Will my kitchen fall through the floor?

[jackieb76]

Hi everyone this is my 1st post and I really hope that someone can help.

We are currently in the cooling off period while buying or 1st home and the building inspection has found that the downstairs shower recess has been and is still leaking and has damaged the particle board. On closer inspection it has been revealed that the damage is not underneath the bathroom itself (it has compressed fibro) but in the wall and under the room next door which just happens to be the kitchen. To repair the rotted particle board obviously requires the kitchen to be pulled out and then put back in. While in the short-term we would not be using the shower at all (until it is dried out and waterproofed correctly), we would at some stage need to fix the water damaged flooring.

Could someone please give us some idea on the cost of fixing this problem? Is this as huge a problem as we think it is? Should we be concerned about our kitchen cupboards, oven etc falling through the floor? How quickly after we move in would we need to look at having this fixed? This is a 25 year old house and there are no other issues with the property.

Any information would be greatly appreciated, urgently if possible.

J & G

[Barry_White]

J & G

It appears that the waterproofing has broken down in the shower recess. This is a problem with some of the flashings installed back in the 80's. These were usually a rubber type compound that was glued to the floor and returned up the wall behind the wall cladding.

These days they usually use a stainless steel flashing that is used in the same manner.

I have a friend who is a tiler who spends 90% of his time repairing old batherooms as well as waterproofing new houses.

When you get someone in you need to make sure they are licenced to do waterproofing. I think you will find it is a separate licence to just a tiler.

If you can get under the house you need to have a look to see if there is any dry rot in your main flooring timbers. You may have to replace some of your flooring. As to cost I can't help you there.

You also should get a builder in to give you a quote and you may find that they would only do a job like this on a "do and charge" basis because the damage is really unknown

[manoftalent]

I imagine this sale was brought on by the foreseen expencive repair bill that will surely come, forget the kitchen removal and refit ....proping up the house to refit barers and joists will cost 1000's ...your options are ..get several qualified builders quotes and then decide if you really want the home ......and are willing to put up with the inconveniance whilst work is being done ......if you are happy with this then renegotiate the buying price or pull the plug on the whole deal ....your first home should be a pleasant experiance .....not a nightmare

[Sturdee]

That could become very expensive, removing a kitchen, repair the floor and replace the kitchen as well as repairing the shower would not be cheap unless you could do it yourself.

Don't know about costs, but I would get some expert advice before the cooling of period runs out. It may be better to look elsewhere or negotiate an appropriate reduction in the purchase price to cover your additional costs.


Peter.

[manoftalent]

oh and as a sub note to my previous post ...this is not a one or two day thing ......even just ripping out the kitchen and laying new flooring ....a week .......a worst case scenario......at least 2-3 weeks ......cant imagine not showering for that long .....so you might as well add alternate accomodation to the costs

[manoftalent]

if it looks like a lemon......smells like a lemon.....then it probably is ....a lemon.

[jackieb76]

Thanks for your replies.
We are willing to redo the kitchen in the future anyway but are unsure if we just do the waterproofing done immediately and allow the floor to dry out, could the repairs be put off until we could afford them? Or would they need to be done straight away?

We have an ensuite and would not need to use the downstairs shower anyway so would be able to make do during the repairs.

Thanks again.

J & G

[echnidna]

Even if the chipboard flooring dries out totally any of it that has been saturated for some period won't have much structural integrity.

So the floor is probably damaged beyond repair.
It's possibly very unsafe in some parts.
I feel its not the type of job that should be put off, unless the house remains vacant.
Its also a prawn of a job to do so labour costs will probably be relatively high.

[manoftalent]

Thanks for your replies.
We are willing to redo the kitchen in the future anyway but are unsure if we just do the waterproofing done immediately and allow the floor to dry out, could the repairs be put off until we could afford them? Or would they need to be done straight away?

We have an ensuite and would not need to use the downstairs shower anyway so would be able to make do during the repairs.

Thanks again.

J & G

Sorry but to be safe here, for your own peace of mind, evaluate once you have had a quote by a professional, this may not be a small job and could turn out quite expencive and end up dangerous too, ...
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[davo_scuba]

I would walk away if you still can and take it as a learning experience,
by the sounds of it it's going to cost plenty of moolarrrr (10s of thousands) realistically.
and thats not to mention the stress and strain it's going to put you both under, it's not something you will enjoy and 3 years down the track when it's still not finished you will be asking yourself why why why.(i know I've been there and now up to my third marriage ).

best of luck with what you decide just factor in plenty of money (and then double it).
Davo