It's an apartment built in the 60s and we have a cast iron tub. We are leaving the tub in place but opening the shower tile walls to replace tile and whatever board is behind it.

We are having a handyman that we trust do it but for my own sanity, I'd like to have an idea of what we should verify is in place and what kind of condition it should be in?

First, after removing shower walls down to stud, are the appropriate materials to reinstall in shower wall going to be stud>wonderboard>redguard>tiles?

What type of drip system should be in place and how much can we see if we are not moving the tub?

Thanks

 

Replace plumbing, attach cement board to studs and then tile accordingly. Seems straight forward as far as I can tell.

 

Most of this is on you and your handyman. When things get tore out give the walls looking over for signs of previous water leakage and damage. If you can try to look down in the wall cavity behind the tub for any rot or damage.

As for what to look for when building the walls back up will depend on the method choosen. Whatever that is there are lots of tutorials and videos online that will give you an idea of what to expect and look for. Whatever method the devil is in the details and cutting corners is usually where problems arise... so follow the instructions.