bathroom demo Archives - A Dabbled Dwelling

Its week 2 of the Jeffrey Court Renovation Challenge and we have made some good progress! This is definitely that “Oh boy what have we done” stage of a project. Where it feels like you have made a space worse rather than better. We’re just going to keep moving forward and eventually it will all come together… Right?

More Demo

We continued with more demo by removing the tile floor. It was sad to see the painted tile go, but I’m so excited to to finally update it thanks to Jeffrey Court. This was the part of demo I was most nervous about because I wasn’t sure what would be underneath or how hard it would be to remove. Luckily I was able to pop off the tiles with a pry bar and found a waterproof membrane underneath. after removing the tiles I basically “dug deep” to find my inner hulk and ripped the membrane right off the subfloor in sheets!

My husband removed the toilet for the last bit of tile and what did we find? MORE ROACHES. I can’t even fathom how they manage to get under a toilet that was sealed to the floor but thankfully we had an exterminator out a few days later. If I wasn’t so excited about this bathroom project I think I may have put the house on the market right then and there!

We tackled a few more loose ends like the wall studs from the doorway we removed last week. As well as the rest of the vanity.

woman removes tile floor with hammer and pry bar

half removed tile floor revealing orange waterproof membrane underneath

shower down to the studs and doorway removed

Build Back

Once demolition was complete, it was time to start building back this bathroom and prepping for tile. I laid 1/4 inch cement board on the floor and 1/2 inch cement board on the shower walls. Because cement board is moisture and mold resistant it makes a great foundation for tiling. Also, mortar grips to it wonderfully and it give a nice fresh and flat surface to work on.

Finally, I began taping and mudding the seams on the cement board floor. This simply involves putting down mesh tape and applying a thin layer of mortar on top. Doing so makes sure that water won’t seep into your subfloor where the cement board meets.

Thats a wrap for the Jeffrey Court Renovation Challenge week 2! We hope next week we can begin tiling as we await our big tile order from Jeffrey Court!