Rotten Chipboard Flooring - Removal Advice Please

[Exinferis]

Hi,

Not sure if you all check other boards, but I've been having a hell of a time with a leaking shower. Shower is now removed and we've decided to install a bath. Trouble is, the rotten boards are obviously not going to hold the weight of a full bath and I'd prefer not to end up in the kitchen one day. So, I need to get the old, rotten boards up and replace them.

I reckon I can get away with removing just two boards as the bathroom's very small. Trouble is, one of the bathroom walls (seperating bathroom from landing) sits over part of one of the boards. With this in mind I decided to break apart the board at it's most rotten point so I could see what was where and, lo and behold, there's two pipes running right down the seam of the two boards I thought I'd be able to remove easily. Ha ha. So, I'm now left with two rotten boards with a large hole in the middle. I'm thinking I'd've been better off just laying some marine ply over the lot and be done with it, but it's too late now!

Oh, and another problem is that the whole bathroom floor has been covered in cork tiles which are impossible to get off!

Any ideas on what I should do next? Better still, anyone in the West Norfolk area want a job?!

Cheers,
Ex.

 

[JohnD]

why is it difficult?

Chipboard flooring is complete rubbish so you need to pull it all up and put down WBP ply.

a jemmy or a club hammer and a pair of bolsters will lift the boards off the joists. If they are still strong you can whiz your TCT circular saw along, set to 17mm depth (i.e. so it will not cut any wires or cables below the chipboard) before pulling it up.

It will not hurt to have some 18mm WBP handy in small sizes so you can put down stepping stones if the room is still in use.

here's one I did earlier
View media item 4494 View media item 4496 View media item 4499 View media item 4500I like to treat bathroom joists with Cuprinol Green while the floor is up in case of future damp

 

[Exinferis]

Thanks for the reply.

I can't take it all out, I don't have the tools and I'm not experienced with this sort of thing. I just want to repair the damaged part enough that I can use a better material (marine ply?) to board over the whole area where the bath will go so that it's solid.

I really don't want to get into a whole bathroom redesign. I'll be mving the sink back to it's original possition, so that's fine. But I don't want to have to remove the lav; we've only the one in the house and if I feck it up then we're stuffed. It's bad enough being sans shower!

So, other than ripping it all out, what's the best course of action?

Cheers,
Ex

 

[JohnD]

you will find it easier to replace a good big sheet than to fanny about with offcuts.

Your old boards are probably 8ft x 2 ft (or 8ft x 4 ft) or the metric equivalent. Measure then to be sure. You can buy 18mm ply in these sizes. Thge T&G might not match. If not, turn them over and try again. Guess how I know that.

See what the most convenient whole size is that you can replace, preferably in one piece.

The only tools you need are a big hammer, a jemmy or bolster, a saw, a drill and a screwdriver. If you lack any of these, mention to SWMBO that Christmas is coming up and it's a shame you can't fix the floor without a ...

 

[Exinferis]

Yup, that was my thought too... About the sheets, not the Xmas (thick moment: what the heck does SWMBO mean? Trust me, if I don't get this floor + bathroom useable within the next week I'll be in no possition to expect anything on Christmas day! )

My main problem is the board that's under the dividing wall. Should I just cut as close the the wall as possible? Only, by all accounts when the carpet fitter came and replaced the carpets he said that there's a big hole on the landing side and it looked like there had been a flood! I wasn't here at the time otherwise I'd have had a good look. So, not sure if I should try and get that whole sheet out from the landing side too? I'll see if I can slide a steel rule under the wall; I've a feeling it won't be attached to anything anyway.

 

[JohnD]

if the dividing wall is studwork + plasterboard, it will quite likely be built on top of one or two joists. You take off the skirting and cut off the old floor as tight to the wall as you can. Then you nail a new lump of timber (joist-sized or a bit smaller) to the side of the old joist so that the new floorboard can stand on top of it and be screwed down.

The old floor will be nailed to the joist so you are not likely to be able to get it out from under the wall. If there are loose damaged bits, cut a piece of ply packing to fit. You may have to hammer it in.

post some photos
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=129539

 

[Exinferis]

OK, will upload some photos in a bit. Just a quick question about cutting the boards out; I see in your pics that there's a pipe near the surface, which is what I have. How did you manage to cut the boards without cutting the pipe? As I know where two pipes are I can work around them, but there may be more under the second piece of board and I don't want to cut them; I've enough plumbing to do already!

Cheers.

 

[JohnD]

I broke the chipboard up by hammering bolsters between the board and the joist, this pulled it off the nails. I used the saw in a few places to make the pieces more manageable in size. Chipboard is not strong and breaks reasonably easily.

I adjusted the circular saw so its cutting depth was just less than the thickness of the chipboard so it would not cut anything underneath.

I looked carefully under the floor to see where the obstructions are (and I have marked then on the flooring as well). My cables run through holes drilled in the mid-point of the joists, or are clipped to the sides of the joists at mid-point.

I am not much good at woodwork but floors are fairly simple.