DURING THE ANNUAL termite inspection on August 30, 2022, our inspector came across a crawl space below the southeast exit corridor (connecting the sanctuary with the play yard) and above the ceiling of the mechanical rooms in the corner of the Social Hall. He spied a badly damaged floor joist, as shown in the photo below — and described at the end of a post I made at the time.
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| (As usual, click/tap on an image to enlarge it.) |
We promptly treated it so as to arrest its deterioration. However, we were unable to see or reach its easternmost end (as would be needed in order to replace the joist), due to the presence of a large metal duct that was blocking access.
Yesterday, Ruben and I figured out another way to get to that previously inaccessible corner of our building. Below the jump, this post describes what we did, and what we found.…
Summary
As you can see below, the newly exposed termite damage is considerable. That in itself is not surprising. What is alarming is the presence of a very heavy object just a few feet away, which is ostensibly being supported by these same damaged joists.
The challenge will be to safely treat for termites, and to replace the damaged wood — all without the floor collapsing under the weight of that heavy object, and without releasing the asbestos in the floor tile in that corridor. (In the meantime, I hate to think what an earthquake might instigate.)
Presumably an early aspect of this repair project should be to move the heavy object out of this corridor, or at least to its far end, so that it is not putting undue pressure on the floor joists.
Our excellent adventure
To visually access the area of interest from above, Ruben removed a piece of plywood at the top landing of the 3-step stairs that join the sanctuary to the play yard, in the southeast exit corridor.
In the 2003 Historic Structure Report, these stairs are listed under Record No. 316, where they are described as “Stairs from exterior door landing made of plywood. Wood threshold.” They were not considered to be historically significant, because they are clearly not original. “Condition: Plywood replacement of floor tiles due to excessive wear and tear. Threshold in poor condition.”
Ruben says that he himself had replaced this plywood a few years ago, so he was familiar with how it was secured to the floor, and with the subfloor beneath.
Next, he removed several of the subfloor planks, to reveal what lay beneath them.
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| Looking down near the southern end of the opening |
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| Looking down near the southern end of the opening |
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| Looking down at the middle of the opening |
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| Looking down at the northern end of the opening |
Some project constraints
- Flooring in the corridor contains asbestos. (See here.)
- Physical support of the flooring needs to be assured in the crawl space, as well as in the room beneath it.
- Preschool teachers and other staff regularly walk through that exit corridor, to use the restrooms adjoining the sanctuary foyer.
- Rainwater intrusion has been spotted beneath the crawl space, and we don’t yet know its source.
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