Thread: pre-claim advice needed

We laid a new floor in the kitchen, laminate (and not cheap), early last year. We noticed that some of the seams had lifted and the top surface had bubbled slightly about 2 months ago, nothing significant and we blamed it on the heat from the oven as that's where it started but has slowly spread.

In the last few weeks there have been very small puddles of water, just droplets, which we have either blamed on a member of the household spilling something or one of the cats who love nothing more than to play with the tap in the kitchen. At the same time there was a spread in the damage to the floor which now is almost half of it and it is a large kitchen.

We had looked at any leaks, checked the fridge, washer, sink, drier, dishwasher, radiator, all pipes and drew a blank. Yesterday it got worse and there is water coming up between the boards when they are trodden on.

Do we take the boards up and investigate ourselves or just get in touch with the insurance company? It can't have done the floorboards below much good if water has been trapped for this length of time and is getting worse.

It was DIY and I can't see that anything was wrong in the installation. It's possible that there has been a leak from the washing machine at the back at some point or from the connections but I've had the washer out and can't find a leak or a sign that there has been one. I thought it could have been moisture trapped from humidity but there is far too much water for that and it seems like fresh water without any smell or detergent. Today alone there must have been about a ltr of water that has been mopped up. Obviously worried as we don't have the money spare for a major repair plus water and electricity don't mix very well.

No screws or nails have been used so the pipes below the floor haven't been disturbed. Skirting boards seem fine but some wallpaper has started to lift above it so the damp could be travelling up. There is no sign of water coming down the walls, unless it is the cavity, as there is a bathroom directly above.

I've only ever put a claim in once for insurance for what I thought was movement in the house with cracks appearing but got fobbed off that is was due to a twisted beam which was now stable and had been for a long time. Strange that the cracks are getting bigger and the gable wall is leaning further out! The walls weren't tied in properly and what ties there were have corroded, coupled with the fact it's a mining area.....