What flooring to use in a flood-prone house?

[Trying]

Hi beautiful people,

As some may remember, I live permanently under the rivergums ALMOST on the bank of the Murray River, in my aluminium cabin plus deck, of approx 70 square mts. You may also remember the ( not so ) recent floods. Unfortunately, I now have a whole new appreciation of ' FLOATING FLOORING'.  Hats off to EKO DECK !!  No problems weathering the floods at all. My deck is as good as the day it was laid.

Alas, my actual cabin floor, ( not the floor coverings ) was not so fortunate. This old girl had the infamous chipboard flooring from back in the 90's. So, my questions to you experts is;

A.  What type of flooring material would you recommend for the replacement ?

B.  The area of flooring to be replaced is approx. 55 sq. mts

C.  Is there a product like EKO deck I could use ? (ie...doesn't rot, mould, swell or warp when exposed to flooding. ) 

D.  It's possible that flooding could occur again in the future, so the life timeline of the chosen material should be considered.

E.  What type of tradesman should be engaged to install the chosen material ?

I appreciate that other folk are in worse situations than myself, however I must apply a remedy quickly to rid my home of the extensive mould as I suffer from asthma.

All suggestions are welcome as I know you Workshoppers are the most kind, knowledgeable and helpful people I am so proud to be part of, and of course, our admin gurus. You know who you are.    Thank you.

still damp and mouldy floorstill damp and mouldy

[MitchellMc · Accepted solution]

Hi @Trying,

I'm so sorry to hear that your home was affected by flooding. We're here to help.

I want to fully understand the issue here so I can provide the best advice. Can you tell me, apart from the chipboard being wet and mouldy, has it started to degrade and become spongey or fall apart? If the only issues you are experiencing are dampness and mould, those can be remedied. Particle board flooring is impregnated with wax and can sustain water exposure for a significant amount of time. It's designed to be outside in the weather for up to 5 months whilst the walls and roof of the house are built around it. If water sits pooled on the surface for a prolonged period, this can cause damage, but if the water in your home was evacuated reasonably quickly, it might not have suffered any damage. What you might have now is a damp floor that needs to be addressed, as any wet floor would need to be. To control the current mould issue whilst you decide on the next steps, I'd advise you to remove the vinyl to allow air to circulate over the floor, keep windows open in the house as much as possible, and potentially look at picking up a few industrial fans to get some air movement in the home. Even one of these Mistral 60cm Black Industrial Drum Fans would likely be sufficient in a small home. A de-humidifier wouldn't be a bad idea, either.

Once you remove the vinyl, I'd recommend you spray the entire floor with a mixture of 50/50 water and bleach. This will kill the mould, and the floor can be wiped with a damp cloth and a little detergent. After a couple of weeks of airing out the house, you might still be worried about mould in the particle board that you can't see, but you could paint it with oil-based paint to seal the surface. I'd recommend a budget-friendly paint like Taubmans Tradex Semi Gloss White Enamel Oil Based Paint. The 10L would be more economical for a house than the 4L containers. Please remember we're using this to seal the floor before relaying the vinyl; the paint won't be durable enough to be used as a finish by itself without flooring on top.

I've gone through the above because not only is replacing the flooring going to be a high cost, but water-proof flooring will be a real expense. Using a product like Hardie 2400 x 1200 x 15mm 2.88m² Panel Compressed Sheet will add up quickly in cost, and although it can be exposed to moisture for longer than particle board, you'll still experience mould issues if it remains wet for a long period.

I advise trying to save the current flooring by treating the mould and aerating the house. If there are areas of flooring that are falling apart, swollen or warped, cut out and replace those areas. Any slightly raised and rough spots can be sanded to the same height as the flooring.

Due to the costs involved, I feel it's best to replace the current flooring with particle board again. If the house floods again, act quickly and remove standing water, remove all floor coverings, open up the house and dry it out as soon as possible. Unfortunately, there's no Ekodeck-like product that I'm aware of for sub-floor use. Considering how well your decking held up, it sounds like a good idea.

Regarding tradespeople, a handyperson could likely complete the work and might cost less than a carpenter. I'd suggest you look to services like Hipages to be connected to tradespeople in your area.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Trying]

Hi Mitchell Mc, thank you so much for your very welcome advice. I appreciate that you have saved me a great deal of work and money.

My floor is still solid so I will follow your advice re the fans/open windows/ bleach wash,etc.., and hope that solves the problem. If necessary, I'll seal the floor with the paint product you suggested. Thank you so much Mitchell. Cheers.

PS: Why doesn't some company ( like EKOdeck) make an internal flooring product to be used in floodprone areas? Seems sensible to me 😀

[EricL]

Hi @Trying 

It's definitely an interesting product to produce, perhaps it's something that they've not yet considered. If they did make a large sheet of composite flooring, I'm sure there would be customers for it.

Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to seeing the mould in your flooring taken out.  

Eric