Just a query about what flooring or products best to use. Just ripped out an unusable kitchen and broken 1980's tiled floor. Underneath part of the floor is terracotta presumably laid on earth, part is solid black ? Part is vile green speckled tiles. Accompanying this were 100000's silverfish and some millipedes. No visible damp to walls though and property has been dpc'd. So just wondering what is best to lay on floor for a busy kitchen? I understand it needs to be breathable. Im thinking about insulation boards a heatmat and kitchen laminate ? Digging out is not an option. Anyone have any advice or suggestions please ? House was built in 1900.
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MatthewC
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Hi there, welcome!
At a rough guess, the "solid black" is something like tar? That was a common "solution" for dampness which didn't really work. What sort of dpc do you have - chemical?
It must be damp if you have silverfish in that quantity. The ideal is to do something breathable like a limecrete floor with unsealed flagstones which would allow the dampness underneath to evaporate; I reckon my limecrete floor and flagstones would survive very high traffic for a long time after I am gone. I doubt that your insulation boards and kitchen laminate will be breathable - they will retain the damp (and silverfish) underneath. Why can't you dig it out?
At a rough guess, the "solid black" is something like tar? That was a common "solution" for dampness which didn't really work. What sort of dpc do you have - chemical?
It must be damp if you have silverfish in that quantity. The ideal is to do something breathable like a limecrete floor with unsealed flagstones which would allow the dampness underneath to evaporate; I reckon my limecrete floor and flagstones would survive very high traffic for a long time after I am gone. I doubt that your insulation boards and kitchen laminate will be breathable - they will retain the damp (and silverfish) underneath. Why can't you dig it out?
Suzbish,
Just wanted to say welcome to the forums! I am a newbie myself so have no sensible advice to give - I am busy learning from all the experts here.
It sounds like we have similar age houses. Ours is 1905. The kitchen in ours was cheap modern pine boards on (replacement) wooden joists, on soil (no obvious silverfish luckily!). We dithered about what to do (there's a separate thread on here which reveals my complete lack of knowledge) and have just decided to put nice, possibly reclaimed, wide planks on top of the pine boards. It means it will be warmer and stronger, but still breathable. We are tiling the offshot (original scullery) in quarry tiles, as that is where all the wet, potentially leaky stuff will go - washing machine, dishwasher, boiler, loo, sink etc.
I am sure someone will be along soon with some good advice.
EDIT: good to see that some advice arrived even while I was typing!
Just wanted to say welcome to the forums! I am a newbie myself so have no sensible advice to give - I am busy learning from all the experts here.
It sounds like we have similar age houses. Ours is 1905. The kitchen in ours was cheap modern pine boards on (replacement) wooden joists, on soil (no obvious silverfish luckily!). We dithered about what to do (there's a separate thread on here which reveals my complete lack of knowledge) and have just decided to put nice, possibly reclaimed, wide planks on top of the pine boards. It means it will be warmer and stronger, but still breathable. We are tiling the offshot (original scullery) in quarry tiles, as that is where all the wet, potentially leaky stuff will go - washing machine, dishwasher, boiler, loo, sink etc.
I am sure someone will be along soon with some good advice.
EDIT: good to see that some advice arrived even while I was typing!
Thanks for your replies. We haven't the time or finances to dig out. I need a functional kitchen asap. Im not sure what sort of dpc we have just that it has left holes around the outside of the house ?
The floor is now slightly uneven it's difficult to get all the old concrete and grout up so was looking at building a floating type floor to cover it.
The floor is now slightly uneven it's difficult to get all the old concrete and grout up so was looking at building a floating type floor to cover it.
plasticpigeon
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If your house is from 1900 then it will almost definitely have a damp proof course, probably slate, maybe bitumen and if you are really lucky the bricks below will be blue engineering bricks. Hopefully yours will have a physical damp proof coarse, which is far superior to any injected dpc which are of very dubious effectiveness.
If you don't dig out the floor, it will never be well insulated. Putting insulation over the top will change levels. Perhaps you can live with that, but with no damp proofing below the floor and an impervious covering it will get quite damp below the surface. The insulation might survive, but the laminate almost certainly won't as it will get damp from underneath. Digging out is really the best solution.
If you don't dig out the floor, it will never be well insulated. Putting insulation over the top will change levels. Perhaps you can live with that, but with no damp proofing below the floor and an impervious covering it will get quite damp below the surface. The insulation might survive, but the laminate almost certainly won't as it will get damp from underneath. Digging out is really the best solution.
Zebra
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Temporary kitchens are quite popular round these parts. I had a very rudimentary one: a fridge, a microwave, a toaster and a kettle on a piece of ply. I had that for five years and it moved about depending on which area I was working on. I can think of several other forum members who've employed a similar strategy; at least one that I've seen has been really quite a passable kitchen. However, I don't mean to be dismissive, your circumstances may not permit that degree of flexibility.suzbish said:
The type of dpc which makes holes around the side of the house is an injected dpc. Those are often not very effective at all.
It may be more effective in the long run to look at digging out the floor to install either a new insulated slab with damp proof membrane, or a proper ventilated suspended floor.
Installing electric underfloor heating without insulation would be pointless in my opinion- it'd be hideously inefficient and you'd just be heating the ground beneath the house.
Hi and welcome!
I have to agree with previous posters that a chemically injected dpc is not desirable in a period property and that it's far better to do things properly - even if that means having to rough it for a while longer - in order to achieve the best outcome for high house and occupants :wink:
Like Zebra we've lived on (a few!) building sites whilst work has been ongoing (DIY mainly) and have got used to camping out in the most liveable parts, with greater/lesser degrees of success/creature comforts. I appreciate though that if you have young family members this can be less than ideal* and experiences such as going without hot water & heating for six months as we did at our last house are more suited to empty nesters/those without kids yet
Currently we've been without a fully functioning kitchen for about sixteen months since buying this house at the end of 2014 - we actually have two *partial kitchens* as we are in the process of moving the kitchen to a larger room - and whilst we have new cabinets we have no worktops, the sink isn't plumbed in (so we use the utility) and we cook on a domino (two ring) hob fitted by the PO in the original kitchen, but I admit this wouldn't suit everyone! During the intervening months we've had a chance to rethink some of our original ideas and are pleased now that we didn't rush headlong into the work. Really it's just to say it doesn't always pay to be too hasty and roughing it for a while can be good fun.
Hope this doesn't sound too preachy, btw......you must obviously do what suits your own personal circs best, but we'll all be here to offer support whatever you decide!
Mims x
*However, we did a couple of fairly major restoration projects with our son in tow - the first starting when he was two - and he thoroughly enjoyed the experience to the extent that he's recently embarked on one of his own!
I have to agree with previous posters that a chemically injected dpc is not desirable in a period property and that it's far better to do things properly - even if that means having to rough it for a while longer - in order to achieve the best outcome for high house and occupants :wink:
Like Zebra we've lived on (a few!) building sites whilst work has been ongoing (DIY mainly) and have got used to camping out in the most liveable parts, with greater/lesser degrees of success/creature comforts. I appreciate though that if you have young family members this can be less than ideal* and experiences such as going without hot water & heating for six months as we did at our last house are more suited to empty nesters/those without kids yet
Currently we've been without a fully functioning kitchen for about sixteen months since buying this house at the end of 2014 - we actually have two *partial kitchens* as we are in the process of moving the kitchen to a larger room - and whilst we have new cabinets we have no worktops, the sink isn't plumbed in (so we use the utility) and we cook on a domino (two ring) hob fitted by the PO in the original kitchen, but I admit this wouldn't suit everyone! During the intervening months we've had a chance to rethink some of our original ideas and are pleased now that we didn't rush headlong into the work. Really it's just to say it doesn't always pay to be too hasty and roughing it for a while can be good fun.
Hope this doesn't sound too preachy, btw......you must obviously do what suits your own personal circs best, but we'll all be here to offer support whatever you decide!
Mims x
*However, we did a couple of fairly major restoration projects with our son in tow - the first starting when he was two - and he thoroughly enjoyed the experience to the extent that he's recently embarked on one of his own!