"Bouncy floor" in survey - *UPDATE*

MadMonkey

Hi - we are in a a chain and our buyers buyers have had the survey back and it says that the living room floor seems "bouncy" and sounds a "bit hollow".

They have a structural engineer going out on Monday to look at the floor in detail.

What could these things mean and how would they be put right ? Costs ?

Basically the chain is now frozen until the engineer says if it's ok or not.

The house in question is approx 20 years old.

Nothing else was identified on the survey - which was a homebuyers.

---

Well last Monday an engineer went out and agreed there was a "bounce" and recommended a company to go in to drill the floor and assess the damage. He said they could either then inject filler into the holes or worst case scenario rip the floor up and relay it.:mad:

Major stress for a whole week until company went today.

They went in and drilled a hole - the floor is a block and beam floor and as such is supposed to flex:D

Very happy that the "problem" has been solved but mightily annoyed that it was allowed to go this far:mad:

The owners of the house have had to pay out £200 for the engineer and £300 for the drilling company just to be told that the "bounce" is normal:eek:

We are now waiting for the buyers of the bouncy house to get back to the EA and confirm they are now happy to proceed.

subjecttocontract

Living room = ground floor I assume.
The type of problem depends on design/construction used.
* Timber joists/boards.
* Concrete block/beam suspended
* Concrete directly onto sub base
Probably best to wait for surveyors report rather than speculate.

benood

Classically a bouncy floor is symptomatic of dry rot - assuming it's a timber floor.

subjecttocontract

Classically a bouncy floor is symptomatic of dry rot

Thats probably screwed up his weekend !

Rover

Not necessarily. Barratt homes were well known for cheap, 'minimalistic' joisting in the late 70's, early 80's. Is it a Barratt build?

I bet it's just a case of insufficient joisting. Especially noticeable if the new owner comes from an 'proper' old house or concrete flooring.
Remember visiting a friends new build house in the early 80's, ornaments bounced across the room when people entered the lounge. It was a Barratt.

merlinthehappypig

Our first house was a Barratt, built in 1981.

Last time I went past it it looked like a bouncy floor was the least of it's problems........I'd be amazed if it was still there in 20 years time.

MadMonkey

Dry rot ?:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Presume that is a death sentence and not mendable:huh:

Would dry rot not be more for older properties with ventilation issues ? This is only 20 years old.

I may not make it to completion on this house - I may well die of stress related disease before then - stroke, heart attack e.t.c:eek:

subjecttocontract

Its fixable.....virtually everything is fixable.

theGrinch

i had a survey back with "bouncy floors" turned out to be nothing more than layers of underlay and carpet! looking on bright side.

MadMonkey

theGrinch wrote: »

i had a survey back with "bouncy floors" turned out to be nothing more than layers of underlay and carpet! looking on bright side.

:beer: :j :T

benood

subjecttocontract wrote: »

Classically a bouncy floor is symptomatic of dry rot

Thats probably screwed up his weekend !

Sorry - but he's now on route to ruling it out! Better to confront problems head on IMO. Doubtless the surveyor was wanting to call in a specialist to rule it out.

Absolutely lack of ventilation and dampness are what you'd expect with dry rot, and you'd typically have a mushroomy sort of smell too.

It's all treatable and probably not as bad as many other potential problems - I'd prefer a house in a good location with dry rot to the converse!