Wood repair for a laundry

All,

I am about to replace a section of my laundry which is currently rotting away merrily (and has a nice little mouse/rat/cockroach hole at the bottom). The room itself is square, but one corner has been boarded off 150mm x 170mm, floor to ceiling. I am in the top floor of a set of units, so I think it is covering a stink pipe/sewerage pipe for mine and the other units below me (I have attached some pictures which might make it a bit clearer).

Removing it is easy (I am good at demolishing), but I would like some advice as to what to replace it with? I was thinking of purchasing some wood to replace the current stuff, but will I just end up with the same problem in the near future? What type of wood to use? Any other material better suited to this environment? Any assistance would be appreciated.

Graha.

Is that grey stuff concrete or sheeting? If it's sheeting take care with your demolition - it may contain asbestos.

Modern sheeting designed for laundry/bathroom would probably best such as villaboard (if you don't mind buying James Hardie products).

The grey stuff (if you are referring to the bottom of the board) is an undercoat on the chipboard (which is what I believe the board is). However, as I am not sure what is behind the structure (dust, dirt, dead animals) I will be taking breathing precautions (and evacuating my family for a while).

Thanks for the recommendation.

Graha.

Graha
check with your Body Corporate.
My recollection from when I owned a unit is that you own the paint on the inside of your unit, but everything under the paint, ie the walls is the Body Corporate's responsbility when they need fixing.

share the cost arround

ian

Ian,

Very good point - never thought of that one. I will chase this down as well.

Graha.

Graha,
also be aware that if the corner is covering up a vent pipe then the space around the pipe may be in a different "sector" for the purpose of fire management. Ie: the wall might be fire rated to slow down the spread of fire.

Mick

Why is it wet/rotting in the first place? Is there any chance that once repaired, it will get wet and rot again? In other words, did/is the water getting to this area from inside the room or from the wall side?

cheers
Wendy

Rustic,

Before we purchased the place the cold water main tap (which is situated under te laundry tub on the left) was leaking quite badly and caused the water damage. We have since fixed the tap so there is no more water getting on the ground.

One concern I did have was, since the laundry is considered a wet area, is the type of wood which should be used. The current stuff looks like chipboard, so water loves it. I am in the process of getting the body corporate to get some quotes to get it replaced, and I will specify that whatever it is replaced with will be both water and vermin proof (if there is such a beast).

Graha.

Treated pine with cement sheet over the top of the timber.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Graha

The grey stuff (if you are referring to the bottom of the board) is an undercoat on the chipboard (which is what I believe the board is). However, as I am not sure what is behind the structure (dust, dirt, dead animals) I will be taking breathing precautions (and evacuating my family for a while).

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Phew I can relax now :p Pleased to hear you're taking breathing precautions. Having just removed a bunch of asbestos from an old kitchen and bathroom and had 70 years of dirt, droppings, dead insects and animals fall on me at the same time... I can recommend it ;)

On an aside some proper waterproofing seems like it needs to happen. If it's waterproofed properly then you shouldn't need to worry so much about what is holding the sheeting in place.

I have a builder helping me with bits and pieces and he does lots of repair work for BSA insurance (the people you go to when things go wrong in Qld and the person who did the work originally won't help). He reckons a lot of the waterproofing failures he's fixing are when the non-polyurethane based waterproofers are used. For the few extra dollars he reckons polyurethane based ones are the way to go.

Cheers

sco