If your home is old sufficient for a bathroom renovation, you may intend to proceed and also entirely intestine it. I began my washroom remodel last month with a full demolition. If I hadn't, a variety of issues would have been not available for repair work ... or even obscure. Below's exactly what I found when I opened the walls and ceiling of my 1981 apartment right here in the Quad Cities.
Repair pipes surprises
Below's one more point I discovered. I'm not a pipes professional, yet I see an issue below. Imagine if that area of common drain line for our back-to-back sinks obtained clogged. Currently picture running a snake in there from one sink. Do you assume it would make the turn? Most likely not. We transformed it out and balance out the two.
Repair termite damages
When I opened the outside wall, I found termite damage in two locations: the king stud, jack stud, and also cripple on the bathtub side of the window and the jack stud on the other side of the home window. The bright side is that the damage was done long ago. As long as I have actually lived here, the proprietors' organization has actually stayed on top of termite treatment and monitoring, but I understand there was a period when they really did not. Therefore the damages I discovered.
Replace decayed subflooring
In addition to the termite-damaged wall surface, I additionally discovered rotten subflooring near the tub. This was mostly from obtaining as well wet, and also I believed it due to the fact that ceramic tiles had begun popping up because area.
Offset no or little insulation
I knew we had insulation in our wall surfaces. I believed it was R-11 fiberglass batts because our upstairs neighbor's icemaker had a negative leak a couple of years ago, obtaining half of our utility room ceiling and part of the wall. The usual wall surface had R-11 batts. I figured the rest of the wall surfaces did, also. I understood they had insulation due to the fact that I've checked behind switch and also receptacle plates.
I obtained a little surprise when I took the drywall off of that exterior shower room wall surface and also saw this:
This is actually a good thing, in a manner, due to the fact that it means I'll get more improvement than I thought I was going to get.
Seal up the air leakages
Yes, our 1981 apartment is dripping. I learnt about the huge bathtub holes and various other pipes penetrations since I've seen them from the cellar. I really did not understand that the walls were sheathed with asphalt-impregnated fiber board (Celotex) that supplied lots of air leakage paths. Once again, viewing the bright side, that means I'll have the ability to make even more renovation than I would certainly believed.
I can't wait to do a blower door examination when it's all done. Regrettably, I will not be able to separate out the improvement due only to my washroom work. The proprietors' association just had the entire floor sealed with spray foam insulation. I'm presuming our total air leak will certainly be around half of what it was.
Set up an exhaust follower get more info and repair ductwork
Did I state our condo was integrated in the 80's? The master bathroom has a home window, so naturally, it didn't need an exhaust fan, right? Incorrect. I have actually overcome a year of information on temperature level and family member humidity in that shower room without an exhaust follower. Currently I'm placing one in and also will certainly accumulate more data. Stay tuned for the results.
But even if your bathroom already has a follower, I would certainly bet it doesn't move sufficient air. The typical bathroom follower moves about half its rated air circulation. If your bathroom fan isn't available from the attic, opening the ceiling is the only method to get at the air duct and also fix it. What you see because picture below prevails for bathroom fan air ducts: sagging flex duct that makes too many turns. (That's not my brand-new follower, by the way.).
Solve other potentially unknown repair needs.
Several years ago we needed to do some plumbing help the tub in the hall shower room. When the plumbers had the wall surface opened up, I asked to place valves in on the cold and hot water lines to ensure that if anyone had to work with that plumbing in the future, they wouldn't need to switch off the water to the whole building.
So they put in the valves. When I opened up the wall, I saw them as well as took this picture:.
I 'd use that shower a few times over the years and also constantly questioned why the pressure was so reduced. Currently I comprehend. The plumbings installed the shutoffs however then didn't open them totally. Those red manages ought to be straight in line with the pipelines. Great!
I likewise found that our ceiling had 2 layers of drywall. We have a smooth ceiling throughout our condominium, but the initial ceiling was stippled. Thankfully, it had not been a snacks ceiling, which could contain asbestos.
As well as I discovered the initial, gruesome wallpaper.
If you're renovating a restroom, there a great deal of great needs to go all the way and also intestine it entirely. That's exactly what I'm doing. We're practically all set to start closing it back in, so stay tuned for even more stories from the bathroom.