tub surround will probably be a 3 piece fiberglass install. Can I just use greenboard behind it or should I use cement board?

How high up should the tub spigot and the shower head be?

Thanks for the help. As is often the case, the sooner you respond, the better.

Thanks

Nick

[flatfloor]

Hi Nick, what size joists, spacing and the span?

[bbcamp]

I'd scrap that copper out, sell it at a recycling yard. I wouldn't have any idea how much life it has. Same for the galvanized. It's probably pretty gunked up inside.

Set the tub in mortar, any kind you have at hand, except concrete.

Answer flatfloor's question about the joists, and we'll go from there. For joists on 16" centers, your plan will likely work.

3 piece surround, use greenboard. Caulk well.

The tub spigot should go so the bottom part of the turndown at the end of the spigot is roughly 1" higher than the tub rim (or higher). The shower head should be at least 6'-3" above the floor of the tub (cause that's how tall I am ). The mixing valve goes somewhere in-between.

Bob

[turracemsar]

I'm not getting into the crawl space (army crawl space) to find out, but it looks like the joists are 2x8, 16 in OC.

For the joist that has been cut I was planning to box it out (like an attic opening) and run some additional 2x8s alongside the plumbing.

The purpose for the remodel is to sell the house next year and my friend's budget is tight. There will be no ditra here. In fact we may have to tile over plywood. Anyone think that is a bad idea? Bill Vincent may need to give me some pointers.

The wall is exterior, should I insulate and then put up a plastic moisture barrier?

Can I use the fiberglass mess sheetrock tape to tape the joints of the cement board?

Knob and tube wiring anyone?

[John Bridge]

You can't go that cheap, Nick, even if the guy intends to sell the house.

I wouldn't tile directly to plywood. You need cement backer board at the minimum.

Use brick mortar to shore up the bottom of the tub.

No, you can't use the cheapo dry wall tape on the CBU. It is not compatible with the stuff in the thin set.

Shape up, man.

[turracemsar]

john, that tape is a couple of dollars a roll, and you're calling it cheap? BTW, I asked only because I have not seen the tape that works on cement board. Is it sold at Lowe's/HD?

I have the rough plumbing done for the hot and cold water but i am having problems with the bathtub drain. As i mentioned it is the large copper pipe and it looks like it is threaded into the galvanized drain. I can't unscrew the copper despite my herculean strength ( I also put a torch on it). It would be great if I could cut it and then hook up pvc to the copper pipe but I don't think that is allowable, is it? If so, how would you do it?


I could really use some suggestions.

[gable74]

i thought it was acceptable with 3/4" plywood with 1/2" Durock on top, for a total of 1-1/4" subfloor thickness if you had 2x10's, 16" on center, and a span of say 10'. No?

[turracemsar]

I'm going with the 3/4 ply and 1/2 durock. I don't care what the deflectometer says.

[bbcamp]

www.floorstransformed.com

[flatfloor]

Nick, wish I could help but I'm loster than you. Just posting to bump you up top.

[cx]

Nick, if your joists are only a little tiny bit over 11 feet unsupported, your floor plan is even legal. And we know you wanna be legal. Three-quater ply and CBU over 16 inch centers should do you OK. Glue the ply to the joists before you screw it down, eh? That don't cost much.

Do a real good job of boxing around that plumbing. You should sister the full joist on each side of such boxing. Do that if you possibly can, making the sister as long as possible if you just can't make it full length.

You can Fernco a PVC drain pipe to the existing copper if you hafta. Be better if you can cut the whole thing out until you at least reach cast iron, but if the drain was working before, it should still work.

Is all this too late to be helpful? Sorry, just got home from work.

[flatfloor]

You work? I thought you just had oil wells in your back yard.

[cx]

Flatfloor, I ain't even got a backyard.

[John Bridge]

CX's back yard bears a stong resemblence to a camper top on the back of a pick-up.

[turracemsar]

Thanks again for the help. The copper is off and I am down to the galvanized pipe. I plan on screwing a pvc fitting into the pipe and using pvc for the rest of the drain.

I will try to post some pics.