Rotten Bathroom Floorboard

[hev007]

I am new on here and have a property I am preparing to let. The old bathroom suite leaked from the toilet overflow, the bath edge (it was a roll moulded edge so the water from the shower went all over the floor). Also the taps were not secured with a washer so it leaked from there, the basin outlet 'y' shaped thing was in backwards so the basin water flowed out toward the bath and the outlet pipe was 1cm too narrow and was secured by duct tape. i have only just discovered this.

I should mention at this point I am a 39 yr old mother of three and am doing this on my own mainly by using Google and forums like this.

So far I have removed the toilet, the sink and the bath. I have put isolation valves on all the pipes which in itself was interesting as the main stopcock is letting a bit of water through.

So my first question - I have taken up the old floor to find the floor not level as where the pipes run underneath parallel to the floorboards there was no batten so the boaards were resting on the pipes not the joist and had warped. I have put in the batten and replaced the boards.

One of the floorboards was rotten so I removed it. However the top of the joist underneath is rotten on about the top 1cm (the rest is sound) Is it ok to just remove the floorboard or should I get the joist seen to (or can I do anything myself).

Any hints or tips gratefully received.

 

[gissle]

Hi,

It sounds like you are doing well, and are very handy.

I am not a professional, but I would suggest that the joist needs looking at.

How much of the joist is rotten? Is it along the entire length?

You might be able to get away with removing the rot and using some sort of packer to raise the level back up to where it should be.

I would say that removing the rot so it doesn't spread is the main thing, but if there is a lot of rot, it might damage the integrity of the joist.

Do you have a picture? They are always useful.

Chris

 

[hev007]

rot on floor joist

Here is a pic of the joist which was underneath a rotten floor board in my bathroom. The floor board is replaced. Only the top inch or two is affected the rest is solid.

I have tried to attach a pic.

 

[gissle]

I can't judge too well from that photo, but it only looks like a small strip of joist. I personally would remove any rot and treat the wood with some sort of waterproof stain, then pack out the thickness of material that you have removed . Replace the floor board. The joist looks pretty sturdy. The main thing is that you don't want the rot to spread.

If you are in any doubt I would call a builder in.

There may be some more experienced people on here to offer advise.

Anyway, I hope that this helps.
I hope that this helps.

 

[SMR Bathrooms]

You need to go wider than just the rot with wood. Minimum advised it 400mm either side of visible rot.

The problem is rot is extremely pervasive, if it can get to moisture anywhere once it's source is cut it will "reach" out. Dry rot for example has been know to grow "veins" that pass through concrete to find water.

If you cannot 100% guarantee that the surrounding moisture levels have been brought down to a level where the rot cannot sustain (between 18-22% for dry rot and in excess of 24% for wet rot) then get it removed and the surrounding treated properly.

p.s. dried timber normally 8-10% moisture content. This may be a 1-2% higher in a house but should ideally not increase above this.