Rear Bathroom Gut Job

In order to meet the minimum standard for LEED all the substrate around a tub or shower must be paperless including the ceiling. It’s required even under tiled walls. The existing tiled walls had been waterproof for over 30 years and it seems this requirement is a little extreme for a remodel but there are no exceptions. So that meant before I could apply for my LEED certification the rear bathroom that is over the crawlspace had to be gut remodeled.

I was just not getting to this bathroom remodel. I had spent a couple of months with Westgate Renovations as they redid my son’s bathroom and put in a laundry area I was pleased with the quality of their work and their willingness to work with their clients. My son had several special requests and nothing was ever a problem for these contractors.

I scheduled them to do the bathroom. I purchased a porcelain on steel tub from Restore several months ago. I had decided that the old stained dirty looking cast iron tub needed to be replaced. The new tub was a very good price less than half of the store price for an upgraded steel model. I still have some of the brown tile that I have used throughout the house.

The first step was completely gutting the room. I took off the medicine and storage cabinets but the medicine cabinet cannot be salvaged as the mirror has some moisture damage. The storage cabinet is probably a good donation to Restore because it is a common type with oak doors and a veneer covered particle board box. I’m keeping the Niagara Stealth dual low flush toilet so I removed it too.

Removing toilet
Removing toilet

I even removed the bathroom radiator. I think that I will replace it with underfloor radiant heat.

After the room was gutted there was evidence that the toilet had leaked at some point. The floor under the linoleum was soft and black with mold.

Evidence of toilet leak
Evidence of toilet leak

The interior walls in the bathroom were insulated and some of the insulation was also moldy so that was replaced. I cleaned the wall area with Clorox clean up and new subfloor was fitted in the soft area.

Moldy fiberglass and wall
Moldy fiberglass and wall

The first evening after the gut job we thought the existing 2 x 4 shims would stay and the top would be changed to incorporate a lighted niche. So I insulated the concrete wall with polyiso boards and replaced the fiberglass in the outside walls with rock wool.

First insulation install

The next day however, we decided to install a full 2 x 4 wall to make the niche deeper. All the polyiso had to be removed and recut and reinstalled. I had enough 1″ polyiso on hand to install two layers over the concrete.

Insulated back wall
Insulated back wall

The first layer of insulation in the 2×6 wall was covered with cement board as a backing for the niche and the electrical wire was run for the light. I added another 6″ layer of rock wool in the wall except for the niche area.

Insulation install
Insulation install

The glow in the ceiling is the Velux Sun Tunnel tempered glass skylight on the roof. The new Panasonic Whisper Green bath fan was also installed and will have a condensation control as the one in the master bath does.

Sun Tunnel and Whisper Fan

The bath project should be done sometime next week!

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