Damp - the thought of digging up yet another floor...

[Mancroft]

We have a lime ash / concrete floor and hoping to lay coir matting carpet. Although it seems that it all comes with rubber backing that will enivatibly trap the damp that comes through the floor leading to rotting.

Has anyone got any experience of carpets that are totally breathable? Or what about laying asphalt on top of the floor, then carpet? I know we should really dig it up and lay a proper DPM but we've done the rest of the house and digging was such back breaking work - can't really face any more!!!

 

[Gervase]

Unless you've got outside soil levels significantly higher than your floors, or a spring under the floor, a 'proper' DPM isn't necessary.
Most traditional carpets are breathable - the ones that aren't are the modern ones with the rubber backing. You should be able to find coir or seagrass without the rubber backing - have you tried Googling for it? A quick search threw up: http://www.onevillage.org/coir.htm
If you have a lime-ash floor you don't want to lose its breathability by putting asphalt on top.

 

[NT]

Carpets with woven backing are common and breathable.


NT

 

[Moo]

If you have a lime-ash floor you don't want to lose its breathability by putting asphalt on top.

But Mancroft wrote about a lime/concrete floor, which seems to need a bit of explanation. From what I've learned in other threads, as soon as you add concrete you've as good as destroyed breathability.

 

[Gervase]

Aye - it's a matter of nomenclature. 'concrete' cane mean a hydraulic lime concrete, or can mean OPC concrete. It would be odd, though, to make a floor using lime-ash and OPC concrete.

 

[essexbearhunter]

When I was young and cash-strapped (and not long into this house) my MD gave me the outdoor carpet that we used on our Exhibition Stand at Motspur Park.

It was almost like a coarse synthetic moss. I put this down on the concrete floors in the bathroom and kitchen (which had no DPC). Apart from my unwise choice of location (trying to clean kitchen spillages from it was a challenge) it was great! It even had the advantage that I could wash it in the bath (nowhere else being large enough) hang it up and it would be dry by next day, looking good as new.

Being totally porous and rot-proof it gave no problems when there were water spillages.

 

[Penners]

our Exhibition Stand at Motspur Park.

Well - there's a blast from the past. I used to be on the Ransomes stand.