Rot or Dry rot?

[Zakalwe]

Hi all,

We're in the process of buying a place - 1930's build, 1st floor (of a 3 floor building) purpose-build flat. It has been recently modernised after being a rental property for years.

All rooms have been recently carpeted and, as I noticed a slight dip in the corner of the bedroom, I lifted the carpet in the corner to fit this:

Does anyone have any thoughts on if this could be dry rot? The wood feels almost spongey in places and it flakes away when prodded. It's also possibly worth noting that the wall directly opposite this one is the bathroom, with the bath against the wall. The bathroom has brand new wet-room panelling on every wall, so it's difficult to say if there is any damage to the walls there.

Many thanks

Tom

 

[Silentrunning]

It is quite reasonable to assume that this condition is the result of a previous leak in the bathroom. With this being the room next to the bathroom, it is quite possible that the bathroom is unsafe to use. You are going to have to get access to the joists under the bathroom to see if they are also affected.

This is serious and I wouldn’t delay in getting it repaired. Good luck and let us know what you find.

 

[Silentrunning]

As an added note, the people who sold you the house obviously knew of the problem and did a good job of covering it up. You may have some recourse to help with the cost of repairs.

 

[Zakalwe]

It is quite reasonable to assume that this condition is the result of a previous leak in the bathroom. With this being the room next to the bathroom, it is quite possible that the bathroom is unsafe to use. You are going to have to get access to the joists under the bathroom to see if they are also affected.

This is serious and I wouldn’t delay in getting it repaired. Good luck and let us know what you find.

Thank you for your reply, I will be arranging a damp expert to inspect the property next week to hopefully help ascertain the extent of the damage.

We've not yet bought the property - we've made an offer that has been accepted and are in the process of signing contracts. The difficulty is that, as we don't yet own the property, we can't remove any of the panelling in the bathroom.

I'm not sure how expensive it'd be to repair any potentially damaged joists, but if costly repairs are required, we'd have to reflect this in our offer.

 

[Silentrunning]

I’m not sure how the laws work in your country but here people have to now sign a paper that has several questions on it and one references dry rot. They obviously were aware of the problem and did a poor job of covering it up. I would at least reduce the offer to reflect the cost of the repair if possible.