Concrete kitchen floor options - Victorian terrance

[LittleEggs]

I recently bought a Victorian terrace (~1890-1900) and am in the process of doing it up. The kitchen is the current focus and in particular, the floor.

The removal of a ratty old carpet revealed a badly cracked and not-very-level concrete floor. In some places, where it meets the walls, it's possible to see whoever laid it put some kind of thin transparent plastic sheeting within the concrete, maybe as a crude attempt at a DPM?

A quick look around the exterior has shown there are no airbricks so I've assumed originally this was a solid floor over ash/earth, and that someone has replaced it with the current concrete at some stage. No specific info about it came with the house, unsurprisingly.

The kitchen cabinets showed mildew inside them and much of the plaster was blown/soft before I ripped the lot out, and there are some damp bricks in the walls which must be wicking up moisture from below. As it's a solid floor there is no DPC.

There is some pebbledash on the exterior which I am in the process of removing which I hope will help with the release of moisture, and allow the house to breathe as intended.

So, that's the context. The bottom line: the floor has got to come up. But what does it get replaced with?

Our builder has suggested removing the existing concrete floor and replacing it with another one that's levelled off properly, but he isn't sold on a DPM, insulation or putting in a DPC on a property of our age. His opinion is that lime rendering the interior walls will do enough to allow moisture to dissipate.

Does this sound about right? Or would you adhere to modern building regs with insulation, DPM and a DPC with the concrete floor?

I don't want to put this all down to tear it up again in a few years time because I've half-assed it.

 

[Lacan07]

I recently bought a Victorian terrace (~1890-1900) and am in the process of doing it up. The kitchen is the current focus and in particular, the floor.

The removal of a ratty old carpet revealed a badly cracked and not-very-level concrete floor. In some places, where it meets the walls, it's possible to see whoever laid it put some kind of thin transparent plastic sheeting within the concrete, maybe as a crude attempt at a DPM?

A quick look around the exterior has shown there are no airbricks so I've assumed originally this was a solid floor over ash/earth, and that someone has replaced it with the current concrete at some stage. No specific info about it came with the house, unsurprisingly.

The kitchen cabinets showed mildew inside them and much of the plaster was blown/soft before I ripped the lot out, and there are some damp bricks in the walls which must be wicking up moisture from below. As it's a solid floor there is no DPC.

There is some pebbledash on the exterior which I am in the process of removing which I hope will help with the release of moisture, and allow the house to breathe as intended.

So, that's the context. The bottom line: the floor has got to come up. But what does it get replaced with?

Our builder has suggested removing the existing concrete floor and replacing it with another one that's levelled off properly, but he isn't sold on a DPM, insulation or putting in a DPC on a property of our age. His opinion is that lime rendering the interior walls will do enough to allow moisture to dissipate.

Does this sound about right? Or would you adhere to modern building regs with insulation, DPM and a DPC with the concrete floor?

I don't want to put this all down to tear it up again in a few years time because I've half-assed it.

You pays your money you takes your choice.

Some folk take issue even with the modern form of a properly installed concrete floor in an old house. I Also have a screed floor in my kitchen, I'll be ripping it up and reinstating the suspended floor which tells you all you need to know about my position.