Anyone Live in Generally Damp Floored House?

[TheScullster]

I have heard that some old solid floors tend to be damp due to contact with soil. Is there such a thing as breathable carpet and underlay that will let this damp escape without rotting?

TIA

Phil

[stuart noble]

The last thing you want is the moisture coming up through the carpet I would have thought. A latex screed on the floor is the normal way of dealing with this

[TheScullster]

"stuart noble" wrote

Thanks Stuart

Is this a DIY job? Will this be OK if there are buried pipes in the floor?

Phil

[stuart noble]

Probably not d-i-y unless you're fairly fast with the trowel.

If the floor is reasonably flat, some kind of damp proof membrane might be easier under a carpet. It's used with laminate flooring I think. Maybe someone will chip in with a brand name

[meow2222]

Just use carpet without underlay. If you have flatpack furniture, sit it on 1.5x1.5 to allow a bit of air circulation under it.

If you go down the waterproofing the floor route, the slab will get much wetter and you may get rising damp in the walls. Doesnt always happen, but if it does, the cure's worse than the present problem.

NT

[Phil L]

I don't think I've ever witnessed one in 25 years of building work, although I suppose it depends on what the floor is topped with - around these parts (North of England), houses prior to visqueen being invented had a 1 inch asphalt layer on top....prior to asphalt being readily available, they were topped with red quarry tiles, so the general time suquence goes like this:

Victorian to about 1950 = quarry tiles

1950 to 1980ish = asphalt. 1980ish to present = concrete in a placcy bag

BTW all of the above were waterproof - the only drawback with the tiles was that they had a tendency to sag, leaving hollows and mounds all over the place

highly unlikely - any carpet or indeed any floor covering made of anything other than plastic will simply soak it up like blotting paper.

What's the floor made of? - if it's concrete and it's wet, then there's no visqueen under it