What can I do with my damp floor?

Question

We are renovating an old property which was originally a barn and converted to a house circa 1850. There does not appear to be a damp proof course anywhere and there are no floor membranes. One of the rooms has a brick floor as far as I can tell, they’ve been painted over and there is damp coming up through the it. We removed the pvc lino and there were pools of water under, which have dried out leaving use with damp. We would like to put some form of flooring but are worried it may make the problem worse. The walls are straw and earth as far as I can tell, and there are no air bricks. What can we do to stop the damp and what flooring could we use?

Answer 1

Firstly you need to remove ALL the remaining dampness from the area, you can hire dehumidifiers from hire shops or you might want to invest in buying one if you think the problem might recur, (if you follow my advice, it really shouldn't) they sell them in argos, B&Q etc... Secondly, once you have eliminated any remaining damp areas you can start thinking about those pesky floors. You can dig out the existing flooring and lay a new cement floor, you can buy self-levelling cement from any good hardware store, make the cement floor LOWER than you require the finished flooring (you will see why as I explain). Once the new cement floors have set you can then seal them with a waterproof barrier, again most good DIY shops should be able to point you in the right direction as to the type you will need. After the waterproofing is done lay out a grid of wooden supports (about 4 inches square in size) and secure them so they wont move, (offset all the joins) then you can lay new wooden flooring onto the supports which are acting as spacers between the cement floor and your new wooden flooring (this should help to stop any damp from rising into your nice new wooden floor as it allows a breathing space) I know this sounds strange but DON'T buy that chipboard flooring you find at most DIY shops as it acts like a sponge! and DON'T buy regular floorboards for this. Instead I reccomend that you buy some good quality wooden decking and lay it face down so you don't see the grooves, these make a great substitute for regular floor boards BUT they are made to withstand wet conditions, so even if the damp comes back (which it shouldn't) your flooring won't suffer. Attach the decking boards to the wooden spacers underneath with good quality (rust proof) screws, NOT nails as they can work loose over time, counter sink the screw heads so that they are level with the floor and not sticking up out of the floor.
Note this type of decking is usually about 2 inches deep.
When you lay the cement flooring make sure you allow space for both the Spacers AND the Decking so that the finished floor is at the level you want it to end up at.
I know this seems like a lot of work, but believe me, it IS worth the effort you put in.
You can now either choose to stain your nice new wooden floor with a wood dye or you can varnish it, or if you really want you can even lay carpeting, laminate flooring or that click together wood effect stuff. I stained mine, but the choice is yours as your new flooring will now support any of these options. Another thing you can do on the outside of the barn conversion to help with any damp rising UP the walls, is to dig a french drain all the way around the outside walls (right up against the wall base). All you need to do is dig a trench about 1 foot wide, with the sides running straight down, about 1 & a 1/2 foot deep should be plenty, but on the side that backs onto your barn stop at about 1/2 a foot deep and then make an angle with the earth at about 45 degrees sloping down and AWAY from the walls untill it reaches the bottom of the other side of the trench (make sure the angle part is solid and NOT loose earth), once thats all done just fill the whole thing with a medium sized shingle or something similar, (just as long as it provides GOOD DRAINAGE) to bring it back up to ground level. This stops rainwater from laying next to your walls and having time to soak up into them from the outside, as any water that may run down the outside of your walls will be diverted away from the base of your walls by the angle in the bottom of the drain.
If you think your walls might be soaking up rainwater as it hits them you can buy a CLEAR water repellent paint that can be painted onto most exterior surfaces, but check with the DIY store to make sure your walls will be ok with this product.
We had some damp problems ourselves and thanks to the above mentioned remidies we have had no problems sinse we did the work (knock on wood) it's been about 10 years now.
I hope this helps :)

Answer 2

If a moisture problem does develop, then promptly dry the wet or damp building materials. If water damage occurs as a result of a flow of water, then follow the procedures outlined in the IICRC (Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification) S500 (Second Edition) Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Water Damage Restoration.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

You will have to lay a new floor with a membrane. It is the only way to do it.

Answer 5

you will have to dig the floor up and put a membrane down i would think that is the only solution.

Answer 6

the only way to do it is to do it properly so excavate to a depth of 400mm ..lay 150mm of hardcore ..then 125mm of polystyrene ..then100mm minimum of concrete and top off with 50 mm minimum of screed ....this will conform to building regs