bathroom and en-suite floor

[jackrory]

hi all, this is my first post..thankfully i discoved this site as i am a bit of a diy disaster. i'm having a couple of problems to do with the floors in my bathroom and en-suite. in the bathroom (which is the length and width of a bath) the floor seems to have a slight dip twords the middle of the room, i think if you put a marble at the door it would roll to the centre before it settled. the house is 7yrs old and the flooring under the lino is standard woodchip i guess. in my en-suite i seem to be able to feel the joices' (spelling?) under my feet. i have two young children who like to splash about when they are in the bath or shower, could these problems be to do with the chipboard getting wet over the last few years?, is it a fairly straightforward job to replace flooring in these rooms? if it is a joice problem should i call out the NHBC(still have 3 yrs warranty), thanks in advance for any replys, i shall be making good use of this site...

 

[JerryM]

i would certainly give the NHBC a go as no one would expect such defects in what's a relatively a new house.

i know that there are 2 types of chipboard of which 1 is a flooring grade. however even this won't stand being damp for long periods. i believe that marine ply or equivalent is what would be needed where floors are expected to see a fair amount of water.

feel you would need to take up a section of the chipboard up to be sure what the problem is. it could be that the joists and/or chipboard have warped a little and the dip could be taken out by packing/re levelling. it could however be wet rot which is best sorted earlier than later. the boards are likely to be interlocked (tongue & grove) so it isn't a straightforward job - still within DIY skill though). also depends how much would need taking up and what's sitting on top of it ie skirtings, fittings.

for future suggest using towels after the kids to dry up the area. also get rid of the lino - this acts as a trap for the water - once the water gets underneath air can't get to the underside to dry it out. suggest rugs or laminate (seal with PVA glue).

 

[jackrory]

thanks for that, i'm getting it looked at in the next few weeks.