Have just spent the weekend tearing up a (ceramic) tiled bathroom floor, which I intend to re-lay with cork tiles. I took the ceramic tiles up betcause the adhesive was crumbling and some of the tiles had come loose.
With the tiles up, the (9mm) ply underneath was visibly damp in some areas, and upon lifting the ply I can see that some areas of the surface underneath are also damp. I've been unable to lift the surface underneath as it's some kind of tongue-and-groove sheet-board affair (~1 inch thick) and doesn't look easy to remove without doing the whole thing. I believe there's another layer of flooring underneath that (possibly floorboards, possibly another layer of the same) before you get to the joists, but I can't tell without lifting what's currently there.
Is there any easy way to tell the source of the damp? It's not over the entire floor, and while some areas (e.g. at the tap end of the bath, to the left of the WC basin) are completely dry, others (in front of the sink, to the right of the WC basin) are damp to the point of being rotten in places.
On the face of it, it looks like it could've simply been the poor quality tiling that was there before letting water through to the ply underneath (also quite poorly laid, with big gaps), where it got stuck. Is this possible, or do I need to get a pro in to take a look?
In any case, is it possible to do a DIY job to fix this? Presumably if I can isolate the source of the damp, once what's there is dry it's just a case of sealing and starting again?
Thanks in advance for any help and apologies for the lengthiness of my post!
With the tiles up, the (9mm) ply underneath was visibly damp in some areas, and upon lifting the ply I can see that some areas of the surface underneath are also damp. I've been unable to lift the surface underneath as it's some kind of tongue-and-groove sheet-board affair (~1 inch thick) and doesn't look easy to remove without doing the whole thing. I believe there's another layer of flooring underneath that (possibly floorboards, possibly another layer of the same) before you get to the joists, but I can't tell without lifting what's currently there.
Is there any easy way to tell the source of the damp? It's not over the entire floor, and while some areas (e.g. at the tap end of the bath, to the left of the WC basin) are completely dry, others (in front of the sink, to the right of the WC basin) are damp to the point of being rotten in places.
On the face of it, it looks like it could've simply been the poor quality tiling that was there before letting water through to the ply underneath (also quite poorly laid, with big gaps), where it got stuck. Is this possible, or do I need to get a pro in to take a look?
In any case, is it possible to do a DIY job to fix this? Presumably if I can isolate the source of the damp, once what's there is dry it's just a case of sealing and starting again?
Thanks in advance for any help and apologies for the lengthiness of my post!
