Help!: Descent into...water

[MrRush]

Having joined the forum a few days ago I had some great advice on preparing the room etc. for my tiling job (DIY). All went well, removed all emulsion paint from walls and was just cleaning up dust to start my setting out when I noticed a tiny bit of water in the seam between two rubber (dalsouple) floor tiles.
Well, long story short, I ended up tearing up my rubber floor and finding a nice little pond underneath. Looks for all the world like there's a patch in the floor where water either came up through the concrete & self-leveling on top, or got in between the rubber floor and the concrete. Where wet, the adhesive for the rubber was very gooey - very easy to pull up the material as opposed to where floor was dry and adhesive intact.
Anyway, I know this isn't really a tiling issue - just thought (hope) some of you might have seen something like this before.
Strange thing is, the perimeter of the flooring was all well stuck with dry concrete beneath. There is a puddle that lies between the outside path and the house at around this point - could this be seeping down across and up into the room?

Anyway, I'm wondering what my next move should be - leave it and see if it dries or immediately have an engineer or someone come and have a gander...

Thanks in advance for any pointers & Cheers,
Dave

P.S. Three pipes into room - one for WC, two for basin (h & c) - all come down into room and through wall - all walls (skim on plasterboard) bone dry - timber at the bottom of all studwork also seems bone dry, so it doesn't seem like a leak coming down behind plasterboard wall and moving across floor.

[Dave]

I think it needs investigating...

[MrRush]

Yeah, just caught my wallet trying to hide under the sofa - knows what's coming I suspect...

Thanks,
Dave

[jay]

hi just let it dry out and see if it returnes give it 48 hours do you have floor heating

[MrRush]

Thanks for the reply Jay - no, no floor heating. This is a cloakroom bathroom that's 'studded off' from the kitchen with an entrance door in the hall. There's a radiator in the kitchen and another in the hall. I can put an electric heater in there to dry it out.

When the surface is dry should I cut down through the self-leveling compound layer in a little area to see if the concrete below is also wet?

Thanks and best,
Dave

[faithhealer]

wel that would eliminate that. Just a process of eliminatinion really. Sounds like the adhesive isn't waterproof though if it was 'easy' to take up

[jay]

hi dave no don't cut down just let it dry out and then give it 48 hours to see if it returns if you think its coming from path wet area outside and see if travels in just give it time to dry out first

[MrRush]

Thanks both. Had a look at it there and the surface pretty much dried overnight except for a crack in the levelling compound and a small area around it. I suppose if this part fails to dry out or dries then gets wet again then this crack and whatever lies beneath is probably the culprit. I'll leave it for another 24 hours and see what's what then.

Faithhealer, not sure about the adhesive - I'm not sure how long this has been happening (could be 5 years) but the adhesive looked as though either it had never cured properly or had been degraded by the water - looked a whitish-blue, PVA-ish.

I'm kind of hoping that the floor was put down when the concrete was too wet and that the moisture from the floor gathered there with nowhere to evaporate to - that would be easiest, but unlikely that water would lie between concrete and rubber for five years I'm sure. I reckon that's just wishful thinking.

Thanks folks,
Dave

[brailesbuilder]

Hi, can someone tell me how to post my question on this site. I managed to post something yesterday after few ales but am struggling to do it sober.

[jay]

thanks let us know how you go does crack run towards low point in path outside

[MrRush]

Hi, go back to http://www.tilersforums.co.uk/ and look for a forum that suits your question (tiling tools, preparation etc.). If you don't see a heading that suits, go to the general 'Tiling Forum' and start it there (Tiling Forum - TilersForums.co.uk | Tile Forums | Tiling Forum) and look for the New Thread button - that will get you started.

Hope this helps

[MrRush]

Hi Jay,

Yep, crack would run in the general direction of the low part of the path alright, weird thing is that all around the perimeter of the room is dry, flooring was stuck tight. But I suppose there could be a weakness and it's coming up toward middle of room?

I'll keep updating this thread anyway to let you know how I get on, it might be useful for someone at some stage even though I suppose it's strictly not a tiling issue...

Cheers,
Dave

[jay]

hi ata guess without seeing it id say water is traveling along crack and pooling at lowest point middle of floor when dry flood outside area of path and watch middle of floor could be your prob hope this helps let us know and yes it may be a tiling issue if covered up



brailesbuilder check your pm ive sent you one

[MrRush]

Thanks Jay - that's what I'll do. Having looked at the puddle outside, it's bang-on right beside where this floor is. If the test you describe results in damp floor again I'll either fill in the path at that point with more concrete or I'll cut a channel at that point along to the next rain drain.

I suppose if that works then I'd want to tile the floor using waterproof adhesive over the levelling compound, or would I take that compound out?

Cheers,
Dave