Renovating the bathroom and found these dark patches in the joists and roof lumber surrounding the old vent pipe. The PVC part is new.
Anything bad here? Anything we need to address?
It was wet at some point. Assess all possibilities for water infiltration. Sorry, bruh. It’s gonna be a PITA.
I’m guessing this PITA doesn’t come with FALAFELS 😔
That’s signs of a water leak. The flashing around your vent is either non-existent, or is failing.
We had the roof replaced two years ago. I believe they redid all the flashing at that point. So there’s a chance this could be old? If the leak is resolved, which I’ll verify, do we have to do anything to the wood or are we good?
They probably fucked up the flashing. Roofers and siders fuck up all the time. If it’s truly an old leak that’s been fixed, you have nothing to worry about. Go up there and observe during the next strong rain. Edit: grab a house key or a screwdriver, stick into the wood. Does it penetrate really easy? Then you’re fucked. Else you’re fine, as long as the leak isn’t active.
I mean I could just spray a hose up there, couldn’t I?
Yes, but it’d help if someone else observed and recorded to really nail down what’s happening.
I had water penetrating the house after the siders fucked up. Took opening the ceiling and recording the penetration to really understand what the idiots did wrong.
It looks in the image like there might be some fungus. To me that’s a sign that it’s worthwhile to get someone professional to at least give it a look in person.
I’d call in a separate roofer for an opinion. There are some large gaps in your sheathing where you can see the weather wrap through, and boards that have obvious signs of water damage they left in place. I would want someone else to take a look at this and confirm it’s done right.
Might spray it with some antifungal just to reduce chance of mold forming
I’m not a professional and not living in the US.
- Get a Wood Moisture Meter and check everything. If the wood contains more water than it should you have an ongoing problem and there is ongoing microbiological growth.
- Some of the Black / Dark parts look like fungus. (In Swedish “svartmögel” which is directly translated to “black mould”). That shit can cause allergies and worse shit.
All in all: get a professional to check this. I’m Sweden we have “building inspectors” that are experts in leakage and mold that checks this for you.
Hejsan! Jag är amerikan men bodde jag i Sverige några år sedan. Tack så mycket för dina råd. Det kan var lättare i Sverige för sådana saker, tror jag.
Uhh… is it legit to just cut thru beams to put in piping? Over half of those beams are cut thru. I’d ask about that as well. I can’t tell where this is, but if the plumber cut thru load bearing beams to put in plumbing that might be an expensive fix.
No, it’s not. You can drill holes through the center of a joist or rafter but the permitted diameter of the hole depends on the overall width of the board. Notching the edge (or in this case cutting most of the way through it) dramatically weakens the board since the edges bear most of the tension from the load.
I’m not a contractor.
I’d poke around for rot and mark the edges to make sure it isn’t spreading. Maybe try to get up there and check after a storm.
It could absolutely be an old problem that stained the wood. I might make a 1-year calendar reminder if I didn’t see anything after a rain.
