Work on the ceiling officially started yesterday.
Things always look (at least) a little worse before they look better when it comes to restoration and renovation, so I’m excited to see where we go from here.
BUT…
As has been the case with almost every piece of work we’ve done in this house, we discovered an interesting and complicated problem.
THERE ARE NO ACTUAL FLOOR JOISTS. Seriously – there are no true, actual floor joists holding up our bathroom floor. The wood that we thought was decorative, and that was not put together in a way that is terribly structurally sound, and that is not at all in good shape…
…is actually the only thing holding up our bathroom floor.
So, that’s fun. And by that I mean: Well, that sucks.
This ceiling project has suddenly become the most important thing that we’re doing in the house. And knowing that, I am especially happy to get it done. And especially, especially happy that the basement bathroom is usable. And especially, especially, especially happy that our contractors found it so early in this process.
They can fix it. I don’t know quite what that will look like, but I know it will be done. And for now, that’s just going to have to be enough.
A Virginia Writer's Diary 
a rough road
hopefully not a money pit
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Old houses definitely require more maintenance and funds, but it’s totally worth it.
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I feel your pain…and my house is not nearly as old or significant as yours. But, better to know and fix it before you fell through it. Now as to “well, that was fun by which I mean it sucks” I fell through the improperly done bathroom floor while we were fixing one of those fun-sucks discoveries. Fortunately, it was only about 2 feet to the ground.
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Oh my gosh, I’m so glad it wasn’t a long fall! That’s been my nightmare with this floor, and I’m not surprised that we found what we did. Glad to be getting it fixed, though. They figured out a solution pretty quickly and they’ve got it braced for now, so it’s probably more secure at the moment than it’s been in the almost seven years we’ve owned the house. LOL! But also, scary…
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Oh my, another episode of This Old House! Always full of surprises…. 😆
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Yep! It’s fascinating and stressful all at the same time.
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It’s a good thing you found out about the floor in the bathroom before it gave in. My x was a big guy and they sometimes break the wax seal on the toilet. Then the water softens up the floor and it can cave. I noticed my bathroom floor was soft to walk on. But another kind of water damage could happen in the bathroom too.
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It is! It’s something we’ve been worried about for a long time, and it was already a priority. It’s become a much bigger one, though. Thankfully, things are going well and we’ve got a solution in place for now.
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A test of patience and dust toleration. Best wishes!
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It certainly is! But it’s going well so far. 🙂
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Great news! Best to you!
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Thank you!
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