remodeling 1948 bathroom

My husband and I just bought a 1948 masonry cape-cod style home. The upstairs bathroom has the original white subway tiles which are now falling off the wall. The walls are plaster and the tiles are attached with cement, which appears to be in lousy condition. Most of the grout has deterioated so the tiles come off relatively easily. My husband and I would like to replace the old tile with new tile. We have no experience with bathroom remodeling and would like to know what steps are needed to take down the old tile and replace with new. The tile is not flat against the wall, I would like the new tile to be.

 

It sounds like a total rip out to me. Pull everything off the walls down to the studs. While the walls are open you can update all exposed plumbing and electrical. Is the tub staying or going? You may have to shim out the wall studs then put up new wallboard. In the tub/shower area you want to put up a 4 mil thick plastic sheet to protect the studs from future water exposure and use a 1/2" cement board to cover the walls. In non wet areas you can use greenboard or sheetrock. BTW, The national building codes are decertifying the use of greenboard for use in wet areas so anyone who may suggest its use instead of cement board is just not giving you correct information.

 

the tub will stay, at least I think. Do you think this is a doable job for amateurs? Any good books or websites that you would recommend to take us through the process in detail?

 

I think you can get everything pretty much answered at this website, there are a lot of subforums in here (plumbing, electrical, drywall, paint, TILE, etc) that have experts who volunteer their free time. Is this a spare bathroom where time is not the driving force? If so then empty out the room, remove the vanity and toilet and take down the walls. Start thinking about what you would like to have the room look like given the constraints of current room dimensions, unless you plan to knock out a wall to make it bigger. Depending on your skill and confidence level some of the plumbing and electric may best be left to a pro to do but the people here can guide you so you know what to ask and look for and dont get hosed. Also once you start to open up the walls there could be just a chance that water damage over the years has rotted out some wood so that may need to be replaced. Sometimes you dont know how deep you are going to get until you have passed the point of no return, unfortunately. But anything is fixable or can be removed/replaced so you can get a lot of that guidance at this site. Click on "Interiors" at the top of the page to go to the Bathroom remodeling subforum. Any tile questions, come on back here and we will be glad to help you out.