Hi guys, just wondered if anyone was able to help with my floor dilema. I've read quite a few posts about damp concrete floors but can't quite find the answer to my problem.
At some point the kitchen has been opened up with the downstairs toilet and possibly a pantry or something. Tiles we're very badly damaged at this end of the kitchen so I lifted them to investigate.
I discovered 3 slabs of concrete seperated by the old brick work for the old toilet/pantry/kitchen walls. If you can picture an upsidedown T shape then the T would have been the walls with the slabs on each side.
One slab had no DMP and had central heating pipes laid in it which when I removed the concrete, leaked in about 6 places. Below this was wet compacted sand soil and rubble which I've dug out. Its about 3' deep with clay at the bottom and stays damp all the time. The old toilet soil pipe was just below the surface sealed with a plant pot in a plastic bag sat in the top of the pipe!
The other two slabs (haven't lifted these) both sit on a blue DPM but there is gap with no DPM were the old brick wall used to be. The previous owner used this gap to run CH pipes. Fresh moisture appears to be coming up through under the DPM and out onto the bricks in these gaps.
There is no DPC in the external walls only blue bricks and since the concrete slabs seem not to be original and a botch anyway should I do the following.
Either
A) Refill the hole i dug and replace the concrete slab with a DPM underneath. Fill the gaps between the slabs with some kind of waterproof sealant like Bitumen -any idea's of what i could use? Level off and then tile
Or
B) Take up the other two slabs dig out the rubble, ventilate with air bricks, lay joists and a wooden floor and then tile. (Also maybe fill the bottom of the holes with a few inches of concrete on a DPM)
A) would be easier but would I get less damp with B)?
Any advice greatly appreciated.
At some point the kitchen has been opened up with the downstairs toilet and possibly a pantry or something. Tiles we're very badly damaged at this end of the kitchen so I lifted them to investigate.
I discovered 3 slabs of concrete seperated by the old brick work for the old toilet/pantry/kitchen walls. If you can picture an upsidedown T shape then the T would have been the walls with the slabs on each side.
One slab had no DMP and had central heating pipes laid in it which when I removed the concrete, leaked in about 6 places. Below this was wet compacted sand soil and rubble which I've dug out. Its about 3' deep with clay at the bottom and stays damp all the time. The old toilet soil pipe was just below the surface sealed with a plant pot in a plastic bag sat in the top of the pipe!
The other two slabs (haven't lifted these) both sit on a blue DPM but there is gap with no DPM were the old brick wall used to be. The previous owner used this gap to run CH pipes. Fresh moisture appears to be coming up through under the DPM and out onto the bricks in these gaps.
There is no DPC in the external walls only blue bricks and since the concrete slabs seem not to be original and a botch anyway should I do the following.
Either
A) Refill the hole i dug and replace the concrete slab with a DPM underneath. Fill the gaps between the slabs with some kind of waterproof sealant like Bitumen -any idea's of what i could use? Level off and then tile
Or
B) Take up the other two slabs dig out the rubble, ventilate with air bricks, lay joists and a wooden floor and then tile. (Also maybe fill the bottom of the holes with a few inches of concrete on a DPM)
A) would be easier but would I get less damp with B)?
Any advice greatly appreciated.
