I was cleaning our master bath a few days ago and decided I was sick of the disgusting fiberglass shower surround that the previous owners had put up over the original tile. So I start to pull it off and all was going well until I reached the wall where the shower head is and found a large hole in the wall. :rolleyes: Apparently they needed access to the plumbing so they cut through the tile, backer board and sheet rock and removed a section that is one full tile plus prtions of 3 or 4 others. And of course they "repaired" it by putting up the lovely fiberglass surround. Add to that the sloppy job they did of replacing the bottom row of tiles when they installed a shower pan in place of the original tiled pan. There is obvious water damage and some of the tiles are bulging out and others are sunken in plus the grout and caulking are yuck.

Now we are stuck with this mess and I've got to decide what course of action to take. So far I've come up with a few different options:
1 - Cover the hole with plastic and duct tape and forget any of this ever happened (not likely)
2 - Buy a new fiberglass surround and pretend this never happened (also not likely)
3 - Let DH try to repair the hole only (impossible to do a good job plus we could never match this 32 yo tile) and ignore the damage at the bottom (again, not likely)
4 - Hire a professional tile setter to retile the whole shower and either keep the current shower pan (which I loathe and can never get clean no matter how many caustic chemicals I use) or replace the shower pan also
5 - Tear out the whole shower and buy a multi-piece shower stall that includes floor, ceiling and walls (looks like they run from $600 to about $2000 depending on the brand and model)
6 - Try to replace shower pan and retile on our own which is not something I am really comfortable with since tiling a wall seems pretty hard for a first tiling project and cutting around the faucet handles and shower head would be a pain without the proper tools

I'm leaning towards option #5 but wonder how feasible it is to do it ourselves. I hate to bring in the local plumbers but am thinking we may have to.

And of course, if I'm getting a new shower than darn it, I want a new vanity/sink/faucet and light fixture also. The originals are hideous and the drain thingy on the sink has been broken for ages. And a tile floor would be nice too since the previous owners put in the ugliest cheapest vinyl they could find and didn't do it very well. I've already got a new wall cabinet and paint that I bought a few months ago and the toilet is only about 6 months old. The only other things would be a new mirror and hopefully an exhaust fan since we can't have the window open all year and the moisture build-up is a big problem.

So, anyone have any words of wisdom? I've been wanting to remodel the bathroom but didn't expect it to happen like this. And who the heck do you call to install an exhaust fan anyway? No way can DH cut a hole in the roof and install a vent that wouldn't leak. He's a physicist; he tries but isn't exactly handyman material IYKWIM. ;)

Originally posted by Mom2Steen
And who the heck do you call to install an exhaust fan anyway? No way can DH cut a hole in the roof and install a vent that wouldn't leak.

Do you have an attic over your bathroom? An electrician did our for like $50. But we have an attic over our bathroom so I think it made it easier....

Okay, now I've never done tile on my own, but I've assisted. For me, the mess factor was the problem, as it is in any project. I'm don't like the clean up very much unless I've thought it out before hand and cleaned up what I could along the way.

That said, the library (you all new that word was coming) has some awsome do it yourself books that even I understand (being an intimidated sort myself). I like Time-Life or Readers Digest because they tend to have bigger pictures and show more steps, but that's my bias.

My dad is typically friends with people and so a lot of the work we don't do ourselves was done by friends for cheaper and we would help them.

I wish I have better advice, but before I decided anything I'd see how hard the tasks looked by getting some books.

Also, where are you? There's a St Vincents by me that had a whole lot of tile in it and always has all kinds of fixtures and stuff. You could see all the tiles and none were broken. Just an odd thought, I'm tired!

jessica

1 - Cover the hole with plastic and duct tape and forget any of this ever happened (not likely)

Kinda going with this one LOL .. Could you buy a fog free (or whatever they call them) mirror? They make them for the shower.

You could put a thin seal of silicone around it to seal it good.

That is what I would do if it was something dh couldn't fix easy.

If it wasn'r the right height you could just say the people before you did it and they must have been shorter/taller.

when he was a puppy.

He started at a corner of the floor and worked it up quite well!

We discovered that the floor was damp under and thru out.

We took the oppurtunity to re-do the floor which led to us re-doing the sink (plumbing it in a new place and changing it) and a new toilet (the floor there needed major work.......cutting out and re-cutting a new piece to fit in)

We ripped up the old floor ourselves, let it dry out with fans for over a week. Then we hired a floor man to put in a new floor and new vinyl flooring. Then we hired a plumber to re-plumb things and put in the new fixtures we purchased at Home Depot.

We also bought new lights and mirrors

In the end............it cost us about $3,000

Well, we're kind of in the same boat with 2 full bathrooms and are just waiting for sailing season to end before we do the work. Fortunately we have a friend who's really handy who offered to help because we've got lots to do.

Bathroom #1 has had cracked grout that I didn't know about (my kids clean the bathroom and use that one) and the water got through to the baby's room and there was mildew on the walls of the bedroom!! Well, I broke through some tiles and we can see that we need to replace all of the tiles around the tub, the walls adjacent to the tub are gross and crumbling, the vanity is plywood that's painted and the mirror is all chipped. The toilet is pretty new so we'll keep that and the floor tiles are those little chicklet tiles that are terrible to try to clean around. We will be completely gutting this bath and replacing everything but the window (new 2 years ago) and the toilet (replaced about 1 1/2 years ago).

Bathroom #2 was OK so we were just updating it and leaving the tub and tile until we had the siding and window in the tub area done and found out that there was old rot there and the tile, which looked great, just crumbled off of the wall. The studs are fine as is the new window and we had already purchased a vanity, sink, faucet, toilet and wallpaper (only the vanity and toilet were installed) so now we need a new tub and tile. We'll also be doing this bathroom this winter but atleast we won't have to replace all of the wallboard - just what's around the tub.

Isn't it fun to own a house? :rolleyes: I'd probably just patch it for now until you figure out what you really want to do and what you can afford. Do it even step by step if you need to - replace the floor and tile around the tub and the tub then replace the vanity later. That's probably what I would do.

Ann

I would rip it all out and start fresh. That's what we're about to do:)

From reading your op, I'd imagine the wall was sealed up before you ripped it out? As in, no water leakage? If you suspect that water was leaking at all, you need to rip it all out & have it checked. If water sat in the wall, it could mold and that is a huge problem. You don't want that growing in your house. It can make you terribly sick and it's horrible to get rid of. My dh has a friend who's parents had to move out of their house for over two months while contractors gutted several of their rooms. I'm thinking though that it didn't leak from what you wrote.

If you can swing it, I'd hire out. Saves you a ton of work and stress. Just be sure to check that the company is licensed and insured. Also call the admin. of the city you live in to see if they've had any complaints. Ask me how I know:rolleyes:

Good luck with whatever you decide!!!