Karen's house project

Plumbing the depths

Why is there a step
in the upstairs bathroom?

Turns out we needed to keep the step in the upstairs bathroom to accommodate the LVL microlaminated beam that replaced the wall that used to extend from the wall dividing the new study from the kitchen. The step may have originated with the need for to run plumbing in a ceiling with only 2-by-4-foot joists. More depth was needed for the waters to run.

Above right: The pipe that drains the toilet butts up to the beam, as does the water supply. Anyone wanting to remove the step would have to negotiate the beam, which appears at the bottom of the photo.

Below right: Data wires come through the beam south of the toilet drain, but the upstairs bathroom is NOT wired for the Internet.

Right: Looking up at the pantry ceiling. The metal in the top right is the frame for the pocket door.

Below left: Jeff's miracle with the second-floor plumbing necessitated a soffit in the passage between the pantry and the kitchen. The green marks the bottom of the soffit's face -- or can one use the word "fascia" in such a context?

Below right: More of the new plumbing continuing -- or flowing -- from the photo above. At the bottom is the header for the pantry window.

plumbing, joists, wires

soffit josts, plumbing

plumbing under bathtub

Above and right: The plumbing under the upstairs bathtub.

Below left: The wires to bring telephone, cable and the Internet run up from the second floor next to the duct in the pantry. Then they split off into the back bedroom and, below right, into the front bedroom. The window in the photo on the right is in the new study and looks at the building next door. Notice the original ceiling joists and the new lvl microlaminate, some of which is "sistered up" to the original flimsy joists.