Help- dont know where to start

[Anonymous]

Im almost in the completion stage of purchasing a property. The place obviosuly suffers from damp and wet rot, the roof leaks and possibly needs repairing replacing although its only a small extension roof. Also the extension seems to have wet or damp on the floor under the carpets.

Anyway the survey said it wasnt overly bad. However ive had an odd job man into look at the property with me and he told me to pull put as it wouldbe to expensive to put right. He said the place didnt have a damp proof membrane in the floor and that would be costly to put right.

Im going to get a 2nd opinion but would appreciate any thoughts or help anybody could give me. As a 1st tie buyer im terrified i may be making a massive mistake and im buying a place in need of work as its all i can afford.

 

[Anonymous]

Can you describe the property? Age, construction type etc. Im sure that if you provide more info someone will give some helpful advice. <IMG SRC="http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/discussing/smileys/smile.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="">

 

[Anonymous]

Ok thanks sorry i wasnt clear before. The property is 1880, a ground floor flat. I hope that its ok to post on here. I have looked through the survey again and think that the problem could be that the original floors were concereted over, without a damp proof membrane being installed. I guess this is resulting in the problems with the damp and will in essense be unfixable unless the damp proof membrane is installed. Does anybody know how costly this will be to do? Any experience with this is so greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[Anonymous]

It depends on what you are prepared to do,
ripping the floor out, damp proofing the new concrete floor, laying insulation, screed and perhaps a floor heating is ultimate but expensive.
Downfall: noise, dust + dirt and cost.
Pro:warm floor, no humidity coming from below. But the walls need treatment to.
If the floor needs redoing recon with anything from one to four months of time.
How long dou you want to live there? More than five to ten years? than it will be worth while to do it properly. Quicker and cheaper is a wooden flooring if ventilated or dry from below.

Many possibilities. My choice:
Concrete flooring, 1 layer of roofing felt fixed overlapping with heat to the floor, 10cm styropor insulation and floor heating, 6-8cm screed, tiles or vapor barrier (to keep the humidity of the screed away) and wooden floor or carpeting.
Greetings Andrew

 

[Anonymous]

The roof leaks - mend it (and any guttering that looks dodgy), and that's one source of damp eliminated.

The concrete floor's damp under the carpets - take no notice of the odd-job-man. For starters, check the outside ground-level. Is it the same height as the floor inside? Or higher (if so, how much)? Or lower?
If it's higher that could be the cause of the damp.
Find out if any neighbouring houses still have their original floors - that will give you a clue as to what you should replace the concrete with. But you really don't need membranes in an 1880s house. Do a site search for Damp, and you'll see what I mean.

Our house has solid floors (flagstones laid straight on to earth) and it's bone dry.

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew it is very kind of you to give your advice freely on this forum. Having said that, it is not the type of advice normally given with regard to period properties.

What is your area of expertise that makes you think this is suitable advice?

 

[Anonymous]

What is your area of expertise that makes you think this is suitable advice?

Hi Schoolmarm,
having spent a bit of time with studing architecture, training in building conservation and redoing the odd house from 18th century I thought marky might want to hear an aditional opinion. Sorry if this was to technical and of course only a little glimpse of the possibilities to treat damp and wet rot.

As Moo said : take no notice of the odd-job-man. Get an expert.
Btw. wet rot doesnt js

 

[Anonymous]

wet rot doesn't js? sorry don't understand.

 

[Anonymous]

Neither do I. Please explain.