Familiarize yourself with the search feature, there are many step by step instructions that DIYers have generously posted. If he is willing to do it, I say let him! Any questions or situations you encounter, come here and search for them and if you can't find them, post about it. Relax, you are definitely in the right place!

I agree with ladycfp...

Fear will make you do the background research.

Research will lead you to proper procedure and good technique.

Those, coupled with a bit of skill, will bring you a fine remodel.

Any questions? Someone will be here.

I never did a preslope...until I did my first preslope! No mentor to show me the way.

I was afraid of screwing it up. So I did some research. Which lead to...

Cutting short story short,
Mongo

i agree too - research the heck out of things & take your time, ask a bunch of questions if you can't find the answers. i originally had a hard time convincing my friend who was helping me that he could trust the advice i was getting on this site. so i had him ask me a few questions that would satisfy him, then i posed those questions to Bill & Mongo and my friend was convinced. he's now admittedly very pleased that i wandered in here one day and found the support we couldn't have lived without.

hth,
lisa

p.s. thanks again bill & mongo!!

toadangel,

Does this mean I was sort of on double-secret probation?

And I passed?

Wooohoooo!

haha - sort of. i trusted you guys but my friend doesn't use the internet much & thought i was foolish to trust people i hadn't even met. he does commercial construction, so he admittedly didn't know much about how housing code differed, but he told me how they always use mastic and epoxy grout when tiling and wanted to know why you guys were telling me not to use either. he was pleased with the answers i got here (i mentioned details about him but i don't think i said it was a test of sorts) and he has been surprisingly open minded since then. he was very impressed with the kerdi system, so i think that won him over as well.

you & bill passed your double secret probation with flying colors ;)

lisa

I do appreciate the wonderful support and advice on this and other forums on Garden Web. And I feel a little better, thanks for the responses! At least no one said "You're crazy, don't even try it!" like I for some reason expected. So, onward and upward.

That being said, how do you determine how much weight your current flooring can handle? We want to add a big tub and ceramic(I think)tile to floor and some walls ; )

The flood gates have been opened...

Hi Amy,

I'm in a similar boat. But I'm actually insisting to DH we do the bathroom ourselves and he's up for it since he's a DIYer (and we're both cheap), and we don't trust the contractors who are doing the rest of our remodel (long story). But I'm a designer and DH husband is an engineer. We're clashing on some issues. I think I'm getting into his realm (I'm trying to sell him on the Kerdi, but since this is new to him, he's skeptical) and he's crossing over to my realm (why do you want to put tile there? and why that color?) This is what's scaring me. I'm more likely to give in and not get exactly what I want just to avoid conflict. But just wanted to sympathize. Good luck! - Chris

Chris, think like a cat. Give your dh "the look" that says who's boss. Practice.

To calculate whether your floor can take ceramic or stone tile, go to the John Bridge deflectolator linked below.

Here is a link that might be useful: JG Deflectolator

Thanks everybody!

Weedyacres, do you know how to determine about the bathtub? Actually, I'm trying to convince my husband to hire someone to check it out for us. Who do you hire for that sort of thing? Any licensed bonded contractor who seems to know what they're talking about?

Seedsilly, What is the age of your home? What kind of tub is in there now? Do you currently use the tub? How much water do you fill it with? To your knowledge, has there been work done in your bathroom that might have chopped into the original floor joists? Do you currently have a tile floor?

Lots of questions but all things that will help with answering your tub questions.

patser: The home is 1880, but that side of the house is more like 1950. The second floor seems well constructed. Currently there is no tub in that bathroom. We want a 6 foot soaker tub (looking at Kohler Archer, tub weights 80 lbs, 72 gallon capacity). I would see us filling it half full maybe 1-2 x a month. I'm not aware of any work that would have cut into the floor joists. The second floor looks like it was added in the 50's or 60's, was immediately decorated in rust colored shag and old time car wallpaper, then not touched since. Currently floor is carpet. Right now there is a shower, about 3x4, that is tiled. Our overall goal is to bring in the two closets that are behind the bathroom, relocate and rebuild shower, add tub, relocate sink making it a double vanity, leave toilet where it is. We plan to gut the walls (paneling) and remove subfloor to eyeball the joints and to move plumbing. Thanks!

Amy
my concern would be plumbing and it is you and your hubby who can evaluate your skills and experience on this matter.
Moving plumbing fixtures on the second floor with no easy access from below is not easy DIY project. Of course with pex/ where code allows/ piping and PVC drainage is is not complicated as it used to be either. It would be disastrous to do plumbing, finish up entire project and later on realize that something was not accounted for and does not function right.
Everything else I would see as a challenge to learn a new skill. Since it is second floor make sure you have way to bring up new tub upstairs ;)

Seedsilly: Find a structural engineer. They can do the weight calculations for the whole shabang. When we redid our master bath, we actually put a steel beam underneath (fortunately it's over the garage) because we knew we were adding so much weight. We had an engineer check it out afterwards and he said it should be fine.