Oil and water coming up through our floor?!
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Lmartin_2
Posts: 8 Forumite
Hi,
There seem to be some experts here
So I had hoped you might be able to help me shed some light on a problem we have with our groundfloor flat. We noticed a small black mark on the carpet during some heavy rain so we poked it a bit and discovered it to be an oily substance... we looked up, not coming from the ceiling, so we rolled the carpet back and discovered a tiny pinpoint hole in the screed floor. Every minute or so a tiny bubble would pop out bringing with it a tiny amount of the oily substance. My first thought was "great, we've discovered an oil well!" but my husband who is far less abstract minded calmed me down. A friend of ours suggested it could be the screed actually rotting due to water under the floor and because of the heavy rain perhaps this water was rising... Her hypothesis began to carry more weight when later that night water began to seep through the floor in the corner of the room (outside wall); not huge amounts, we can control it with a bath towel but still very concerning! We wondered if it could be a corroded heating pipe (no radiators near by and its very close to the outside wall). I phoned a few damp proofing companies this morning but no joy as the only one who answered the phone is off on holiday for two weeks! Any ideas what we should do?? The black ooze coming through the floor is rather disconcerting, and our house is of steel construction (yep, no brick walls!) and I'm sure water and steel don't mix all that well.
Any help, suggestions or humour appreciated!!
Laura
There seem to be some experts here
So I had hoped you might be able to help me shed some light on a problem we have with our groundfloor flat. We noticed a small black mark on the carpet during some heavy rain so we poked it a bit and discovered it to be an oily substance... we looked up, not coming from the ceiling, so we rolled the carpet back and discovered a tiny pinpoint hole in the screed floor. Every minute or so a tiny bubble would pop out bringing with it a tiny amount of the oily substance. My first thought was "great, we've discovered an oil well!" but my husband who is far less abstract minded calmed me down. A friend of ours suggested it could be the screed actually rotting due to water under the floor and because of the heavy rain perhaps this water was rising... Her hypothesis began to carry more weight when later that night water began to seep through the floor in the corner of the room (outside wall); not huge amounts, we can control it with a bath towel but still very concerning! We wondered if it could be a corroded heating pipe (no radiators near by and its very close to the outside wall). I phoned a few damp proofing companies this morning but no joy as the only one who answered the phone is off on holiday for two weeks! Any ideas what we should do?? The black ooze coming through the floor is rather disconcerting, and our house is of steel construction (yep, no brick walls!) and I'm sure water and steel don't mix all that well.Any help, suggestions or humour appreciated!!
Laura
0
Comments
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Can't help much on what your oil/water well is, someone with more expertise will be along soon.
I would ,however, think that this is one for the freeholder to sort?0 -
I think that in Scotland we are the freeholder - I could be wrong but I remember querying it with a solicitor friend when we bought the house and him saying we own the land down to the centre of the earth or something daft.0
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Do you know exactly what kind of steel construction your house/flat is? (BISF, Trusteel etc)
Is there any obvious reason why liquid should be rising through the floor, for example the floor being lower than ground level? Does it have oil-fired heating or did it in the past?
I live in a steel framed house and it sits on a concrete plinth type foundation well above ground level. Therefore if any liquid started coming up through it, it would suggest some sort of burst pipe rather than groundwater to me.Solar install June 2022, Bath
4.8 kW array, Growatt SPH5000 inverter, 2x Growatt ML33RTA batteries.
SSW roof. ~22° pitch, BISF house. 12 x 400W Hyundai panels0 -
hi ed Its Atholl steel construction, with a big step up front and back. There is a pebble dash render which over laps what looks like a concrete plinth as you describe - wondering if the rain is hitting the patio and splashing up into a gap in the overlap? The house used to have storage heaters, whether or not there was anything else before that I don't know. We thought maybe it was a corroded pipe as well, the oily stuff is coming up quite near the outside wall and far away from the radiator - not impossible that its seeping about underneath the screed though I suppose... 0
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I think that in Scotland we are the freeholder - I could be wrong but I remember querying it with a solicitor friend when we bought the house and him saying we own the land down to the centre of the earth or something daft.
That's correct, here we own the land. However as its a flat the other owner(s) may also have liability for any potential costs so a check of your deeds may be helpful.Lost my soulmate so life is empty.
I can bear pain myself, he said softly, but I couldna bear yours. That would take more strength than I have -
Diana Gabaldon, Outlander0 -
I'm afraid I don't know anything about Atholl steel construction, I was hoping if it was the same as mine there may be some clue from the position etc of the leak.Solar install June 2022, Bath
4.8 kW array, Growatt SPH5000 inverter, 2x Growatt ML33RTA batteries.
SSW roof. ~22° pitch, BISF house. 12 x 400W Hyundai panels0
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