Bathroom Demolition for Sunnyvale Homes

Tearing Out a Mid-Century Sunnyvale Bathroom

Original bathrooms in Sunnyvale tract homes are small, often five by eight feet, and finished in colored tile set on a mortar bed over wire lath. That mortar can be more than an inch thick. Breaking it off the studs takes time and produces heavy debris for such a small room, so we bring the right tools and plan the carry-out path before we start.

The tub is usually cast iron or enameled steel. Cast iron is broken in place when the plan calls for a new tub, or removed whole if you want to reuse it. Toilets, vanities, mirrors, medicine cabinets and accessories come out first, then the tile, then the substrate down to studs and subfloor.

Some owners in Sunnyvale also ask us to remove a dated glass block wall, a built-in linen cabinet, or a small window that is being closed up during the remodel. Those items are easy to add to the scope when we know about them early, and they are cheaper to handle in the same visit than to bring a crew back for later.

Water Damage Found During Bathroom Demolition

Many bathrooms we open in Washington Park and other older parts of Sunnyvale have a raised wood floor over a crawl space. Decades of small leaks at the toilet or tub drain leave soft subfloor and sometimes rotted joists. We pull the damaged material, show you and your contractor what we found, and leave it open for repair rather than covering it up.

On slab homes the issue is different. Drain lines run through the concrete, and a shower remodel may need the slab cut to move a drain. We saw cut and remove that concrete to the lines your plumber marks.

Asbestos Survey Before Bathroom Demolition in Sunnyvale

Bathroom finishes from this era can contain asbestos in the floor tile, tile adhesive, wallboard compound and the textured ceiling. We get those tested before the first tile comes off. Anything that tests positive goes out with a certified abatement crew, and our demolition waits for them. We set up that schedule so the plumber and tile setter are not left waiting.

We also treat painted surfaces from before 1978 as lead-containing. Small rooms concentrate dust, so we seal the doorway, run air filtration where it helps, and clean with HEPA vacuums at the end of each day.

Shared Walls, Condos and Second Baths

A bathroom almost always shares a wall with a bedroom or hall you are keeping. We cut tile and lath back from the corners by hand before using heavier tools, so cracks do not run into the next room. In condos and apartments near Fair Oaks Park and along El Camino Real, we coordinate with the building manager on water shutoffs and quiet hours.

Owners adding a second bath or expanding a hall bath into a closet often need a wall moved as well. We remove non-bearing partitions as part of the same job and leave the opening framed clean for the carpenter.