I fell through the floor

[Notusuallydown]

We moved to a house that’s charming, just what we wanted, but trouble has been never ending. The latest thing is a hole in the kitchen floor.
I’d been saying for months (since September?) that there was something wrong with the floor, my DH has been saying, “You’ll only open a can of worms.” It’s worrying me, what else is wrong with it?
He said he’ll take up the lino to see what’s underneath. The lino is trapped under cupboards so it is difficult to remove, it’ll have to be cut, and because it’s thick and spongy it’ll be hard work.
Finally my foot went through the lino, a hole about 30cm sq. That was just after Christmas.
I want to see what’s wrong and put it right, not just paper over the cracks (or board over the hole!). He took the day off today to do things around the house. I did gently suggest the floor could do with being looked at, He found a floorboard which he showed me. (I’m fairly sure it won’t fit.) We never normally row, but fairly major disagreement ensued. When he said, “Well, do you want us to get someone in to do it?” I said “Yes.”
Anyway the upshot of it was that he’s not done anything today, except move some logs, and sit smoking in the garage, and is now sitting reading in front of the fire in the living room. He works hard, I don’t begrudge him time relaxing, but I think I’ve been quite patient.
Should I go ahead and book someone to come and look at it.
YABU=don’t get someone in. YANBU =if you think I should.

Yes get someone in to fix it

Definitely!

Have you tried asking your DH what he thinks is going to happen if you don't investigate? You already know there's a problem - normal kitchen floors don't have holes in them. He also knows there's every chance that there's a problem that needs proper investigation - if he thought it was going to be an easy job he'd have done it by now. My guess is he's waiting for you to take the problem out of his hands. If you bring someone in and its nothing serious he gets to say 'I told you so', and if it is serious then he couldn't possibly have been expected to fix it himself.

If you want it sorted then leave him to whatever self-soothing fiction he's invented and crack on.

Well it depends really, is he in any way qualified to identify what the problem is and fix it or not? Would he (or you) recognise dry rot or subsidence for instance and know what to do about it? If he or you wouldn't then of course you should get someone in to look at it, otherwise you're just going to spend money making it look pretty while it gets worse and worse underneath. For instance it's all very well replacing the floor board, but if your joists are rotten there's no point!

The best way to ensure something is done is to arrange for someone to do it. Then either your DH will leap into action, or someone you pay to will sort it out. Either way, problem solved

can't you look at it or is it a balls and penis task only?

Tell him you're not going in the kitchen until it's fixed.

If you've managed to put your foot through the floor it's highly probable that the problem extends beyond 1 floorboard.

Clearly neither of you know what's caused the problem (woodworm, dry rot, damp rot etc). That means you need someone else to look at it. Don't be surprised if they tell you that the whole floor (or a large part of it) needs replacing.

Hide his phone in the hole, he'll have to look at it then.

Get a blade and cut the lino so you can see the problem. You don’t have to wait until he’s ready to do it.

Can you afford to fix it?
Is he scared that a huge expensive problem will be uncovered that you don't have the means to resolve?

I mean I know that's not a constructive or realistic attitude but I can understand him putting it off if it'll be worse before it's better and there's a risk of it getting stuck in 'worse' like those episodes of Home nightmare programmes.

@magicstar1

Get a blade and cut the lino so you can see the problem. You don’t have to wait until he’s ready to do it.

Spot on

I honestly can't believe the learned helplessness on this thread.

Floors can be a big problem if you don't know what you doing. I once put my foot through a floorboard in an old Georgian house that had wood worm damage underneath. It looked fine on top and had survived being sanded and stained but one night my foot went straight through it, I fell forward and knocked myself out cold on a wall while my young children were playing downstairs. We were all very lucky my husband came home just 20 minutes later and found me and the kids had a conscious, responsible adult minding them again!

The sooner you fix it the cheaper it’ll be to do.

Cut the Lino and have a look. Sounds like your floorboards are rotten or riddled with woodworm. So you may also need to replace joists, and sort out wherever the damp is coming from (furniture beetle, aka woodworm, prefer damp).

DH is right, you could’ve uncovered a bit of a mess. But leaving it will only make it worse (more damage to joists and other timber, plaster, etc).

@Dogsarehairy

can't you look at it or is it a balls and penis task only?

This .... always.

So he asked if you wanted to get someone in to look at it, you said yes and... you seem to be waiting for him to do it and are annoyed he hasn't... why don't you do it?

I'd look myself. In fact I do most stuff before asking dh. Not that he wouldn't do it. I just like to do things for myself.
Just look yourself!

Or get someone in.

Cut the lino have a look you could get a cheap sheet of plywood to cover it temp.
Possibly could be chipboard floor thats got wet and it just crumbles.

Why don't you take charge and sort it yourself you don't need to be a man to cut and peel back lino and see what the problem is .

Look at the floor and if it looks bad (it will) call a professional. Why are you waiting for him to do it? Why can’t you?

Get someone in. Unless your husband is a builder/joiner then how is he supposed to know any more than you? I'd guess it's a damp issue

Did you agree that sorting it out would be your husband's job? I must be missing something because I can't see how removing the lino to inspect the problem is such a big deal, surely a Stanley knife would get the job done?

He asked if you wanted to get someone in to do the repair but it doesn't look like you agreed who would be responsible for finding someone and making arrangements for them to come and look at it. Could he be thinking you agreed to do it? I think you need to ask him rather than MN about who is going to make the call to an appropriate trade.

Oh for pity’s sake. Cut the lino and see what’s the matter with the floor! Are you completely unable to do anything without simpering at a man?

Why can’t you fix it? Or call someone yourself to fix the problem?

I feel your pain. Whenever something goes wrong my partner always says 'we need to sort out XYZ...' then promptly does nothing. I don't know why he doesn't just say 'can you do this?' which is clearly what he means.

YANBU but you might regret not just throwing rug over hole. I know why wall in my house had so many layers of paper it was basically the wall