I'm in the process of renovating an old cottage here in Co.Down. Its a traditional granite build, rubble fill job, and in places is built directly onto the rock. The ground slopes from back to front, and in places, the rock on which the cottage is sitting is at or above ground level on the outside, but is higher than the inside ground level. I've dug down to just below the inner earth floor level wherever I can.
Inside is a level earth floor, which varies in depth from maybe 6" to nothing depending on where the rock is, so it can't go any deeper. Head room is at a premium inside, so insulating the floors is probably a no-go.
My question is - given that I can't insulate the slab, do folk have any suggestions for the best way to go with it? Although we have stripped and are replastering with lime hemp on the walls, and removing the cement render outside, the floor was the one place I was going to simply lay a traditional concrete slab.
We are also in a Radon area, and in the absence of being able to create a suspended floor and sump, it looks likely that we'll have to install a radon barrier, so basically a thick polythene DPC.
The original concrete floor was damp, but then the place had high outside ground levels, and *lots* of cement render, which I've removed, so in theory, the damp may recede. Its already improving but I'm waiting to see how low down the walls the level drops.
Despite the radon - plastic layer or not? Any alternative suggestions?
Cheers
Steve
Inside is a level earth floor, which varies in depth from maybe 6" to nothing depending on where the rock is, so it can't go any deeper. Head room is at a premium inside, so insulating the floors is probably a no-go.
My question is - given that I can't insulate the slab, do folk have any suggestions for the best way to go with it? Although we have stripped and are replastering with lime hemp on the walls, and removing the cement render outside, the floor was the one place I was going to simply lay a traditional concrete slab.
We are also in a Radon area, and in the absence of being able to create a suspended floor and sump, it looks likely that we'll have to install a radon barrier, so basically a thick polythene DPC.
The original concrete floor was damp, but then the place had high outside ground levels, and *lots* of cement render, which I've removed, so in theory, the damp may recede. Its already improving but I'm waiting to see how low down the walls the level drops.
Despite the radon - plastic layer or not? Any alternative suggestions?
Cheers
Steve