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Remodeling Bathrooms DIY

Bathroom Remodel - Demo Plaster Ceiling?

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

Hi,

I am doing a full remodel of my small, master bathroom and have already demoed the majority of bathroom (bathroom has not been remodeled since it was built in 1959). Majority of the walls were tile backed with 1.5 inch concrete and metal lath, and the remaining upper part of the walls were plaster. I am now wondering if it makes sense to demo the plaster ceiling as well, since everything else is pretty much gutted and I was unable to make a clean edge where the ceiling meets the walls. As such, my question is: a) should I try to clean up the ceiling edges and keep the existing plaster ceiling or b) demo the entire ceiling and replace with drywall? Costs are not of concern, as I am just trying to figure out which route would look the best / if it's worth the mess/hassle to demo the ceiling. I have attached some pictures for reference. Thank you for any and all advice!!

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Comments (5)

PRO
Bspoke Homes
4 years ago
Are you taking down the top plates that are still in place? If so, you may find the ceiling plaster doesn't want to stay in place as the metal embedded for the corners often is a bugger to pull off to get a clean edge. With putting all new drywall, it will look best to just put new sheetrock on the lid as well. The alternative, would be to skim coat the entire ceiling over the existing plaster which generally leads to good results. Ultimately, it is a small space, and the path of least resistance, and probably cost to be honest, is just to pull down the lid and put up new sheetrock in my experience. Good Luck.
Daniel Webster
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks for the quick response. I am keeping the majority of the top plates - however, will need to enclose 2 existing door entrances and build a single doorway (double barn doors or pocket doors). With all that being said, I say just go ahead and pull it down. As I am fairly new to this, I am curious to know if that metal mesh (last 2 pictures) on the edges of the ceiling runs throughout the entire ceiling or is just where the ceiling meets the walls? Just trying to understand what I am about to get into. Thanks!
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I hear ya. Except that for us, I was the one who sledged the old do, not DH. You know the saying. There's nothing to it but the doing it. As faucets go, we went for polished nickel (Riobel), a 12" rainshower, and a handheld installed so it can reach down to wash the dog. No fancy schmancy water jets in the shower even if our plumber was raving about them. We had to special order these things and I was concerned this would delay the rest of our project. Knowing what we know now, I would not have worried so much. But you do need the roughs of the faucets installed before you close up the walls. Which bring me to this little piece of wisdom. You mention that this is your one and only full bathroom. This was also the case for us. Do yourself a favour and get yourself one of those little modular inexpensive showers you can rough install somewhere in your basement or garage, for you to have while you are renovating. It'll make life so much easier in the long run. Cheers!
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You need to take the shiny junk (sounds like masonite tileboard - plasticky stuff on a thin brownish-black backing, thicker than formica?) off and replace it. You probably won't like hearing this but just glopping some joint compound over top of a crappy substrate - even if it does stick, which I'm quite dubious about - doesn't really make you any better than the PO where cutting corners is concerned! There are lots of places where you can cut costs to permit you to actually do the job correctly. Substitute inexpensive light fixtures and accessories like towel bars/tp holder/cabinet knobs/etc. (which are all easy-peasy to replace later when you're flush again), do the demolition work, take care of cleaning the jobsite every day, power-shop for bargains like there's no tomorrow, and that's just a start. Yeah, drywall is DIYable, but there is a distinct learning curve; my current house, a rehab/flip, is an excellent example of an apparently-first-time DIYer doing drywall (probably out of a book and maybe a video) and clearly getting impatient with the fiddliness of it all. It looks like absolute s***, and all has to be redone. Unless you have lots of time and even more patience, drywalling is a good place to spend some of your remodeling dollars. A handyman with good sheetrocking skills (get references and look at his/her past work!) may well be cheaper than an actual drywaller, especially for a small job. The other option I can suggest if you really want to bag out on drywalling properly, but which may not necessarily be any more cost-effective, is beadboard panelling (the plywood or MDF type, painted thoroughly). Some products can be installed right over the studs. Depending on your architecture and decor, it can look quite charming to simply run it floor to ceiling.
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I am also a female (5'6") and I did nearly all of the demo on a recent bathroom remodel myself. I did have some assistance from my brother and father carrying the vanity out of the room, smashing the cast iron tub, and taking down a large mirror. If you are in reasonable health and shape, you should be able to do this yourself with the exception of some awkward or heavy lifting that might require two people. My bathroom previously had a cast iron tub, full glass shower doors, tile over a mortar bed, and sheet vinyl flooring. I removed everything except most of the dry wall. The hardest part was actually hauling the tile and mortar bed waste down a flight of stairs and outside. So make certain you're comfortable carrying heavy loads of materials to your dumpster. You may be surprised at how much material you'll be dealing with. Get proper tools and equipment including gloves and eye protection. (Flying tile shrapnel is sharp.) Also, demolition by myself ended up taking longer than I expected, so be prepared for that. I'm glad to hear of other women that are taking on home improvement projects themselves.
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Where ‘wet rooms’ are concerned, I’d be particularly inclined to hire out anything that connects to the plumbing (it’s going to impact the rest of the house, you probably want to skip the part where the wax ring of the toilet breaks and the toilet falls through the floor to the level below, or leaks behind the tile causing failures inside the wall) and get as good as you can afford in a tile installer - provided you are going simple on the tiles you don’t need an expert in ornately laid out designs using specialty tiles from Italy or where ever. I think people have jumped into getting large format tiles on the shower walls without understanding the unique difficulties involved. The exhaust fan should be a pro too. But after things go in with the more complex stuff you may find you can do floor tiles or screw on the fixtures yourself, even the swapping of lighting is pretty easy (IF you follow the instructions and learn basic safety for electrical - I put up a ceiling fan myself with ZERO previous experience and all it took was connecting like old fan color wire for new fan like color wire, with the box already inside the ceiling. The hardest part was holding the heavy fan body while doing it.) I also prefer to be cautious and patient with home reno stuff - if you have to wait till you can afford to hire out with better skilled pros that’s infinitely better than getting in there to rip out the whole bathroom and realize you’re in over your head and ALSO just messed up/discovered something serious that needs fixing before any new work can happen. Yes, it’s not what most homeowners want to hear when they have reno fever, but do you want fast or do you want excellent?
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cat_ky
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
You have gone this far, take it all down, and start from scratch. When all is said and done, you will be much happier with how it looks once you are done.
PRO
Bspoke Homes
4 years ago
It was used in place of where you would see drywall tape in today's sheetrock world. It will run the length of the wall to ceiling joint. It's typically embedded and generally nailed in place as well. It's easiest to just get a section loosed up by banging with a hammer. Once you get a good 6-12" section free, I generally grab a pair of plyers (or if you used gloves, your hands) and grab ahold of the free end and yank the rest down. Now, in your case, you are pulling everything down, so whatever is the simplest to pull it all down without banging around so much that you start causing sheetrock pops in the adjacent areas! Lids are always dusty and nasty, so if you aren't using a dust mask, would suggest grabbing one before pulling it down.
User
4 years ago
Plaster is much superior to Sheetrock. As was the mud bed tile. It’s a shame that you didn’t want to restore it. Original details are valuable,

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