Upstairs water leak under vinyl floor

[Raasu]

We have a bathroom upstairs with a sheet vinyl floor laid over floorboards, probably some plywood on the floorboards but I'm not sure as it was laid by the previous owner, and sealed around the edges with sealant.

Some over-enthusiastic bathroom cleaning today created a big pool of water on the floor which seeped down and eventually started dripping down through the plaster cleaning downstairs. We cleaned it up, but I'm wondering if it's OK to just let it dry out by itself with the heating on, or whether I should take up the vinyl to allow it to dry better because the vinyl is a waterproof seal on top of the wet floor. I'm worried if it never dries fully and the floorboards stay wet, they'll rot eventually. What do others think?

[csearle]

I'm not an expert but my gut feeling is that once the source of the water has been removed the damp should eventually dry out. Strikes me that the vinyl floor wasn't doing a particularly good job if it didn't hold back water on the floor whilst cleaning.

Hope someone with more experience can contribute.

Chris

[Mike4]

I'm not an expert but my gut feeling is that once the source of the water has been removed the damp should eventually dry out. Strikes me that the vinyl floor wasn't doing a particularly good job if it didn't hold back water on the floor whilst cleaning.

Hope someone with more experience can contribute.

Chris

I agree. As there are obviously gaps for water to get through, we can be certain that air will be getting through too and the water will dry up in the fullness of time. It will probably take a few weeks but certainly not so long as to support a rot problem.

Air in even very confined spaces changes constantly with the rises and falls in temperature inside a house, which cause it to expand and contract. Also, air currents support this effect as does the permeability of plaster, brick and most other common building materials.

Even if the timber under the floor remains saturated for months (highly unlikely) houses, built since the 80s (I believe but I'm not sure) use tanalised timber which supposedly never rots for structural timbers. Maybe someone else here can clarify this point?

[Raasu]

Thanks to you both for your replies. I don't know how the water got under the vinyl because the vinyl sheet is intact. I think it must have gone in around the edge where the sealant isn't well sealed against a cupboard. It's a Victorian terrace so it's not modern standards of construction. Anyway, there's now a "bubble" in the middle of the floor about a foot wide where the vinyl has come away from the base, and I can press it down about 1cm. I guess I'll leave it for a while and see what happens to that.

[AsleepInYorkshire]

I'm not an expert but my gut feeling is that once the source of the water has been removed the damp should eventually dry out. Strikes me that the vinyl floor wasn't doing a particularly good job if it didn't hold back water on the floor whilst cleaning.

Hope someone with more experience can contribute.

Chris

I agree. As there are obviously gaps for water to get through, we can be certain that air will be getting through too and the water will dry up in the fullness of time. It will probably take a few weeks but certainly not so long as to support a rot problem.

Air in even very confined spaces changes constantly with the rises and falls in temperature inside a house, which cause it to expand and contract. Also, air currents support this effect as does the permeability of plaster, brick and most other common building materials.

Even if the timber under the floor remains saturated for months (highly unlikely) houses, built since the 80s (I believe but I'm not sure) use tanalised timber which supposedly never rots for structural timbers. Maybe someone else here can clarify this point?

Hmm ... there's a point at which treated wood cannot prevent rot. I've no idea when that occurs though. And the issue is slightly more complicated. Treatments penetrate the timbers by a couple of millimetres. When treated timbers are cut the cut ends should be re-treated or they effectively become a weak point if they do get wet. However, given the amount of water that's penetrated the floor area it's probably going to dry out with no long term damage.

AiY

[sg31]

The bubble in/under the vynil will be the hardboard sheets which have swollen with the water. In time it might dry and shrink back. Sometimes it does sometimes it doesn't. Just wait and see is the best policy. It's not much of a problem to roll back the vynil and relace a sheet of hardboard if need be.

[UncleEbenezer]

I'm not an expert but my gut feeling is that once the source of the water has been removed the damp should eventually dry out. Strikes me that the vinyl floor wasn't doing a particularly good job if it didn't hold back water on the floor whilst cleaning.

Hope someone with more experience can contribute.

Chris

I've no idea if I did the right thing in somewhat-similar circumstances, but it involved time and - for a period (in winter - worst time for it) - two dehumidifiers running more-or-less full time. I figured dry air would help damp things dry out: works beautifully when hanging out the laundry!