Hello. There is a chimney breast, in my diner, which has been boarded up and just an exposed cement hearth at the front. The room has a carpet over floorboards and just the cement hearth is exposed at the moment. I want to remove the carpet, put insulation and floating floor all over even over the hearth. I had a tradesman in who said it was ok to do it and that I should not worry about any damp coming through the cement hearth as air bricks in my front room would prevent any damp rising. He said that if there was any damp I would know by now as my joists and floorboards would have been affected already and the reason why they have not been affected by damp is because the air bricks in the exterior wall of my room are allowing an air flow underneath. I would like to have a second opinion. Would you agree with him? Thanks for your time.
Floating floor over cement hearth
- Thread starter dotto
- Start date
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OP,
Why not pull the carpet back and post pics showing the hearth and surrounding flooring?
Plus pics of the chimney breast, and the the wall recesses on either side of the c/breast?
Why not pull the carpet back and post pics showing the hearth and surrounding flooring?
Plus pics of the chimney breast, and the the wall recesses on either side of the c/breast?
The air bricks should be doing their job if the air bricks haven't shown damp issues if the joists and floorboards are sound. While you can skip it like I did and still be okay, if you’re extra sure, maybe lay down a vapor barrier over the hearth before installing the floating floor—another layer of protection.
Insulation under the flooring is also a vapour barrier , nothing to be concerned about .
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OP,
GF hearths are typically sitting on plates on top of a hearth fender wall - inside the fender wall the hearth is sitting on soil & rubble that are routes for rising damp.
The rising damp often affects the unprotected plates and the wood flooring.
Ventilation has nothing to do with hearth damp.
GF hearths are typically sitting on plates on top of a hearth fender wall - inside the fender wall the hearth is sitting on soil & rubble that are routes for rising damp.
The rising damp often affects the unprotected plates and the wood flooring.
Ventilation has nothing to do with hearth damp.
Not sure yet. Why
Click LVT and Engineered Wood will not cope well if there is moisture or any levelling issues with the hearth area, Laminate will afford some fexibility but, for the cost v. potential issues, painting a DPM over the hearth and levelling the areas appropriately would be worth every penny spent against the potential costs and inconvenience of a floor failure.
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