The Bathroom

Next to the kitchen restoration, a bathroom is the most expensive room to remodel or restore. Besides the basics of plumbing and wiring, a bathroom might be upgraded to add amenities such as whirl pool baths, expensive fixtures and costly floor treatments. The decision on how fancy and thus expensive a bathroom will be I will leave up to your discretion and budget. This chapter will primarily deal with getting ready to add your fixtures.

   The bathroom is no different than any other room in wall and ceiling preparation so the plan to prepare the room is covered in plaster and plastering. EXCEPT!!!

   There are some things different about a bathroom simply because of the humidity and dampness an enclosed room can cause. In the event you are re drywalling, use what they call green board rather than standard drywall in the entire bathroom. Green board is moisture resistant and will help keep mold from forming in poorly ventilated spaces.

   The entire area that surrounds the shower or tub and shower should be covered with concrete board which is exactly what the name entails. The sheets, made out of concrete, will prevent water, mildew, and mold from occurring around your tub or shower area. No, green board in this area is not good enough and most definitely standard drywall with all the primer in the world will eventually get soft and mildew in bath areas so don’t waste your time or money doing a job that eventually will have to be done over again.

 Tip: Since it is common for a tub to be located on an outside wall, fill the underside of the tub area with blow in insulation. This will help keep the tub surface from getting cold on those wintry days. Of course in the event you have a freestanding claw foot tub this isn’t necessary and wouldn’t look very attractive.  [Mike Fak]
 

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