We have had a major issue with a leak under our 25 m2 kitchen.
the previous owner did A LOT of DIY, including using duck tape to join some sewage pipe and running a toilet waste pipe uphill.
It all leaked under the floor, took months to find out someone who could find the problem and ended up with us having to rip up the whole floor and changing the kitchen . It stunk .
We got complete new drainage , got rid of the toilet and installed a sum pump as there seems to be some rainwater coming in as well.
anyway they suck the water up , put loads of disinfectant and everyone was adamant that the air bricks would dry the crawling space out over time.
Anyway we got the floor covered with plywood and screeded last week , as the smell had mostly gone , mind we had some floorboards still open …anyway there is the corner where the toilet pipe was that still smells . We get a waft and I think it is for the old waste that had leaked , because they put the disinfectant but not done a deep clean .
i have now contacted a company which does biohazard cleaning , but they need access on top of the problematic area , which is the opposite corner from where we left 2 hatches, as the flooring guy did not want a hatch in an exposed visible area ….basically they can fog through the hatch but not sweep out the crap.
i now have to call the flooring guy and tell him he needs to pull up the plywood +screed aprox 5 m2 🙈🙈🙈 I’m dreading calling him out as I am sure he ll say we are stupid and we should have done the clean before . I agree , but we were made to believe it was not necessary, that closing off would seal it and that would be the end of it .
i am so fed up , it’s been 6 weeks of no kitchen ,no washing machine , 3 drainage people out all with different theories , smell , dust STRESS and a ton of money and the house still smells .
in all of this they had also told me they would level the floor while to install glue down LVT, but in the same spot we need to reopen , it is still slanted .
I don’t want to lay the LVT until the smell goes , do you think is going to be possible to cut the screed ( 2 mm) the plywood and then repatch it up later ? It’ll need screeding again .I’m scared he is going to refuse to cut it out as it has just been put down. Not sure how much I can do by myself as I’ll have to buy all the power tools .
honestly the previous owner did such a bog job, the toilet waste pipe was not even glued at the joints, it all came apart and created a domino effect where the outside gully / sewage pipes all broke and started leaking back into the underfloor .
P.s, Insurance not Interested as the smell isn’t classed as a problem and there is no damage to the actual floor , it’s all ”hidden mess” 😭😭😭😭😭