I have a house that was built in 1870, and the upstairs bath floor is very
soft and creaky (I'm 180 lbs and I worry about my foot going through it one
of these days). It is a very small bathroom, with the worst part of the
floor between the toilet and shower (about 2' square). I want to pull out
the toilet and the carpet, and replace the subfloor. (for what it is worth,
the damage likely came from an earlier toilet leak, or the fact that someone
put the bath vent into a wall cavity and I'm sure it just condensed the
moisture and ran it right down to the floor).

I pulled back the carpet to see what was under there, and right in the
middle of my target area, there is a large round metal disk (5" diameter)
with a bolt running downward (bolt head is hex, 1 1/4" diameter). I've seen
similar things used for structural support in old brick buildings (like in
New Orleans), where the bolt holds two plates together, one on either side
of the building. In my case, however, the bolt goes straight down.

As far as I can tell, the bolt is above my dining room, so it doesn't go
very far, because there is no sign of it on the dining room roof.

So I have two questions, before proceeding:

(1) What precautions should I take when removing the subfloor- should I try
to leave the bolt where it is? I don't think I can really replace any part
of the floor without removing the bolt, so if I have to leave it, I'm
hosed..

(2) were these types of support plates used for anything other than
structural support? for example, the drain line from the toilet probably
feeds under this area toward the main drain which is next to the shower. Is
it possible that someone used this to support the toilet drain? If so, what
should I do? If there is a cast iron pipe under the toilet, I'd rather keep
it (to keep the noise down, PVC drains are just too noisy), but I'm not sure
if I'll just get stuck putting a big bolt back in the floor to hold it,
ruining my chance to put down a tile floor.

Any suggestions, and your voice of experience, would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,
Keith

If it is located in the middle of the dining ceiling it was likely for a
chandelier

It isn't on center- my guess is it is about 10 feet from the chandelier. (if
it protruded into the dining room, I'd estimate it would come out about 3
feet from the wall- no other construction or mechanicals downstairs in the
vicinity :-/

Good idea though- any other thoughts?


"m Ransley" wrote in message
...
If it is located in the middle of the dining ceiling it was likely for a
chandelier

Maybe a capped drain, from a floor drain or a remodeling and moving of
fixtures. I would take out the floor. On my house it felt semi solid
but the floor and ceiling below I removed, everything was rotted from
years of leaking. Expect to have to shore up the joists and everything.

Have you tried turning it? Is there any tension on it?

K Ruck wrote:

I have a house that was built in 1870, and the upstairs bath floor is very
soft and creaky (I'm 180 lbs and I worry about my foot going through it one
of these days). It is a very small bathroom, with the worst part of the
floor between the toilet and shower (about 2' square). I want to pull out
the toilet and the carpet, and replace the subfloor. (for what it is worth,
the damage likely came from an earlier toilet leak, or the fact that someone
put the bath vent into a wall cavity and I'm sure it just condensed the
moisture and ran it right down to the floor).

I pulled back the carpet to see what was under there, and right in the
middle of my target area, there is a large round metal disk (5" diameter)
with a bolt running downward (bolt head is hex, 1 1/4" diameter). I've seen
similar things used for structural support in old brick buildings (like in
New Orleans), where the bolt holds two plates together, one on either side
of the building. In my case, however, the bolt goes straight down.

As far as I can tell, the bolt is above my dining room, so it doesn't go
very far, because there is no sign of it on the dining room roof.

So I have two questions, before proceeding:

(1) What precautions should I take when removing the subfloor- should I try
to leave the bolt where it is? I don't think I can really replace any part
of the floor without removing the bolt, so if I have to leave it, I'm
hosed..

(2) were these types of support plates used for anything other than
structural support? for example, the drain line from the toilet probably
feeds under this area toward the main drain which is next to the shower. Is
it possible that someone used this to support the toilet drain? If so, what
should I do? If there is a cast iron pipe under the toilet, I'd rather keep
it (to keep the noise down, PVC drains are just too noisy), but I'm not sure
if I'll just get stuck putting a big bolt back in the floor to hold it,
ruining my chance to put down a tile floor.

Any suggestions, and your voice of experience, would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,
Keith

It may be a support, or it may be a cleanout for the drain.
Cut a hole in the subfloor where you can take a look at it.
It shouldnt be a problem either way. If it is a support, you
can reconfigure the support when you have the floor up. If it
is a cleanout, you can install a recessed cleanout cover. You
could recess it even if it were a support and for some reason
can't be moved.

I would cut the hole in the floor and take a look to see what
it is, then proceed based on your inspection.


--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

It doesn't turn freely; I can wedge a screwdriver tip under an edge, but my
guess is that it is more the soft floor pushing down under the screwdriver
tip, rather than the plate coming up.

I guess if the floor is that soft anyway, it doesn't matter? If it were
under pressure I'd think the floor wouldn't be soft (it would be under
pressure, or bust through).

Still kinda anxious about actually starting demolition, without knowing why
that thing is there...

Thanks,
Keith


"Matt" wrote in message
oups.com...
Have you tried turning it? Is there any tension on it?

I'm already dreading that possibility
:-)

"m Ransley" wrote in message
...
Maybe a capped drain, from a floor drain or a remodeling and moving of
fixtures. I would take out the floor. On my house it felt semi solid
but the floor and ceiling below I removed, everything was rotted from
years of leaking. Expect to have to shore up the joists and everything.

Sounds good- now I know what I'll be doing when I get home each evening for
the rest of the week.
I'll post again if I run into problems-
Thanks,
Keith

"Robert Allison" wrote in message
news:OeDve.9119$dY1.85@trnddc06...
K Ruck wrote:

I have a house that was built in 1870, and the upstairs bath floor is
very
soft and creaky (I'm 180 lbs and I worry about my foot going through it
one
of these days). It is a very small bathroom, with the worst part of the
floor between the toilet and shower (about 2' square). I want to pull
out
the toilet and the carpet, and replace the subfloor. (for what it is
worth,
the damage likely came from an earlier toilet leak, or the fact that
someone
put the bath vent into a wall cavity and I'm sure it just condensed the
moisture and ran it right down to the floor).

I pulled back the carpet to see what was under there, and right in the
middle of my target area, there is a large round metal disk (5"
diameter)
with a bolt running downward (bolt head is hex, 1 1/4" diameter). I've
seen
similar things used for structural support in old brick buildings (like
in
New Orleans), where the bolt holds two plates together, one on either
side
of the building. In my case, however, the bolt goes straight down.

As far as I can tell, the bolt is above my dining room, so it doesn't go
very far, because there is no sign of it on the dining room roof.

So I have two questions, before proceeding:

(1) What precautions should I take when removing the subfloor- should I
try
to leave the bolt where it is? I don't think I can really replace any
part
of the floor without removing the bolt, so if I have to leave it, I'm
hosed..

(2) were these types of support plates used for anything other than
structural support? for example, the drain line from the toilet probably
feeds under this area toward the main drain which is next to the shower.
Is
it possible that someone used this to support the toilet drain? If so,
what
should I do? If there is a cast iron pipe under the toilet, I'd rather
keep
it (to keep the noise down, PVC drains are just too noisy), but I'm not
sure
if I'll just get stuck putting a big bolt back in the floor to hold it,
ruining my chance to put down a tile floor.

Any suggestions, and your voice of experience, would be greatly
appreciated.


Thanks,
Keith

It may be a support, or it may be a cleanout for the drain.
Cut a hole in the subfloor where you can take a look at it.
It shouldnt be a problem either way. If it is a support, you
can reconfigure the support when you have the floor up. If it
is a cleanout, you can install a recessed cleanout cover. You
could recess it even if it were a support and for some reason
can't be moved.

I would cut the hole in the floor and take a look to see what
it is, then proceed based on your inspection.


--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX