One Room Challenge Week 2: What We Learned About Demo

We’re beyond excited to be a part of the One Room Challenge as guest participants. This has been on our home bucket list for a few years now and finally the timing was right for us to participate. Over the next six weeks we’ll be giving our outdated guest bathroom the attention that it deserves. . . finally. We’re taking it down to the studs and creating an entirely new space. We hope you enjoy watching the process just as much as we enjoy creating a new space. 

PREVIOUS WEEK

Week 1

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Hey friends! We can officially say that’s a wrap for one full week of the One Room Challenge as we’re headed into another one. I’m pretty proud of what we accomplished and shocked we still have all 10 fingers and toes.

This past week we started demo on the guest bathroom and completed about 90% off it. We still have to take down the shower walls and drop down ceiling. But hey, everything else is done. Not bad for first timers over here when it comes to demo.

Don’t worry if you missed week 1. Catch up here:
Week 1 (before images and our 6 week plan)

Before we dive into all the fun demo pictures, here’s our design board for our bathroom. I’ve been so antsy to share this with you and even more excited to see our vision come to life! Just look at that tile.

Alright, back to the demo. I’m pretty sure I was the excited one heading into demo while Ryan was a tad nervous. He’s the planner and I’m the let’s just go for it person. Balance, right? We started with the mirror and vanity since it seemed like the easiest place to begin. From there it was just a domino effect until everything was out.

You can check out the beginning of our demo in this video:

Next up was all the tile. I’ve heard amazing stories with how easy tile can be and horror stories with how difficult it can be to remove. I’d like to believe we received a little bit of both. The floor tile was a breeze to pop up and honestly made me a little too confident.

We obviously saved the best for last: the mortar and shower tile. The mortar took a whole other day to get off. We started off by chipping away at it with a hammer and a paint chisel. Mainly because it worked and allowed us not to damage the cement floor. We finally caved and used the power hammer to remove the remaining mortar hours after we started. It worked but we do have some work ahead of us with leveling and fixing the cement.

Gravity isn’t your friend when it comes to shower tile. In other words, I thought it would be easier to remove the shower tiles since gravity would help pull them down as we tried to pop them out. Negative. I’m not sure what the builder used back in 1994, but it’s the strongest adhesive I’ve ever seen.

With our heads held high, we started chipping away at the tile like it was going to be easy and that we could possibly save the shower walls. Nope, nope, and nope. One again, first time demo for us! We destroyed the walls like I had some stress to get out and we had to take turns getting the tile down.

5 Things We Quickly Learned About Demo

When it was time to call it a day, we quickly realized there are a couple things we learned about demo.

1. Accept Help and Don’t be Afraid to Ask for it.

Of course extra hands in a demo and/or remodel is always helpful. But I’m referring to those of you with kids where demo might be a little more difficult to complete. Having a 2 year old running around, my mom offered to watch our little one for the day. I didn’t hesitate to say okay just like I didn’t hesitate to ask her to come back the next day. You’ll also want to have a fully stocked fridge and activities on hand to make it easy for the kind person willing to give you a helping hand.

2. Tile Removal Isn’t Hard. The Removal of Mortar Is.

Tile removal moves quickly. The mortar, not so much and be prepared to walk away from it a few times. We tried several things before using a power hammer. We poured boiling water over the mortar which didn’t crack or soften it at all. We also used a heavy duty floor scrapper but that’s best for removing the last little bit once the main mortar is stripped away.

A paint chisel and hammer did wonders but isn’t efficient with time. The power hammer did the job in the quarter of the time but left damage behind. So it all comes down to personal preference. Either way, you’ll finish with a blister or two, sore hands/wrists, and a new appreciation for those that do this daily.

3. Clean Up As You Go

I can’t stress this one enough. We placed a small bucket in the bathroom as we removed the tile/mortar. Once the bucket was full of the tile remnants, it was dumped into a bigger trash can. This was a little easier for us since we have a bathroom door that leads to the patio.

If you’re bathroom doesn’t have this option or it’s on a second floor, this is still the best option for you. Look at it like you’re getting extra steps in. You’ll be thankful for a clean work space and not having a huge mess to clean up when you’re done.

4. Old drywall stinks, my friends.

This little tidbit doesn’t really help you with anything except preparing your nose. It’s a musty, old smell that will completely catch you off guard. Once all the old drywall is out, the smell is gone.

5. Get Rid of the Trash Right Away

Some may opt to have a dumpster placed in their driveway to throw all of the demo trash in. A great option but a way to cut cost and get rid of the trash faster, use your own truck and take it to the dump. You may even have to borrow your friend or family member’s truck for the day.

As tired as we were, we made a trip to the dump in the same day. It felt so good knowing it was out of our bathroom and not sitting in a pile for us to stare at.

That’s a wrap for this week. Wish us luck as we head into another week in hopes of showing a lot of progress. We’re hoping to have the rest of the demo completed and all the walls and ceiling repaired. Make sure to follow along on IG Stories as I show you what’s going on behind the scenes.

Want to see more of the One Room Challenge spaces? Head over here to see the full list of participants.