If your residence is old enough for a washroom restoration, you may intend to go ahead and totally intestine it. I started my washroom remodel last month with a total demolition. If I had not, a variety of issues would have been inaccessible for repair service ... or perhaps obscure. Below's what I found when I opened the wall surfaces and ceiling of my 1981 condo right here in the Quad Cities.
Deal with pipes shocks
Here's an additional thing I found. I'm not a pipes specialist, yet I see a problem below. Imagine if that area of typical drainpipe line for our back-to-back sinks got obstructed. Now think of running a snake in there from one sink. Do you believe it would make the turn? Probably not. We transformed it out and also balance out both.
Repair termite damages
When I opened up the exterior wall surface, I discovered termite damage in 2 places: the king stud, jack stud, and also paralyze on the bathtub side of the home window and the jack stud beyond of the window. The good news is that the damages was done long ago. As long as I have actually lived here, the owners' association has actually stayed on top of termite treatment and also tracking, but I understand there was a period when they really did not. Hence the damage I discovered.
Replace deteriorated subflooring
In addition to the termite-damaged wall, I likewise found rotten subflooring near the bathtub. This was mainly from obtaining also damp, and I thought it since floor tiles had actually begun turning up because location.
Offset no or little insulation
I knew we had insulation in our walls. I assumed it was R-11 fiberglass batts because our upstairs next-door neighbor's icemaker had a poor leak a few years earlier, taking out fifty percent of our laundry room ceiling and part of the wall. The usual wall surface had R-11 batts. I figured the remainder of the wall surfaces did, too. I understood they had insulation because I've inspected behind button and also receptacle plates.
I got a little surprise when I took the drywall off of that exterior bathroom wall surface and also saw this:
This is really a good thing, in such a way, because it means I'll obtain even more improvement than I assumed I was getting.
Seal up the air leaks
Yes, our 1981 apartment is dripping. I found out about the big bath tub openings and other plumbing infiltrations due to the fact that I've seen them from the basement. I didn't understand that the wall surfaces were sheathed with asphalt-impregnated fiberboard (Celotex) that gave great deals of air leakage paths. Once more, searching the silver lining, that means I'll be able to make more enhancement than I 'd believed.
I cannot wait to do a blower door test when it's all done. Regrettably, I will not have the ability to separate out the enhancement due just to my website bathroom work. The proprietors' organization simply had the whole flooring secured with spray foam insulation. I'm guessing our complete air leakage will be around half of what it was.
Set up an exhaust follower as well as repair ductwork
Did I discuss our condo was built in the 80's? The master bathroom has a home window, so naturally, it didn't require an exhaust fan, right? Wrong. I've got over a year of information on temperature level as well as family member moisture because restroom without an exhaust fan. Now I'm putting one in and also will accumulate extra data. Stay tuned for the outcomes.
But even if your restroom currently has a follower, I 'd bet it doesn't relocate enough air. The typical bath follower stirs half its rated air flow. If your bath fan isn't accessible from the attic, opening the ceiling is the only way to get at the duct and repair it. Just what you see because photo below is common for bath fan air ducts: sagging flex duct that makes way too many turns. (That's not my brand-new fan, incidentally.).
Address other potentially unidentified repair needs.
Several years ago we had to do some plumbing benefit the bathtub in the hall washroom. When the plumbing technicians had the wall surface opened, I asked them to place shutoffs in on the cold and hot water lines so that if any individual had to service that pipes in the future, they would not have to turn off the water to the whole structure.
So they put in the valves. When I opened up the wall, I saw them and also took this photo:.
I would certainly make use of that shower a couple of times for many years and constantly questioned why the pressure was so low. Now I understand. The plumbers installed the shutoffs but after that really did not open them totally. Those red manages ought to be straight according to the pipes. Nice!
I additionally located that our ceiling had two layers of drywall. We have a smooth ceiling throughout our apartment, however the original ceiling was stippled. Thankfully, it wasn't a snacks ceiling, which could have asbestos.
As well as I discovered the initial, horrible wallpaper.
If you're redesigning a shower room, there a lot of good reasons to copulate and digestive tract it entirely. That's just what I'm doing. We're almost all set to start shutting it back in, so remain tuned for even more stories from the washroom.