If your house is old sufficient for a restroom restoration, you could want to go on as well as entirely intestine it. I started my washroom remodel last month with a complete demolition. If I hadn't, a number of issues would certainly have been inaccessible for repair ... or even undiscovered. Right here's exactly what I discovered when I opened the wall surfaces and also ceiling of my 1981 apartment below in the Quad Cities.
Fix plumbing surprises
Here's another thing I found. I'm not a plumbing expert, but I see a problem here. Picture if that section of typical drain line for our back-to-back sinks got clogged. Now picture running a snake in there from one sink. Do you think it would make the turn? Probably not. We changed it out and also offset the two.
Repair termite damage
When I opened the outside wall surface, I discovered termite damage in two areas: the king stud, jack stud, and also paralyze on the tub side of the window and also the jack stud beyond of the window. The good news is that the damage was done long ago. As long as I have actually lived right here, the owners' organization has actually stayed on par with termite therapy as well as monitoring, yet I comprehend there was a period when they really did not. Therefore the damage I found.
Change decayed subflooring
In addition to the termite-damaged wall surface, I also located rotten subflooring near the tub. This was mostly from obtaining too damp, as well as I believed it since tiles had actually started turning up in that location.
Make up for no or little insulation
I recognized we had insulation in our walls. I assumed it was R-11 fiberglass batts since our upstairs next-door neighbor's icemaker had a bad leakage a few years back, taking out fifty percent of our utility room ceiling as well as part of the wall surface. The common wall surface had R-11 batts. I figured the rest of the walls did, also. I knew they had insulation due to the fact that I've inspected behind button and receptacle plates.
I got a little shock when I took the drywall off of that exterior restroom wall surface and saw this:
This is really a good idea, in a way, since it indicates I'll obtain more enhancement compared to I assumed I was going to get.
Seal the air leaks
Yes, our 1981 condominium is dripping. I knew about the huge bath tub openings and also other plumbing penetrations since I've seen them from the cellar. I really did not recognize that the wall surfaces were sheathed with asphalt-impregnated fiberboard (Celotex) that provided lots of air leakage pathways. Once again, searching the bright side, that indicates I'll have the ability to make even more enhancement compared to I would certainly believed.
I cannot wait to do a blower door examination when it's all done. Regrettably, I will not be able to separate out the enhancement due only to my restroom work. The owners' association simply had the entire flooring sealed with spray foam insulation. I'm thinking our total air leakage will certainly be around half of just what it was.
Mount an exhaust follower as well as repair ductwork
Did I mention our condo was built in the 80's? The master bathroom has a home window, so naturally, it didn't require an exhaust follower, right? Wrong. I've overcome a year of information on temperature and loved one moisture in that bathroom without an exhaust follower. Currently I'm putting one in and also will certainly gather much more information. Remain tuned for the results.
Yet even if your shower room already has a follower, I would certainly wager it does not move sufficient air. The normal bath follower moves about half its ranked air flow. If your bathroom fan isn't really easily accessible from the attic, opening the ceiling is the only method to obtain at the duct and repair it. What you see because photo listed below prevails for bath follower ducts: drooping flex duct that makes too many turns. (That's not my brand-new follower, by the way.).
Address other potentially unknown repair needs.
Numerous years ago we had to do some plumbing benefit the tub in the hall washroom. When the plumbing technicians had the wall opened up, I inquired to put valves know the hot and cold water lines to ensure that if any person had to service that pipes in the future, they wouldn't have to shut off the water to the entire building.
So they put in the shutoffs. When I opened the wall, I saw them as well as took this picture:.
I 'd make use of that shower a couple of times for many years as well as constantly questioned why the stress was so reduced. Currently I understand. The plumbing technicians mounted the valves but then really did not open them totally. Those red handles here should be straight in accordance with the pipes. Nice!
I additionally located that our ceiling had two layers of drywall. We have a smooth ceiling throughout our condo, yet the initial ceiling was stippled. Luckily, it had not been a snacks ceiling, which might contain asbestos.
And also I found the original, gruesome wallpaper.
If you're redesigning a restroom, there a lot of excellent reasons to copulate as well as gut it entirely. That's exactly what I'm doing. We're almost all set to start shutting it back in, so stay tuned for even more stories from the washroom.