Drooping floor in bathroom

[mormop]

Hi All,

I live in a 19 year hold house, soft block walls, chipboard floors upstairs etc., and a while back we had a leak from the cold water supply pipe to the bath in which the water made its way though to the ceiling in the kitchen below. We punched holes through the kitchen ceiling and drained the water into buckets as soon as we noticed the drip so it probably wasn't wet for that long.

I'm now in the process of redecorating the bathroom and while cutting a new skirting board to run along the bottom of the bath panel, it appears that the floor has sagged about 6 mm in the centre although the chipboard surface doesn't look swollen or degraded.

My main question is is the drop likely the result of the water leak and if so is it worth pulling up the floorboards to check the state of the joists underneath or is a 6mm droop expected?

Thanks in advance,

Jools

 

[JohnD]

Pull up the chipboard and throw it on the bonfire where it belongs.

Before you put down WBP ply, tests the joists with a LONG spirit level.

If someone has removed a loadbearing wall, or fitted replacement windows or doors downstairs, there might be a problem.

 

[mormop]

Hi,

No other mods have been made to the house, it's as it was when we moved in. The funny thing is that nothing feels untoward, the chipboard is solid, doesn't move and there's smell of damp. The only thing that seems wrong is that the middle of the floor is 6mm down while the room is only 1.7m x 1.2m.

Cheers.

 

[JohnD]

I wonder if someone might have notched the joists excessively to run pipes.

I still stay chipboard belongs on the bonfire, so this is a good opportunity to take it up and have a look.

On further thought, 6mm is not much, but I can feel it when I walk on an uneven floor, and is more than you would expect for such a short span.

 

[mormop]

It was the short span that was worrying me as well to be honest. If the room was 5 metres wide, I could understand a bit of drooping but no on a couple of metres.

Plan now is, as you say, pull the boards up and have a look. I doubt there's any real rot down there but I'd rather be certain and quality ply should be the best option.

Thanks again and all the best.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

You said

there's smell of damp.

But was that a typo?

Assuming it was then just carry on, 6mm deflection is fine and whilst chipboard isn't brilliant just carry on. If there was timber decay going on as a result of a leak it would have manifested itself on the ceiling long ago.

Shock horror millions of houses have chipboard floors and they're just fine.