Bathroom floor raising and bumpy

Courtney25

Hi,

I moved in to a housing association property 2 years ago. When I first moved in the bathrooms walls use to get so wet and peel off. I called the housing association and they send someone to put a new extractor fan in. Just to add my bathroom has no windows. After that I got someone to paint the walls with special bathroom paint. Everything seemed fine. I then paid someone to put down Lino in the bathroom floor. Everything was fine but last month I noticed the flooring was raising. Like there was big bumps in it. I called the guy to have a look because it was still in the guarantee. He came and lifted it up and basically said there is a damp problem in there which has caused the flooring underneath to raise and he can't do anything to fix it. It's now starting to smell pretty bad! I just don't know what to do. I'm a single mum and I struggled to get the money to the get the flooring down so to hear this was really upsetting. My housing association are pretty useless and to be honest I don't have a clue about things like this! What would my options be??

greyteam1959

It sounds to me as though you have a water leak somewhere.
Is there a downstairs flat ??
Have they got damp or wet patches on the ceiling below your bathroom ??
It really would be up to the housing association to sort something like this out.

Courtney25

Hi,

yes there is a downstairs flat. I’ve noticed that the guy that did my flooring didn’t pull any seal around the edges. I’ve got two small kids who splash a lot so I know my flooring does get wet. I do always wipe it up and have a bathroom mat. 

FreeBear

Courtney25 said: My housing association are pretty useless and to be honest I don't have a clue about things like this! What would my options be??

Make contact with your local Councillor. You cab find out who they are through https://www.gov.uk/find-your-local-councillors - This will take you to your local council web site where you can find names to write to. Failing that, contact your local MP (but he/she could be equally as useless as the housing association).

The Councillor (or MP) should be able to contact the HA on your behalf and give them a proverbial kick up the backside to get things done.

Homer_home

Do you now have an extractor and is it on and working?

What's happening (probably) is that when your kids splash the water runs down the walls and under the vinyl as like you say it hasn't been sealed and as it gets trapped under there it can't dry out and causes damp

You need to lift the vinyl and dry it out and the floor too , once dry use some spray adhesive to stick it down and run a bead of silicone around the edges to seal it , at the same time you need to check under your bath and sink and toilet for any leaks , if you find any call the ha to come fix them 

Courtney25

Hi,

yeah the extractor is working it’s not the best or most powerful but it does work. The guy who did the flooring has advised me to lift the flooring and dry it out ( possibly I could use an electric heater?) and then he will come back smooth out the Bumps and relay the flooring, this time sealing it when he is done. Do you think that could work?? 

Homer_home

Yes did he stick it down last time with spray adhesive 

Homer_home

You should ask him why it wasn't sealed in the first place!

Courtney25

Hi,  No it was literally pushed down. I will attach a photo. When he came he was like oh my colleague should of sealed it but he wasn’t his colleague was definitely him. 

Homer_home

This time you need ensure that the vinyl is properly stuck down with spray adhesive and it is properly sealed at the edges , I hope he is not charging you for this ?

Courtney25

Hi,

thanks for your reply. I have identified the problem! My toilet was leaking every time it was flushed. I can’t believe I hadn’t noticed. At least I know now where the problem is coming from and can work on getting it sorted!