Advice on crumbled concrete floor

We had planned on having a new flooring laid last week in our hallway, but = on lifting the old carpet the installers noticed that the floorboards were = very loose. They tried to secure them, but in lifting them they noticed tha= t the concrete slab on which they were sat was perishing.

House is a double fronted 1905 build, with the concrete slab only running t= hrough the central hallway (lounge / dining room on left and right of hallw= ay have suspended floors on joists).

I don't know why the hallway had a slab in there - perhaps to support the s= tairs which run up the middle of the house?

Anyway, clearly the concrete wasn't well protected from any damp, and the m= oisture has risen and caused some small damage to the ends of the joists fo= r both of the adjoining rooms. =20

It would appear there are two choices - dig out the slab, and replace with = a damp-protected new slab. Or dig out the slab, and replace with a suspend= ed floor. Second option has advantages for us in that we'd be able to get = the new flooring down soonish, whereas I'd expect to have to leave a concre= te slab for a period of time (2 months?) before putting the solid floor on = top of it (not a laminate, but similar). Is there a half-way house of some= form of using some pre-cast blocks to fill the hallway subfloor instead wh= ich might speed things up?

I presume the concrete slab which has failed runs straight through to the b= ack of the house too; and would expect that the bits I can't see suffer fro= m the same issues that the bits that we can. Where I can access under the = stairs there doesn't seem to be an issue. How concerned should I be to inv= estigate the whole lot?

Total floor area of the hall is only about 1.2m x 3.5m, so not a large area= . Pain in the arse though!

Matt

Reply to
larkim
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t on lifting the old carpet the installers noticed that the floorboards wer= e very loose. They tried to secure them, but in lifting them they noticed t= hat the concrete slab on which they were sat was perishing.

through the central hallway (lounge / dining room on left and right of hal= lway have suspended floors on joists).

stairs which run up the middle of the house?

moisture has risen and caused some small damage to the ends of the joists = for both of the adjoining rooms.

h a damp-protected new slab. =A0Or dig out the slab, and replace with a sus= pended floor. =A0Second option has advantages for us in that we'd be able t= o get the new flooring down soonish, whereas I'd expect to have to leave a = concrete slab for a period of time (2 months?) before putting the solid flo= or on top of it (not a laminate, but similar). =A0Is there a half-way house= of some form of using some pre-cast blocks to fill the hallway subfloor in= stead which might speed things up?

back of the house too; and would expect that the bits I can't see suffer f= rom the same issues that the bits that we can. =A0Where I can access under = the stairs there doesn't seem to be an issue. =A0How concerned should I be = to investigate the whole lot?

ea. =A0Pain in the arse though!

Concrete is usually workable with after several days. Do get plenty of insulation under it.

NT

Reply to
NT

but on lifting the old carpet the installers noticed that the floorboards w= ere very loose. They tried to secure them, but in lifting them they noticed= that the concrete slab on which they were sat was perishing.

ng through the central hallway (lounge / dining room on left and right of h= allway have suspended floors on joists).

he stairs which run up the middle of the house?

he moisture has risen and caused some small damage to the ends of the joist= s for both of the adjoining rooms.

ith a damp-protected new slab. =A0Or dig out the slab, and replace with a s= uspended floor. =A0Second option has advantages for us in that we'd be able= to get the new flooring down soonish, whereas I'd expect to have to leave = a concrete slab for a period of time (2 months?) before putting the solid f= loor on top of it (not a laminate, but similar). =A0Is there a half-way hou= se of some form of using some pre-cast blocks to fill the hallway subfloor = instead which might speed things up?

he back of the house too; and would expect that the bits I can't see suffer= from the same issues that the bits that we can. =A0Where I can access unde= r the stairs there doesn't seem to be an issue. =A0How concerned should I b= e to investigate the whole lot?

area. =A0Pain in the arse though!

I think the floor company are concerned that what they are laying would be = similar to a tiled floor, so it would seal the concrete in without allowing= for any moisture to wick away from the slab. Agree about insulation.

Matt

Reply to
larkim

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