problem with waterbed and floor...not sure on what to do.

[Barnaby W. Füi]

ok i'm renting the top half of a duplex, and i had a waterbed. the thing started leaking (fairly slowly), so we put pots/cups there to catch the water, and proceeded to drain the bed and get rid of it. the problem is, it seems as though we didnt see all of the water dripping because the floor got quite wet (not wet enough to go through to the neighbors below, but still pretty wet), and now i have found that there is a big lump in the floor! (it has dried) i suppose the wood warped from the water, it is an old house. my question is: what the hell should i do? some ideas i had:

1. talk to my girlfriend's dad about it, maybe he would have an idea (he's good at working on stuff )
2. pull up the carpet, and try to nail it down or something, then put the carpet back, though i dont really know how to pull up carpet and have never worked with carpet. i also wonder if it would even be effective at all to try to nail down warped wood.
3. same as #2, except maybe pull up the wood and replace it.
4. our landlord is in the process of selling the house, so we could possibly just cover it up while the house is being shown, and then when we move out (after house is bought), just say it was already there.

not sure on what to do here, like i said i havent worked with flooring/carpeting ever so i'm kind of confused as to what would even work.

any help would be appreciated.

 

[XZeroII]

Option 4. Imply that it's been there for awhile by leaving messages on the landlords answering machine saying stuff like "When are you going to come by and fix that floor? It seems to be getting worse. Oh well. Call back asap." Might not work, but it's worth a shot.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

no way man, i'm a horrible liar, and that would be too obvious i think

 

[AUMM]

the same thing happened at my house a couple months ago, a water leak caused teh wood underneath to bump up and push up the carpet, we ended up having to replace it all, so I don't think its very easy to fix. you're best bet would be to cover it up if you don't want to fix it

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

<< the same thing happened at my house a couple months ago, a water leak caused teh wood underneath to bump up and push up the carpet, we ended up having to replace it all, so I don't think its very easy to fix. you're best bet would be to cover it up if you don't want to fix it >>


yeah but i'm not gonna live here for the rest of my life, and it would most likely take a big chunk out of the deposit i get back....i'd rather take care of it myself and not have the landlord know about it. (if possible of course :/)

 

[Yossarian]

You should get it fixed, professionally if you have to, because your landlord would be pretty stupid not to notice it after you leave. Save yourself from losing all your deposit and/or going to small claims court when you get sued. Look at your lease, there is probably a line in there saying "no waterbeds", it's pretty standard from what I've seen.

 

[Jfur]

I'd be up front with the landlord, even if you lose part of your deposit. Whether it's easy to fix or not, someone is going to have to pay for it -- and since you caused it, it's only right that it should be you. If someone you know really can fix it (really fix it), then that's another option, but if it is more than minor damage, I would not advise that.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

he knew i had a waterbed, so thats not an issue, also i wouldnt say the damage is major, just an area of a couple square feet.

 

[ultravox]

You shouild repair it for all the reasons already stated. You cannot fix just the lump. You will have to replace a bigger piece of the plywood so that it reaches the joists on both sides of the lump.

Lesson to be learned: rent in appts with cement floors.

I had numerous waterbeds for over 20 years and they always end up leaking sooner or later. Don't you have a liner in that bed?

 

[QTPie]

<<Lesson to be learned: rent in appts with cement floors.
I had numerous waterbeds for over 20 years and they always end up leaking sooner or later. Don't you have a liner in that bed? >>

or: I will not have sex with that women.... oh, will not own another waterbed!

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

i do realize that i have to replace the whole piece of plywood, thats no problem, plywood is like what? 10 bucks a sheet or something like that?

oh and i've already resolved to NEVER EVER EVER have another waterbed. they arent even as comfortable as a regular bed, and they are ALOT more hassle.

 

[N8Magic]

If you do decide to try to fasten it back down, use screws, and not nails. That way the wood can't pull them back out again.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

good idea, n8magic. anyone know how to pull up carpet? its just like...tacks holding it in the corners right?

 

[blueghost75]

hell, screw pulling up the carpet, just put a screw right through the carpet (assuming you know where the stud is), and you will save a lot of trouble and most likely no one will notice. And this way, if a screw doesn't work anyways, you have saved yourself the trouble of pulling up the carpet....

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

<< hell, screw pulling up the carpet, just put a screw right through the carpet (assuming you know where the stud is), and you will save a lot of trouble and most likely no one will notice. And this way, if a screw doesn't work anyways, you have saved yourself the trouble of pulling up the carpet.... >>


ya think the screw head would go through the carpet and be unnoticeable?

i had this idea also but wasnt sure whether the screw head would go through.

 

[blueghost75]

ya think the screw head would go through the carpet and be unnoticeable?

i had this idea also but wasnt sure whether the screw head would go through

Depends on the carpet.....if it is fluffy carpet, then no one would notice, but if it is hard carpet, then it may be noticable. Either case, I think if you screw it down far enough, you should be ok.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

i think i'm gonna borrow my gf's dad's power screwdriver thing and try that out, i have some wood screws. i just hope i can find the stud/brace/whatever under there.

 

[riddlebox]

yeah, don't pull up the carpet... you WON'T be able to get it to look right without the right tools... you might even get ripples in the carpet to start appearing... if use screws, part the carpet before you screw, it would give you a better chance of hiding it.

 

[BlueApple]

What if you cut out about a 4-by-4 foot area fo the carpet, replace the wood, and glue the carpet back down. It will save you time to pull the whole carpet up.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

<< part the carpet before you screw >>


:Q sorry man i'm only 18, my teenage perverseness hasn't quite gone away yet

 

[N8Magic]

Don't try to screw through the carpet, as it will be noticable, and you are going to need more than one screw. Also, once you pull the carpet up, you'll be able to see where the beams in the floor are because the nails will already be there.

 

[sharkeeper]

Gee I can see a lot of signature (quotes) originating from this thread!

Cheers!

 

[N8Magic]

<< Gee I can see a lot of signature (quotes) originating from this thread!

Cheers! >>



HAHAHHAHA, I just realized how bad my last post was! LOL!

 

[Aceman]

Is the bulge in the floor springy or solid? If you have particle board underlayment, you can put 100 screws into the carpet and it won't do a damn thing. Particle board is like a sponge and just expands and rots.

Is the carpet juteback (has a separate pad) or foambacked(pad is attached on the carpet. If it's foam back, carefully lift the carpet, cut out the damaged area from joist to joist using a circular saw set at 3/4" depth (Have someone that's used circular saws before do this!), replace with an exact replica in L, W and thickness, screw down. Then replace the doubleback tape on that holds down the carpet and roll the carpet back into place.

If you have jutebacked carpet, you won't be able to roll back the carpet on your own without special tools and experience.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

<<

Don't try to screw through the carpet, as it will be noticable, and you are going to need more than one screw. Also, once you pull the carpet up, you'll be able to see where the beams in the floor are because the nails will already be there. >>


nah, i think it will work. if you screw it down far enough it will go through the carpet, and worst case scenario i can unscrew it back out. and if i pull up the carpet i'll probably mess it up.