My bathroom is in c. 1911 house. The bathroom itself dates back to the 1920's or whenever they first invented plumbing. I have an old porcelin sink (most enamel has come off) and tub, but a "newer" toilet. The ceiling in the bathroom is only about 6'4" tall. The tile is black/yellow from the 1950's.

The previous HO in his attempt to do quick fixes covered the entire perimeter and built in soap dish in the shower with chunky caulk. The built in wooden cabinets are so stinky that I don't put anything in them.

The first several months I never noticed this smell, but with the caulk falling off, and especially after hot showers, I smell the funk.

It is a very small bathroom, with a window in the middle (floor to ceiling) and then it slopes upward towards the 6'4" ceiling. The bathroom is so small, the toilet literally sits in front of the window (thank god for shades).

We installed a ventilator last summer, to at least get rid of the humidity, but I think there is a bigger, much grosser problem lying behind the tiled shower.

In all your veteran experiences, would you:

(1) rip out and gut the entire bathroom?

(2) fix only the shower?

(3) pray like crazy you hit the powerball?

The bathroom clearly needs a wreaking ball, and the toilet could easily be backed up in to the adjoining bedroom's current closet. The built in cabinets that are made out of plywood also need to be ripped out because they've absorbed every bodily smell in the last 89 years that ever passed through there.

Last summer, we fixed the plumbing pipes from beneath when our ceiling in the hallway under the bathroom crashed down. We saw 3 layers of plasterboard (including of course the old horsehair). The PO's must have just kept throwing up another ceiling instead of fixing the problem. My plumber adjusted the tub drain so that it could drain properly and fixed the pin hole leaks in the copper pipes.

Anyone here ever run into this moldy old smell from your old house bathroom, and if you are DIY, how long should I schedule to use someone else's shower? What was your cost, including new shower, tile (shower and floor), new toilet, and vanity?

Thanks in advance for any help. I seriously can't wait to take the sledgehammer to those tiled walls.