If your house is old sufficient for a shower room remodelling, you could want to go on and also totally digestive tract it. I started my washroom remodel last month with a total 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 located when I opened the wall surfaces and also ceiling of my 1981 apartment here 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. Envision if that area of typical drain line for our back-to-back sinks got blocked. Now picture 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 the two.
Repair termite damage
When I opened up the outside wall surface, I discovered termite damage in two places: the king stud, jack stud, and also maim on the bath tub side of the home window as well as the jack stud on the other side of the window. The bright side is that the damages was done long ago. As long as I've lived here, the proprietors' organization has stayed on top of termite treatment and surveillance, however I understand there was a period when they didn't. Therefore the damages I found.
Replace deteriorated subflooring
Along with the termite-damaged wall surface, I also located rotten subflooring near the tub. This was mostly from getting as well wet, as well as I believed it since ceramic tiles had begun popping up because area.
Make up for no or little insulation
I understood we had insulation in our walls. I assumed it was R-11 fiberglass batts because our upstairs next-door neighbor's icemaker had a bad leak a couple of years earlier, taking out fifty percent of our utility room ceiling and part of the wall surface. The common wall surface had R-11 batts. I figured the rest of the walls did, also. I understood they had insulation because I have actually examined behind switch and receptacle plates.
I obtained a little surprise when I took the drywall off of that exterior restroom wall surface and saw this:
This is really a good thing, in a way, since it means I'll get more improvement than I assumed I was getting.
Seal the air leaks
Yes, our 1981 condominium is dripping. I learnt about the large bathtub holes and various other plumbing penetrations because I've seen them from the cellar. I really did not recognize that the wall surfaces were encased with asphalt-impregnated fiber board (Celotex) that provided lots of air leakage pathways. Again, searching the bright side, that indicates I'll have the ability to make even http://dunlapconstructioninc.com more renovation compared to I would certainly assumed.
I can not wait to do a blower door examination when it's all done. Regrettably, I will not have the ability to separate out the enhancement due only to my shower room work. The owners' association simply had the entire flooring secured with spray foam insulation. I'm thinking our total air leakage will be around half of just what it was.
Install an exhaust fan as well as fix ductwork
Did I mention our apartment was constructed in the 80's? The master bathroom has a window, so naturally, it really did not require an exhaust fan, right? Wrong. I have actually got over a year of data on temperature level and also family member humidity because washroom without an exhaust fan. Now I'm placing one in as well as will accumulate a lot more data. Keep tuned for the results.
But even if your washroom currently has a fan, I would certainly bet it does not move sufficient air. The common bathroom fan stirs half its ranked air flow. If your bathroom follower isn't really available from the attic, opening up the ceiling is the only way to obtain at the duct and also repair it. Just what you see because photo listed below is common for bathroom fan air ducts: sagging flex air duct that makes too many turns. (That's not my brand-new fan, by the way.).
Address other potentially unknown repair needs.
Numerous years ago we had to do some pipes work for the tub in the hall washroom. When the plumbing professionals had the wall surface opened, I inquired to place valves know the cold and hot water lines so that if anyone had to service that pipes in the future, they wouldn't have to switch off the water to the whole building.
So they put in the shutoffs. When I opened the wall, I saw them as well as took this image:.
I 'd utilize that shower a few times throughout the years and always wondered why the stress was so reduced. Currently I comprehend. The plumbing technicians set up the valves but after that really did not open them completely. Those red manages must be straight according to the pipes. Nice!
I additionally discovered that our ceiling had two layers of drywall. We have a smooth ceiling throughout our condo, but the initial ceiling was stippled. The good news is, it had not been a popcorn ceiling, which can consist of asbestos.
As well as I discovered the initial, gruesome wallpaper.
If you're renovating a bathroom, there a great deal of good needs to copulate and intestine it totally. That's what I'm doing. We're nearly ready to begin closing it back in, so remain tuned for more tales from the restroom.