Someone died in ds flat - marks on floor. See pics.

[Hishome]

Ds has just moved into his council home
And found out a man died in there last August he was found about 3 weeks after he died . He was decomposed because of the hot weather. Ds has shown me pictures of the floor boards he thinks theres marks from the decomposition. If there is should the council do something. I have included 2 pictures one looks more like wood stain to me. I'm not sure about the other one though. Surely its just general marks the house is old council would have replaced floorboards?

There are 2 pics because ds thinks one of them are from the person dying . But i actually think one is just wood stain

🤣

Thank you. Its more clear now.

Has a section of the flooring been removed or is it lino next to the large stain?

It would still smell if a body had decomposed there. The council won't pull up a perfectly good floorboard just because it's stained. I own my house, but wouldn't replace a floorboard just because of a stain as the replacement is likely to be a poorer quality than the existing original 100 year old one. It can either be sanded off if he wants bare floors or a carpet put down and there won't be an issue.

Leave the carpet up for a bit. If you get flies on the mark you will know.

fwiw my floorboards are covered in stains mainly I think from people spilling stuff

He hasn't got floor. Its floor boards. Well he has exactly as you say. Above

I would be tempted to hire a sander for the weekend and sand all the floor boards (lots of you tube videos) then oil th3 boards.

I think quite a few people have problems with buying or moving into a house where someone has died and the sanding will take all the marks away and make it feel clean.

He could do this as well as, or instead of carpets/rugs. He would feel better about it - maybe actively taking control of his new environment would help.

For what its worth, I don’t see a decomposing body in those marks, just old boards.

Repair service
Not a replacement service

I've found plenty dead over the years. The flat will have had a bio clean before anyone else moved in.

Someone died in my house before I moved in

I left 5 years later - i hope that if her ghost was there, she saw how much I love my daughter and try to be a good mum

I think it was just her and her mum 🥺🥺, and her mum died, leaving her alone to pass on after 💔. I am determined for that not to be my daughter's journey, and I hope she'd wish the same for my girl.

I didnt find out until the day we left though, thank fuck. Your son is probably anxious, but i would hold a ceremony or something to send a message to the dead guy, and wish him well in the afterlife x

How many have you found dead? Are you a police officer or the grim reaper? 🤔👀

Dont be ridiculous, firstly how likely is it that someone died on the floor, people tend to be found in beds or chairs

Secondly, if he died on a laminate floor, its not likely the stain would be like that on the floorboards

They look just like normal old floorboards to me.

To be fair @likelysuspect I've found a fair few people on the floor over the years - it's far from unusual. I'd say it's more common when they lived alone though.

Housing Officer.
I have looked after a lot of different buildings and customer groups. Have been with the over 55s for a few years now.
I have found more than 10 sadly 😥

From watching extreme cleaning type programmes,Life of grime etc,I'm pretty sure if that was where the body laid,and they hadn't dealt with the floor boards,the place would still smell. They would normally replace boards and flooring. Is there an odour around?

My son is a police officer. I didn't think to ask him. But when he was on response he went to at least 6 body's probably more that was when he was first a police officer. they see some pretty awful things

Mumsnet came to mind to show your photos to rather than your own son who is a police officer?

Bizarre.

Not really. I just didn't think. It happens. I didn't think about it until a police officer on this thread done a post. One of them things I just didn't think. It happens

Oh how sad 🥺

Of course 🥺 - I can imagine hes seen some things

That could be why hes worried about this, op? Agree with pp that if it was from a body, it might smell - wood would absorb the smell

Oh sorry, I assumed that was a proper floor. I didn't like to look too closely! Most of the ones I've seen are concrete. That would be lovely just sanded and varnished, and any stains would be removed. I am really not an expert on corpse stains, but I can't imagine they would lease it if it still had... liquid. You could always call the housing association and ask, I'm sure they'd know the process for how it works as I doubt it's the first time. But if he is still not totally comfortable, just replacing the discoloured planks and then sanding, varnishing etc would probably be cheaper than laying a whole new floor. And then you'd be certain there were no remains.

I think whoever told him about the previous tenant needs to have a word with themselves! Why would you gossip about such a thing?

I am slightly obsessed with watching crime scene and biohazard cleaners on TikTok and they all remove any porous material that bodily fluids could have seeped into. They take up floorboards, remove skirting boards, furniture and carpets then recover the area. If the poor man died recently then there would definitely still be a smell there and probably quite a few flies.

I have a nearly 94 year old that has been keeping a record since 1997 of who died in which flat and when.
She tells new residents how many people have died in the flat they move into 😬

Why would they replace floor boards
there’s no structural damage

Absolutely no need to replace the floorboards. Suggest to your son that he gives it all a good scrub with hot water and diluted bleach. NHS staff deal with death and decomposition all the time - they just crack on and clean up. Good luck to your son in his new home.