The message from Andy Hall contains these words:
Not necessarily. Suspended wood floors in my hovel would have meant that the void extending below the base of the wall on the uphill side. (Effectively no foundations that side whatsoever). The concrete floor was a direct replacement for the original stone flags.
OK. The difficulty comes when there is not damp proofing.
I suppose that it's also possible that people were less fussy about the odd earth smell in those days, or perhaps that the place was scrubbed daily with carbolic anyway..
The message from Andy Hall contains these words:
It could be that the cracks between the flags were sufficient to allow the earth beneath to dry enough not to smell. My crap concrete floor has a dpm of sorts under it which didn't extend under the hearth (as previously mentioned) which gave rise to an earthy smell that I just couldn't get used to, hence the remedial work.
I have a walk-in cupboard on the ground floor that is still flagged and I don't notice any smell in there but then I never spend more than a few moments in there at an one time. But one can become desensitised to some smells. Whenever I return after a week or more away I notice the odour from the wood treatment that was done more than 30 years ago but after a very short while I no longer notice it.
But perhaps that could also be because the house is shut up while you are away and then ventilated when you return.
In my case, the situation was more basic.
The house was originally designed with suspended wooden floors.
It sank gently.
One area was concreted and DPM'ed. Another was not.
Open fires existed in both areas.
Injection was carried out to all outer walls, but one spine wall was done badly, and of course the back-to back chimneys were not done..
The fireplace sucked up water from under the house like anything. There was poor drainage around the house - when I demolished it there was a lake under the wooden floor.
I COULD keep things dry and must free by using the fires. The heat plus updraught lowered the RH in a way that central heating did not. Evaporation from the brickwork was enough to keep the woodwork dry and the plaster un-efflorescing, but central heating was unable - without opening windows and running it full blast - to keep up with ingress, especially a few days after heavy rain.
My conclusion was that this house was designed for people who lived with damp and, when it was especially cold and wet, lit fires.
Damp control is not an absolute issue. It is merely necessary to keep it below fungal growth level.
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