Will probably need to redo my entire master bathroom...

[thestrangebrew1]

Tile guy was ripping out linoleum in the master bath and found this shit:

Called my home warranty and they don't cover secondary damages. Emailed my home insurance to see if it'll be covered or what my options are at this point. My daughter sleeps in our room and we're obviously concerned with the mold and mildew. Thing is, our kitchen is being remodeled and tile is going down everywhere else so we might be stuck sleeping in our trailer for awhile. Anyone know if insurance will cover this? We just bought the place about 1.5 months ago.

 

[DrPizza]

I can't tell for certain from the picture, but you're definitely sure it's mold/mildew vs. the subfloor stained from something in whatever they glued the linoleum with?

 

[thestrangebrew1]

There's some mold on the sheet rock but everything dark is wet. Just pulled all the wet stuff out this morning and running a fan trying to get it to dry. We're looking at a whole remodel I think.

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[edro]

Looks like every other old bathroom subfloor I have seen during a remodel.
Don't panic and think your kid is going to get infested with BLACK LUNG MOLD, whatever that is.
Bathrooms are damp nasty places, no big deal.
Dry it out, scrape it up, maybe use a sealing layer to lock it in place. If it's that bad, replace the subfloor.
Apply new thinset and tile, and it will be old history.

You need to replace the vanity ASAP. That thing is nasty and a new one will give you a new bathroom feel.

 

[NetWareHead]

If the bathroom floor under the linoleum is wet, then no question about it. You must repair/replace as needed. Especdially if you care about the financial investment you have made in your home as well as the health related consequences of possible mold presence. Keep working until you have a full view of the situation. I had to replace even a bathroom subfloor once in a rennovation I did. The toilet was threatening to fall through the floor, the subfloor and joists were so badly water damaged. One of those things you wont know until you fully expose everything.

Id probably re-do that bathroom too. Those grout lines in the shower are a little too thick and black for my tastes. 1980s bathroom? Agree about the vanity, tiles countertops/vanity-tops were the rage back then.

 

[Aikouka]

Out of curiosity, why rip up the linoleum in the first place? You can put tile down on top of linoleum, and it's not terribly uncommon given how much of a pain in the rear it is to remove linoleum. Also, keep in mind that some linoleum glues contained asbestos. (What didn't contain asbestos that was used in housing!? )

I'd say just replace the sub-floor. If you're worried about contaminants, just bag everything up before you remove it from the bathroom. I considered doing that as my kitchen's sub-floor had linoleum, and I wasn't sure if I had to remove it first. All you'd have to do is get a circular saw and set the cut depth to the right amount.

 

[NetWareHead]

Remove the linoleum because it is not a proper backer for tile. You install a plywood subfloor, cement board underlayment (or similar material) then mix up some mortar which anchors the tile to the ground. I can't imagine a quality tile installer that would tile over linoleum.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Ripped out the linoleum and boards and this is what I got:

Have a fan on it and it's been drying since Sunday. We're probably going to rip out the shower. The wife wants to keep the vanity. It goes with pretty much all the other cabinetry in the house. We'll probably just restain or paint it.

 

[NetWareHead]

Thats not even the subfloor. That looks like hardwood flooring and there is most likely mold under that too. You have to keep on removing to reach the subfloor.

Sorry to paint such a bleak picture but you might have to go down to the joists...

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Thats not even the subfloor. That looks like hardwood flooring and there is most likely mold under that too. You have to keep on removing to reach the subfloor.

Sorry to paint such a bleak picture but you might have to go down to the joists...

I'll be working on getting the vanity out tonight or tomorrow night. Then the shower, then the floor. At least we're finding this stuff out now and not a few years down the road after we tiled it up.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Ditch that tile shower pan... If they didn't use a rubber membrane under the tile, it's probably one of the sources of water.

Maybe you can salvage the vanity...definitely get a new shower. Look into the one-piece molded shower pans...they don't typically leak.

 

[Aikouka]

Remove the linoleum because it is not a proper backer for tile. You install a plywood subfloor, cement board underlayment (or similar material) then mix up some mortar which anchors the tile to the ground. I can't imagine a quality tile installer that would tile over linoleum.

What I mean is that I read that the backerboard could be placed on top of the linoleum. I don't mean to imply that linoleum can serve the place of backerboard. That's how it was done before, and I actually had no issues with the tile at all.

 

[Blain]

For such a small area, forget the fan, get a dehumidifier and run it until everything is bone dry.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

For such a small area, forget the fan, get a dehumidifier and run it until everything is bone dry.

Everything is dry now. Just put a stop to working on it to focus on our kitchen right now. I'll probably start the bathroom back up in a week or so. Getting granite counters and a gas line run this weekend.

 

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[SparkyJJO]

Thats not even the subfloor. That looks like hardwood flooring and there is most likely mold under that too. You have to keep on removing to reach the subfloor.

Sorry to paint such a bleak picture but you might have to go down to the joists...

It might actually be the subfloor. Old places used boards for subfloors. My house has boards like that on top of the joists. They're really old, and rock hard too.

 

[NetWareHead]

OP any updates?

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Nothing new right now. Other than it drying out I haven't done anything else. Will start demo'ing this wknd most likely again.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Nothing new right now. Other than it drying out I haven't done anything else. Will start demo'ing this wknd most likely again.

Please take some photos of the process - I'd be curious how deep in the mold got and what the mitigation process involves.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Will do. Before I stopped, I started tearing out the shower. There was mold on the sidewalls there as well. It actually looked worse than the mold between the shower and toilet. I'll take a pic of it in the next day or so.

 

[Ns1]

I really like the toilet in the shower - very modern.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

I really like the toilet in the shower - very modern.

LOL it's since been removed. Tile guy put it in there while he was ripping the linoleum. I forgot to take a pick of the shower after ripping some tile out.

 

[Subyman]

Thats not even the subfloor. That looks like hardwood flooring and there is most likely mold under that too. You have to keep on removing to reach the subfloor.

Sorry to paint such a bleak picture but you might have to go down to the joists...

Depending on the age of the house that could be the subfloor. I've worked on many 1910-1940s houses and they have plank sub flooring. It's way too hard to tel from pics, but if that is the subfloor and it feels solid then he may be good to go. Put plywood or cement board over that and lay the tile. IMO a qualified contractor should see it in person.

 

[NetWareHead]

Plank subflooring is one thing. IMO that looke like tongue groove finished flooring. The seams are too close and neat and the floor planks are all uniform in size to be rough plank subfloor.

But who knows, every house is different and there are always exceptions to the rule. I'd be surprised if there was no subfloor under all of that

 

[Subyman]

Some older homes laid the hardwood floors directly over the joists, no subfloor. So we could be both correct lol.