Where to buy proper floorboards?

[LFS19]

At some point the wall has been boarded over and skimmed, either all of it or part of it, again it's difficult to tell from the pictures. Plasterboard and water is not a good mix, so some or all of that may have to be replaced. In your position i'd probably rip the lot off and start again but it wouldn't be a big deal for me to do as i have done plenty of that sort of work. If you have stopped the source of the leak, then it may well dry out sufficiently but again it's hard to tell. Where is the shower in relation to the wall and is the shower staying put?

Interesting.
The shower is directly behind that wall on the left where I've chipped away at the plaster.
I've marked the width of the shower here on this picture and it's location. It's about 70cm.

Essentially whats happened is the waste pipe that's underneath the shower tray has leaked, causing water to come through in the ceiling below.
The floorboards in front of the shower as you step out of it have been damp from the leak, as well as the boards you can see in this room that go under the floor and into the bathroom.

How far that damp extends is the real question..
I don't know whether it's confined to the width of the tray or not, so I'm guessing I'll need to remove the plaster/plaster board patching right along the width of that wall on the bottom to see what the damage is.
Further on from where the width of the shower ends some evidence of damp can be seen on those lighter boards, but I'm not sure.

As far as what we're doing with the shower, we'll likely just rip the lot out.
It's going to cause such a mess a sort out this leak that it makes more sense to re-do it.
The shower is a decent Mira excel but it's over 10'years old now.
Knowing my luck I'd sort the leak out and repair the damage to find a couple of months later that the valve was leaking onto the wall behind

Thanks



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[Jacob]

That's old wattle and daub plastering (in case anybody hasn't already pointed it out). Would have been lime and horsehair plaster. Easy to repair with Carlite bonding (sticky plaster favoured by bodgers like me)

 

[MikeJhn]

If repairing the area then Carlite Bonding is indeed the preferred option, but why is there always a socket in the way of striking the material off.

Isolate the power, take the socket off and stuff the pattress box with paper, apply Bonding and strike off the surplus with a straight edge, after four/five hours or so when the surface is still damp, but firm apply finish plaster and work into the surface of the Bonding, keep the finish damp and work it until satisfied with the surface finish, cut around the pattress box with a blade to prevent the plaster breaking away to far off the edge, wait until the next day and push the plaster in the pattress box inwards it should just break away without ruining your efforts.

I will refrain from advising about the floor structure as too many comments can be confusing, will keep looking and will comment if I see anything that needs clarification.

Mike

 

[skipdiver]

I had something very similar when i did my nieces bathroom and i waited until she went on holiday, then went in and gutted the lot, which was extremely messy but the best way to do it IMO. I put down a new chipboard floor (after the plumbing had been sorted and first fixed) then boarded the shower area with Aquapanel and the rest of the wall with 1/2" plasterboard, which was skimmed. The shower area was then tiled. Whilst i had the floor up, i fitted some supports under the dividing wall by attaching across from the two adjacent joists.

You could just patch it up with Carlite and skim as suggested and that adheres well to laths, or you could decide to start afresh, only you know how involved you want to get. If you want to do the bare minimum, then it is all do-able. It looks from the photo's that maybe something was removed from the corner where the square of chipboard flooring is and made good with plasterboard on top of the laths. There looks to be a join in the skirting at the same point the chipboard stops and the old flooring starts, which also suggests something removed, or the wall being squared off somehow. First job is to determine the cause of the leak, then get that sorted. Decide from there how you want to proceed and i will try and guide you as best i can.

 

[LFS19]

If repairing the area then Carlite Bonding is indeed the preferred option, but why is there always a socket in the way of striking the material off.

Isolate the power, take the socket off and stuff the pattress box with paper, apply Bonding and strike off the surplus with a straight edge, after four/five hours or so when the surface is still damp, but firm apply finish plaster and work into the surface of the Bonding, keep the finish damp and work it until satisfied with the surface finish, cut around the pattress box with a blade to prevent the plaster breaking away to far off the edge, wait until the next day and push the plaster in the pattress box inwards it should just break away without ruining your efforts.

I will refrain from advising about the floor structure as too many comments can be confusing, will keep looking and will comment if I see anything that needs clarification.

Mike

Thanks for the instructions and continued advice mike.
So would this application of the plaster be on that whole wall or just the areas that are damaged?


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[LFS19]

I had something very similar when i did my nieces bathroom and i waited until she went on holiday, then went in and gutted the lot, which was extremely messy but the best way to do it IMO. I put down a new chipboard floor (after the plumbing had been sorted and first fixed) then boarded the shower area with Aquapanel and the rest of the wall with 1/2" plasterboard, which was skimmed. The shower area was then tiled. Whilst i had the floor up, i fitted some supports under the dividing wall by attaching across from the two adjacent joists.

You could just patch it up with Carlite and skim as suggested and that adheres well to laths, or you could decide to start afresh, only you know how involved you want to get. If you want to do the bare minimum, then it is all do-able. It looks from the photo's that maybe something was removed from the corner where the square of chipboard flooring is and made good with plasterboard on top of the laths. There looks to be a join in the skirting at the same point the chipboard stops and the old flooring starts, which also suggests something removed, or the wall being squared off somehow. First job is to determine the cause of the leak, then get that sorted. Decide from there how you want to proceed and i will try and guide you as best i can.

As far as how involved I want to get, I'm willing to re-do it all if that's the best option. It's just whether it warrants it, and of course it does depend on the extent of the damage regarding the leak, and as you say that needs to be dealt with first so I need to do some more investigating.

Is it something I could plan and learn whilst doing it, or is there a good chance I'll end up messing it up even more? Haha
I mean you make it sound straight forward, it's just a little nerve racking to think about replacing the wall.

Yes, there does appear to have been some sort of removal in that corner. No idea what yet.

Thanks for all the help.





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[MikeJhn]

Trying to keep the whole project simple I would just address the area that is damaged, rub back the area beyond the damage so you can feather in the finish plaster to the existing, do take off any damaged plaster including any that has lifted off the boarding or laths behind, the secret of hiding made good damage is to always wet the area before applying the plaster or finish to stop the undersurface from sucking all the moisture out of the new plaster and it drying out too quickly and not adhering to the undersurface, when getting to the point of the finish going off, re-wet it with a paint brush and water and close in the surface with a trowel, this is going to be fairly hard pushing of the trowel against the finish and existing wall, if it is not leveling out then its been left too long and the undersurface has gone off or was not level in the first place, this can be rectified by using the side of the trowel down the wall to scrape off the finish and some of the Bonding to get it back to a level surface.

Finish plaster should be the consistancy of double cream, if it balls up on the surface its too dry, or the undersurface has not been wetted enough.

To read that lot you would think I was a plasterer instead of a Structural Engineer. (hammer)

Mike

 

[MikeJhn]

Notwithstanding my last post, the simplest, believe it or not quickest way would be to take the lath and plaster off that side of the wall and replace with taper edge plasterboard, assuming the studs can be salvaged, that way you can investigate the leak and the sub-structure of the wall and adjacent floor.

I am assuming that the wall in question is not supporting anything above it and is just a simple stud wall.

Just another thought, what is the distance between the door frame and the adjacent wall, just thinking of plasterboard size's.

Mike

 

[skipdiver]

Plastering is a dark art and one i'm competent at but in no way adept. Plastering on lath and plaster and blending in to existing is possibly beyond the scope of someone who hasn't picked up a trowel before. Just getting the mix right takes knowledge and getting it from the trowel and onto the wall takes a certain knack which only comes with practice.

You wouldn't even need to take down the whole wall if it is sound. Removing all the plaster and old laths is messy but not beyond the scope of someone willing. All the old lath nails need removing, then you have the original studwork, which is now ready to accept new boarding. The plastering stage could be skipped by using dry lining techniques, which i personally don't favour but is in the scope of the competent layman.

 

[skipdiver]

Mike beat me to it. Anyway, you get the gist.

 

[LFS19]

If plaster boarding the area is a decent option and something I could learn to do, then I'll do it.
Skip, you mentioned that you didn't favour this method; does that mean there's a chance I'll run into problems in future versus a proper plaster wall?

Mike, the distance between the door frame and the wall is 180cm.

I'll have to get the plumber in asap to look at this leak and pull the base up.
These floorboards here are in front of the shower cubicle, and are the same ones running under the wall into the room I'm wanting to re-floor.
The other picture is in the hall way, where again the skirting has warped and damp has discoloured the wall, so that skirting will also need to be taken off and the damage to the wall fixed.

And here I was thinking efficiently fitting new flooring would be the biggest challenge

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[skipdiver]

Dry lining is not really proper building in my opinion but it's very quick and cheap, hence popular. The problem with it is that without a plaster skim, the boards are prone to more damage than if they had been skimmed. A lot of houses are done that way now and emulsioned which is fine until you want to wallpaper the wall, which is also fine until you try and remove it and it takes all the paper surface off the board with it. You can get a dryling primer which is supposed to toughen up the surface before decoration but i'm not convinced, though i admit i have not tried it myself. Do a Google search for drylining and it's associated problems and make up your own mind.

However, it has it's proponents and is a simple thing to do. It's mainly stuck directly to blockwork but can be fixed to timber or metal studding as long as the tapered edges fall on a stud. This can take some thought and can lead to extra studs being added. These joints are then scrimmed, filled with easy sand filler and the screw holes also filled. Prime that and job done ready for finish.

 

[LFS19]

Dry lining is not really proper building in my opinion but it's very quick and cheap, hence popular. The problem with it is that without a plaster skim, the boards are prone to more damage than if they had been skimmed. A lot of houses are done that way now and emulsioned which is fine until you want to wallpaper the wall, which is also fine until you try and remove it and it takes all the paper surface off the board with it. You can get a dryling primer which is supposed to toughen up the surface before decoration but i'm not convinced, though i admit i have not tried it myself. Do a Google search for drylining and it's associated problems and make up your own mind.

However, it has it's proponents and is a simple thing to do. It's mainly stuck directly to blockwork but can be fixed to timber or metal studding as long as the tapered edges fall on a stud. This can take some thought and can lead to extra studs being added. These joints are then scrimmed, filled with easy sand filler and the screw holes also filled. Prime that and job done ready for finish.

Right, that makes sense. I'll do some research.
That should be fine, I mean, I'm painting the walls anyway; so there won't be any issue getting paper off when redecorating.

Thanks again!


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[MikeJhn]

Skip and I are of one accord, plasterboard has no place on walls, it was designed for ceilings, but has evolved into use on walls, it is easier to build that way, requires less skill, is faster to put up and can be decorated sooner, this all saves time for the builder, but has it own unique inherent problems.

Having said that, it has become the norm in almost every mid priced home in the world.

Mike

 

[LFS19]

Skip and I are of one accord, plasterboard has no place on walls, it was designed for ceilings, but has evolved into use on walls, it is easier to build that way, requires less skill, is faster to put up and can be decorated sooner, this all saves time for the builder, but has it own unique inherent problems.

Having said that, it has become the norm in almost every mid priced home in the world.

Mike

Yes I can see how that evolution would make experienced builders shudder, haha.

I'll weigh up the pros and cons anyway, and do some research.
If I don't end up doing that I'll just get someone in to plaster it.


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[LFS19]

Something I am still quite concerned about is whether the wall is holding anything else above It...I doubt it but I'm not sure.
As I said earlier, this is an extension to the original house, so the roof area isn't accessible through the loft so I can't tell.




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[skipdiver]

It's sat on top of floorboards, so if it is, then it isn't a great deal of weight, if any at all. Cross brace underneath and all will be well.

 

[LFS19]

It's sat on top of floorboards, so if it is, then it isn't a great deal of weight, if any at all. Cross brace underneath and all will be well.

Very good, thanks.


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[LFS19]

So I'll get the plumber in as soon as possible to investigate the leak and then come back here to this thread, and assimilate all the info regarding the walls and flooring.

Thanks again skip and mike for all the help!!


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[RogerS]

LFS19..are you sure that the damp on top of the floorboards isn't a leak from the shower door/frame? If you have a leak from the waste pipe then that is below the level of the floorboards.

MikeJhn...what would you use on a stud wall if not plasterboard ?