HELP! Water Bleeding from floor screed

[housingwoe 1]

Hi everyone,

(Apologies for the 90deg tilted image, not sure why cannot post in portrait)

I've bought a high floor 20yo HDB resale unit and the renovations have completed more than 6 mths ago. Trouble start brewing last Nov (2017) when I notice water bubbles coming out of my vinyl flooring seams in my master bedroom. Mould mites can also be seen crawling near the area.

Got a shock of my life when the vinyl is removed as there is a pool of milky looking water underneath the vinyl (fig. 1)

The floor screed appears wet (darker colour) and moisture can be seen collecting on the underside of a vinyl piece placed overnight (fig. 2 see the water sheen).

The wettest part of my master bedroom floor is at an area where there are absolutely no water pipings and is the direct opposite from the toilet (fig. 3). The water stain does extend from the toilet entrance (smallest dark patch) to the direct opposite side of the room (largest dark patch). The tiler mention if the leak is coming from the toilet, the toilet entrance should have the biggest dark patch. I've refrain from using the toilet just in case...but it doesn't seems to have any improvements. My lower unit neighbour has perfect ceiling condition in their master bedroom area and toilet. So I conclude this issue is only within my own unit.

Where could the moisture be coming from?

Town Council has assist in patching the exterior walls and repainted them as well to eliminate the possibility of rain water leakage from outside.

I've run out of possibilities on where is the source of the moisture...there is no water stain marks on the surrounding walls or bubbling paint which is a typical telltale sign of water seepage. From my observation, there is also no significant increase in the moisture on the concrete screed during heavy rains. Any form of moisture can only be seen when covering the screed for a couple of hours using a non-breathable material such as a piece of vinyl. Anyone can help me solve this "water bleed" mystery?

Edited February 4, 2018 by housingwoe

[AndreaLee 3]

19 hours ago, housingwoe said:

Hi everyone,

(Apologies for the 90deg tilted image, not sure why cannot post in portrait)

I've bought a high floor 20yo HDB resale unit and the renovations have completed more than 6 mths ago. Trouble start brewing last Nov (2017) when I notice water bubbles coming out of my vinyl flooring seams in my master bedroom. Mould mites can also be seen crawling near the area.

Got a shock of my life when the vinyl is removed as there is a pool of milky looking water underneath the vinyl (fig. 1)

The floor screed appears wet (darker colour) and moisture can be seen collecting on the underside of a vinyl piece placed overnight (fig. 2 see the water sheen).

The wettest part of my master bedroom floor is at an area where there are absolutely no water pipings and is the direct opposite from the toilet (fig. 3). The water stain does extend from the toilet entrance (smallest dark patch) to the direct opposite side of the room (largest dark patch). The tiler mention if the leak is coming from the toilet, the toilet entrance should have the biggest dark patch. I've refrain from using the toilet just in case...but it doesn't seems to have any improvements. My lower unit neighbour has perfect ceiling condition in their master bedroom area and toilet. So I conclude this issue is only within my own unit.

Where could the moisture be coming from?

Town Council has assist in patching the exterior walls and repainted them as well to eliminate the possibility of rain water leakage from outside.

I've run out of possibilities on where is the source of the moisture...there is no water stain marks on the surrounding walls or bubbling paint which is a typical telltale sign of water seepage. From my observation, there is also no significant increase in the moisture on the concrete screed during heavy rains. Any form of moisture can only be seen when covering the screed for a couple of hours using a non-breathable material such as a piece of vinyl. Anyone can help me solve this "water bleed" mystery?

waaa so scary..omg, how long have this been like this ? Looks like a very serious case 

[housingwoe 1]

floor screed laid since Jun 2017 and water bleed first discovered in Nov 2017 till now...haiz. my biggest headache now. how to resolve this?

[AndreaLee 3]

16 hours ago, housingwoe said:

floor screed laid since Jun 2017 and water bleed first discovered in Nov 2017 till now...haiz. my biggest headache now. how to resolve this?

For this kind of situation right, I heard from my contractor that they need to go down and have a look only they will know what is the situation.

[housingwoe 1]

1 hour ago, AndreaLee said:

For this kind of situation right, I heard from my contractor that they need to go down and have a look only they will know what is the situation.

yea...my tiler alrdy view the condition and he conclude it is due to rain water seepage coming in from a cement board aka "fake wall" put up by HDB originally. he has replace the board and did waterproofing at the edge of the base floor that is expose to rain. it has been 2 weeks since the waterproofing was done but I hardly see any improvements.

So I'm getting kind of doubtful if that is the actual root cause...

I have googled and there are overseas horror cases where cement screed takes years to dry out due to too much water being added during the prep stage. My screed is using premix packs and although I'm sceptical the workers will make such a basic mistake, i can't find any other explanation to this strange phenomenon.

[fingerscross 3]

Moisture frm the screed cld be one of the cause, the other could be "sweating" due to difference in temperature. I wld rule out moisture frm screed since

1) your tiler aldy had a look. 2) i wld assume you did cement screed thruout the hse n the prob occurs only in your masterbedroom.

Your downstairs neighbour cld be having their a/c running at extensive periods of time at v cool temperatures. 

U can try to chk with your 18th floor neighbour if they having mold cluster prob on their ceiling. If yes, then most likely the cause is because your 19th floor neighbour's a/c.

However, if its bcos of screed too much moisture, u can chk with your tiler if its ok to drill multiple tiny holes into the screed to let the moisture out. Hope this helps

 

[fingerscross 3]

Oops.....read 20yo flat as 20 storey. Anyway u get the drift

[housingwoe 1]

7 hours ago, fingerscross said:

Moisture frm the screed cld be one of the cause, the other could be "sweating" due to difference in temperature. I wld rule out moisture frm screed since

1) your tiler aldy had a look. 2) i wld assume you did cement screed thruout the hse n the prob occurs only in your masterbedroom.

Your downstairs neighbour cld be having their a/c running at extensive periods of time at v cool temperatures. 

U can try to chk with your 18th floor neighbour if they having mold cluster prob on their ceiling. If yes, then most likely the cause is because your 19th floor neighbour's a/c.

However, if its bcos of screed too much moisture, u can chk with your tiler if its ok to drill multiple tiny holes into the screed to let the moisture out. Hope this helps

 

Thanks for your inputs!

1) your tiler aldy had a look. 2) i wld assume you did cement screed thruout the hse n the prob occurs only in your masterbedroom.

Me: Yes, the whole hse is originally HDB tiles and are hacked to apply a new layer of cement screed using 40kg screed premix (I saw those bags of screed myself during reno).

Your downstairs neighbour cld be having their a/c running at extensive periods of time at v cool temperatures. 

Me: My downstair neighbour do not have air conditioning in their hse, so I rule out this possibility.

U can try to chk with your 18th floor neighbour if they having mold cluster prob on their ceiling

Me: I've enter my below unit and their master bedroom and toilet ceiling is in perfect condition. No paint peeling or sign of spalling concrete.

However, if its bcos of screed too much moisture, u can chk with your tiler if its ok to drill multiple tiny holes into the screed to let the moisture out

Me: During the time when my ID and tiler came down to examine the issue, I did raise this possibility of drilling holes to allow better ventilation but the tiler say no such thing. I also ask if there is any way of injecting certain chemical to crystallize the moisture inside the floor but again, he say no.

Here's an update of the condition after I purposely lay back the vinyl tiles for 2 days and then removing them.

 

[housingwoe 1]

I have a qns though.

Is there anyway to confirm it is indeed too much moisture in the floor screed without a moisture meter vs other factors?
I would expect my entire bedroom floor to be affected if it is due to screed issue but apparently it is only confine to just 1/3 of my bedroom which is near to window.

Here's a chronological rundown of what have happen so far:

1) Jun 2017 - renovation phase floor screeding completed
2) Nov 2017 - discover water seeping out of vinyl joints and mold growing in built-in cabinets
3) 16 Dec 2017 - removal of vinyl tiles, aircon pipes and moldy cabinets
4) 24 Jan 2017 -  replacement of the "fake wall" and do waterproofing at aircon recess area after on-site assessment by ID and tiler as the cause of the water seepage.
5) 25 Jan 2017 - Town council patching of exterior walls of my master bedroom.

Edited February 11, 2018 by housingwoe

[fingerscross 3]

Since the unit below doesnt have a/c, tat rules out sweating frm temperature difference. Only other cause left is too much moisture frm screed. 

When i was staying in my prev 30+ yr old flat, we experienced water seepage frm external wall at balcony area once. Since water flows at the weakest spot, it gushes in like a waterfall the minute it gets pass the wall. It wldnt slowly seep thru the cement screed since tat wld be the toughest route to travel. The same theory applies to aircon leakage. So base on your photos n info provided, i m 95% sure its bcos of too much moisture in screed. 

The prob u r facing really intrigued me n i read up abit abt this. So if there is too much moisture in the screed, the moisture will flow upwards n not down. Hence your neighbours ceiling looks ok. 

I still feel the simplest solution is to drill multiple tiny holes in the screed. Just not sure abt hdb ruling in regards to this method. 

Hope your nightmare ends soon

[snoozee 98]

Did you renovate your MBR toilet as well and replaced any waste water pipes? It may be a long shot but maybe check the waste water pipes. If the pipes were replaced and not sealed properly, water might seep through the floor into your bedroom. You may have stopped using the toilet buy waste water will still flow down from upstairs hence still contributing to the leakage

[Chubbyfat2 2]

Did yo eventually settle the problem ? It really looks quite bad

[housingwoe 1]

On 01/03/2018 at 4:52 PM, Chubbyfat2 said:

Did yo eventually settle the problem ? It really looks quite bad

not resolved yet. getting water leak specialist to investigate. once i resolve this mystery will post updates here to help others in the future.

[Chris Loup 0]

still no update?

 

[sonetechnologies 0]

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