Spring & Deflection On Kitchen Floor

[chrissa1]

My daughter and her partner have just received the Structural Survey report on the house they are wanting to buy. The only "Amber" warning is this:

" There is some spring and deflection to the kitchen floor. This maybe due to leakage from the decking. The floor covering should be lifted to check the extent of any repair or replacement works required."

Should they be worried about this and request an inspection?

Thanks.

[boxtops]

Well..... I've just had new flooring laid in my basement kitchen, and when the chaps looked at the underlying floorboards, there was a lot of rot due to old water ingress, so the floorboards were indeed bouncing. The structural timbers underneath had to be replaced.

I guess it depends what the existing flooring is, how easy it is to lift to look underneath (given that the sellers are still living there).

[chrissa1]

That is my worry, boxtops. I wouldn't want the sale to fall through. Mind you, I wouldn't" want Them to fall through, either. Lol.

[clipclop1]

Hi Boxtops, I'm the daughter in question! Did you get builders I to look at it or a damp surveyor?

[boxtops]

I'd already got builders in at the time, clipclop - doing renovation work - so they just got on with it. They had to strip the plaster for 3 ft or so off the walls too, to inject a DPC in the offending areas (there was one, but the warranty had run out).

How does the decking leak into the kitchen? That's a bit worrying, I can't envisage the layout!

[chrissa1]

"This maybe due to water damage to the decking" were the exact words.

My mistake.

[woofgang]

I reckon its worth asking for a look. We had spring in the bedroom floor when we bought the house. It was because the floorboard wasn't attached to anything for 2/3 of its length!! It was easy enough to fix by adding a couple of cross bars to the floor joists but if not fixed it could have been excitng.

[clipclop1]

Oh thanks everyone, all very helpful! Hopefully it will be more of a situation like you had Woofgang and not be anything too major to upset things!
My next question is who do we get to inspect it... before anymore progress is made with the sale...? A damp surveyor or an actual builder? :)

[The Builder]

What's the "decking", Chrissa?

Is there a hardwood/laminate floor on top of the existing?

[clipclop1]

This is what confused us as the only thing outside is a patio area... no decking anywhere! The floor is covered with a black lino. :)

[The Builder]

Ok. Any chance of lifting the lino for a look, without too much disturbance?

[clipclop1]

Oh I really don't know! But it's going to have to come up if we want to have a look isn't it? Or can owners refuse work like that being done on the grounds of the disturbance/damage it causes?

[The Builder]

Oh yes, they can certainly refuse, but pretty silly if they want a sale.

I do despair of Structural surveys sometimes. It would help if they used the correct terms!

Anyway, an experienced builder would have a pretty good idea of the problem simply by walking across the floor. The description in the survey is of no help at all.

Loose floorboards would show up in individual spots. Deflection in the floor joists would cause the whole floor to bounce up and down.

How old (approx) is the house?

[clipclop1]

The house was built in 1975 and has got lots of 'green' boxes in the survey. This is one of 3 'Amber' areas that was highlighted but we're not too concerned about the others (1 lintel bring slightly rusted and no gables in the roof).

I think that's the trap we've fallen into, our financial adviser mentioned about getting a builder into have a look but we (as first time buyers) thought it best to go with the full survey....! Grrrr!

It's been a good month since I was in the house and didn't notice the 'spring' all that much so I can't recall if it was an all over spring or just sections... I am inclined to think it was an all over spring though... :/

[The Builder]

1975? Ok, most unlikely to be floorboards then. Probably chipboard. Chipboard loses most of it's strength if subjected to water for any length of time.
If you can imagine the floor joists set at roughly 400mm apart, then the thing to look for is any dipping (under your weight) between each joist. A sure sign of weakened chipboard.

The only way around that is to either replace it, or put another layer on top.... but that would raise the floor level by 19mm.

If not, and the whole lot is bouncing, then the solution is pretty simple..... take up the covering .... cut a few trapdoors in the centre area of the room ...... then reach into the floor void to insert a few simple vertical props (pieces of 4 x 2). (Assuming this is on the ground floor)

Worst case is substantial rot in the floor joists. Unlikely in a 40 year old house... depends on whether the vents have been kept clear over the years.

Nothing to be decided until someone sensible has a proper look... probably an "old school" local builder, or anyone with some experience.

[clipclop1]

Ah ok, Thank you very much for all this fantastic help and info!

We've got a guy we can call on who my other half's family have used for years. He definitely fits the bill of 'old school builder' so we'll give him a call and see if we can get another visit arranged so he can check things out.

Hope it's nothing too sinister! Watch this space! :/

Thanks again!

[The Builder]

You're most welcome, Clippy.
Come back and let us know what he thinks. He sounds ideal.

Good luck

[boxtops]

Perhaps you should go back to the structural surveyor, and ask them what they meant by "decking"!

[The Builder]

I guess it's an "Americanism", Boxers. They tend to refer to any horizontal surface as a deck.
In this case, I think he means the chipboard floor.

[boxtops]

Ah thanks, I've only ever heard it applied to external flooring.

[clipclop1]

We've decided to leave it. Apparently the current owners had the flooring done in 2007. We agreed theres no smell of damp or any signs of it either so we're gonna leave it and carry on with the buy :)