Kitchen lights visible through flooring upstairs

belisha-beacon

We're looked round a house last week. It was on the expensive side for what it was but suited us very well and we think that if we can get it for a more reasonable price, we'd go for it.

In general it was in good condition, having been newly redecorated after being rented out, it's got a new kitchen etc as well and the agents are very scathing of our offer of 10% below asking price because of that. However, when we looked at the upstairs bathroom, it has 'feature floorboards' which are wide, varnished floorboards. They're obviously old ones as there are small gaps between several of them, they may date back to when the house was built in the 20s. Through the gaps, we could see the kitchen lights shining. To me, this is a big no-no - water may splash or leak in a bathroom and if you can see the lighting from the floor below then that implies to me that the electrics aren't protected. I'm a first time buyer with no knowledge of DIY though, just going on gut instinct. I've never seen a bathroom with no floorcovering before so it is possible that they are all like that underneath!

Should there be anything between the bathroom floor and the kitchen ceiling to protect the electrics from water? If so, would that be expensive to install and would it come up on a house survey, or could it be as simple as installing lino? We're partly basing our low offer on that but I'm sure the agents will have learnt from that and will switch off the kitchen lights before going upstairs with other buyers and we don't want to lose out if someone else will bid higher, then get the survey and agree a reduced price accordingly.

Doozergirl

There's no requirement for putting things between the boards. It's the electrics themselves that should trip if they did come into contact with water. The electrics are protected by flex.

But yes, a better floor covering would be sensible. Floor tiles and sealing the edges would help more than just lino would.

Imp

The boards were probably but jointed when they were laid, how ever many decades ago, but wood shrinks across the grain with age, so these gaps open up.

It is normal to run electrics for the lights through the void between the ground floor ceiling and the first level floor. With these new recessed lights, some of the light does come through the light and light up the void area. If there are gaps in the first level floor, then you can see the lights through the gaps.

As the electrics for the kitchen lights are in danger of being splashed by water from the bathroom (a shower pointing away from the shower tray etc.) then I think it would be good practice to install lights in the kitchen with a suitable IP (ingress protection) rating. You can bet your bottom dollar that they are not, and so they will need some protection, the simplest being to fit lino in the bathroom for around £110 (pick it on Saturday, fitted some time the following week, so not much delay/hanging around.)

On the bright side, if you buy the house as it is now, then you get to choose the lino. If you insist on the vendor installing the lino, you won't have any control over what is installed, so I wouldn't see this as a show stopper.

keith969

In practice even with lino or other covering there is still a possibility that water can get into the electrics below e.g. if your bath overflows. And I've never heard of anyone trying to waterproof lights below a bathroom, let's face it if water does regularly go through the floor your plasterboard will stain / collapse anyhow.

If you don't want to put down lino why not just get a nice big bath mat/rug to stop any accidental splashes?