The week my bathroom floor turned into a two inch deep pond

I was replacing a toilet flange in my 1950s house and cut the old cast iron pipe, which triggered a slow leak from a joint I didn't know was bad. By the next morning, the whole subfloor was soaked and I had to tear out a 4x6 foot section down to the joists. Has anyone else had a simple plumbing fix turn into a major floor rebuild?

3 comments

3 Comments

linda_mason822mo ago

Honestly, that sounds exactly like my luck with home projects. Tbh I tried to replace a leaky kitchen faucet last year and ended up finding a whole section of rotted cabinet floor from a slow drip I never saw. Ngl, it turned into a full weekend of cutting out particle board and laying new plywood. These old houses always have a surprise waiting behind the walls.

juliam402mo ago

Right @linda_mason82, it's like every fix uncovers two more problems you didn't know you had.

carter.julia8d ago

Pulled up a corner of linoleum in my 1960s house to check for a small leak, and found out the entire subfloor had rotted from a hidden drip from the toilet supply line. Ended up having to rip out a 6x8 foot section down to the joists, plus replace two of those because they'd started to rot too. It was supposed to be a $50 fix and turned into a $1,200 floor patch job that took me three weekends. These old houses just love to hide damage until you poke at them wrong.