Hole in Floorboards

nikkiemac8

Hi looking for some advice, we rent our flat privately and it is above a shop, the house is an old building and is always cold. There has recently been new tenants moving into the shop underneath us and the builders are very noisy and we could clearly smell them smoking from our toilet, we could hear them talk as if they were in the same room so decided to remove the bath panel and have a look.

Under the bath we have found there is two huge holes right through to the shop underneath. We can see right in and see the men working, this is clearly why our house is always cold as the shop has been unoccupied for over 2 years.

Wondering what I should do, obviously I am going to contact the landlord but what should I expect? should he come and cover the holes? and also should I ask for some sort of compensation as our heating bills have always been high but we had put it down to having 2 young kids and us always wanting to keep them warm.

Any advice would be great, thanks

dominoman

Where you can see holes under the bath you could add some sheet or wood to stop the air flowing.

There's not much more that can be done without taking up floorboards, which your landlord won't want to pay for, and nor should he.

Smells like cigarette smoke do often find their way through floors and wall gaps, but hopefully this is only temporary.

Asking for compensation will just wind him up and won't get you anywhere.

nikkiemac8

its not just a little hole though, if I moved 2 of the floorboards to one side as they are loose I could probably climb down into the shop

Elli452

If there are builders in downstairs and you can see them, surely they will be putting up a new ceiling as part of the works?

phil24_7

I suspect the ceiling downstairs will be sorted, then you can put some thin ply sheeting under the bath to stop most of the draughts. It'll only cost a few quid.

Your landlord will not be liable for any compensation as he has never been made aware of the problem and been given an opportunity to rectify it.

Regards
Phil

nikkiemac8

thanks for the replies, had a look in the shop window and not too sure if they have removed the ceiling but not exactly sure where my bathroom is in relation to the shop, you might be right though, think I will wait and see what happens as they seem not be nearly done anyways.

Norman_Castle

Put your head through the hole and ask the builders if they are putting a ceiling there.
Not having a plasterboard ceiling could increase the speed a fire could spread.

stator

Start using the hole as a toilet