If your house is old sufficient for a restroom restoration, you could want to proceed and also completely digestive tract it. I began my bathroom remodel last month with a total demolition. If I hadn't, a variety of troubles would certainly have been unavailable for repair service ... or even obscure. Right here's exactly what I discovered when I opened the wall surfaces and also ceiling of my 1981 condo here in the Quad Cities.
Deal with pipes surprises
Right here's an additional point I located. I'm not a pipes expert, yet I see an issue here. Picture if that area of typical drainpipe line for our back-to-back sinks obtained obstructed. Currently visualize running a snake in there from one sink. Do you assume it would certainly make the turn? Possibly not. We transformed it out as well as balance out the two.
Repair termite damage
When I opened up the exterior wall, I located termite damages in 2 locations: the king stud, jack stud, and cripple on the bathtub side of the home window and also the jack stud beyond of the window. The bright side is that the damage was done long ago. As long as I've lived below, the owners' association has stayed on top of termite therapy as well as monitoring, yet I comprehend there was a period when they didn't. Therefore the damages I found.
Change decomposed subflooring
In addition to the termite-damaged wall surface, I likewise found rotten subflooring near the bath tub. This was mainly from obtaining also wet, and I suspected it since ceramic tiles had actually started popping up in that location.
Offset no or little insulation
I knew we had insulation in our wall surfaces. I assumed it was R-11 fiberglass batts due to the fact that our upstairs next-door neighbor's icemaker had a bad leak a couple of years earlier, securing fifty percent of our laundry room ceiling and also part of the wall. The usual wall had R-11 batts. I figured the remainder of the wall surfaces did, as well. I recognized they had insulation because I have actually examined behind switch and also receptacle plates.
I got a little surprise when I took the drywall off of that outside restroom wall and also saw this:
This is in fact a good idea, in such a way, since it suggests I'll obtain even more enhancement compared to I assumed I was going to get.
Seal the air leaks
Yes, our 1981 apartment is leaky. I understood about the big bathtub holes and other pipes penetrations since I have actually seen them from the cellar. I didn't understand that the wall surfaces were encased with asphalt-impregnated fiber board (Celotex) that offered lots of air leakage pathways. Once more, looking on the bright side, that implies I'll be able to make more improvement than I 'd thought.
I can't wait to do a blower door test when it's all done. Unfortunately, I won't be able to separate out the enhancement due just to my shower room job. The owners' association just had the whole flooring sealed with spray foam insulation. I'm guessing our complete air leakage click here will be around half of what it was.
Set up an exhaust follower and also repair ductwork
Did I discuss our condominium was integrated in the 80's? The master bath has a window, so naturally, it really did not require an exhaust fan, right? Wrong. I have actually overcome a year of data on temperature and also family member humidity because washroom without an exhaust follower. Now I'm placing one in as well as will accumulate a lot more data. Keep tuned for the outcomes.
But even if your washroom currently has a fan, I would certainly wager it does not move sufficient air. The normal bath fan stirs half its rated air circulation. If your bathroom fan isn't really available from the attic, opening the ceiling is the only method to get at the duct and repair it. Exactly what you see because image below prevails for bath follower ducts: sagging flex air duct that makes way too many turns. (That's not my new fan, by the way.).
Fix other potentially unknown repair needs.
Several years ago we needed to do some pipes benefit the tub in the hall bathroom. When the plumbings had the wall surface opened up, I inquired to put shutoffs in on the hot and cold water lines to ensure that if any person needed to work with that pipes in the future, they wouldn't have to shut off the water to the entire structure.
So they put in the valves. When I opened up the wall surface, I saw them and took this picture:.
I 'd make use of that shower a couple of times for many years and also constantly questioned why the stress was so reduced. Currently I recognize. The plumbing professionals mounted the valves but then really did not open them totally. Those red manages ought to be straight according to the pipes. Wonderful!
I additionally discovered that our ceiling had two layers of drywall. We have a smooth ceiling throughout our condo, yet the original ceiling was stippled. Thankfully, it had not been a snacks ceiling, which could contain asbestos.
And I uncovered the original, hideous wallpaper.
If you're redesigning a shower room, there a lot of excellent reasons to go all the way and also 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.