If your residence is old sufficient for a restroom renovation, you could want to go on and also entirely gut it. I started my washroom remodel last month with a total demolition. If I hadn't, a number of problems would certainly have been unavailable for repair ... or perhaps obscure. Here's what I found when I opened up the walls as well as ceiling of my 1981 condo here in the Quad Cities.
Repair plumbing surprises
Here's another point I found. I'm not a plumbing expert, but I see a problem right here. Think of if that area of usual drainpipe line for our back-to-back sinks obtained clogged. Currently imagine running a snake in there from one sink. Do you think it would certainly make the turn? Possibly not. We transformed it out and also balance out both.
Repair termite damages
When I opened the outside wall surface, I found termite damage in two areas: the king stud, jack stud, and also cripple on the bathtub side of the home window and also the jack stud beyond of the home window. The bright side is that the damages 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 damages I located.
Change decayed subflooring
In addition to the termite-damaged wall surface, I additionally located rotten subflooring near the tub. This was mostly from obtaining as well wet, and also I thought it due to the fact that floor tiles had begun popping 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 neighbor's icemaker had a bad leakage a few years earlier, securing half of our utility room ceiling as well as part of the wall. The common wall surface had R-11 batts. I figured the rest of the walls did, also. I knew they had insulation since I have actually examined behind switch and receptacle plates.
I obtained a little shock when I took the drywall off of that exterior shower room wall as well as saw this:
This is really a good idea, in a way, due to the fact that it suggests I'll get even more enhancement compared to I assumed I was going to get.
Seal the air leaks
Yes, our 1981 apartment is dripping. I learnt about the large bathtub openings and also various other pipes infiltrations due to the fact that I have actually seen them from the basement. I really did not recognize that the walls were sheathed with asphalt-impregnated fiberboard (Celotex) that offered great deals of air leak paths. Once again, viewing on the silver lining, that suggests I'll be able to make more improvement compared to I 'd assumed.
I can not wait to do a blower door examination when it's all done. Sadly, I won't be able to separate out the renovation due just to my washroom job. The proprietors' association just had the whole floor secured with spray foam insulation. I'm presuming our overall air leakage will be around half of what it was.
Mount an exhaust follower as well as repair ductwork
Did I mention our condo 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 relative moisture in that restroom without an exhaust fan. Now I'm placing one in and will collect a lot more data. Remain tuned for the results.
Yet even if your washroom currently has a follower, I would certainly bet it doesn't move sufficient air. The typical bath follower moves about half its ranked air circulation. If your bath fan isn't easily accessible from the attic, opening up the ceiling is the only way to get at the air duct and fix it. Exactly what you see because image listed below prevails for bath follower air ducts: sagging flex air duct that makes too many turns. (That's not my brand-new fan, incidentally.).
Solve other potentially unknown repair needs.
A number of years ago we had to do some plumbing benefit the bathtub in the hall bathroom. When the plumbing professionals had the wall opened up, I asked to place valves in on the hot and cold water lines to ensure that if anyone had to service that pipes in the future, they wouldn't need to shut off the water to the whole building.
So they put in the valves. When I opened the wall, I saw them and took this photo:.
I would certainly use that shower a couple of times over the years as well as constantly questioned why the stress was so reduced. Currently I understand. The plumbing professionals installed the shutoffs but then didn't open them completely. Those red takes care of should be straight in accordance with the pipes. Great!
I additionally located that our ceiling had two layers of drywall. We have a smooth ceiling throughout our condominium, however the initial ceiling was Bathroom Remodel stippled. The good news is, it wasn't a popcorn ceiling, which could contain asbestos.
As well as I uncovered the initial, gruesome wallpaper.
If you're redesigning a shower room, there a great deal of excellent needs to go all the way and gut it completely. That's just what I'm doing. We're nearly ready to start shutting it back in, so stay tuned for even more tales from the shower room.