Laminate Flooring 'dropped'

southlondonproblems

Hi
I have laminate flooring in a ground floor flat in South London. I noticed yesterday that in one area next to the skirting board (about 2 feet long at most), the floor appears to have 'dropped' i.e. I can actually see through to the garden but this is because it has dropped where there is a ventilation brick, not because there is a hole in the outside wall (thankfully!).

I am assuming that this has happened because the floor underneath (which are the original floorboards of the 1920s building) may have rotted or have become damp but I'm not sure.

Does anyone have any other ideas as to why this has happened? Also, any suggestions on repair would be great.

I should also note that I had a very heavy piece of furniture on this particular area of the floor - I have now moved this but am concerned that it will just happen again if this is part of the cause.

Thanks!

Grenage

No way of knowing without lifting the flooring. It's possible that the laminate was never true to the floor, and the heavy furniture simply brought it down.

tonyh66

sounds like the floor joists have rotted if you can see the airbrick which is supposed to be under the floor. Joists need replacing.

TheCyclingProgrammer

How much has it dropped by? If the floor below the laminate isn't even it will eventually take up the shape of the floor. Laminate will tolerate a certain amount of movement - the better the laminate the higher the tolerance - but too much will eventually damage the joints between the boards.

If we're talking more than 5-7mm or so then it does sound like there's a bigger problem - the only way to find out is to remove skirting and the laminate to investigate. Depending on the scale of the problem, the whole lot may need to be lifted.

Jimmy_Neutron

Does the underlay go to the skirting board under the part of laminate which has dropped, it may not which is why it has dropped.