The week my bathroom floor turned into a giant sponge

I decided to replace the old vinyl in my upstairs bathroom with some click-lock tile myself. After pulling up the vinyl, I found the subfloor was damp and soft near the toilet. Turns out the wax ring had been leaking slowly for who knows how long. Spent the next three days cutting out a 2x3 foot section of plywood, drying everything out with a fan, and putting in a new piece. Anyone have a good method for checking if the floor joists underneath are still solid before I lay the new tile?

3 comments

3 Comments

julia_fisher282mo ago

My uncle used a simple screwdriver to check his floor joists after a leak. He said if the tip goes in more than a quarter inch, the wood is too soft. I guess you just poke around for soft spots.

uma3062mo ago

Guess I've been poking my joists wrong this whole time.

kelly_coleman611mo ago

The screwdriver trick is solid. When I had a pipe leak under my kitchen a few years back, I learned that you gotta check the end grain of the joists too. The wood can look fine on the surface but be totally rotten where it meets the wall. Just work your way down the beam every foot or so and you'll find any bad spots quick.