cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/60655797

I think I'm looking at original floorboards, rotting underlayment on top of those, a delightful assortment of other boards on top of that, then Pergo flooring.

I'm unsure of the best way to proceed. My gut says to pull up the top layer of boards to remove that underlayment, but then I worry that that turns into ripping up the whole floor.

(Left Side cabinet)

(Right side wall)

That bottom layer of wood, likely your subflooring, looks pretty solid.

That thin layer on top of it might be vintage linoleum, which can contain asbestos.

It's not doing much harm under the other layers of flooring, but be careful if you're determined to remove it, and consider professional help.

Otherwise, it's an area that will be hidden under the new dishwasher, and whatever other cabinets you fill the rest of the under-cabinet space with.

All you really have to worry about is making sure the dishwasher has a relatively level surface to rest its adjustable feet on.

Since you have the area exposed, you might also consider replacing the water stained drywall at the bottom. It might help make the kitchen smell less musty.

Or not. Again, it will be hidden.

Doesn’t look too bad!! If you can check underneath if there’s a crawlspace or something that’s where you could really find damage. You’d want to look for water damage to floor joists or mold growth. Doesn’t look like there will be any but always good to do a thorough check.

Back in the day, kitchens were one of two colors; harvest gold and avocado green. Looks like yours used to be avocado green, congrats.

They posted this elsewhere but I'm not sure that's drywall. My house was built in the 1930s and is very similar construction to this. I'd guess it's solid wood

Looks like that wood panel on the left expired on 05-03-0941. Thats at least 1085 years of spoil. Does it smell rotten?

Pour a can of anti-fungus liquid on these boards, cover with a piece of linoleum or some waterproof rug, install your dishwasher, and leave further remodeling to your grandchildren.

There's a basement underneath, and I can say a lot about my basement, but I'm reasonably certain the floor joists all look good and are mold free and solid.

Avocado green is hot. Thank you.

I'm going to pull that off next for easier access to the undersink area to install the outlet, so that's a good call out. I definitely want to replace some parts of these cabinets with new treated plywood or something, so I'll add that to the list. It does not smell rotten or anything though. They really knew how to make plywood back in 941 CE.

That's great! If the bones of the building are okay, you can always change out things like floors and even drywall easily! Subfloors are a little more difficult but you can swap them out, same with studs and joists.

The good thing is if you did want to swap out the floors, you can do whatever material you want since it's going to be hidden.

Now that you mention it, I don’t think its drywall either. I was thinking of hitting it with some Kilz paint.

Again, why? Do you see mold? If you aren't identifying real issues to.address, the best coarse of action for a house which has been there a while without developing any issues is to just leave it be. Not that killz would hurt but.. why?

Do you know what year this house was built? Is it from say.. the 1910s to the 1950s? Based on that paint color, it's what I would guess, along with the seemingly single wall construction. If so, it's a pretty good chance its redwood, and not that floppy 3rd growth shit, but the real deal, "were mining the future of the planet", old growth redwood. The actual redwood parts of my house are the only parts which have 0 issues related to insects or mold.

Now that I have a had a second look, I believe that back cabinet wall is wood, not drywall.

Ah harvest gold, the piss filter of the 70s…