Removing flooring revealed issues with concrete floor and plumbing...

[houseofbodge]

Hi, I hope someone can help? I’ve moved into a 60s house which has not been kept up to date, and whatever has been done looks like it was always done on the cheap. I recently removed the flooring as it was rotten through due to a leaking sink. Underneath the rotten plywood was a concrete floor, it was black with mold and tendrils (roots maybe?). The floor has cracks and nail holes and has a light lean into the toilet corner, anything look worrying here? We removed the boxing around the toilet and found what might be several issues. There are gaps where the wall meets the floor, there is a unsealed crumbly hole around the drain, there are damp issues with the concrete floor and mold on the walls. The plumbing is pretty wonky and might be leaking, sometimes we get drain smells. Can anyone help me pin point where there could be problems that might need looking into and what is to be expected. It’s an old house with many issues, getting a little overwhelmed. Thanks for your time

 

[houseofbodge]

Here’s some photos.

 

[Lower]

Where does the pipe that has been sealed with expanding foam into the toilet waste bend connect to?

 

[houseofbodge]

That’s the waste pipe from the sink

 

[Lower]

Does the sink have a trap on it? Looking at how bodged that pipe is into the toilet waste, it seemed an obvious question to ask relating to your sewer smells.

 

[houseofbodge]

Yes just checked, it’s got a p trap. It’s not a constant smell, I haven’t worked out the pattern yet. This shower room hasn’t been used often due to the issues, so might be that, also sometime I’ve noted that it has happened on heavy rain days...

 

[bobasd]

tendrils are often signs of Dry Rot - why not do the following?

take pics of the tendrils and the floor.
take pics showing the whole room - presumably, the same room as the pics above?
remove all wood flooring and all skirtings.
hack off the bottom 50mm-60mm of plaster to break contact with the solid floor.
look for a DPC in the wall.
then take pics and post on here.

investigating for any dry rot is the first and most significant task for you.

if the floor doesn't have a membrane (a DPM) below the concrete then the concrete will have to come up, and a new floor poured on a DPM.
its possible that there's dry rot below the concrete.

that plumbing arrangement of soil & waste pipes, and water supplies could collapse and/or leak on you at any time.
best and cheapest practice would be to have it all redone to a proper standard with the correct fittings etc.
i wont comment on this or that - messing with any of it could cause further difficulties.

Its a lot more work than maybe you bargained for but doing what i suggest above will give you a clean sheet of a bathroom to re-arrange the fixtures to how you want it - eg. opening up the floor will allow you to change the drainage or hide the pipe runs.