Tackling that Old Bathroom
Today was the big day. I finally tackled that old bathroom in the new house. After looking through several magazines and watching hours of HGTV, I finally figured out what I want. The gold tile from the 1970s, and the stained tub are finally history. I’m knocking down a wall to open the bathroom up to the master bedroom tomorrow.
Two guys helped me gut the bathroom today. We pulled the cabinets and toilet out pretty easily, once we unhooked the plumbing. The tub was a bit harder, but not too bad. By far the most time consuming task was getting rid of the old tile floor and tile walls.
Removing the Toilet
Gutting a bathroom seems like a big job, but it’s no so bad if you break it down into parts. First, we took out the toilet to get more room to work, since it is a small bathroom. Taking out the toilet was the easiest task on the list. First we shut the water off and flushed the toilet one last time to drain most of the water out. We used a small paper cup to bail the rest out. Then we removed the bolts that held the toilet to the floor. I reached inside the tank and unscrewed the chain from the flushing hardware. Then one of the guys lifted that toilet up and out of there. That gave us a little more room to maneuver to finish the rest of the job.
Removing the Sink
Next we decided to move the sink and cabinet out, so that getting the big, heavy tub out would be easier later. Removing the sink was fairly easy. The water was already off from when we removed the toilet, so we were ready to go. We put a bucket under the trap to catch any excess water. Then we loosened the nuts around the trap. It’s always a good idea to stuff a rag into the drain to keep any gases from escaping. Then we located the clips under the bathroom sink. They were hard to loosen, so we broke them off with brute force. Sometimes that’s the way you have to go with old hardware that freezes up. Then we took out our knife and cut the seal that holds the sink to the counter, so we could remove the sink.
Removing the Cabinet
Once the sink was out of the cabinet, we used a crowbar to rip the counter out, after unscrewing a few screws that held it to the wall. We had to remove a few nails from the wall. I wasn’t too worried about the walls since I was going to redo everything anyway.
Removing the Tub
All we had left to get out of the room before starting on the tile was to remove the stained tub. The water was still off, so we got started. First we opened the valves to drain any leftover water out. Then we used a knife to cut the drywall covering the flange. Then we cut into the drywall to get to the faucet attachment. All that was left to do once the plumbing was disconnected was to pry the tub away from the wall with a crowbar. It took two of us to manage this task. We pulled the tub onto a large towel to allow us to drag it away since it was quite heavy.
Tile Removal
Once we had everything out of the bathroom, it was time to start on the tile work. My helpers did not want to wear a mask, but I don’t do tile work without one. So I put on my mask and started to work. Removing grout to loosen tiles is hard work and can be time-consuming. That is why I left that job for last. My bathroom had tile on the floors and about halfway up the wall.
I used a hammer and a grout removal tool to remove the grout. I tapped the handle of the tool with the hammer to help loosen the grout, chipping away at it diligently. Once you’ve removed enough grout to wedge the tip of the putty knife under the bottom of the tile, then you can pop out the tile. Depending on the size of the room and the amount of time, this can take a few hours if you’re working alone. Once you’re finished, you might need a good neck rub.
Tomorrow I’ll start the day by knocking out that wall to open up this tiny bathroom. Tearing down a wall is more fun than gutting a bathroom, and takes less time. So with luck, I’ll start putting in the new bathroom tomorrow after the plumber comes out to help with the new shower I need.
