Rotten sub-floor

lewishardwick

Hi all,

I'm in my new (to me) home. Looked at replacing the lino in the bathroom. I pulled it back to reveal a chipboard sub-floor that is pretty damp and moldy, pretty squishy in places too.

I've removed some of the boxing (yay broken tiles) to check that there isn't a leak and so far I can see nothing, so there's no immediate panic. I suspect the bath is the culprit. I have since taken a shower and notice a puddle appear on the floor (with the bath panel removed) so I do wonder if the previous owners were a bit crap with keeping the water inside the bath and it'st just crept and crept.

It's a leasehold flat on the ground floor. I have a managing agent acting on behalf of the freeholder. I have a maintenance/managing agent that maintain the fabric of the building. Who do I contact to get he ball rolling to make a potential claim? It looks like the whole bathroom floor needs replacing along with the insulation underneath...

I have a copy of the buildings certificate but not sure if I can go direct to them.

I am of course aware that it may just need to be covered by me, but just want to get an idea of where I stand...

Any advice?

Thank you!

csgohan4

anything that happened over time is not covered generally by insurance

marksoton

The problem you may have is proving you're not culpable.

AnotherJoe

Maybe as simple as the sealing wasn't too good so as water got under the lino from general splashes (and maybe the shower enclosure design isnt too good if puddles are left outside?), then it couldn't evaporate and would just soak into the chipboard. I think this would be down to you getting it repaired, assuming you are the leaseholder.

lewishardwick

Hmm yeah - I was thinking such. Damn.

Thanks!

AnotherJoe

I would look at replacing the shower enclosure with one that is better at stopping a lot of splashes outside the area , and marine ply for the new subfloor.

[Deleted User]

I'm no plumber, but I'd be investigating where the water is coming from. If you can put paper down (newspaper will do) under the bath, under any pipes, outside the shower, run the shower, check paper, run taps one by one, check paper. This might help you see where the leak is happening.

However, it could also be coming from a leaky water pipe (happened to me, there was a leak from a water pipe embedded in the wall).

If this doesn't help, you'll have to get a plumber in.

I can't advise as to who pays for repairs but I suspect it will be you.

I hope this helps.

Hoploz

If its failure of a fitting you can claim on buildings insurance through the managing co. but if it's just the way it's been splashed on you're on your own!
Chipboard is susceptible to damp though - it goes out of shape and swells very easily when damp, so you might find its easy to just lay some ply on top to give a smooth surface for your new flooring to go onto, assuming you can ascertain there isn't a leak.

marksoton

Whatever you do you need to find the root problem of the water ingress.

Otherwise any material repairs are pointless. And will only be repeated.