Damp flooring - Should it all come-up?

[michaeld121]

I've had a hot water cylinder leaking slowly for some weeks. Water has spread through the floor at least a metre. The floor is vinyl tiles on hardboard on pine boards. It's in a downstairs room & the boards are over a void above the footings with probably a 1 foot gap; there are airbricks into the void.

I've taken some of the tiles & hardboard up & the boards underneath are generally a little damp to the touch & obviously damper in a few places. The wood seems sound, but I found mould or mildew in 1 of the damper spots.

The water looks like it's spread further than the metre or so I've taken up so far. Should I take up the tiles & hardboard everywhere that might be affected by the water, or just let it dry out slowly

Any advice would be appreciated,

Michael

[Dave Fawthrop]

|I've had a hot water cylinder leaking slowly for some weeks. Water has |spread through the floor at least a metre. The floor is vinyl tiles on |hardboard on pine boards. It's in a downstairs room & the boards are |over a void above the footings with probably a 1 foot gap; there are |airbricks into the void. | |I've taken some of the tiles & hardboard up & the boards underneath are |generally a little damp to the touch & obviously damper in a few |places. The wood seems sound, but I found mould or mildew in 1 of the |damper spots. | |The water looks like it's spread further than the metre or so I've |taken up so far. Should I take up the tiles & hardboard everywhere |that might be affected by the water, or just let it dry out slowly | |Any advice would be appreciated,

Leave it for few weeks to see if it dries out OK. Then jump on it to see if it is soft.

[michaeld121]

I'm thinking more of whether it's worth doing anything now to prevent wet rot or anything else nasty developing later.

Michael

[normanwisdom]

You might need to force dry it esp as you have vinyl tiles - drying can only be to the cold underfloor. Lift a board, point a fan heater down the hole and leave it on for a day or 2. On the other hand if the underfloor ventilation is good enough you may just need to monitor it to make sure.

cheers Jacob