Why You Ought To Totally Demo Your Restroom When You Remodel



If your home is old enough for a bathroom renovation, you might intend to go on as well as completely intestine it. I started my restroom remodel last month with a total demolition. If I hadn't, a variety of issues would have been inaccessible for repair work ... or perhaps undiscovered. Here's just what I discovered when I opened the walls and also ceiling of my 1981 condo below in the Quad Cities.

Repair pipes surprises
Here's one more thing I discovered. I'm not a pipes specialist, however I see a trouble here. Envision if that area of common drainpipe line for our back-to-back sinks obtained clogged. Currently imagine running a snake in there from one sink. Do you believe it would certainly make the turn? Possibly not. We transformed it out and balance out both.

Repair termite damages
When I opened the outside wall surface, I located termite damage in two places: the king stud, jack stud, and cripple on the bathtub side of the home window as well as the jack stud on the other side of the window. Fortunately is that the damage was done long ago. As long as I have actually lived here, the proprietors' organization has kept up with termite therapy as well as tracking, however I understand there was a period when they really did not. For this reason the damage I discovered.

Replace rotted subflooring
In addition to the termite-damaged wall surface, I likewise found rotten subflooring near the bath tub. This was primarily from obtaining as well damp, and also I believed it due to the fact that floor tiles had begun appearing in that location.

Offset no or little insulation
I knew we had insulation in our walls. I thought it was R-11 fiberglass batts due to the fact that our upstairs next-door neighbor's icemaker had a bad leakage a few years ago, securing fifty percent of our laundry room ceiling and part of the wall surface. The typical wall had R-11 batts. I figured the rest of the walls did, too. I understood they had insulation due to the fact that I have actually examined behind switch and receptacle plates.
I got a little surprise when I took the drywall off of that exterior washroom wall surface and also saw this:

This is in fact a good idea, in such a way, because it means I'll obtain even more renovation than I assumed I was going to get.

Seal the air leakages
Yes, our 1981 condominium is dripping. I knew about the large tub openings as well as various other pipes penetrations due to the fact that I have actually seen them from the cellar. Dunlap Construciton I really did not understand that the wall surfaces were covered with asphalt-impregnated fiber board (Celotex) that gave lots of air leakage paths. Once again, searching the bright side, that suggests I'll have the ability to make more enhancement compared to I 'd thought.

I cannot wait to do a blower door examination when it's all done. Sadly, I will not have the ability to separate out the enhancement due just to my restroom job. The proprietors' organization simply had the entire floor secured with spray foam insulation. I'm guessing our complete air leakage will be around half of exactly what it was.

Mount an exhaust follower and also fix ductwork
Did I mention our condominium was integrated in the 80's? The master bath has a window, so naturally, it didn't need an exhaust fan, right? Incorrect. I've got over a year of data on temperature level and also loved one moisture because bathroom without an exhaust fan. Now I'm placing one in and also will certainly accumulate extra information. Remain tuned for the results.

Yet even if your restroom currently has a follower, I would certainly bet it doesn't relocate sufficient air. The normal bathroom follower moves about half its rated air circulation. If your bath follower isn't easily accessible from the attic room, opening the ceiling is the only means to get at the duct as well as repair it. Exactly what you see because photo listed below prevails for bathroom follower air ducts: drooping flex air duct that makes way too many turns. (That's not my new follower, incidentally.).

Resolve other potentially unidentified repair needs.
Numerous years ago we needed to do some pipes work for the tub in the hall bathroom. When the plumbings had the wall surface opened up, I asked them to put valves in on the cold and hot water lines to ensure that if anybody had to service that pipes in the future, they wouldn't need to switch off the water to the entire structure.
So they put in the valves. When I opened the wall surface, I saw them and took this image:.



I would certainly utilize that shower a couple of times over the years as well as constantly wondered why the pressure was so reduced. Currently I understand. The plumbing technicians mounted the shutoffs but then didn't open them totally. Those red manages should be straight in accordance with the pipelines. Wonderful!

I additionally located that our ceiling had 2 layers of drywall. We have a smooth ceiling throughout our condo, but the initial ceiling was stippled. The good news is, it wasn't a popcorn ceiling, which could include asbestos.

And also I found the initial, gruesome wallpaper.

If you're renovating a bathroom, there a lot of great needs to copulate as well as gut it entirely. That's exactly what I'm doing. We're practically ready to begin closing it back in, so stay tuned for even more stories from the bathroom.

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