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Posted by Keith Williams on August 15, 2006, 2:34 pm
paulaner@iname.com says...
>
> My small bathroom job just got bigger. I want to replace the tile
> and toilet in the kids bathroom. It's about a 3' by 5' room with a
> toilet and tub/shower. I pulled up the tile and saw that 2nd layer
> of plywood was black and moldy behind the toilet, in the corner by the
> bathtub. So, I decided to pull that up too, and I plan to put down
> hardi board instead.
>
> Well, it appears that the water also got down to the main floorboards
> (subfloor?) in that corner. I went down to the basement and checked
> from above, and I'm happy to report it doesn't show any signs of
> rotting from the bottom. But, the top shows water damage; discolored
> wood and some of the layers of plywood has rotted away. I have a
> fan running in the room now to dry out the wood. When I step and
> press the floor in the worst spot, it does not sag.
>
> I took some pics if that helps:
> floor: http://mysite.verizon.net/paulaner/bathroom.jpg
> basement: http://mysite.verizon.net/paulaner/basement.jpg
>
> Here's my dilemma. The house is a rancher, and the walls are not
> aligned with the beams below. The beams are 2x4 with vertical
> diagonal spacers supporting the whole house on the cement foundation
> perimeter. So, in order to tear up this rotten piece of wood and
> replace it, I'll have to move the bathtub, and the wall behind the
> toilet if I want to cut out a section that can be nailed back down to
> the beams below. This is looking to be a much bigger job that I want
> to get into.
I had a similar situation, except it was under a sink in a 3x5 1/2
bath. A pipe sprang a pin hole and leaked just enough water to
ruin the subfloor but not be detected until I pulled up the vinyl
floor. Not even enough water to stain the sheetrock in the kitchen
below. Unfortunately, both layers of subfloor had to come out.
> I believe the wetness is a combination of things: 1. my boys had very
> bad toilet 'aim' when they were younger. 2. they didn't always close
> the shower curtain correctly. 3. the house is ~ 20 years old and
> we've been here 7, so who knows what else occurred before. The boys
> are older now, and are much more responsible for that area.
>
> So, finally my question. Do I need to move the tub, tear up the
> walls, cut away the flooring and replace it at the beams? Or, can I
> dry out the floor, clean up the wood with bleach & natures miracle,
> then lay some new hardi board over the whole thing? I plan to tile
> and seal the floor when I am done. If I go the easy route, is there a
> wood treatment I can put down to level the wood in that rough spot?
DIYer_Alert;
I agree with RayV, if the subfloor is solid, leave it. You *could*
use some leveling compound on the subfloor, but I think it's a
waste of time since you're going to use thinset for the hardi-
backer anyway. If it's really rough, you might want to level it
with thinset before installing the Hardibacker so the thinset for
the backer is easier to get troweled on right. I'd screw down the
subfloor to the joists before putting down the hardi-backer just to
make sure nothing is going to move.
Yes, some bleach to kill any mold and perhaps a week with a fan
running to make sure everything is perfectly dry is a good idea.
/DIYer_Alert;
--
Keith
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