BLOG 5 Beetles, Termites and Dry Rot, OH MY!
(Living Room)
Upon receiving the property back from our tenant, we felt what we thought was a soft spot in our floor in the living room. So we decided we’d better check it out before moving any further in the remodel. We pulled up all of the wood laminate flooring that we had put down around 10 years ago. It is still in good condition, so we just piled it up in the corner, until we decide what to do with it. After that layer, at some point someone had put down a layer of thick particle board.
Upon inspection after removing the particle board, we found someone had used ‘shims’ to level the floor. We could call this a poor or lazy man’s fix.
We continue to pull back more and more particle board and shims.
Ripping up particle board. I don’t know why anyone would use this as subfloor…..
Pulling up shims, that hid the underlying problem.
The floor ended up being off level by 3 inches! We had to pry up the 100+ year old boards to see what was happening underneath. Something had to cause this substantial 3 inch drop over a course of three or four feet length.
This is what we found once the boards were gone. Termite damage! Over the 100 years this house has been around, there has been general rot, termite and beetle damage. Enough damage that my husband could put his fingers through the main SUPPORT beam! Yes, your jaw should drop open now!
What is so funny about this is when we purchased the house, the house passed all termite inspections. We however, had it treated after living in it a few years. Thankfully, we did for we did not find any active insects.
The original floor torn up to repair the load bearing wall from termite damage and eaten joists.
One stud was termite damaged all the way up to the second story (see the plaster cut away). All of the studs had so much damage, we had to cut into the plaster that was in perfect condition -- just so we could make the proper repair.
The tail ends of all the joists were eaten and sunken as well as the posts that hold up the second story. We repaired by sistering the joists and adding good strong supports under the posts.
This is a photo of some of the wall repaired and to my surprise, we found a hand hewed beam that was 10”x10”! We originally thought it was good but after examining it, it was only good on the outside and my husband was able to rip it out by hand with ease.
More shots of rot and termite damage, same area.
These are the joists repaired all the way across the front of the house. Remember this wall used to be the front of the house. It supports the complete second story.
The floor is officially leveled. Now it is time to work in new wood.
This Is a closer shot of the hewed beam that was eaten from the inside out.
It is nice to have little guys around, they are happy to jump in the crawl space to get a dropped hammer.
This shows the ‘after’ of the floor repair and level. We tried to save as much as we could of the original flooring. We asked around to antique dealers and remodelers in the area to try and find some vintage or antique wood, but no one seemed to have any at the moment.
Excuse the messy work space: I am always pestering my husband to take photos if I’m not there with them. I love watching the progress