I had a water leak from the toilet cistern. The bathroom is tiled and no signs of the leak showed there, however the wall in the bedroom on the other side of the bathroom became wet. Unfortunately this was near a corner cupboard and I didn't notice the leak for a while. The wall ended up showing signs of mould.
The leak is now fixed and the wall dried. As part of my investigations I actually ended up drilling two holes in the wall to try and identify the source of the water.
How can I repair the damage to the wall and doorframe round the cupboard? I'm concerned there may be more hidden damage 'inside' the wall…
Picture attached
I'd like to assess if this is something I can attempt on my own or need to get a professional in – and if so, what skillset said professional would need.
Can the doorframe be repaired, or does it need to be replaced. Can you replace only part of a doorframe? Should I also look at replacing the Skirting board? Knowing the drywall has had this damage, should I replace or would simply patching it be adequate
Best Answer
If you have never done anything like this you might want to get a pro to do the repair. If the wall was wet long enough from behind to rot a door jamb that you see, the framing behind the jamb and drywall will most likely need repair too, possibly the bottom plate replaced if pressure treated material was not used. You can do some of the demo work to verify what you really have, but the door jamb should be replaced. The drywall needs to be cut out beyond your "poke holes" at least 1 ft. beyond each side and about 16" up from the floor to start. If there is mold growing on the back side of the wallboard, remove more until it is gone. Once the drywall is removed and cleaned up, next would be evaluate the extent of the rot. If the wall is non bearing it will be simple, If it is a bearing wall, it will take a pro to determine what needs to be done. A note on drywall repair, whether the repair is 16" tall or 2" tall, or 4' wide or 8" wide, it takes the same effort to repair and it will still take a full sheet of drywall, drywall tape and mud, so don't be squeamish on what needs to go.
You may be able to salvage the skirt boards if they are not rotted from the back side. If they have mold, it can be cleaned off and the back can be painted with primer that has mold inhibitor in it.
If you can find a reputable, licensed handyman with references and pictures will help. A picture from far away that shows the whole project will not show what goes into the job, knowledge and quality wise. Get references from the handyman so you can call the people he worked for that he did the job for will really tell you more than the pictures. The pictures just show he did it, the references tell you how well he did it.