Situation:
Hot water leak behind shower over months/years soaked soil under slab causing serious floor warping. Leak has been fixed. Floor must be replaced.
Question:
What are the best ways to dry under the slab, and how long will it take until new hardwood can be laid?
Old masonry may look tough, but the wrong mortar can destroy it—here's how to choose the right mix for lasting repairs.
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Replies
First you and all your friends get your hairdryers out... sorry I couldn't help myself. Where are you located? Do you have clay soil or is it in a shaded area ?
Most of the water in the soil under the slab is going to migrate out in about a week. A week or two after that the slab should be dry enough.
To test for slab moisture, tape a 2'x2' square of plastic down on it. When the drops on the bottom of the plastic dry out, the slab is dry enough.
Check back here a month after the leak repair if it's not dry by then.
SamT
Thanks to both of you.
I suspect the moisture has penetrated quite deeply. The house is on heavy clay, and are not especially shaded on the Texas prairie. It is August and hell has begun its annual migration into this area, which may help.
The plastic sheet idea is a good one.
Some parts of the floor are not buckled, and the thought was to leave them in place and weave in new wood where necessary. Do you think that this would appreciably slow the process? Would a dehumidifier help in an air conditioned house? A blower over the floor?
Joe
Edited 8/9/2007 9:00 pm ET by Joe Sullivan
If you air conditioning is sized well, and doesn't short cycle then your humidity is probably already somewhat low. A fan to keep air flowing over the concrete will definitely help. Just a very small amount of air movement will help.
The house is on heavy clay.Oh... Uh... Well, in that case, check back next spring.You should really get the warped flooring outa there, unless you have small kids.THe fa$te$t to dry it is to cover the area with rabbit wire or similar. Take a piece of plastice big enough to poke a hole in the center and tape the hose of your shop vac in that hole. Lay the holy plastic over the mesh and tape the edges down. Then place 1000 watt infra red lamps shining on the plastic covered floor and run the shop vac for a couple of days, venting it outside.If you just don't feel like that noise and clutter, take away the vac, the plastic, and the wire mesh and add a dehumdifier or turn the AC down to maybe 68*. You'll want the infra reds to each shine on about 20 sqft. That's 50 watts a foot.A much more Eefi$heeint way is to let the soil deal with that water first.SamT