earth floor

[janekholoud]

we are renovating an old cottage with a rotting wooden floor over earth. should we replace the timbers using the same construction or is it better to put something underneath? we understand that concrete is not a good idea as the walls will get wetter. any ideas?

 

[MdB]

Why did the old joists rot? Was there any underfloor ventilation? If you can sort these issues out then the replacing the old construction would be ideal.

A limecrete floor is also something to consider.

 

[janekholoud]

Why did the old joists rot? Was there any underfloor ventilation? If you can sort these issues out then the replacing the old construction would be ideal.

A limecrete floor is also something to consider.

thank you. I suspect there may not be any ventilation but i'll investigate more thoroughly. the joists are sitting on bits of stones on the ground. i was wondering whether we needed anything underneath for insulation. i have been investigating limecrete either with floorboards on top or terracotta. hope to salvage the floorboards if possible because they're chesnut.