Bad code is something like a constant factor, you cannot avoid them even in somewhere like Google or Facebook. The variable here is if people are willing to acc

Bad code is something like a constant factor, you cannot avoid them even in somewhere like Google or Facebook. The variable here is if people are willing to accept improvements. Unfortunately, people usually tend to stop you from bringing major updates to the existing code base because this "could" hinder their immediate works. In this perspective, you're very lucky. At least, you don't need to fight your way to make a simple improvement because someone else just want to keep it as is. But keep this in your mind; if you make their life harder by your rewriting, then they will very likely make yours painful later on. Bring gradual, safe but immediate improvements and gain other's trust first. Then thing will get much easier next time, even someone else could do the job for you!