If your home is old enough for a restroom restoration, you could intend to proceed as well as completely gut it. I began my restroom remodel last month with a total demolition. If I hadn't, a number of problems would certainly have been inaccessible for fixing ... or perhaps obscure. Right here's exactly what I found when I opened up the wall surfaces and also ceiling of my 1981 condominium below in the Quad Cities.
Take care of plumbing shocks
Right here's one more point I located. I'm not a pipes expert, yet I see a problem here. Envision if that section of common drainpipe line for our back-to-back sinks obtained clogged. Currently picture running a snake in there from one sink. Do you believe it would make the turn? Probably not. We altered it out and balance out the two.
Repair termite damages
When I opened up the outside wall, I found termite damages in two locations: the king stud, jack stud, as well as paralyze on the bath tub side of the home window and also the jack stud on the other side of the home window. Fortunately is that the damages was done long ago. As long as I've lived below, the owners' organization has stayed on top of termite treatment as well as monitoring, however I understand there was a duration when they really did not. For this reason the damage I discovered.
Change deteriorated subflooring
In addition to the termite-damaged wall surface, I also discovered rotten subflooring near the bath tub. This was mainly from obtaining too wet, and also I suspected it since floor tiles had begun turning up in that area.
Offset no or little insulation
I recognized we had insulation in our walls. I believed it was R-11 fiberglass batts due to the fact that our upstairs neighbor's icemaker had a bad leakage a couple of years earlier, getting half of our utility room ceiling and also part of the wall. The common wall had R-11 batts. I figured the remainder of the wall surfaces did, too. I understood they had insulation since I have actually examined behind button and receptacle plates.
I got a little surprise when I took the drywall off of that exterior shower room wall surface and also saw this:
This is actually a good idea, in such a way, because it implies I'll obtain even more enhancement compared to I assumed I was getting.
Seal the air leaks
Yes, our 1981 apartment is leaky. I knew about the huge bath tub holes as well as various other plumbing infiltrations because I have actually seen them from the basement. I really did not know that the wall surfaces were encased with asphalt-impregnated fiber board (Celotex) that gave great deals of air leak pathways. Once again, viewing on the silver lining, that implies I'll be able to make even more renovation compared to I 'd thought.
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 improvement due just to my restroom work. The owners' association just had the entire flooring sealed with spray foam insulation. I'm thinking our complete air leak will certainly be around half of just what it was.
Mount an exhaust follower and also solution ductwork
Did I state our apartment was constructed in the 80's? The master bathroom has a home window, so naturally, it didn't need an exhaust fan, right? Wrong. I've got over a year of data on temperature level and loved one moisture because shower room without an exhaust fan. Now I'm placing one in and also will certainly gather a lot more data. Stay tuned for the outcomes.
Yet even if your shower room already has a fan, I would certainly bet it doesn't relocate sufficient air. The regular bath follower stirs half its ranked air flow. If your bathroom fan isn't easily accessible from the attic, opening up the ceiling is the only means to get at the duct as well as fix it. Just what you see in that photo listed below prevails for bathroom fan air ducts: sagging flex duct that makes too Bathroom Remodeling many turns. (That's not my brand-new follower, incidentally.).
Resolve other potentially unidentified repair needs.
A number of years ago we had to do some pipes work for the bathtub in the hall washroom. When the plumbers had the wall opened, I inquired to put shutoffs in on the hot and cold water lines to ensure that if any person had to deal with that plumbing in the future, they wouldn't need to turn off the water to the whole structure.
So they put in the shutoffs. When I opened the wall, I saw them as well as took this photo:.
I would certainly use that shower a few times over the years and always questioned why the pressure was so low. Now I understand. The plumbing technicians set up the shutoffs but then didn't open them fully. Those red handles must be straight in line with the pipes. Good!
I additionally discovered that our ceiling had 2 layers of drywall. We have a smooth ceiling throughout our condominium, yet the original ceiling was stippled. Luckily, it had not been a snacks ceiling, which can include asbestos.
And I discovered the original, horrible wallpaper.
If you're renovating a restroom, there a great deal of good reasons to go all the way and also gut it completely. That's exactly what I'm doing. We're nearly prepared to start closing it back in, so stay tuned for even more stories from the restroom.