I’m redoing my bath and have just finished demolition.
During the previous remodel the original sub-floor (1 by planking laid parallel to the joist) was removed and plywood put down. I removed the plywood to get access to the plumbing. Of course doing so revealed several problems that I’m trying to determine if they need to be fixed.
The first problem is an interior wall that sits on what remains of the existing sub-floor. This wall separates two bathrooms. Under the floor is a four foot 4by4 wedged directly under the wall. One end rest on a pier/post and the other rest on a cripple wall. I was going to remove the existing support and put a piece of plywood between the joist under the sub-floor held in place by 2by4 cleats. The existing support looks a little haphazard. From time to time the ground shakes a little here ( I live in LA) so I’m concerned that the existing support might fail.
Problem 2 is the exterior wall. When the planking was removed sections of it that were under the wall were also removed. Should I fix it or leave it alone? (The wall has been chopped up during the various remodels, the new 2by4s are temporary to tie all the pieces together in case I need to raise the wall a little in order to remove and replace the sub-floor).
Thanks
Matt
Replies
Matt,
The support under the interior partition looks okay to me. The missing 1x under the plate of the outside wall does not look good.
At the very least you should insert some 3/4" wood to fully support that plate on the joists. It should fit snug, perhaps buttered with some PL Premium before driving it into place.
Bill
Edit: First time through I thought you lived in Louisiana, but I realize now you mean Los Angeles. Tie the 4x4 well to its supports with strap ties and you will be fine in any quake that spares the rest of the house.
Edited 11/3/2007 3:19 am by BillBrennen
Hi Bill,Yep, I'm in Los Angeles. Sorry, I should have made that clear. I'm more than happy to leave the 4by4 alone. I'm not sure how much support it provides but they must have put it there for a reason.I'm not sure how easy it is to see in the pictures I posted, but on the exterior wall there is material under the majority of the bottom plate. I think the picture makes it look like the entire plank is missing and the wall is floating above the joist. It's missing where they cut through for the vent pipe and in the other close-up (missing sub-floor_1). The wall is bearing on all of the floor joist.Do you think that using 3/4 plywood would be OK? I know there's a height difference between the two materials ( 1/16 ?) but using plywood would allow me to use an entire sheet, sliding one end under the wall and extending the rest out into the room for the new sub-floor.By the way, thanks for recommending the dustmuzzle. I used it along with a circular saw to remove the tile in my bathroom. At first I thought it wasn't working. It wasn't until I made a cut without it and the entire room filled up with dust that I realized how much dust it had been sucking up. It would have been impossible to do the job without it. Thanks.Matt
Matt,I'm up late tonight. Glad the dust muzzle worked out for you; I love mine.If you slip 3/4" ply under the edge of the plate it is a good idea to shoot some PL under the edge, to fill the small gap. Especially on the wall that looks to be stucco, you want the frame solid to forestall any cracking outside.Bill
Subfloor fixed. Now my next question. The ceiling is out of level 1 1/2" running east/west (over a distance of 7 feet). North/South it's level. If the ceiling is "flat" does it matter if it's level? I was going to sister the joist to level it out. If I do this though, the wall above the door trim will look uneven. The way it is now the top of the trim runs parallel with the ceiling. If I level the ceiling I'll have a wedge shaped piece of wall above the door. Is it a problem to leave the ceiling the way it is?
Matt,I could live with it flat and tilted if it was mine. Your mileage may vary. Making one thing level while a formerly parallel line stays tilted often looks worse than keeping the tilt all over.Bill