layers upon layers upon layers...

       I decided this morning that it was time to get down into the floor of the past-kitchen-future-bathroom to find out what's going on down there since it's one of only two spots in the house that were topped in linoleum over plywood rather than the original hardwood flooring.  I had pulled out the linoleum sheet last week and today I assumed that I would pull up the plywood and find the pine strip subfloor underneath.  So, up came the first corner piece of plywood, and underneath?  Another floor.    Another linoleum floor, this time tiles in a quaint blue-white checkerboard pattern.  And under that?  Another layer of plywood.  Under the second layer of plywood, A third layer of maroon linoleum sheet flooring.  Finally, under three layers of linoleum and two layers of plywood I found the original subfloor.
       In between each layer of flooring were shims that had been put in to level the particular layer being added.  I found as I removed layers of flooring and shims that the center of the room got lower and lower.  Now, with nothing left but the subfloor there's a major dip running down the middle.  It's probably two inches lower than the floor at the perimeter wall.  Also, In the upper right of the pictures below you can see the one spot of rot in the house.  It's below where the sink was and it's the only water damage I've found.   Since this room is going to be a tiled bathroom I need the floor under the tile to be rock solid and perfectly level.  So, I'll be ripping out this entire floor, re-leveling the joists, and moving the joists closer together so they're 12 inches on center rather than 24.  That, in addition to blocking between the joists, will make for a fine tiling substrate!