A few questions about subflooring and tiling a small bathroom...

Hello, I'm in the process of remodeling the bathroom in the bonus room. I'd like anyone's opinon on a few things I came across while ripping out the vanity and linoleum. Please refer to the pics found at the following URL:

Plumbing Photos by hikerguy1 | Photobucket

1. I'm not a construction person by any stretch of the imagination, but I can think of no reason to have set the vanity in place before putting down the subfloor. Is this standard practice, or just a classic example of poor workmanship?

2. I had to pull away one piece of baseboard and discovered they left about an 1" (maybe 1.5") gap between the subfloor and the wall. Is this common? Seems to me they should have went all the way to the wall.

3. You'll notice in one or two of the pics that they didn't do the best job in cutting the pieces to make them match the shape of the room. Notice especially the two smaller pieces of "patchwork". Again, common practice, or shoddy work?

4. My biggest question is this. We are planning on putting down tile in this room. Will the contractor have to lay a whole new subfloor, or can he just fill in that one missing piece where the vanity was? I'm not sure what type of prep work is normally done to a subfloor to prepare it for laying tile. I should also note that in a few places, small slivers of subfloor stuck to the linoleum as I pulled it up.

Thanks,

Andy

 

Andy:
1) no, except it may have been place before the flooring installer arrived.
2) it should go to within 1/2" of the wall
3) shoddy is a word.
4) the amount of subflooring needed will also be dictated by your support under it all. Size of joists, spacing and longest unsupported span. He will install either a product similar to Ditra or 1/4" cbu as a slip layer. If you are going back with the same vanity you can just fill in the cavity with plywood. I prefer to finish the floor, then install the vanity.

 

Chandler,

Thanks for the post.

So, is it likely the people doing the remodel will rip up what I'm calling the subfloor, or just fill in
the missing piece (and maybe a thin piece along the wall where that big gap is)?

DOes the Ditra get attached to the subfloor then (and the grout goes on top of that)?

Thanks,

Andy

 

If I were doing the remodel,i'd probably pull it for uniformity's sake, and to find out why the small pieces were used. To hide something?? Ditra is set to the subflooring using thinset and pressed to a uniform flatness. More expensive than cbu, but some prefer it. I like Hardibacker, but it is a choice.

 

I think I'm in agreement with you Chandler. If we're spending the money on new tile, we should have a solid floor to put it on. Thanks for your advice.

Andy