DIY with function over finesse!!

[Rp0thejester]

I know it sounds bemusing, but I'm a core driller for a living. That hole looks wrong. No dust around it which suggests water, dry would have dust around it even if water spurted up. It looks like the water came up because the membrane was perforated during drilling.

[mickthemaverick]

Right I see, we had vacuumed the whole area before I took the pic so cleared the dust and grit. The screed was damp where we drilled but on removing the bit the bottom was dry until some water dribbled in from the top of the membrane

[Rp0thejester]

Did you drill the hole yourself Mick or did you let someone else do it?

[mickthemaverick]

I had my sparky mate who lives there to do it, like you he does that sort of thing regularly and so has all the kit.

[Rp0thejester]

[mickthemaverick]

One of SWMBO's friends phoned me yesterday having been convinced she'd heard scratching under her sofa. I went round to investigate and immediately found a patch of the sofa backing cloth missing with a very ragged hole. I pulled the sofa out more to investigate to be greeted with the sight of a mouse legging it across the room away from me!! We have now named him Fred as he turned out to be a helpful messenger with a message that is better known now than carrying on unnoticed!! Having then spent some time trying to catch the little feller I gave up and decided to investigate how he had got into her lounge. On pulling the sofa right away from the wall I came across the answer to my query:

MTMO the hole beneath the skirting

I walked across the floor to look at the other side and this happened:

MTMO the sinking laminate

So I pulled up all the laminate until I reached dried floor to discover the extent of the problem:

The damage under the laminate floor

At this point I discovered the damp is into the floor beams as well as the boards so a major refit is required. Time to involve her insurance so I told her son, who is a builder, about it and he has now taken control to get her back into habitable surroundings. As for Fred the hunt goes on with placing of humane traps around the room and hope for the best!!

[myglaren]

Oh dear. You should reward Fred for drawing attention to that before anyone fell through the floor.

[mickthemaverick]

Oh dear. You should reward Fred for drawing attention to that before anyone fell through the floor.

That is my plan Steve, if we can catch him I'll take him up to the barn up the road and release him into the hay, hopefully that will be reward enough!!

[Gibbo2286]

It's reckoned that if you find a mouse in your house not far away is his extended family usually about 42 of them.

[mickthemaverick]

I'll not be passing that on, there is enough panic with1 !!

[Paul-R]

...I'll take him up to the barn up the road and release him into the hay, hopefully that will be reward enough!!

Not so close, they can make their way back like homing pigeons! I would say 2 - 3 miles at least.

[mickthemaverick]

Yes Paul thanks, I meant up the road from me, whereas the house concerned is 8 miles away!!

[bobins]

I've had mousetraps down in the garage where Helga is stored. I was catching at least one (if not two) a week for weeks on end. It's been a bit quiet for meeces there the last 10 days......

[mickthemaverick]

No further pictures but a quick update on Fred and the floor. No sign of Fred himself although the bait from the traps has gone!! Devious chap no doubt!! However the damage to the floor is horrendous. The chipboards were pulled up to reveal..........nothing!!! No sign of the underlying floor boards in that corner and the two 6 x 2 beams have both disintegrated. Clearly it has been a very long term issue and I'm pretty certain the whole floor will need replacing with possible underpinning of the walls!! I very much doubt if the insurance cover she has will cover it once their surveyor has visited. She opted for the company's 'silver' policy which I found included a clause specifying damage due to poor maintenance is not covered!! Whoops. I expect to see much grief over this and I'm glad I handed it over to her builder son to deal with!!

[mickthemaverick]

A new disaster struck Maverick Manor this morning and I have no option but to start again from the very beginning!!!