If your home is old enough for a restroom renovation, you may intend to go on and totally gut it. I began my shower room remodel last month with a complete demolition. If I had not, a number of issues would have been inaccessible for repair work ... or perhaps undiscovered. Right here's just what I discovered when I opened the walls and ceiling of my 1981 apartment here in the Quad Cities.
Deal with pipes surprises
Right here's an additional thing I located. I'm not a plumbing professional, yet I see a problem here. Picture if that section of usual drainpipe line for our back-to-back sinks obtained clogged. Now think of running a snake in there from one sink. Do you believe it would certainly make the turn? Possibly not. We transformed it out and also counter both.
Repair termite damages
When I opened the exterior wall, I found termite damage in two locations: the king stud, jack stud, and paralyze on the tub side of the home window and the jack stud on the other side of the window. The bright side is that the damage was done long ago. As long as I've lived here, the owners' organization has actually stayed up to date with termite treatment as well as tracking, however I comprehend there was a period when they didn't. Therefore the damages I located.
Replace deteriorated subflooring
Along with the termite-damaged wall, I likewise discovered rotten subflooring near the bath tub. This was primarily from getting too wet, as well as I suspected it since floor tiles had actually started popping up because location.
Offset no or little insulation
I recognized we had insulation in our walls. I believed it was R-11 fiberglass batts because our upstairs next-door neighbor's icemaker had a bad leakage a few years earlier, taking out fifty percent of our utility room ceiling as well as part of the wall. The typical wall surface had R-11 batts. I figured the rest of the wall surfaces did, also. I recognized they had insulation since I've inspected behind button as well as receptacle plates.
I got a little surprise when I took the drywall off of that outside restroom wall surface and also saw this:
This is in fact a good idea, in such a way, because it implies I'll obtain more improvement than I assumed I was going to get.
Seal the air leakages
Yes, our 1981 apartment is leaking. I learnt about the big bath tub openings and various other pipes infiltrations because I have actually seen them from the cellar. I didn't know that the wall surfaces were sheathed with asphalt-impregnated fiberboard (Celotex) that provided lots of air leakage pathways. Once again, searching the silver lining, that indicates I'll be able to make more renovation compared to I 'd believed.
I can not wait to do a blower door test when it's all done. Unfortunately, I will not have the ability to separate out the renovation due only to my restroom work. The owners' association just had the entire flooring sealed with spray foam insulation. I'm presuming our total air leakage will certainly be around half of exactly what it was.
Mount an exhaust follower and also repair ductwork
Did I mention our apartment was constructed in the 80's? The master bath has a window, so naturally, it didn't require an exhaust follower, right? Incorrect. I have actually got over a year of data on temperature level as well as loved one moisture in that shower room without an exhaust fan. Currently I'm putting one in and also will gather extra data. Keep tuned for the outcomes.
Yet even if your restroom currently has a follower, I would certainly bet it doesn't move enough air. The normal bath follower stirs half its rated air flow. If your bathroom follower isn't really accessible from the attic room, opening the ceiling is the only method to get at the air duct and fix it. Exactly what you see because image below prevails for bathroom follower ducts: sagging flex duct that makes too many turns. (That's not my brand-new fan, incidentally.).
Solve other potentially unknown repair needs.
Numerous click here years ago we had to do some pipes help the bathtub in the hall bathroom. When the plumbers had the wall opened up, I asked them to put valves in on the cold and hot water lines to ensure that if anyone had to work on that pipes in the future, they would not have to shut off the water to the entire building.
So they put in the shutoffs. When I opened the wall surface, I saw them and took this picture:.
I 'd use that shower a couple of times throughout the years and also always asked yourself why the pressure was so low. Currently I understand. The plumbings set up the shutoffs but then really did not open them completely. Those red deals with need to be straight in accordance with the pipelines. Nice!
I additionally discovered that our ceiling had 2 layers of drywall. We have a smooth ceiling throughout our apartment, yet the original ceiling was stippled. Luckily, it wasn't a popcorn ceiling, which can consist of asbestos.
And also I found the initial, ugly wallpaper.
If you're redesigning a shower room, there a great deal of good reasons to go all the way as well as intestine it completely. That's what I'm doing. We're practically prepared to begin closing it back in, so stay tuned for more stories from the restroom.