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Flooring Bathrooms

Help! Contractor redid our bathroom, now it's way higher than carpet!

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

My contractor finished the bathroom, and said he needed to add special waterproofing to the floor of the bathroom.
The rooms were level before, and now we have a huge 2-2.5 inch step up?
What's the best bet here to transition this normally? Any help appreciated!

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Comments (9)

Nancy in Mich
2 years ago
That is not normal. Did your contractor remove the old floor, or just build on top of it?
Arnold Stelter
Original Author
2 years ago
He removed the old floor. But says the mud job, and leveling and waterproofing required it to be this high. Now I have no clue how to make this look semi normal.
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I agree that 2' 6" is too narrow for the toilet area, especially when there's a full vertical wall (shower side) next to it. I think you can get away with that only when it's sandwiched between a tub (with curtain only) and vanity, because there's open space at the edges above the tub and vanity (if that makes sense. Not "walls".) Why are you so set on a tiled shower stall rather than nicely tiled tub? I have both in my home: a gorgeously tiled walk in shower in the master and tub with nice tiled walls and niches (and a curved shower rod to increase the showering space!) in the kid/guest bath. I gotta say that the tub is much easier to use because you don't have to squeegee and wipe/dry it all out after every shower. In a kids bath I would heartily recommend that over a tiled/glass stall shower. But that's just my opinion... Layout-wise, the space is going to be tight in any of those layouts. A 30" wide shower stall is going to feel cramped, I think (whereas a 30" tub with a curved shower rod gives you 36" of elbow room in the same footprint...) Can you steal just a little more space from an adjoining room to make this work better? even 6" more in either direction would help. Here is a link (below) to the most recent bathroom we did, which has similar dimensions and layout. We also played around with using a neo-angle shower but after using one of similar measurements and finding it so cramped, we nixed the idea. Here is a link that might be useful: hall bath renovation
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cpartist
2 years ago
Why did the whole room need to be waterproofed? Something sounds fishy. Are you sure he removed the old flooring?

The way to fix the transition is to rip up the bathroom and have it done correctly. That isn't it.
SJ McCarthy
2 years ago
Oh...dear. It looks like he left the old floor in place. A 'mud' job isn't normally needed for regular tile. It looks like he floated (that's when you use mortar/thinset to 'level' the subfloor) the tile in a big ol' goopy layer of GUNK...

I think this is a do over. You have a huge tripping hazard there. You would need a significant ramp to reduce the height difference.

What USED to be on the floor? How much work did this person do for you? Was it JUST the flooring job or was it a bathroom refresh (just surface stuff) or was it a full renovation (everything removed to the studs and start again)?

Please post 'in progress' photos. Often times when we see 'surface' issues (like a nasty looking tile install) we ALSO see BAD water proofing, etc...

Have you paid this person?
Arnold Stelter
Original Author
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
There used to be an old tile floor, perfectly level with the rest of my house. The bathroom was farely large, so we turned it into two smaller bathrooms with access from different parts of the house...

Found some pics that I took once to show the contractor some mold, so not so clear.

Was stripped down to subfloor.
Timothy Winzell
2 years ago
You might be able to use carpet shims to help. It would require a carpet installer that can pull it back from the doorway, install shims and new tack strip, then stretch and re-secure.

https://www.traxxcorp.com/products/traxx-ramps/carpet-shims/
HU-867564120
2 years ago
Honestly, your tile contractor had to be wearing a Bozo the Clown outfit while working to do a job that badly!
Patrick Lamumba
2 years ago
I actually heard that steps are very in these days. Some people pay extrs to put them in.
SJ McCarthy
2 years ago
Uhm...what did they do with the mouldy wall that you show? Is that a floor drain? Or is that for a toilet?

Routine tile installs will raise the floor by 3/4" ... Maybe 1.25" if there's extra issues. Ask him if he used a tile professional? Or if he DIYed it?

what's this guy's preferred type of reno? Not everyone is well versed with old home bathroom renovations (turning one bath into two = major work). Did you need permits for this?

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