Repair ~ Replace ~ ReUse ~ Reject

He's been working on the upstairs bathroom. It's a horror story, too. This house is going on 70 years old and it has seen some interesting modifications. Only by unearthing the floor and walls can you see what actually happened.

For one thing: the tub is not located in its original spot. It had been on the opposite wall. Because of that, the door was not in the right place for the new location. That made the bathroom door a failure. Why the door was not moved I can only guess. It is going to be moved and replaced.

The house was originally painted with the now banned lead paint.

Later in the day I made a dump run, taking the tub, which is recycled, and all the other junk, wall tile, backer board, and debris that needed to be disposed of properly.

Insulation is missing in the dustpan exterior wall.

There was a small skeleton in the wall. Maybe a mouse?

The cross beams are rotted through.

The tub had issues, too. It was rusted at the drain and was installed improperly. The floor was too uneven for proper fit and caused the tub, especially when using the shower attachment, to leak over the lip and into the ceiling below. Earlier this year he repaired that ceiling and now we know why it was so badly damaged.

Also, the flat exterior roof needed replacement and the amount of chronic water damage is now evident. This takes decades of neglect to achieve.

After much research he has come up with a scheme to level the floor by installing custom-sized grid to be topped by 3/8 plywood. This will make installing all the replacement fixtures a lot easier and give them a longer life.