How worried should I be? Missing floor planks below bath

[cluelessinteriors]

After removing the bath panel as I was convinced there was black mould (there was 😭), I discovered missing floor planks underneath the bath by an exterior wall. There's also a hole for pipework.

I hadn't planned on renovating the bathroom yet (I was going to do the kitchen first as I don't have the money to do everything at once). How serious is this?

I feel so overwhelmed by the prospect of reno, let alone remedial work. This is my first property (it's a Victorian flat on the first floor). I had a level 3 survey done but this issue wasn't picked up.

can't really see what you mean from the photo.

at first glance it looks ok. looks reasonably clean and, importantly, dry.
important are the floor joists underneath the board the bath stands on. if the cut out is in the right place, i.e. not cut through a joint, it's fine.

Thanks @beigetriangle

The photo isn't the best. There's a massive gap by the exterior wall.

The bath will be standing on the joists underneath the floorboards, so you are not in danger of crashing through the floor. The only risk, really, is that massive spiders might rise up from the darkness and wave their nasty hairy legs at you when you are helpless in the bath. Better get that hole patched up before your eventual dooooommm!!!

@SixSevenShutUp The spiders are epic! I mistook the last one for a mouse 😱

Are you the owner of the floor below?
We currently have a huge hole between bathroom and dining room due to water damage to the floorboards (due to a leak in the bath waste pipe, though with free standing baths you need to be careful of splashing too).
If you are, check the ceiling below.
Even with no floorboards though, the bath is still in the bathroom not in the dining room!
There is one further risk with that hole though: lost bath toys. If you don't have any, you're good!

@drspouse The communal entrance is directly below my bathroom. I live in a Victorian semi which has been converted into flats.

Before I moved into the property, there was a leak. My guess is that the mouldy floorboards were removed then and not replaced.

I would get someone (builder probably though maybe a joiner) to look at the remaining floorboards. You may also need an industrial dehumidifier. It sounds like this all dates from before you moved in - maybe worth contacting your solicitor.

OP I'm like you. I live alone and get overwhelmed with 'house stuff'

I don't think your bath is going to fall through the floor so no worries on that score.

I am guessing you are right and they lifted part of floor if it got wet/rotten and didn't replace it as it was hidden and nothing was on top of it.

If it bothers you a joiner will be able to fill that gap quite easily with plasterboard.

Could the gap at the wall be some kind of deliberate ventilation?

I'll be getting joiners into my house before too long. My bathroom floor needs replaced due to water damage and it currently creaks and squeaks. My overflow pipe undid itself and leaked into the downstairs toilet. Plus just constant water everywhere has knocked the grout out of the floor tiles and probably seeped in the plasterboard. Honestly these things happen in bathrooms (and other rooms too). On my list of things to do are get squeaky stairs fixed and a blown brick on front of house.

It's never ending once you own a property so you just have to get used to it and try and not let it bother you. It's the same for everyone. Still stressful though

@PawsOnLaminate Thank you for the reassurance. The last few years have been stressful - redundancy a few months after completion, unemployment, breast cancer scare..

I don't have enough money to do everything (I know about) at once. I get nervous when new issues arise.

I hope you get your bathroom sorted soon!