Repair bottom plate rot in bathroom interior wall

Question

Just started a bathroom renovation in my (new to us) 1961 ranch house built over crawlspace in NC. I planned on new floor, new vanity & sink, new toilet, but I want to keep the cast iron enameled tub and the tile surround on the walls above the tub.  The old flooring consisted of 3 layers of linoleum, and a 23/32 plywood underlayment. The subfloor is diagonally laid 1x6 planks over 2x8 joists roughly 16" on center.

After I took up all the linoleum, it was clear that there was flooring water damage in the tub x wall corner on the side w/the showerhead.  The underlayment was shot, and so was the subfloor plank in the corner.  I trimmed the damaged plank off at the nearest joist and blocked the 2 joists w/2x6.  But...turns out that the rot got to the bottom plate of the interior bathroom wall too.  There's about a 10 inch stretch of the bottom plate w/moderate to severe rot.  This particular bottom plate runs parallel to and directly above two doubled joists (not sure what to call them...they're not fastened but they are set less than 1 inch apart).  By visual inspection in the crawlspace there is zero rot on the joists

The problem is...part of the rot is located behind the tub.  Again, I'd rather not take out the tub or the tile surround above it.  Below is a picture of the bottom plate damage. Any ideas or advice?  Can I repair the bottom plate rot and keep my tub & tile?

Jeff Cates · Answer

Best to remove the tub as there may be more, but if you can see the rot, and reach it without the removal of the tub, then I would say fix it up. Just make sure to seal the replacement and the area around it just in case the rot does actually go deeper than you can see.

Answered by Jeff Cates on February 24, 2021

Bee Kay · Answer

I would make a hole to get a better view from a different direction. What is OPPOSITE the tile wall? In most cases it's a closet or hallway. If it is an interior wall, cut a simple, but big hole between the studs (easier to fix bigger holes really) and take a good look "under" the tub. If you can poke a screwdriver into the wood under there, then you need to pull the tub.

Usually you can get away with just blasting out the bottom two rows of tiles to get to the nails holding the tub to the walls, but that's lame in my book. I find it preferable to rip down the tile and yank the tub, and fix it all at one time. Your funding and mileage may vary.

Repair bottom plate rot in bathroom interior wall

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