Water damage below suspended floor adjoining a solid floor

[bootneck1978]

I have today discovered that I have had a leak below my floor coming from my sink waste pipe that was not fitted correctly. It could have been leaking as long as 8 months.

My Kitchen is part suspended floor and part solid with an Oak floor covering. today when I walked on it there was water seeping up through the boards over the solid area of the floor.

Due to the damp the boards have now expanded and buckled under the increased tension as well as being lifted up from their glued fixing.

My worry is that the continued water saturation of the suspended timbers and the solid area will now be subject to rot and other damage.

Can someone advise me on the correct course of action I should take to ensure that a quick fix does not result in a long term problem?

Cliff

 

[DAZB]

First thing is to obviously repair the leak. After that all you can do is try to extract as much water as possible as quickly as possible from below the flooring. The suspended section will dry out much quicker but the solid area will be a much different story. Unfortunately it may be too late if it has already started to lift and it looks like it may be a full removal and re-laying job using new flooring. Only time will tell as to what you can salvage but I would consider looking at your insurance policy to see if it may cover the damage. I would also question how the leak happened and if the person who installed the waste pipe is liable then I would follow it up as their insurance may be getting the call instead of yours.

 

[mointainwalker]

If the leak is possibly due to incompetence, will it not be necessary to leave it until the plumber/whoever has inspected it unless there is some way to document it ?

 

[Nige F]

Can someone advise me on the correct course of action I should take to ensure that a quick fix does not result in a long term problem?

Cliff

Just ring your insurers , don`t worry about the ins and outs - that`s what you pay them for