Floor joists faulty - what profession do I ask to repair?

whiskywhisky · 17 August 2009 at 11:27AM

Hi All

I am a landlord and even when I bought the property 2 years ago the Kitchen Floor (no cellar) was uneven and sort of sloping at one end. This is obvious when looking at the skirting, as there is around an inch gap. Anyway after a while I had some work done to the house, and in a kitchen wall we found a redundant copper pipe that had not been capped/terminated property. This obviously has slowly leaked and damaged the floor joists etc. Now we need to put in a new kitchen and therefore need to fix the joists first.

Who do I ask for quotes for this job?? do I need a carpenter or should I ask general diy maintenance chaps - I obviously do not want to spend a lot.

I did contact a timber + damp company, the chap came around and as the existing kitchen was still there and lino he could only give an approximate quote. It was basically around £1000 to replace the faulty joists etc. What was annoying in the quote was that the costs will be higher if there is any brick work needed and also the kitchen has to be complete empty otherwise they charge more. The units and sink and appliances will have not be disconnected etc.

Any ideas who I should ask for more quotes? Or I should I go for a specialist damp co?

Thanks

ormus · 17 August 2009 at 11:43AM

is the floor still in place? if so how do you know the joists need replacing?
no one can give you a proper quote if they cant see the full scale of the problem.

alanwjones · 17 August 2009 at 11:55AM

Do you really need a damp company, has the dampness been resolved by the pipe repair?
Could you not have a couple of floorboards lifted to have a look what's happening below, Joists can be treated and repaired and the floor levelled by placing shims under the joists, Get yourself a competent handyman see what he thinks.

27col · 17 August 2009 at 12:27PM

I would have thought that any half decent handyman would be able to do this. I did the complete ground floor of my first house as far back as the 1960's In those days I had only just begun to acquire any DIY skills. The extent of the damage and the repair needed can only be established by getting a few boards up and looking to see what the damage actually is. If it is wet rot then repair might be possible. If it is dry rot it is likely that the whole floor might need replacing. Dry rot has a tendency to return if the original conditions that caused it are not completely irradicated. The spores seem to hang around and re-infect the new wood. There may be some modern treatment available to deal with this. I am not up to date on the subject.