DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

we bought a 3 floor townhouse over a year ago. There are two bathrooms on the 2nd floor which reside on top of the 1st floor lounge. There was a crack in the ceiling on the 1st floor lounge which has grown over the year and also 2 stains on the celiling. Over the last year, i feel that the exisiting stains have expanded in size and two new stains have appeared. One of the bathrooms has had the grout disintegrate and for a period of a month, there used to be a bit of water on the tiles(which i am sure has gone through the grout). the tiles have started movig around, I showed it to a handyman in december and he said that there was bo cause for alarm, as the only issue was that they had not been laid well.

do you guys think it is a minor problem and i just need to get the bathroom floor fixed and the cracks in the ceiling touched up. and the ceiling repainted? or could i have damaged the joist and the ceiling could potentially cave in if i dont get it fixed asap?

can i get this done via home insurance? (they state that they provide insurance against accidental damage, like if my child pulls down the tv or i knock a whole through the ceiling doing diy)

should i be looking for a plumber or a carpenter or both to get an idea of what to do next? where can i get some good plumber/carpenter who can provide me with honest advice?

is there anything i can do to prevent further damage?

This is a classic symptom of old/poor grout, I do this type of work regularly because landlords won't properly maintain their properties. If you ever see any grout starting to fall out or develop cracks then you should deal with it immediately to avoid the situation ever happening again.

The first thing to do is check for loose tiles on the floor and remove them. If there's any substantial wood rot then you'll have to remove the surrounding tiles and cut away the rotten wood. Leave the floor to dry completely before patching up the floor and laying new tiles/grouting. The state of the joist depends on how long its been getting wet and if there's any noticeable swelling/bubbling of the ceiling below it? Once the leak(s) stop you should be able to patch up the ceiling and forget about it.

Nothing too skilled so a regular handyman would be the ideal person for the job imo (tiling/joinery/plaster).

thanks for the reply
there is not noticeable swelling/bubbling of the celing. there are however staines, and in some of them small cracks(i would imagine this appears when the paint dries).

any idea how much it is going to set me back by. the bathroom s a 2 by4foot i would imagine , with a toilet and a sink to lift up as well.

Its not a big problem, First you have to do is find the lose tiles and remove them and fill the existing stains with fixing material and then call the carpenter to fix the stains in the ceiling.