Damp floorboards?

kkll1978

Hi. Is anyone able to give me some advice?

We moved into our house 6 years ago (built 1999). We noticed a stain on the ceiling In the kitchen under where our en suite shower is. However it didn't feel damp and we assumed it was a previous problem now sorted.

We decorated our bedroom and en suite shower in 2007 and since then I have noticed damp on the lino and around the shower. It seems to be leaking down the shower. We have now identified it is possibly due to the door seal being broken so have decided to get a new door and reseal/ regrout. However my concern is that floorboards etc underneath are rotten. How would I know as its difficult to get under the sealed shower unit itself..... I don't want to end up in the kitchen one day while showering!!!!

And I don't have any idea of who I might need to call out. A plumber has quoted us £800 to smash out the shower basin, refit a new one and seal it up.

Any comments welcome. Thanks. :eek:

southcoastrgi

£800 nice work if you can get it, i think you need to get another quote, you will have chipboard floors & they don't like water so if the leak was that bad you would be able to see the damaged flooring in front of the tray, plus the ceiling would have fallen to pieces long ago, draw around the stain on the ceiling with a pencil & see if it gets worse, if it's only the door leaking why are you replacing the tray ?

kkll1978

Hi

We are not replacing the tray just the doors. So you think that there will definiltely be floor damage.....?

southcoastrgi

No I never said that, check the flooring in front of the tray, stand on it push it with your hand, is it moving or does it feel solid ? It should be water resistant chipboard in a bathroom, if it feels solid then I would say it's ok however I can't see it, is that £800 labour only or is he supplying the doors for that too ?

kkll1978

I have lifted the lino in front of the shower and it is damp and the wood is crumbling!!! However that is because the shower is leaking directly on to that. Its labour and parts for that but I thought is sounded steep!!

ListysDad

First step is your insurers... It's an escape of water!

I have to say it sounds to me like the plumber was correct. I'd also put 50p on the fact that the plaster boarding will be rotten up to about 1m too. If it is get him to replace it with TBB before he rebuilds it.

With that level of damage any repair is going to fail as the floor will be wet and as it drys out it will shrink causing the seals to go again. Sorry.

By the way, is it chipboard flooring or proper floor boards? If chipboard how old is the property?

southcoastrgi

ListysDad wrote: »

First step is your insurers... It's an escape of water!

I have to say it sounds to me like the plumber was correct. I'd also put 50p on the fact that the plaster boarding will be rotten up to about 1m too. If it is get him to replace it with TBB before he rebuilds it.

With that level of damage any repair is going to fail as the floor will be wet and as it drys out it will shrink causing the seals to go again. Sorry.

By the way, is it chipboard flooring or proper floor boards? If chipboard how old is the property?

very true although & this is the problem with trays sat on the floor, you have no access to see if the floor is indeed damaged, i totally agree that the plasterbd behind the tiles is prob shot but it takes alot of work to find that out & you can bet your boots that the tiles are no longer available.

ListysDad

That's what our insurance companies (don't like to) pay out for Keith ;-)

If installed for 3 years plus and the tiles 'clack' that equates to shot PB - 100%

kkll1978

Thanks for the advice. The house is 13 years old and the insurance assessor has been out and estimated there is £1000 worth of damage so minus our excess we have £800 to play with. What sort of price should we expect to pay and who would I contact for quotes?

ListysDad

The short and unpalatable answer is DO NOT GET QUOTES. You WILL lose out financially if you do. Ask the insurance company to organise and that way they have to take responsibility.

You can always come back here to ask what it is you can require of them...