Damp under vinyl flooring

[RrogerD]

Hi,

I've lifted the vinyl floor covering to the downstairs kitchen and bathroom and there is damp present on the tiles (on solid floor) beneath. The property has suffered very badly from condensation recently, there's bad mold on pretty much all of the walls and ceilings through the house.

I'll be honest, I've posted this in the flooring forum and not surprisingly everyone is suggesting to lift the floor and install a DPM and insulation etc. I was really hoping for a more DIY solution. IE to keep the costs down.

Is there any reason not to: paint a liquid DPM over the tiles and then re-vinyl or, perhaps add a thin insulative sheet under the vinyl either with or without the DPM paint?

The general condensation issue has been resolved, although of course there could still be some in the floor with the difference in temperatures.

Any thoughts, help or advice?

Thanks.

R

 

[bobasd]

op, why do you keep on with what youve been told wont work?
you say in the earlier post that with the vinyl lifted the damp floor has dried but you still want to go back on attempting to seal the floor with tanking,underlay and sheet vinyl?
thats contradictin yourself and it could cost you money and labour.
i understand you want a diy money saving solution but quick fixes are sometimes well expensive fixes.

thers still no indication from you of what the cause or causes is of the damp and mould - just repeating that its condensation gets you nowhere.if its v. bad then you need a professional opinion on site

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Your solid floor is porous (which is normal), trouble is water is getting into it either from underneath or from the sides. No problem when it is ventilated, soon as you remove the ventilation by covering it with a non-permeable substance (vinyl floor, liquid dpm) then the damp (and mould) will recur. The tanking MIGHT be able to resist the hydrostatic pressure from the water or it might not- expensive experiment for you. Anything you get in a can that says 'just paint on' will probably fall off after a month.

Solutions. Is outside ground level above internal floor level- if yes then can you reduce outside ground level. Are the gutter downpipes splashing onto the grate & soaking the ground around the drain? Are the external drains leaking (CCTV the only real way to check past the trap). Have you got any water pipes or drains buried in the solid floor- is it leaking?
If you eliminate all those and still get damp then your only solution is to dig the floor out and relay it properly (with DPM and of course insulation these days).

 

[noseall]

I would be very surprised NOT to find damp trapped beneath vinyl flooring in most houses.