October 30, 2020
 |  No Comments

Everybody loves the “Cliff Notes” version of before and after remodeling pictures; Focusing on color, design choices and craftsmanship. I get it. It is what sells. The pop and wow factor.

I am often underbid by contractors who are used to working for flip house investors who buy neglected properties in desirable neighborhoods. They know the investor wants the maximum return on investment. They attach beautiful $500 kitchen faucets to galvanized pipe. Lay vinyl plank flooring over damaged laminate floor with no underlayment or moisture barrier. Put vinyl siding over asbestos siding etc. Basically put lipstick on a pig of a house, and sell it as “remodeled”.

We try to give our customers a longer lasting repair and remodel.

This bathroom was in desperate need of an upgrade. The plumbing leaked. The floor was tilted and soft and there were obvious signs of mold and rot.
We took off the moldy wall coverings and rotted floor. The 2″ x 6″ floor joists were rotted and sistered with random pieces that offered no additional structural support.
This was supporting a cast iron tub
The bathroom wall studs were laid on the original 3/4″ subfloor with no supporting floor joist. Many house flippers would have sheet rocked over this and moved on.
This wall stud is held up by nails in the lath. Nothing else.
Here you can see we sistered the original joists and installed additional joists 16″ on center to support a full bathtub load (60lbs/square foot) Cross ties resist horizontal deflection. Savvy readers will notice some pipe connections converted to pex. (A total repipe can be done later from below when the budget allows. ) We reran the vanity drain and soil stack around the floor joist supporting the wall. The soil stack is new pvc through the roof.
At some point the sink drain was converted from galvanized to PVC. However, they seemed to have ran out of PVC cement and rubber couplings. This allowed caustic sewer gas to leak into the wall cavity and rot the galvanized soil stack. As the soil stack fell short through the roof, it allowed a roof leak which further allow the wall studs to rot.
No rubber coupling, waste water and roof water leak.
Fixed with couplings and a usable cleanout if the pipe ever becomes clogged. The soil stack was run with new pvc through the roof with a brand new waterproof boot to stop the roof leak. A much easier repair to do while the wall is open.
This bathroom never had a vent to get rid of the moist air. While on the roof we also installed new boots for both soil stacks. $30 in parts and another 30 minutes of labor because we were already there.
Here is the only picture the the real estate agent needs to help sell the house.

My purpose for posting this is to help people understand that remodeling is not a commodity like oil or soybeans, it is a service. There is an old contractor saying: There are three kinds of adjectives that describe the jobs we can do for you, good, quick and cheap, but you can only have two. 🙂

I don’t subscribe to this philosophy. I am really only interested in providing my customers with quality products and good craftsmanship that provides long term solutions.

Tags: , ,