Waterproofing a wooden floor

ScoobyLoot

Hi, I wonder if anyone has done this, or can provide any sure-fire and cost-effective ways to achieve it.

The construction: Large plywood floorboards with existing kitchen in place. Kitchen units are bog-standard chipboard boxes with doors on legs about 6 inches high, which a kickboard is attached to (bless those high budget property developers!). One "cupboard" hides a washing machine, that is to say it's a machine with a cupboard door on the front of it :rotfl: The machine sits on another sheet of plywood about 20mm thick.

Aim: To minimise any damage to the property and associated inconvenience in the event of the washing machine doing a "flood special" or any plumbing failure.

The idea: make the area under the kitchen units and joins to plasterboard on stud walls behind the units into a water-tight area where leaks can be detected and supplies shut off and mopped up before any penetration takes place into the floor/walls. Ideally this needs to be done without ripping the units out and replacing the kitchen (budget!) so a solution needs to work around or seal the legs that the units sit on.

A tricky one perhaps, but has anyone done similar?

phill99

Any thing can be done. But it really depends on how much you want to spend on it. Ou would effectively need to tank the wall and floors but that will result in the cupboards having to be removed.

Additionally the cost to do this may well exceed the costs of any damage that may occur. And its an insured loss anyway so the repairs won't cost you anything.

Provided the plumbing has been well installed and the WM is a decent quality one, a leak is still quite rare.

I can't help thinking you're being paranoid.

ScoobyLoot

Hi and thanks. Yeah I think it's well placed caution. The building has had a number of claims from other residents and as it's proved difficult to even get insurers willing to quote because of prior claims, I want to minimise any bills in the event of my stuff going wrong, for the benefit of the insurance and should the building ever end up being refused cover so that personal costs are reduced. Prevention being better than cure and all that.

Removing the units isn't an option I'd like to consider so I'd like to try and find a way to achieve maximum waterproofing/minimal damage potential without needing to do that.

phill99

ScoobyLoot wrote: »

Hi and thanks. Yeah I think it's well placed caution. The building has had a number of claims from other residents and as it's proved difficult to even get insurers willing to quote because of prior claims, I want to minimise any bills in the event of my stuff going wrong, for the benefit of the insurance and should the building ever end up being refused cover so that personal costs are reduced. Prevention being better than cure and all that.

Removing the units isn't an option I'd like to consider so I'd like to try and find a way to achieve maximum waterproofing/minimal damage potential without needing to do that.

The only option I could think of is to use an 'Altro' type Flooring which is what you see in hospitals etc and is lipped up the walls to a height of app. 150mm. But you still need to get it behind the units to be effctive. However if there is a leak, this will ensure that the water flows through the door into the next room, so you just push the problem somewhere else.

ScoobyLoot

Thanks, I'll look into that. I have a water detector so I can use that in conjunction with any waterproofing solution and hopefully avoid any significant damage in the event of any problems

mandragora_2

Not sure if this is relevant, but we sealed our kitchen floor with a waterproof paint/sealant stuff - it's an old building and we wanted to deal with a lingering damp problem in there. It's been fine since. If you're interested, I can ask Himself what we used and why, but there may be someone else here who knows more, too. I just know it was a great fix for us.

ScoobyLoot

That sounds interesting. Yes please! On the face of it that sounds like an easier option for working under the units than trying to cut and lay a covering of some kind. If feasible it would just leave sorting out corners and edges which is an easier proposition I reckon.

Still open to any and all ideas aswell though!