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Laying new floor - needs DPM?
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Doozergirl wrote: »Sounds like a nightmare.
There's 'only' three companies involved in fixing my car after an accident and it's not totally fixed after three months!
They don't make it easy for themselves.
Fingers crossed the dehumidifiers do their job!
How long were they in for the first time?
They were in for about a month, much of which time they were on 24-7. I turned the upstairs one off at night, because I couldn't sleep, but the upstairs was not as affected by the leak.
I think the problem is probably that the water was trapped under the Marley tiles and couldn't escape, despite the dehumidifiers.
I had a person around who has done insurance work before, and said that (a) they would have been required to remove not just the Marley tiles, but also the bitumen adhesive (Aspect Contracts just shovelled up the tiles), and (b) they wouldn't have been allowed to lay flooring in the situation I'm in, until the RH readings were normal.
Ironically, Midlands Response told me to keep the understairs cupboard door closed during the dehumidifying, because some of the tiles in there were crumbling (and they didn't want to risk the fans spreading asbestos from the tiles). The moisture in there is so ad you don't need a hygrometer - you can smell and feel the damp.(Nearly) dunroving0 -
<<Groan>> update in case it is useful.
Brief summary:
Large water leak from upstairs cistern on 18th June (I calculated 2,500 gallons over 6 hours, but much of it would have been diverted via the cistern overflow pipe). I'm insured via Saga, with Acromas being underwriter for the buildings insurance. They have subcontracted Davies Co. as loss adjuster, who in turn have subcontracted Midlands Response (drying company), Blyth Group (builders), Bishops (removals company) and Aspect Contracts (asbestos company).
Midlands Response removed the sodden kitchen ceiling from my kitchen floor, removed all carpet and installed two large dehumidifiers (one upstairs and one downstairs) for 5 weeks, after which they (apparently) issued a drying certificate to Davies Group (loss adjusters). This took things up to end of July.
19th August, removers took my furniture and put it into storage, so that on 20th August, Aspect Contractors could remove all the asbestos-containing thermoplastic tiles. They left the bitumen glue on the floor (apparently, this is often ground off before laying screed), and applied PVA to seal the bitumen, which also contains small amounts of asbestos.
The following week, I got high moisture readings (90% plus) in several places on the concrete flooring, from a hygrohood I borrowed from a local flooring company.
Midlands Response were therefore called back in week beginning 9th August and obtained readings as high as 99% RH (in the understairs cupboard) and of 90% plus elsewhere. They installed two dehumidifiers (one condensing type and the other a dessicant type), and put down two hygrohoods. Dehumidifiers were kept running 24hrs per day for a week.
Today they came back and found readings of 86% RH and 89% RH from the two hygrohoods. They also took some readings in the kitchen area, that still has ceramic tiles down (the kitchen/diner had carpet on the dining area, and ceramic tiles on the kitchen area), and found high readings there too, indicating the water may have migrated under the ceramic tiles (maybe via the grout/adhesive?).
So ... the dehumidifers will stay where they are for another 10 days or more. They have drilled holes and installed two floor plug hygrometers, to get readings from further down in the concrete. The technician commented that the concrete was pretty soft. Does anyone more knowledgeable than I am know whether this is possible due solely to 3 months of being wet from the leak event, or would this be a sign of more long-term damp/ more long-term problem?
Also, I have decided to replace the kitchen, as there will already be much reinstatement work. I thought I may as well take up some of the ceramic tiles, to measure whether the concrete floor underneath is damp. Would this be a good idea?(Nearly) dunroving0
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