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

Its a different son

He could always try to look up the details of the man who died, reports from the inquest etc? That will probably say whether he was found on the floor (and possibly where) or the chair.

Oh 😭

Both my parents died quite suddenly in their 80s and were found on the floor, I found mum in the hallway, she had been quite well and was getting ready to go to the shops, she had been there about half a day I think. I wasn't in much contact with my dad but he lived in a rented place and had probably been there a couple of days, I doubt the landlord changed the floorboards, just the carpet on top.

I wonder who told him? It’s possibly just gossip.

Lift the floor boards.
Turn them over.
Nail them down.

I'm so sorry that happend it must have been a massive shock and broke your heart. 💐

His neighbours and also someone I know who lives several houses away

Hi OP. Some family are Council tenants.All hadt o pay for flooring themselves with no govt help in the last 5-10 years. Maybe there is grant or scheme to fund now.

This is grim. Have you tried Reddit for advice?

eh? This is so random. How is someone doing their chosen job relevant? Anyway, sure most nhs workers don’t fancy putting their feet up at home after a long shift next to a whacking great decomposition stain (if that’s what it is)

Clean them with vanish (the powder one dissolved in water). It is nice and warm at the moment so it'll dry quickly - I would soak them. It should lift the stain and any odour.

Clean them with vanish (the powder one dissolved in water). It is nice and warm at the moment so it'll dry quickly - I would soak them. It should lift the stain and any odour.

Maybe add some disinfectant for good measure.

I can understand your ds's concerns op. I would be worrying about the floor in the first pic under the circumstances. Obviously it was far worse for the poor man who died, but no one wants to have possible reminders of the situation. In his shoes I would get some good bleach and scrub as hard as I could and then cover it up with decent flooring. Assuming there's no smell he will forget about it in time once it's no longer in view.

Marks like these can be caused by bodly fluids and decomposition, but unless forensics have confirmed , I would ask council to change the hard flooring, 😉 to give peace of mind.

It's upsetting for DS to think of that happening where he now lives. But there's no reason to think the floorboard stains are connected. Perhaps he would feel better sanding and polishing the boards, or putting down carpet or whatever, and then having some kind of ceremony to 'cleanse' the flat and bring in some fresh energy.

How can you possibly know that? OP I have seen a number of stains due to decomposed bodies, given, none of them from years later, but they were all very different to this. They are usually almost black or very dark brown and not with an almost straight edge (in all cases I have seen). You can sadly usually distinguish where each limb was. Your photo certainly does not look like an organic shape unless you really reach for it. It would also have literally seeped through the floorboard gaps and underneath if left long enough. You can only really clean this by ripping them up. I've never known the sub floor to not be removed after. This looks like old wood stain or possibly residue from where the lino has been pulled up. This may seem less awful to me than to others, but has he sniffed it? The smell doesn't just go away. It would smell sweet or like ammonia. Also has he tried sanding it? I bet if he sands far enough he would see clean wood, and the stain wouldn't go all the way through (as it would had it been caused by human decomp).

Edit: I've just had a second look and they really do not look like stains caused by a dead and decomposig body. I am almost certain.

Someone has died in pretty much every house in the UK that isn’t a new build.

They’ll refuse.

The first photo is remnants from old floor wax or varnish.
In the second photo I can see that a fireplace hearth has been taken out and boarded over and a little bit of general dirt on top.

What a strange preoccupation to see body parts in every stain!
And I thought phone cameras had come a long way so no one takes photos with a potato anymore 🤔

The first looks like wood stain/varnish and the second looks like a water stain on access boards to get to piping.

Neither of them look like decomposition fluids to me - I've seen both animal and human in my time and neither stain pattern or type fit these stains.

This is not a decomp stain but this is the type of staining you would see with decomp.

Paint a white outline of a body and make it a design feature. It will be a great conversational piece for dinner parties...

In an interior design book I read years ago it recommended turning flaws into features.... that or grow ivy all over it (for exterior problems). Kelly Hoppen would probably paint the floor taupe.

Oh lay off. Here you are reading and commenting.. lol

I think your son is right

Neither of those look anything like a stain left by human remains. Even if it was, it wouldn’t be unsanitary. He just needs to put some flooring down and forget about it.