How to manage/cost investigation by tradespeople

hatt55

I noticed this evening that the bottom of some skirting board in my utility room is rotten. The paint had bubbled up and if you run a knife along it it goes through like butter. The floor is tiled and some of the grout on the nearby tiles has broken up and there is some 'give' if you put weight on them.



This is a single storey lean-to (although is a formal structure - just a lean-to design) in a Victorian terrace which I think has a concrete floor. The neighbours don't have the equivalent lean-to. There is plumbing in the vicinity and a sink, although the sink drains towards the other wall, so I suppose it is possible that there is some kind of leak. Or, could it be moisture coming up through the concrete floor just from the ground below?



So, what I'm wondering is how best to get a diagnosis of the problem. Firstly in terms of what tradesperson to get to have a look and secondly how do you agree and pay for an investigation to find out what the problem is? It feels like the cost of getting someone to just 'have a look' could be hard to keep control of. Can I ask, say, a plumber to 'investigate' for a fixed fee and then depending on the outcome either get them or someone else to carry out the remedial work? Or do I just go straight to a general builder and tell them I want the floor/wall fixed but then potentially miss an underlying cause because the problem wasn't investigated?


It's straightforward if you know exactly what needs fixing! Any advice appreciated.

FreeBear

Some photos might help. If you could post one showing the wall thickness (around an open window), it may offer more clues.

jk0

Are there central heating pipes below? My mother has had these corrode in a concrete floor twice. I suggested she phoned her insurers, who handled the whole job.

hatt55

FreeBear wrote: »

Some photos might help. If you could post one showing the wall thickness (around an open window), it may offer more clues.

I'll get some photos sorted.

jk0 wrote: »

Are there central heating pipes below? My mother has had these corrode in a concrete floor twice. I suggested she phoned her insurers, who handled the whole job.

I don't think so. There is no radiator in the room - part of the reason it gets a bit cold and damp in the winter. I know the pipework has been moved around in the past though and I think the boiler used to be on the opposite wall so perhaps there are some remnants of old pipework. There are some pipes above - water pipes going to the sink and a condensate pipe from the boiler but the top of the skirting board is fine.

I hadn't considered this being an insurance thing though - I suppose if it was a leak then it could be. If I don't know whether it is a leak can I instigate an investigation myself and then retrospectively claim back from the insurer if it is? My inkling is that it isn't, because I can't see why pipework would be near that location, but obviously I don't know.

jk0

I think I might have a chat with the insurer tomorrow, if only for the free advice that their surveyor might give you while trying to deny liability.

Mistral001

Any investigation that a professional such as a chartered surveyor will carry out is unlikely to be totally conclusive even if investigative holes are made in the wall and floor during their survey. However, it could be a good starting point before contacting tradesmen or contractors.