Let’s take a Look in your Sub-floor…
Plumbing…not! This is a storm water line running beneath a house. Obviously it is not going to do its job - rather it is going to empty the storm water, collected from the roof, directly into the sub-floor area. Over time, this is going to create a lot of additional wetness here, leading to undermining of piers, white mould, deterioration or fretting of brick/concrete piers and in the case of a timber floor it allows moisture up into the house.
Here is a dodgy repair job! Not only are the replacement brick balanced precariously on the remains of an old sandstone pier, but the timber bearer above is still not supported at all.
This picture shows a ‘dwarf wall’ beneath a house. Unfortunately, this one has a bad case of fretting to both the bricks and mortar! (Fretting is basically the disintegration of the material in masonry). Over time the wall will compress as the mortar and bricks disintegrate causing the wall to shrink. Fretting may be caused by moisture, minerals and salts in the soil (as the moisture evaporates from the brickwork), and the type of brick used. Of course, there can be many other factors, but this will give you a brief summary.
Galvanised gutter in contact with copper - the unused galvanised gutter left here can corrode the copper pipe over time, causing plumbing issues.
Note the delignification of the bottom edge of the timber bearer touching the top of the brick pier (lacking a metal ant capping). Over an extended period of time, this can cause the timber to decay and lose strength.
Looking up at the underside of the ply flooring - the darker marks reveal the extent of the shower leaking - if not attended to this will cause the flooring (and eventually the subfloor timbers also) to deteriorate/rot, leading to needing bathroom and floor replacement if not dealt with.
Showing a termite lead running up the inside edge of the pier.
See the subfloor timbers touching the ground - and the moisture marks up in the timbers. Over time this will lead to timber decay in the bearer.
Note the solid infill panels (lined with silver paper) which have been installed to ‘improve’ the look of the exterior, but in the process of this have blocked off ALL subfloor ventilation. Lack of ventilation can aid termite activity, increase moisture levels and mould, and lead to timber decay.