There is a series of soft spots, in my floor, near my sliding patio door.
[ol]
[li]In the past, it has been described as badly installed carpet padding.[/li][li]There have been water leaks from outside. The Condo association has adressed this, & there are no more water leaks.[/li][li]I am concerned that there could bre floor board damage.[/li][li] My late Father was the previous owner, & of that period I know nothing.[/li][li] No documents exist regarding repairs.[/li][li] The Condo Association is all-volunteer, & will be of no help.[/li][li] I am currently stressede, & may be making a mountain out of a mole hill.[/li][/ol]
Is there any access to that space from below? If possible, you want someone who can correctly diagnose the problem to inspect it.
A standard residential floor made of wood consists of floor joists, atop which rests a subfloor, atop which rests the finish flooring (carpet, in your case). From what you have described, I would suspect water damage to the subfloor. A worrying complication would be if the joists had been damaged. Upside: subfloor materials are relatively inexpensive, and carpet can be pulled up and then put back down if done carefully, so you may not need to replace that.
There is a meter that can detect rising damp in walls. Perhaps it would work on floors. I agree with KTK that the underlayment is likely compromised. Hopefully, that doesn’t also extend to your floor joists. It’s a pretty easy fix (although if it’s rotted joist material, things become more complicated/expensive), but you’ll have a problem matching up the carpet afterward.
I’ve never owned a condo. But would this be covered by the Condo Association fees?
I’ve dealt with soft floors. Our 10x11 mud room started getting wonky 10 years ago. In our case, this was a standard 3/4" plywood subfloor on joists that was set on concrete foundation on footers. Dirt floor. Standard stuff.
Where we live has a lot of springs and weird drainage. A spring opened up under this room and it filled with about 3 feet of water. Didn’t touch the joists, but destroyed them anyway. Joists sagging at least an inch. The entire structure needed work due to other issues as well. We had it all torn down and replaced. The foundation was all we kept (fixed the drainage though)
Don’t let my experience scare you, but do have it looked at.
Take a few deep breaths. You’re not gonna fall through the floor tomorrow. Wait til your workman tells you what the problem is. Then you can figure out what to do about it. It’ll be ok.
Good luck.
ETA, handy man first.IMO
Are you on the ground floor? That makes a difference.
I agree with the handyman first contingent. It could be anything at this point and a handyman can help you get started. It could be as simple as no or worn carpet padding.
Your handyman will hopefully shed light on the cause, damage and potential repair. Since you live in a condo, before you begin repair, you need to determine your financial responsibility relating to your unit because condominiums are unique in that regard and unit ownership can vary from one condo association to another. Example, I have little doubt your own the carpet but what about the sub-floor? Is that your responsibility to repair or does that fall on the condo association?
In order to find out you need to review the condo bylaws and if you do not have a copy, the condo manager should. Somewhere in the document the “Unit Boundaries” will be defined setting out what your actually own and what the association owns. I have seen bylaws that limit ownership to only the finished surfaces of walls, floors and ceilings but others may include sub floor, sheetrock, etc.
In others words, if you don’t own it, you’re not responsible to fix it because that’s the responsibility of the association.
To build upon Dereknocue67’s post, even if you own the subfloor, if the problem is water damage, caused by the old leaks, the Condo Association may be held responsible for repairing the damage.
Document what is going on, take pictures and good notes from the handyman you bring in to evaluate it.
What stateo stereo stea…the psychic test pilot said about being on the ground floor or not is extremely relevant. Both for ease of access to do inspections to determine the true extent of the affected area and doing the repair work, and if you aren’t on the ground floor, who or what is below you that may also have been affected. I won’t guarantee microbial growth, but it is possible. Happily, easily remedied without professional services if the area affected is small enough.
