(Sometimes even chipboard is thicker in bathrooms). I've been down to Wickes, they have a couple of ranges of tongued and groved floor boards (17 for 4), which if coated with a few coats of marine varnish, will probably do the job. Carpet in a bathroom is always a bad idea, Laminate flooring even worse. So the strategy will be to cut out a section of board, which extends north and south to the joist faces and east to the retaining piece. Sounds like someone got out the bath a bit too heavily? And see what happens. I also discovered when changing the bath that someone had literally bashed a hole in the floor under the bath when plumbing in the shower so I ended up putting the bath on two nice hefty planks and bracing the damaged floorboard and planks with a dirty great piece of angle iron - the nearest joice was the other side of the wall so I couldn't cut out the damaged bit there was nothing to sit a new piece on. DISCLAIMER | What's your position on the horseless carraige vs. the horse and buggy, BTW? If you wish to use chipboard, then that's you're choice, but I'd go for the 22mm if you can. Not sure if that will be any good for you, can you get your carpet off to overboard? Re the groove thingy, if the chipboard and floorboard (or replacement chipboard) is set on the joist, it wouldn't need to be tongue and grooved there, just butted, so would just need to take off the ickle sticky-out bit from the chipboard if it's pointing that way. When I removed what I thought to be the broken section in its entirety, I found to my horror a separate piece corresponding to the bottom surface had already parted company with the bit bearing the top surface (Carpet side) and had obviously been laying on the top of the plasterboard ceiling below, together with wood shavings debris. Only thing is that that the floorboards are centre tongued whereas the chipboard is tongued on the lower edge - Oh err missus ! First of all, the degradation has only affected a 12" square section, at exactly the point where one's foot alights when getting out of the bath - feet away from the taps and waste outlets and on the open (as opposed to enclosed) side of the bath. The joists run across the line of the boards and the bath and the damage extends up to the piece of timber that retains the plastic bath panel at floor level. SAFETY FIRST | Needless to say, baths are rarely set on lino, it starting at the panel usually, so water will happily find its way down the panel of the bath. /q. Make sure your shoelaces are done up, don't have too manty cables lying around or any obstructions that could cause you to trip or lose your footing. In my old house one of the boards in the bathroom disintergrated along the tongue and groove, I discovered the board went through into the bedroom so I bought a steel sheet from B&Q and screwed through it into the floorboards, worked a treat. Sink all screws slightly, glue and fill edges/heads as required. It could well be the joists/adjacent boards warping have caused the damage. The easterly side will extend well under the bath. Heres how to go about it. Clunkclick, JavaScript is disabled. Alternatively, you'd have to cut the boards across and abut the middles. Thanks,For plywood, what about where two sheets meet? I'd perhaps worry a little bit about replacing such a small area with chipboard, even if screwed in all round, though you mention a cross-brace, so hopefully it'll be supported under. These days, it can be all chipboard. It may not display this or other websites correctly. How to Remove and Replace Rotten Particle Board Subflooring, How to Patch a Hole in a Wood Floor from a Furnace Grate, Installing Cement Backer Board on a Wood Subfloor Before Tiling, How to Install Pavers Over a Concrete Patio Without Mortar, Chelseas Picks: 3 Paint Colors That Work for Any Accent Wall, This Side Up: Installing Insulation Correctly, Changing the Mortar Color on the Fireplace, Ask Danny | Ep. Forgot to say, joists centres are 14" apart. Chipboard does seem to turn to soggy weatabix when it gets moist so its not ideal for the bathroom but its seems to be that way in most houses. Have you got the right screws and brackets? For an even better and longer lasting job, when I lay chipboard fooring I always PVA glue the joints and use a bead of flexible glue like Sikaflex Adhesive on the joist to ensure there are no squeaks you need to fix later once the floor boards are screwed down tight on to the joists. Having just read your later post about the leak - I suggest you take the floor up and replace anyway - you can check the joists aren't quietly rotting away at the same time! Tanking is no good. The only way to repair deteriorated or rotten particle board subflooring is to remove the damaged areas. Smaller areas can be cut out and fixed by bridging the join with battens screwed underneath. Joists can be tricky to walk on. Also, the edges around the bottom side de-lamination were not dirty, suggesting that these were the last to break and that the centre of the damaged area delaminated first. One of them (Not the one that has failed), which runs under the bath, got really soggy due to a leaking bath surround and although the leak has been temporarily fixed and the board dried out, its now got no structural strength - you can stick a knife through it no problem. And, yes the bath matt is hung over the side of the bath when not in use. If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, Continue to lay chipboard flooring across the joists for the rest of the floor, ensuring the joints along the 600mm edges are staggered - always avoid joining on the same joist wherever possible, Joists: Your sub-floor joists should be at 400mm centres meaning the edge of the boards always falls on a joist too, Mass screw the boards down: Once I have laid 3-4 rows and depending on the time it has taken (glue will go off in 30 minutes depending on temperature) I will stop laying boars for a moment, sweep the floor off and use the chalk line to mark lines onto the flooring representing where the joists are. It will just channel the water to somewhere else. By They appear to be uncoated/untreated. Marketplace - Please use the new template for selling your car. In an ideal world you would lay chipboard flooring before installing the plasterboard to the walls so that the plasterboard can cover the 10mm expansion gap left around the perimeter. So I will cut the appropriate section from this length. Rubber-backed doesn't necessarily mean waterproof and moisture can get trapped under, especially if carpet is laid. Not sure how or why it squeaks/creaks/groans but the bedrooms have parts of the floor that make a noise when stepped on. The spare board is standard flooring, 18mm deep, which is the same as the damaged bit. Is that too wide for 18mm chipboard. Editor, Marcus Herbert, https://www.dropbox.com/s/0ufgepl8umlisys/20190922_131015-.jpg?dl=0, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-TfCeyqBds. From some more research it seems that you can go down to 150mm strips and the gap to the right is 200mm so I suppose a strip of that width would do it with noggins along the edge. Or you could cut out to the nearest joists then add some extra timbers to the joists for the new board to sit on and cut a new piece of board to fit the hole. Using a combination of wedges against the wall and a large length of timber to strike against the boards edge (avoid hitting the tongue or groove directly with a hammer) I will manoeuvre the boards until I am happy with them. I would rather tear pallets apart and use that wood as floorboards, than try and get chipboard to fit in there successfully. The house I bought recently has chipoard floors instead of floorboards. something quick and simple, it actually worked out better than I'd Unfortunately, that hasnt stopped it from being used. Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search. Hopefully, gross cost of repair will be next to nothing. Yeah. 4: The Drywall Guru Offers Expert Advice, Under-Cabinet Lighting Made Easy with EcoSmart Tape Lighting, Ask Danny | Ep. Usually the area under a bath or shower stays dry so this is not a problem. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. As to repair/replacement I dont want to have to remove the board as it runs parallel to and under the bath and into the next room, which at the very least will mean removing the bath. If you want to keep these then a thick bath mat will help catch drips and stop them soaking through to the flooring. The off-cut from this board can then be used to start the second row which I will also lay down before having fixed anything in place. I can't understand this, as 99 % of the time I use a rubber backed bath mat over this position, so I am doubtful that damp in the carpet has caused this problem. If I may, and not necessarily in sequence, and please bear in mind that I know nothing. This'd allow you to cut the existing chipboard by the skirting board, and then lay the new chipboard on the noggins, as well as the joists. All rights reserved. Bit surprised this hasn't been mentioned; if it has, apologies. The views expressed herein are those of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of BRISKODA or SKODA. Re sealant and black mould on top and the tons of cleaners marketed to remove it - in my experience, it's caused by damp coming up from under, not lack of surface cleaning skills re the sealant. You need to be a member in order to leave a comment. I went on my roof and found that there are about 10 holes through theshingles. They certainly look the business for a floating floor but not sure about under a carpet? Sign up for a new account in our community. So what I think has happened is that the boards were originally fitted with insufficient clearance between them, which together with slight building settlement has caused them to be in continual compression width ways - presumably causing "Bowing" . Hardwood bamboo is incredibly resistant to water ingress. If the floor was 'proper' floorboards the water would probably have rotted them or tracked through and damaged the ceiling below. As another said (I think), it's better to lay loose lino and pref not carpet on a fibreboard bathroom floor Take it up periodically, take off the side panel of the bath, get a torch and see what's going on (hopefully nothing). If you are installing in a room that already has the walls covered/plastered, this is not a problem provided you will be installing a skirting board for example that can cover the expansion gap instead. A badly fitted shower screen or careless use of a curtain can cause water to run down the front of the bath panel. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. After rumaging through my gash bits and bobs, I've decided to use 1" square battens and 2" steel screws, with 1.5" screws for securing the board to the battens. Now starting at the beginning and with a pouch full of screws start filling the boards up. If you don't want to replace or board over as suggested, the only solution is to cut the damage out and replace (make a template to get a good fit or use a holesaw if area is small enough) and screw battens/boards underneath and across the damaged area/to side of joists as required, screw the 'patch' down to these. Thanks, nothing warrants replacing panels thankfully. Just know from what I've found that previous peeps had done (What the) and trying best to learn what fixes such things. But if you feel the undamaged particle board will remain in good condition, you would only have to tear out the areas that need replacing. All content is viewed and used at your own risk. I once had to tell a customer, 'your toilet isn't leaking, could you ask your husband to either stand closer or sit down!'. Please note the following important links Terms of Use. Chipboard isn't flexible (unless it's wet, lol). Mind you the rest of the boards were sound. Knowing how to lay chipboard flooring perfectlyis essential - because they are the most commonly specified floor boards in the UK. The nature of the fracture was strange. It is made from resin & ground up rubbish and can have weak unbonded areas.