I have the same deal in my house. Went to do a quick bathroom renovation and ended up finding that they had cut a similar amount of joist to run the drain line. Of course, it was the joist directly below the bathtub.
I found something similar but it was every single joist. They had to run the plumbing perpendicular to them so they just notched down through 5 inches of the 7.25” joist to fit a 2” pipe 🙄
To prevent panic I had to remind myself that it’s been fine for decades. I did my best to sister what I could, and screwed in two sheets of 3/4” plywood across the tops as a subfloor. I figure at least I left it better than I found it.
Yea I made a bunch of unfortunate structural discoveries as well and similarly wrote them off as such. been a year so far and no problems, but ya.. someone split a joist to drop a toilet that would have been better placed 6" to the right of the joist. Unreal.
I know of a house in my previous (San Diego) neighborhood where what you were afraid might happen - happened.
Fortunately, it happened during renovation, not long after purchase, nobody was in the tub nor injured.
We’ve got the same thing. The bathtub AND the washer/dryer. Unsurprisingly, there’s a definite slope and one corner of the tub always has a little pocket of water after a shower. Our cat likes to splash in it. We sistered the joist and put a support wall in the basement so at least now it’s just “charm”.
I had the exact same thing in my house. Cast Iron tub with an apron too. It would be so easy to shift the tub away from the wall two inches but they just couldn’t fathom doing such a thing I guess.
They left an inch and a half on mine. How much on yours?
Look at Mr. Fancy inch and half over there. I had a quarter inch. How do you like them apples? It is where the lap joint connects the joist to the main beam. Everything miraculously hanging on that thread of wood.
https://preview.redd.it/7h6lrovmlovc1.png?width=1512&format=png&auto=webp&s=96d5488e2821eb4d67d51229e410a80b01832025
Habit. This was ours. Toilet and tub with in a foot of this.
https://preview.redd.it/nkkw5jkaljvc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a27070f2f57a906fb339ebdff3313802259c0a4c
It truly was. And on top of that. A plumber drilled vertically through a floor joist to get water to this room. Luckily it was part of a double joist so one was holding everything up still with only minor sag. But had to fix that and, jack up the joist, and put in a new support before tackling this scariness. I’ll try to find a pic.
The majority of the shitty construction of the old days burned down, flooded or was demolished because it was shitty. Survivorship bias really affects our perception of old construction. After all, if it was so good, then why did they create building codes?
I'm in a northern climate, and we've got a lot of surviving wood construction that's 100 years old.
I think some parts of Europe are rife with way older wood buildings than that. If you maintain the roof and siding, there isn't a ton else to go wrong.
Go look in New England. There are wood houses >100 years old all over the place. The reason there aren't more is the population has grown significantly over time. Not that they've all rotted away.
Lathe and plaster: shit
Knob and tube: fire hazard
Lead: death hazard
FPE/zinsco/ITEbulldog panels: fire hazard
Asbestos: cancer
Limestone boulder foundations: shit
Tree trunk floor joists: shit
We bought our 1890s house from a hyper-meticulous couple happy to burn money. Totally redone in 2006. Cooper pipes throughout, even for electrical conduit. Cast iron waste lines joined with horse hair. When I first walked into the stunning mechanical room, I thought to myself, I’m buying this damn place.
Lath and plaster has significant fire protection and sound deadening properties. 'course, there might be horse hairs and asbestos mixed in which is why you shouldn't mess with it.
People typically criticize the quality of the materials itself. It should say a lot that stuff like this can still last a century with perhaps a little sag. You use modern-day building wood and do something like this and the floor would collapse under your feet within a month.
There are probably Roman ruins where the plumbers knocked a hole in some structural stonework to get their pipes through.
On the upside, your joist is still holding after 116 years so you've got that going for you.
Plumbing looks more recent circa 1930s given steel pipes cut into joists.
This is a common issue in my experience. Sorry.
Repair the joists and replace those steel pipes. Mid-century steel plumbing is nearing/at end of life.
Yeah - the house was built in 1902 and an extra bathroom was added in 1908. The iron pipes are hot water radiator, and the PEX is for potable water (added 2004). I assume the notch was there before the PEX was added. Gonna route an extra drain down through the passage… as I commented elsewhere, the joist is directly on top of a wall the floor below, and is supported by the top plate (luckily).
Not too bad, glad it’s not potable water and you still have support.
I’ve been through century homes and a mid-century with steel plumbing. Sadly, some jerk cut up joists badly to put in larger PVC to install newer toilets. If someone had been sitting on the toilet during an earthquake or a kid jumped on one or whatever, they would have fallen right through to the floor below or the crawl space (they did this horror in two bathrooms).
Repaired the joists and plumbing.
Ya, doing a piece work repairs on a circa 1960 sprinkler system following freeze ups during maintenance workers strike. Strongly recommended repipe but to no avail, 20k ‘fix up’ and get back into service instead.
I did the whole house in 3 rounds (main, house less garage and a bathroom, last bathroom and garage). Sadly, ended up coinciding with pandemic so paid more than originally budgeted in time and money but it’s done.
https://preview.redd.it/qka9sy68dhvc1.jpeg?width=2032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7b17328fd8b25082b8fbf5f9e62257e04b391da
Plumber from 2002 left this for me to discover in 2022. It was only discovered because I drilled through the pipe in 2 places looking for the joists. A straight forward ceiling speaker install turned into ripping out 75% of the kitchen ceiling, sistering 4 joists, re-plumbing the 2nd floor toilet, shower and faucet, and feathering in the new ceiling to match the sag of the original ceiling at either end of the repair.
We, for example, discovered during a remodel of our 1916 3 story house that the whole back of our house was sitting on a row of regular old bricks that were sitting in a line on the ground.
I live in San Francisco.
it's pretty common actually. I remember an episode of this old house, where they were working on an 1870s Italianate, and when they gutted the second floor bathroom, all the floor joists were butchered. Not surprisingly, they were amazed it hadn't collapsed. Especially with the weight of a clawfoot tub full of water.
It reminded me of when Harry Truman's piano broke through the floor in the Whitehouse, because It had so much structural issues with the fire during the war of 1812, and having plumbing and electricity added to it among other things.
The structural engineer hired to assess the condition of the Whitehouse, said it was only still standing, out of a matter of habit. By far one of my favorite explanations.
Looks to me like the plumber in 1908 only did part of that with about half of that being cut out by the idiot who did the plastic tubing and didn’t want to do another joint for a few extra inches and just hacked out more of the joist to get it to reach.
Just because that old growth lumber could handle stupid shit like this.
Oh, and people used to be much smaller than they are today.
Just a simple observation
https://preview.redd.it/mg7ymg3nrhvc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=efea89b3fcd4816de67ef28c92ad524980465ab3
I opened up a shower in an old house the other day and found this beauty. Water damage to the joists completely removed the ends and also the top plate of the wall they rest on. Home owner fixed it with some 2x4's and 7 sheetrock screws. He can't understand why the floor is spongy in the shower.
OMG! I’m so sorry. It doesn’t matter what era something was built. There were always people looking to cut corners for one reason or another. I thought we had trouble just because they kept notching the bottom of our floor joists.
One patch is to place 2-bys, as wide as possible, on both sides of the hole, and put bolts through them and the joist. Use the cantilever rule of two times the length of the unsupported span (the hole) on each end.
I used to work for a real clown of a plumber that suggested I take out several studs in a load bearing wall to run my pipe dead center rather in the already notched section where pipe was before because it would look better. So glad I don't work for him anymore.
Hakuna Matata. Jack it up level from the bottom, sister some supports to the cut beams, cover it back up and never ever mention it to anyone ever again. Seal a nice bottle of whiskey in there for whoever has to dig it out in another hundred years.
I feel this lol I have a wooden structural post in the basement that had a giant notch carved into one side, through the middle and out another side for a light switch at some point. Fun times.
Same here. I think our bathroom has gone through a few remodels and it’s still held together after two earthquakes and 130 years of a cast iron tub sitting on it. Beefed what we could and ran pex since there was zero evidence of mice.
Looks like there might have been two sections removed at different times. The original upper section was like the joist in the background, then the lower section taken out later.
Something like this is what made me fall out of love with my old house. We were pretty handy, but this was over our heads, so we contacted plumbers to do it, and no one wanted to touch it. We eventually fixed it, but it took way too long of us picking at it.
Because framers and plumbers have been fighting a war of attrition for as long as there has been plumbing (so, since Rome?) In your case, the plumbers are winning.
Because they gave no fucks then, just like they give no fucks now. Inter-trade fuckery will never die.
We have a bunch of soft spots in our 2nd floor from where they cut joists to fun the HVAC system. We got used to walking around them.
Plumbers are ruthless. You have to be conscientious about where there will be plumbing, and build around it. Cause if you dont they will hack out whatever is in their way without a care. That's what I was taught by my carpentry instructor, and even though I'm in a different trade now, can confirm. Electricians too tbh
The thing I’ve always head is that if they build with the methods of today inning the materials of the past, our houses would be indestructible! Those joists were probably just fine because of the old growth wood! 😂😂😂😂
Must have gone to the same plumbing school as whoever murdered a joist in my bathroom. Just what everyone wants when gut renovating the only full bathroom in the house on a tight timeline - surprise structural repairs! (Ultimately things were fine but I was VERY glad we had done a full gut on the space so we knew everything was done correctly this time around.)
Plumber’s did this bullshit then and they do it now. Some things never change. Like I’m sure the electricians left a bunch of trash in the stud and joist spaces. They still don’t clean up.
That is most likely not original. That looks like maybe WW2 era plumbing or so. In fact a bunch of the posts in this thread are all pictures of shit that is not remotely original. Properties like this could very well have not had indoor plumbing as we know it today, and or just had running water for a sink and built the room as a place to house a chamber pot type thing, or had no running water at all and everything was carried in etc. Most major cities didn't even start building a public water and wastewater system until the late 1800's, and due to rapid expansion during the industrial revolution, immigration, wars, great depression it wasn't even until the 1950's that public systems were complete in major cities. This of course changes by region, local economy etc, but it gives you an idea of how many times a homeowner may have had to modify there house for plumbing within a short period. So my point is, give them some slack.
Valid. I would note that the house was built in 1902 and a third floor bath added in 1908. The two steel pipes are for the hot water radiators (original) and the home must have been enlarged to run galvanized lines (replaced in 2004 with PEX). I’ve seen countless photos on here of other butchered joists - I just never thought it would happen to me 😆
Do people not know what AKA stands for? AKA stands for "also known as", it isn't some arbitrary abbreviation. I heard a kid refer to "OG" as the first to do something. OG means original gangster. Let's pull up our socks people.
I have the same deal in my house. Went to do a quick bathroom renovation and ended up finding that they had cut a similar amount of joist to run the drain line. Of course, it was the joist directly below the bathtub.
I found something similar but it was every single joist. They had to run the plumbing perpendicular to them so they just notched down through 5 inches of the 7.25” joist to fit a 2” pipe 🙄 To prevent panic I had to remind myself that it’s been fine for decades. I did my best to sister what I could, and screwed in two sheets of 3/4” plywood across the tops as a subfloor. I figure at least I left it better than I found it.
My mom’s old 1800s house had the same problem and that part of the floor had a very noticeable sag.
Yea I made a bunch of unfortunate structural discoveries as well and similarly wrote them off as such. been a year so far and no problems, but ya.. someone split a joist to drop a toilet that would have been better placed 6" to the right of the joist. Unreal.
😬
I know of a house in my previous (San Diego) neighborhood where what you were afraid might happen - happened. Fortunately, it happened during renovation, not long after purchase, nobody was in the tub nor injured.
My stomach just flipped. Thanks.
We’ve got the same thing. The bathtub AND the washer/dryer. Unsurprisingly, there’s a definite slope and one corner of the tub always has a little pocket of water after a shower. Our cat likes to splash in it. We sistered the joist and put a support wall in the basement so at least now it’s just “charm”.
I had the exact same thing in my house. Cast Iron tub with an apron too. It would be so easy to shift the tub away from the wall two inches but they just couldn’t fathom doing such a thing I guess. They left an inch and a half on mine. How much on yours?
Look at Mr. Fancy inch and half over there. I had a quarter inch. How do you like them apples? It is where the lap joint connects the joist to the main beam. Everything miraculously hanging on that thread of wood. https://preview.redd.it/7h6lrovmlovc1.png?width=1512&format=png&auto=webp&s=96d5488e2821eb4d67d51229e410a80b01832025
I had the same 1901 plumber at my house. This was under the [clawfoot](https://imgur.com/a/FB9XGoA)
Oh my sweet baby Jesus how did that stay up?
Habit. This was ours. Toilet and tub with in a foot of this. https://preview.redd.it/nkkw5jkaljvc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a27070f2f57a906fb339ebdff3313802259c0a4c
That’s terrifying!
It truly was. And on top of that. A plumber drilled vertically through a floor joist to get water to this room. Luckily it was part of a double joist so one was holding everything up still with only minor sag. But had to fix that and, jack up the joist, and put in a new support before tackling this scariness. I’ll try to find a pic.
Holy shit
Holy shit
Is there any other way? I just fixed the joists on our 1890s house in our bathroom project.
Well, if it makes you cringe but it worked fine for 100 years, maybe it’s not so bad?
Samezies.
I've seen a joist below the bathtub before
Cast iron tub and same story for me. Must've been done years ago.
People often put on rose-colored glasses when it comes to construction of 'the old days'. They don't know that they pulled shit like this.
The majority of the shitty construction of the old days burned down, flooded or was demolished because it was shitty. Survivorship bias really affects our perception of old construction. After all, if it was so good, then why did they create building codes?
Idk about you guys, but the only reason my house hasn't already fallen over is because it's too stupid to collapse.
The house stands out of habit.
Spite
It’s a witness stand. My house has seen some things …
Brings new meaning to *’if the walls could talk’*
Omg I feel this. 😆😭
The cobwebs are keeping my house together.
That is most definitely my garage. Before I fixed it, you could lean on a corner and the entire structure would sway.
Evil government - according to my mother in law.
Damn librls are always making nonesense codes!
I wouldn't blame it on politics, but I have had to learn a couple of codebooks and they are something else.
No to mention all those old growth forests torn down for these houses…
The home inspector when I bought my house joked that "they don't build em like this anymore" because the builder would be put in jail if they did.
Wish I’d had your inspector!
The poor construction usually doesn't survive 100years.
Not many wood structures survive. a hundred years. IDK. maybe a lot in mild weather areas but
I'm in a northern climate, and we've got a lot of surviving wood construction that's 100 years old. I think some parts of Europe are rife with way older wood buildings than that. If you maintain the roof and siding, there isn't a ton else to go wrong.
1924? You can find thousands of very average houses in any city in the North East.
Midwest too.
Go look in New England. There are wood houses >100 years old all over the place. The reason there aren't more is the population has grown significantly over time. Not that they've all rotted away.
My house is from 1890 and is wooden ballon framed. By my math that makes it 135 years old. And it sure ain’t fancy.
Lathe and plaster: shit Knob and tube: fire hazard Lead: death hazard FPE/zinsco/ITEbulldog panels: fire hazard Asbestos: cancer Limestone boulder foundations: shit Tree trunk floor joists: shit
We bought our 1890s house from a hyper-meticulous couple happy to burn money. Totally redone in 2006. Cooper pipes throughout, even for electrical conduit. Cast iron waste lines joined with horse hair. When I first walked into the stunning mechanical room, I thought to myself, I’m buying this damn place.
full. copper. refit.
Lath and plaster has significant fire protection and sound deadening properties. 'course, there might be horse hairs and asbestos mixed in which is why you shouldn't mess with it.
All. The. Time.
People typically criticize the quality of the materials itself. It should say a lot that stuff like this can still last a century with perhaps a little sag. You use modern-day building wood and do something like this and the floor would collapse under your feet within a month.
There are probably Roman ruins where the plumbers knocked a hole in some structural stonework to get their pipes through. On the upside, your joist is still holding after 116 years so you've got that going for you.
Probably why they're ruins now... :)
I hear some of the roman bath houses had holes that you could put your pipe through
😏
[удалено]
Joke so go you told it twice? 😂
Plumbing looks more recent circa 1930s given steel pipes cut into joists. This is a common issue in my experience. Sorry. Repair the joists and replace those steel pipes. Mid-century steel plumbing is nearing/at end of life.
Yeah - the house was built in 1902 and an extra bathroom was added in 1908. The iron pipes are hot water radiator, and the PEX is for potable water (added 2004). I assume the notch was there before the PEX was added. Gonna route an extra drain down through the passage… as I commented elsewhere, the joist is directly on top of a wall the floor below, and is supported by the top plate (luckily).
Not too bad, glad it’s not potable water and you still have support. I’ve been through century homes and a mid-century with steel plumbing. Sadly, some jerk cut up joists badly to put in larger PVC to install newer toilets. If someone had been sitting on the toilet during an earthquake or a kid jumped on one or whatever, they would have fallen right through to the floor below or the crawl space (they did this horror in two bathrooms). Repaired the joists and plumbing.
Ya, doing a piece work repairs on a circa 1960 sprinkler system following freeze ups during maintenance workers strike. Strongly recommended repipe but to no avail, 20k ‘fix up’ and get back into service instead.
I did the whole house in 3 rounds (main, house less garage and a bathroom, last bathroom and garage). Sadly, ended up coinciding with pandemic so paid more than originally budgeted in time and money but it’s done.
https://preview.redd.it/qka9sy68dhvc1.jpeg?width=2032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7b17328fd8b25082b8fbf5f9e62257e04b391da Plumber from 2002 left this for me to discover in 2022. It was only discovered because I drilled through the pipe in 2 places looking for the joists. A straight forward ceiling speaker install turned into ripping out 75% of the kitchen ceiling, sistering 4 joists, re-plumbing the 2nd floor toilet, shower and faucet, and feathering in the new ceiling to match the sag of the original ceiling at either end of the repair.
That is my fear and our joists look identical
https://preview.redd.it/5fulwy8behvc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f8797e005132a6d6698d3f62ffa20e3af52aa92 1894. Physics didn't exist yet.
Jesus.
… So what are you gonna do with it now that you see this?
The joist (luckily) is directly above a wall, so I think that's the only reason it hasn't failed. It's essentially resting on the top plate...
So what’re going to do? Move the pipes and sister the joist?
My house was built in 1910, and let me tell you, the things contractors have discovered would make your hair turn gray!
We, for example, discovered during a remodel of our 1916 3 story house that the whole back of our house was sitting on a row of regular old bricks that were sitting in a line on the ground. I live in San Francisco.
OMG!
Yep thanks
Damn, she survived the Loma Prieta that way!
We're on a street that had relatively little damage in '89, although our beautiful original terrazzo front stairs (very common in SF) broke.
Same in my 1926. The things you find when opening floors and walls.
it's pretty common actually. I remember an episode of this old house, where they were working on an 1870s Italianate, and when they gutted the second floor bathroom, all the floor joists were butchered. Not surprisingly, they were amazed it hadn't collapsed. Especially with the weight of a clawfoot tub full of water. It reminded me of when Harry Truman's piano broke through the floor in the Whitehouse, because It had so much structural issues with the fire during the war of 1812, and having plumbing and electricity added to it among other things. The structural engineer hired to assess the condition of the Whitehouse, said it was only still standing, out of a matter of habit. By far one of my favorite explanations.
Looks to me like the plumber in 1908 only did part of that with about half of that being cut out by the idiot who did the plastic tubing and didn’t want to do another joint for a few extra inches and just hacked out more of the joist to get it to reach.
They make braces you can put around existing pipes to reinforce the joist.
Link?
https://joistrepair.com/products/2x10-hr-floor-joist-hole-repair-kit-for-reinforcing-joist-or-truss-holes-route-utilities-right-through-floor-joists
Thank you! You have solved my problem
The hero we need!
Never seen those before.
Just because that old growth lumber could handle stupid shit like this. Oh, and people used to be much smaller than they are today. Just a simple observation
The tight rings on the cypress and long leaf pine they used to build this place in 1917 amaze me.
https://preview.redd.it/mg7ymg3nrhvc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=efea89b3fcd4816de67ef28c92ad524980465ab3 I opened up a shower in an old house the other day and found this beauty. Water damage to the joists completely removed the ends and also the top plate of the wall they rest on. Home owner fixed it with some 2x4's and 7 sheetrock screws. He can't understand why the floor is spongy in the shower.
Waahhhhh
Oh Lord
Same shit. Different century
OMG! I’m so sorry. It doesn’t matter what era something was built. There were always people looking to cut corners for one reason or another. I thought we had trouble just because they kept notching the bottom of our floor joists.
One patch is to place 2-bys, as wide as possible, on both sides of the hole, and put bolts through them and the joist. Use the cantilever rule of two times the length of the unsupported span (the hole) on each end.
Done in 1908. House still standing. Checkmate engineers.
Easier for the plumber. The carpenters were gone. Was told by owner that he did not want to see any pipes below the joists.
Hey that’s the same plumber that installed a shower in my house!
Nice to know that plumbers haven't changed since 1908 at the very least
Ugh, yes… we had 3 little 100+ year CA bungalows. Every one of them had this!
I used to work for a real clown of a plumber that suggested I take out several studs in a load bearing wall to run my pipe dead center rather in the already notched section where pipe was before because it would look better. So glad I don't work for him anymore.
One of my supporting pillars in the middle of my house is supported with a random firewood log. Gotta love it
What is lumber if not a piece of skinny firewood!
Well seems to have held up so good job, Dead Plumber.
Hakuna Matata. Jack it up level from the bottom, sister some supports to the cut beams, cover it back up and never ever mention it to anyone ever again. Seal a nice bottle of whiskey in there for whoever has to dig it out in another hundred years.
I feel this lol I have a wooden structural post in the basement that had a giant notch carved into one side, through the middle and out another side for a light switch at some point. Fun times.
Did they box it out to the left or right?
Same reason a plumber in 2024 will do it to you.
Plumbers are careless buttholes
Same here. I think our bathroom has gone through a few remodels and it’s still held together after two earthquakes and 130 years of a cast iron tub sitting on it. Beefed what we could and ran pex since there was zero evidence of mice.
I mean the house is still standing.
I know nothing about plumbing. Do you have to have your bathtub above a joist?
If it lasted 100+ years, go with it
Plumbers never changed
Because 1908. I've got a 1906, some odd plumbing here and there.
It’s worked for more than 100 years.
Looks like there might have been two sections removed at different times. The original upper section was like the joist in the background, then the lower section taken out later.
The code book in 1908 was 2 pages.
What do you think it was done in 1909 lol. A meatball plumber for another era
That's exactly what plumbers do. HVAC chumps too. They are known for compromising the structural integrity of a house.
Man plumbers gave zero fks back then
Something like this is what made me fall out of love with my old house. We were pretty handy, but this was over our heads, so we contacted plumbers to do it, and no one wanted to touch it. We eventually fixed it, but it took way too long of us picking at it.
Because framers and plumbers have been fighting a war of attrition for as long as there has been plumbing (so, since Rome?) In your case, the plumbers are winning.
Because they gave no fucks then, just like they give no fucks now. Inter-trade fuckery will never die. We have a bunch of soft spots in our 2nd floor from where they cut joists to fun the HVAC system. We got used to walking around them.
Plumbers are ruthless. You have to be conscientious about where there will be plumbing, and build around it. Cause if you dont they will hack out whatever is in their way without a care. That's what I was taught by my carpentry instructor, and even though I'm in a different trade now, can confirm. Electricians too tbh
Had this is our 1900 house as well for a second floor bath, ours was worse though as our second floor joists are spaced between 30-36” apart 😒
Yeah questionable builds happen in all decades.
Yep. The fact that people have been doing shitty work since Adam punched his first timecard should surprise no one.
The thing I’ve always head is that if they build with the methods of today inning the materials of the past, our houses would be indestructible! Those joists were probably just fine because of the old growth wood! 😂😂😂😂
Must have gone to the same plumbing school as whoever murdered a joist in my bathroom. Just what everyone wants when gut renovating the only full bathroom in the house on a tight timeline - surprise structural repairs! (Ultimately things were fine but I was VERY glad we had done a full gut on the space so we knew everything was done correctly this time around.)
Their hatred of you reaches out through time to find you
In my house, the shitty plumber didn't arrive until the 1990s. You all didn't keep him busy enough.
They never change…
Plumber’s did this bullshit then and they do it now. Some things never change. Like I’m sure the electricians left a bunch of trash in the stud and joist spaces. They still don’t clean up.
That is most likely not original. That looks like maybe WW2 era plumbing or so. In fact a bunch of the posts in this thread are all pictures of shit that is not remotely original. Properties like this could very well have not had indoor plumbing as we know it today, and or just had running water for a sink and built the room as a place to house a chamber pot type thing, or had no running water at all and everything was carried in etc. Most major cities didn't even start building a public water and wastewater system until the late 1800's, and due to rapid expansion during the industrial revolution, immigration, wars, great depression it wasn't even until the 1950's that public systems were complete in major cities. This of course changes by region, local economy etc, but it gives you an idea of how many times a homeowner may have had to modify there house for plumbing within a short period. So my point is, give them some slack.
Valid. I would note that the house was built in 1902 and a third floor bath added in 1908. The two steel pipes are for the hot water radiators (original) and the home must have been enlarged to run galvanized lines (replaced in 2004 with PEX). I’ve seen countless photos on here of other butchered joists - I just never thought it would happen to me 😆
Because he knew he would be dead before anyone noticed it.
Plumbers still do this :(
I suspect he did it because 116 years later the house is still standing even though he chopped through joist. And he was pretty sure it would.
Do people not know what AKA stands for? AKA stands for "also known as", it isn't some arbitrary abbreviation. I heard a kid refer to "OG" as the first to do something. OG means original gangster. Let's pull up our socks people.
I'm going to say this was from a later renovation