Oh Boy... looks like another can of worms!
I opened up a "water closet" on the level below our bathroom reno so that I could route our new plumbing system... only to find this on the ceiling closet (not sure what else to call the enclosure)!
We knew there had been a wee drip from something as the ceiling drywall had been damp at times, but didn't expect this. What we found inside the 3'x1' closet was 3 heating ducts, two 3/4" water supply pipes, a bit of wiring, a whole bunch of fibreglass pink scrunched inside the wall... most distressing however was that they had installed (both in the wall closet and the ceiling closet) the vapour barrie right next to the inside wall, leaving everything listed above between the vapour barrier and the outside wall! The ceiling closet was similarly configured!
The photo shows the underside of two of the heating ducts... soon to be replaced! It also shows one of the two water lines which I noticed has one section wrapped in duct tape, which if I have been reading correctly may lead to the pipes turning into copper foil as opposed to remaining copper pipes. Above that you can just see two ABS runs... one is the drain from the shower (old tub line) and the other is a toilet drain. When we redid the one bathroom a few years back we had to replace a section of the plywood as it had rotted out.
I am wondering if all the damage we see here is from before that reno when the toilet would have been leaking (pleasant thought) on these pipes?
Other that replacing the heating ducts should I be concerned about the copper here?
• Should I try and get the duct tape off the existing copper?
• Is there anything I can wrap the copper in to ensure it does not sweat on the heating ducts and cause any damage again?
I will be putting vapour barrier on again but this time it will be behind all the elements... towards the outside wall side with only FP inside it.
I'm hoping for no more surprises but that doesn't seem to be the case. Open up a wall and find something else. btw... most of the wood framing for the upper closet and even one section of the wall closet were pretty much rotted away and will be replaced as well. Thankfully no apparent damage to the structure of the house has occurred.
looking forward to hearing your thoughts folks!
I opened up a "water closet" on the level below our bathroom reno so that I could route our new plumbing system... only to find this on the ceiling closet (not sure what else to call the enclosure)!
We knew there had been a wee drip from something as the ceiling drywall had been damp at times, but didn't expect this. What we found inside the 3'x1' closet was 3 heating ducts, two 3/4" water supply pipes, a bit of wiring, a whole bunch of fibreglass pink scrunched inside the wall... most distressing however was that they had installed (both in the wall closet and the ceiling closet) the vapour barrie right next to the inside wall, leaving everything listed above between the vapour barrier and the outside wall! The ceiling closet was similarly configured!
The photo shows the underside of two of the heating ducts... soon to be replaced! It also shows one of the two water lines which I noticed has one section wrapped in duct tape, which if I have been reading correctly may lead to the pipes turning into copper foil as opposed to remaining copper pipes. Above that you can just see two ABS runs... one is the drain from the shower (old tub line) and the other is a toilet drain. When we redid the one bathroom a few years back we had to replace a section of the plywood as it had rotted out.
I am wondering if all the damage we see here is from before that reno when the toilet would have been leaking (pleasant thought) on these pipes?
Other that replacing the heating ducts should I be concerned about the copper here?
• Should I try and get the duct tape off the existing copper?
• Is there anything I can wrap the copper in to ensure it does not sweat on the heating ducts and cause any damage again?
I will be putting vapour barrier on again but this time it will be behind all the elements... towards the outside wall side with only FP inside it.
I'm hoping for no more surprises but that doesn't seem to be the case. Open up a wall and find something else. btw... most of the wood framing for the upper closet and even one section of the wall closet were pretty much rotted away and will be replaced as well. Thankfully no apparent damage to the structure of the house has occurred.
looking forward to hearing your thoughts folks!
