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

He’s overthinking. Could be anything

2nd pic looks too small to be from a body in comparison to what I assume is an air vent on the wall above.

The one that’s got the vent in it looks like the outline of the body. I’d be shitting myself.

Did you post last week about your Ds not having enough furniture for his new flat? Perhaps he needs to relax and enjoy his good fortune at being offered a council flat. Such superficial things to worry about.

The one on the left (with the vent) is too small to be a decomp stain for a 3 wk+ body. The one on the right is larger but it stops abruptly by the laminate, suggesting that it’s just stained wood- otherwise the laminate would also be stained or damaged in some way and would have likely been removed. It looks like the stain on the wood continues under the laminate.

I understand why the situation would bother your son, having visited a few very decomposed people through work. People need to shut up about being grateful, being spooked doesn’t mean he’s not grateful for a place to live.

Good point re flies.

Tell him to give everywhere a swish with disinfectant if it's bothering him, and crack on.

I doubt they will replace good floorboards for a mysterious stain that could be many things.

Most houses that are more than a few years old will have had someone die in them.

So basically she's the old lady from this scene:

You’d kink his concerned family who just may stumble on this thread and add two and nothing together to identify this specific circumstance, may have checked on their dearly beloved some time in the three weeks he lay dead.

The person may have died in bed or in an armchair. The stains on the wooden floor boards could well be something else( well one set will be) so as long as there isn’t a smell, I’d not worry

This thread is so grim. The story is really quite identifiable, you're posting pictures of what you believe might be leftover bodily fluids from an awful sounding death that was only a year ago. People are then speculating about whether it could be bodily fluid or not and about how the victim might have died. It's really tasteless and unfair on the family/friends who might come across it . Your DS either needs to clean the marks up or forget about them or reliquish the property. There will be no way of him knowing for sure what caused the marks.

Honestly, I very much doubt any family or friends of the person who died in this sad situation would open a thread like this and examine the photos. Why on earth would they? I'd be steering clear of anything like this if I'd had a relative die in a similar way.

I understand why op posted and I'd be worried too if I was her son.

If the stains are from a decomposed body there must of been a mass murder in my house. If I take my carpet up the floorboards are all sorts of colours / stains .

First one old varnish stain , 2nd looks like that was where the old open fireplace would have been (due to the boards in a different angle and the vent on the wall). Due to the age of the house it’s possible many have passed away in the house. The house is pre ww2 NHS not yet around multi generation households. If there had been “damaged” floorboards they would have been replaced.

Neither of those photos look like staining from a body
If they were they would smell
I pulled up the carpet in my flat and the floor was filthy. Just 2 stains is pretty good going

It sounds like your son is freaking out about the fact someone died in the house and therefore the rather boring stains have become a cause for anxiety. I think that's understandable but I also don't think the stain is the problem in itself. I would try to help him rationalise his concerns round the death instead

For the floor, I agree with the people saying it will sand down really well but I wouldn't just oil it afterwards. If you do that it will look really great for a few weeks and then gradually start to look tattier and tattier as the oiled wood absorbs any additional stains, oil, water dropped on it. Instead I would varnish with varnish formulated for floors.

I’ve smelled the smell: it would still smell now.

Is there something else going on OP… is it his first time moving out of home and he’s anxious?

eta: check the ceiling above the second one. Is it a bathroom that had a leak?

The family and friends that would be so sensitive to a photo of random floorboards but didn’t actually bother visiting him for weeks at a time? Give over. 🙄

No-one is expecting him to "put his feet up at home after a long shift next to a whacking great decomposition stain" - there have been many useful suggestions on this thread - stain the floor boards, try cleaning the floor boards, get a rug. Replace the floor boards if he can afford it. There are options.

From what everyone has said on here i don't think its a decomposition stain anyway.

My house is 300 years old. I’m sure loads of people have died in it over the years. Generally, unless murdered, most people die sat on furniture or lying down in bed. As others have said, if there was enough decomposition to leave a stain on the floorboards, it would smell horrendous. The floorboards would have needed replacing.

I’d still sage the shit out of it though. 😂