I've just spoken to a surveyor in the Building Regs department who informed me that if I do any work to my ground floors, I will have to put in a damp proof membrane.
One room im my house had a damp proof membrane of sorts (a bitumen/cloth affair over quarry tiles under carpet) was a bit damp. Since taking it out, the room is fine. The rest of the house doesn't have a dpm and isn't damp. I'm concerned that any dpm I put in will just drive the damp up the walls.
LGF
You are right to be concerned, The surveyor is wrong. Ask this question on Period Property UK forum and you will get plenty of specialist advice.
I thought that retrospective action of this sort is not required to bring things in line with current building regs /but/ any works carried out must not make the existing structure /less/ compliant with the current regs.
From that point of view it might depend of if you are doing work to the floor itself or just to the ground floor per se.
If its not damp its hard to see a case for putting a DPM in. Although the bitumen/cloth thing would be providing a partial moisture barrier anyway so it might not do any harm.
HTH,
Alex
In one room the quarry tiles have earth beneath them, so if I remove them I'm removing the whole "floor". In the kitchen there is a mixture of tiles, thin screed with slates beneath, and a lump of concrete where a staircase used to be.
It seems to me that the bitumen/cloth thing has made the room feel damp and caused damp to go up the walls. The room feels much better now it's gone. I don't see how a dpm can serve any purpose if the walls dont have a dpc. Also, the floor is at the same level as the ground outside.
LGF
We have an stone cottage (ex stable over 100years ago) and it had quarry tiles on earth, and we would have left well alone if the water had not been pooling in the middle of it over winter.
It sounds like in your case the extra ventilation is allowing the floor to "breath" and letting any moisture escape.
One alternative is to put in a DPM plus tanking up the walls and a new concrete floor over DPM. This is disruptive and pricey and can push the moisture around in undesirable ways. For us it was the only option though.
I would not expect building control could force you down this sort of route unless you are doing work to the floor that is more than a repair ... you might want to challenge them about it or ask them if they will cover any problems caused by following their dictat.
HTH,
Alex.
Perhaps you could get the council conservation officer to reassure the surveyor? They are perhaps more likely to understand breatheable construction techniques than is a buildings regs person
Anna
~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|
well there is sense in waht you say.
IF you do any work that involves the floor, and the BCO, I am afraid it means doing it to the book.
Alternatively just leave it.
I could leave one room - the one that used to be damp, but the kitchen/central part of the cottage needs a new floor covering. I could just tiles or put wood on top, but that starts to eat into the already limited head-room (my son can't stand up straight in this area as it is).
It seems a bodge job would comply with the regs, complying with the regs might give me damp walls, and doing the "right thing" will land me in trouble.
LGF
I'll give the conservation officer a try. If I end up doing the job by the book and spend the rest of my life chasing damp problems round the house I will be seriously miffed!
Merci
LGF
The message from The Natural Philosopher contains these words:
Why involve the BCO?
I thought I had to...
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