I've gone on and on about how incredibly not messed up our house is. I've talked about how I couldn't find one bit of dodgy electrical work, etc., etc.
Note the massive crack in the joist in the center of the picture. This joist happens to run right underneath the center of the bathtub and the shower pan in the master bathroom. Further, note that there appears to be a chunk missing from the bottom of the joist. At the point that the electrical passes through the joist, it is about 1.5 inches below the next joist over.
I don't have any way to know whether the joist was cracked or if just the piece was missing when the ceiling was replaced and the plumbing work was done, in 1967. Either way, I place the blame on whoever did the work. When presented with a joist that was so compromised, it should have been addressed.
They also saw fit to notch the joists enough to properly insulate the pipes, which resulted in two of them cracking. Further, they stuffed enough fiberglass around the knob and tube wiring to start a good fire, and closed up an electrical box in there as well.
Of course, I shouldn't be surprised by the quality of the plumbing installed by the same individuals. There is corrosion around every single fitting - and in some places where there aren't even any fittings. Not good.
As if this all wasn't bad enough, the framing under the shower pan, which was redone more recently, doesn't look too hot either.
I'd love nothing more than to replace all of this plumbing while we have the ceiling open. However, that simply isn't in the budget right now. What we'll probably end up doing is addressing the structural issues before the ceiling goes back up, use greenboard for the ceiling, and deal with the plumbing when we can.
9 comments:
I read about your joist split earlier today. That sucks!
We're SO grateful for the tax credit, as we used all our money up on a roof/paint/exterior repair job this fall that was a good 50% over budget. Nice. I feel for you!
Ow. That has to hurt.
Is my eyesight correct....are all of those joists notched on the bottom? If that's the case you've got a rather significant structural issue to deal with. If in fact every joist is notched completely through on the bottom I'd say you should definitely move that plumbing so you can sister on reinforcements properly.
Todd - yep. All of them.
Removing the pipes temporarily wouldn't be a bad thing. The did a pretty lousy job with the plumbing, too - I've got plenty of corrosion around every single place where the pipe is soldered. Ugh.
I bet you are almost wishing you left that plaster up there now, huh? :)
I'm glad Todd commented on this too. You have a major issue, as the beams being notched out on the bottom pretty much makes them not take any load. Very very bad. I highly suggest finding a way to run the plumbing below the joists, and never ever notch the bottom of a joist since most of the load goes there. :-)
I'd ten suggest replacing/sistering the joists.
I'm glad I tore out the ceiling, actually - it's easier to deal with the problems that you know about - I'm not so great with surprises. I'm still trying to come up with an action plan, as all of our immediate home improvement budget is going into the roof.
Based on your taxes, it looks like budget may have become available. :-)
Corey, unless I'm able to get an estimate that is substantially less, the roof will be eating every bit of that tax refund - and that won't even get everything done!
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