Improper plumbing & trying to remodel bathroom/laundry

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nealtw said:
So they are building window for showers and (hold it in with wood) That's not the answer you want.
You will have to take the trim off the inside and measure the opening. I would go with a reg. bath window.
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Maybe its because I'm tired, but I'm a bit confused. What do you mean by "reg. bath window"? You mean just a regular vinyl window rather than glass block?

I think holding it in with wood was just one suggestion and I don't know if that was for shower application. I think they were just suggesting using some sort of piece to hold it in. I imagine a vinyl piece of trim could be used to hold it in place. Unless I'm misunderstanding you.

The video about wrapping the window looked interesting. I suppose if I pull back the siding a bit and temporarily remove the trim, I can try to put something in like that for the exterior to keep water out. I wonder if that would mean I would need to do something different to give the mortar something to "grab"-- if mortar is what has to be used.

I looked up the provantage system and it uses vinyl channels and silicone. It doesn't look like it would allow for me to make up for the extra space. But maybe if the wood framing is removed it would make the opening large enough for the window that is 2" larger. I'm just not sure how thick the framing is.
 
You never know what you will find in older homes but window are usually framed rough to common sizes like 24, 30, 36 etc. And windows that are built for that 23 1/2, 29 1/2, 35 1/2 etc.
Making you rough opening wider would require a change in the length of the header above, so you won't what to do that.
That is why I suggested a reqular off the shelf window with obscure glass.
That system in the video is what we do now, we set the window on plastic horseshoe spacers and the theory is that no matter what you do you will get water around the window, whether from leaks or condensation and they leave a 1/4" gap all around the window and a way for it to drain out at the bottom. If you have wood trim around the old window, you might get away with not opening the siding but if they didn't re and re the trim when the siding was done then you may have to just to repair the house wrap or tar paper around the window.
 
Thanks, Neal. I don't know if the window even has a header. I sort of suspect that it doesn't. I'll have to take a peek under the siding-- and I'll have to get some decent photos of the window from inside and out.

I know that the windows were not removed when we had the siding and roof re-done. From what I saw of the plumbing and electrical, I'm expecting the window to have some unpleasant hidden surprises.
Edit: meant paneling not siding. lol.

I've been having a hard time finding any of the standard vinyl windows that actually fit the dimensions of my window. That was why I was looking at the glass block-- it seemed to have more size options. I'll have to keep looking to find something that will fit and then hope that I don't have to mess with the siding at all.
 
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A header is best inspected from the inside If the outside walls are 2x4s the header is 1/2" away from the drywall and 2x6 walls it will be 2" from the drywall. It may be 2" above the window or 4" below the ceiling, You should be able to find it with a 3" nail.
You keep talking about your window size, you have to get to the rough framing for the right measurements.
The glass block window is limited in sizes to how the block fits in a frame, the standerd window if not off the shelf size, anything can be ordered to fit.
 
nealtw said:
A header is best inspected from the inside If the outside walls are 2x4s the header is 1/2" away from the drywall and 2x6 walls it will be 2" from the drywall. It may be 2" above the window or 4" below the ceiling, You should be able to find it with a 3" nail.
You keep talking about your window size, you have to get to the rough framing for the right measurements.
The glass block window is limited in sizes to how the block fits in a frame, the standerd window if not off the shelf size, anything can be ordered to fit.
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ya'll dont put plywood betweeen your 2x6s to flush out the header? 28824.gif
 
frodo said:
ya'll dont put plywood betweeen your 2x6s to flush out the header? View attachment 7862
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Our headers are always 2x10s and are somewhat wet so putting plywood between them is a problem when the wet lumber shrinks and leaves the load on the edge of the plywood.
We never just add stuff to flush them to the interior either as the inspectors and engineers want to see the nails in them.
 
I meant paneling but typed siding. D'oh. There is only one sheet of drywall in the entire house and it is behind the water heater for some reason. The rest of the walls are very thin wood panels. That exterior wall doesn't have any insulation that I know of. The room used to have different wall panels up but for some reason the tenants destroyed the interior walls so it was just the studs and the plywood on the outside (covered by the old siding). I'll try to get a picture of the window. I keep forgetting to go out and I've been very tired. Everyone who comes to stay in the house complains of fatigue. We don't have any gas powered appliances (we don't even have any gas lines). So it probably isn't carbon monoxide. Not sure what it could be though.
 
zannej said:
I meant paneling but typed siding. D'oh. There is only one sheet of drywall in the entire house and it is behind the water heater for some reason. The rest of the walls are very thin wood panels. That exterior wall doesn't have any insulation that I know of. The room used to have different wall panels up but for some reason the tenants destroyed the interior walls so it was just the studs and the plywood on the outside (covered by the old siding). I'll try to get a picture of the window. I keep forgetting to go out and I've been very tired. Everyone who comes to stay in the house complains of fatigue. We don't have any gas powered appliances (we don't even have any gas lines). So it probably isn't carbon monoxide. Not sure what it could be though.
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Curious. You should get the air tested. Any plants or mines nearby?
 
Sewer gas. Plumbing venting into house, broken pipe, improper venting and traps siphon out or vents not extending thru roof.
 
No plants or mines. There tend to not be many large rock formations here. Its mostly clay and sandy loam. There used to be a lumber treatment plant but it closed down years ago.

Sewer gases then? That is very probable because the guest bathroom shower does not have a P-trap and the drain for the lavatory (which fell off the wall years ago) serves as the shower's vent. So there are two places where sewer gases could be coming in. Nothing is vented properly in the house but I do run water to fill the P-traps. My closet flange is plugged with a rubber stopper designed for that purpose. I don't smell sewer gas in there, but the guest bathroom often smelled horrible. I think I've become noseblind to it.

I'll have to cover the shower drain and block off the pipe for the lavatory (or maybe pour water in it).

As I mentioned in another thread, I'm now certain that the aircon ductwork either has holes or is not connected properly because I can feel air blowing fairly strongly from the ceiling when the aircon fan kicks on and I could also feel heat blowing down from one of the upper cabinets where the ceiling tiles fell.

Thanks for the responses!
 
The kitchen sink's vent terminates underneath the soffit of the eaves. From what I understand it should have an elbow and run up to protrude at least a couple feet above the roof, but it doesn't.

The guest bathroom toilet vents through the main vent stack that goes out above the roof. The lavatory had no vent at all and the shower (lacking a P-trap) vented through the lavatory. And the shower's line appeared to be very close to the main soil pipe.

Several pages back I have diagrams and pictures showing how the shower has no trap and just has some sort of dark colored T (not even a sanitary one) that branches off to vent through the lavatory.

I wonder if having a septic tank makes the sewer gases worse. I remember that when we first got back we were getting sick from the sewer gas smell in that area. We have a curtain to block off that area and we rarely go back there.
 
all your pictures are gone, some one hijaked em!!!!
 
If they are not vented right and you don't use them, then think about just cutting and capping the pipes until you get around to fixing them up for use.
 
the tub with no trap is the reason for the sewer gas,

a p-trap is a water seal to prevent gas from entering home. the vent, protects the trap from negative pressure, causing the trap to be siphoned dry when fixture is used.

install trap on tub
 
Dude, it appears you have one HELLUVA list of fixes on this house. Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize. Safety first (fix the dangerous things like bad electrical), then the shell (keep the weather out), then worry about remodeling.
 
I agree. pick one thing and do it. stop jumping around. you will never get done that way

and buy a camera, so you can post what your doing as you go along. then we can help
 
Ah, I may have to re-do some of the pics that disappeared. I think I might have moved some of the pics to a different folder and will need to figure out which pics were which and put some back up.

My sister gave me the same advice about focusing on one thing at a time. My mother doesn't quite agree on the priorities. She cares more about her convenience first and brushes off the safety issues. I think she's not living fully in reality and thinks if she ignores things, they will go away. Right now she wants me to finish working on my bathroom first. (At least she says that, but then she wants me to do other things) But then she also wants me to be at her beck and call 24/7. We have an intercom system on the phone and she pages me about 20 times a day to do stuff-- I'll start to work on something and she'll page me wanting food or for me to pick something up for her bc she won't get up and walk 5 feet, or she'll just want to tell me about something funny on TV. Doesn't matter what time of day or night it is. She'll just wake me up... (sorry, venting.. Just a little frustrated bc she keeps wrecking my attempts to get on a normal sleep schedule). Also, my brother didn't put the lid back on the trash bin outside so the dogs ripped apart the trash and its all over the porch and lawn and now its all slippery and gross. He's away visiting a friend out-of-state so I'm going to have to clean it all up (at least enough for mom to be able to walk without slipping). I already torqued my back from slipping on some of the crud when I went out to feed the dogs. Ugh.. At least I got the microwave clean and I haven't had to be on clean-up patrol to clean up my brother's messes while he's been gone.

I've got a cellphone camera and can usually upload pics but my internet has been so slow that I am having trouble loading webpages and upload is slower than download (because of satellite internet).
 
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