My '58 bathroom has tile on the floors that turns and goes halfway up the walls. The walls beyond the tile are plaster. Using a chisel I removed a soap dish, and now I'm left with a hole in the tile that I need to repair. The space will fit a new tile perfectly, but the wall looks pretty rough. There are bits of brown paper (some of it torn away from where I pulled the soap dish off) and rough wall material that is also torn up from removing the soap dish (I'm not sure if it's plaster or cement.) See photos here - [url]https://picasaweb.google.com/slkennedy/BathroomRenovationTile?authuser=0&feat=directlink[/url] Should I just use some sort of mud/joint compound to set a new tile in place, or is there something else I need to do? Thank!

My daughter and her husband just purchased a house built in early 60's with an attached garage. It looks like sometime in the 70s (guessing by age of wood), someone cut a joist, boxed and installed an attic access ladder. Then they decked with lap&gap. The original joists are only 2x6 #2 and the span is 22' on 16" - obviously not a match, especially with a load. (Not only does it have the decking on top, it has 1/2 inch drywall - and the cut joist is already failing) My plan is to remove all the drywall and decking. Use 2x10 #2 joists joined to the existing (non-failing) 2x6s. Then use double 2x10 joist (and box) for the ladder. I don't recall what the term is for the center L-shaped 2x4 (bottom) and 2x10 that runs perpendicular to the joists, but that will go in as well. The ceiling will again be drywall (but probably the 3/8 or 1/4 inch). The question is, "Will this support decking and a some weight?" I looked at a book that put the 2x10 at 19'11" span, no weight, by itself, but will the joining of the existing 2x6 provide extra strength to handle this? TIA,