Damp patch on floorboards

[AlGiff]

My first post and hoping someone can help. I'm in the process of purchasing a 3 bed semi that requires total refurbishment throughout. The work invloved does not concern me as I'm pretty handy at most jobs but there is one thing that is concerning me a little with the property. For background the house is vacant after being rented to someone who clearly did not look after or maintain the property.

The ground floor dinning room had a suspended timber (floorboards) floor that has a damp patch in the middle of it. It looks to me like something has been spilt onto the floor and been allowed to soak into the carpet and then penetrate the floorboards. I don't think the damp is coming from below because it is only wet in places, i.e. Parts of some floorboards are damp and not others. I can also see some areas where the underlay had stuck to the floorboards in the damp area. Underlay has not stuck in any other part of the floor.

Ive attached some photos to show what it looks like.

I'd love to lift a board or two to check the condition of the joists underneath, can I ask to do that before I commit to the sale or am I being overly cautious?

Many thanks, Alex

 

[Burnerman]

How long has the carpet been gone, Alex? I'd really doubt there would be huge issues as presumably there would be some rot if the damp was historic.
Can you see if the air bricks outside are clear, and well above surrounding ground?
John

 

[AlGiff]

Thank for the reply John. I don't know how long the carpets have been up. I've just taken a look at the photos taken for the sales broucher and there looks to be slightly less damp now than approx 1 month ago when the photos would have been taken.
The house is not heated at present so any drying out would be from minimal air flow around the house.

Air bricks for that room are clear and well about ground level.

I'd have thought if there was a serious issue the whole of the affected floorboard would be wet/damp, I.e. There's would not be dry patches like you can see next to the black stain in the last photo.

 

[Burnerman]

I completely agree. You are certain the boards are wet, and not just coloured with old varnish or something?
There's no chance of lifting an odd board, I'd suppose? Its good to hear the air bricks are well above ground!
John

 

[JohnD]

that's a tremendous amount of wet. I'd think a leak, maybe in the bathroom or kitchen but maybe the supply pipe under the floor. I think you should insist on taking up floorboards to investigate.

If the outside stopcock has been turned off, the water may dry out, but the fault remains.

If it's a drain leak, it might not occur again until you run a bath, or there is heavy rain.

It could even be a roof leak, but that would probably show upstairs.

Bad leaks often leave surprisingly clean patches where the dirt has been washed away.

I suppose a vandal or disgruntled tenant might have left a tap running.

 

[AlGiff]

I could defiantly feel a difference in the moisture content of the boards John. I'd say they are moist rather than wet.

JohnD ther is no evidence of a leak from either the kitchen, located next to the room where I took the photos. The bathroom has at some point in time leaked throught the ceiling but that is into the other downstairs room not this one. The stopcock has not been turned off so it could be a leak on the water feeding in the property.

 

[Mike10]

I would have thought the underlay would have been more likely to stick in the doorway where there was more foot traffic on it. That may be a red herring.
Thinking outside the box... those tiles in the hallway look clean, someones not scrubbed them and hosed them off and let the water flood onto the wooden floor by any chance?

 

[Burnerman]

Looking at the pics again, the damp is greatly pronounced at the joins of the T&G so there has been some standing water in that room.
The ceiling looks undamaged (that we can see from here, anyway). Is there any sign of some toe rag nicking copper pipe?
John

 

[AlGiff]

Thinking outside the box... those tiles in the hallway look clean, someones not scrubbed them and hosed them off and let the water flood onto the wooden floor by any chance?

That could be a possibility Mike10. The hallway tiles are particularly clean compared to the rest of the property.

Looking at the pics again, the damp is greatly pronounced at the joins of the T&G so there has been some standing water in that room.
The ceiling looks undamaged (that we can see from here, anyway). Is there any sign of some toe rag nicking copper pipe?
John

The ceiling is not damaged in that room. I do think it has been caused by something being spilt on the carpet as this is the only room where the floor covering has been removed.

 

[Ian H]

Decomposed body, recently removed?

 

[Burnerman]

Aaaargh
John

 

[JohnD]

man down my road ended up like that. I believe the flooring was removed and neat zoflora applied.

 

[AlGiff]

I'm now 2 months down the road, I purchased the house with the wet floor and yesterday started ripping up the floorboards to investigate the source of the wetness. It was 100% from the top down , I.e something spilt on the floor, not some issue from below coming up.

Based on the rank smell of the boards and the animal scratch marks on the doors in the room, my best guess would be that a dog was locked up in here and it peed on the floor. Now I just need to give the joists a clean to get rid of the salt and mould and see if they dry out over the next few days. I've plenty of other jobs to do so can leave this room alone for a while.

 

[lostinthelight]

Thanks for the update, its always nice after following a thread for posters to come back with the outcome and to know that no dastardly deed or murder most foul had been committed
litl

 

[Gerrydelasel]

I encountered the same thing in my house. A 'damp' patch on the floorboards, right in the middle of the room, with no explanation. No pipes anywhere, no leaks, it didn't touch the walls, 6 feet of airspace below (the cellar). I left it for weeks and it didn't seem to get much drier either. Eventually I concluded someone must've spilled something wet and oily on it, and that was that. I just re-carpeted.