Upstairs Bath Renovation - Part 2

Ok, on to the demo of the shower... and another huge mess. Bags and bags of pink tile and crushed up grout and plaster. Down to the studs! I actually thought it was kind of neat to see the original plaster and lath from when the house was built - this section is actually a view of the backside of the hallway going up the stairs.



Next step: vapor barrier. It's simply sheets of polyethylene plastic stapled to the studs in a way that allows any vapor buildup to flow down away from the walls. Some people consider it an extra step, but when it's YOUR house, it's a step worth taking.



That following weekend, tile installation. Mixing the thinset was like wrangling a bucket of mud with an electric beater... and messy (see a recurring theme here?). Andrew laid all of the tile using 1/4" spacers, then placed weights on any of the areas that didn't want to stay level on their own.









After the thinset had 24 hours to set and dry, I began taping and mudding all the seams. Three coats of that and another 24 hours of drying time, and I sanded everything down to a smooth finish. Andrew spent a night grouting the tile, I added a coat of primer and hey... it was starting to look like a room again!







Now, back to the shower. Andrew installed the necessary cement backerboard to adhere the tile to and more greenboard around the top, above where the tile would end.





Next stop... tiling the shower walls!