88v8
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- Glorious Gloucs
Not really a question about lime mortar, I take that as a given....
In our new house there are two 'reception' rooms, one about 2ft lower than the other. The upper room is warm, but when one steps down into the lower room it feels cold. We didn't notice this when viewing, but I recall that POs were keen on opening windows & doors....
On the south side, the floor in that room is about 20" below external ground level. It varies because the garden slopes so sharply across the room, although the predominant slope is downwards towards the house, I guess about 1 in 6. Yes, the dreaded North Slope :shock:
I think there is the beginnings of rising damp in the solid stone wall. Haven't put the meter on it yet, but it looks slightly damp (darker colour) and feels cold relative to the wall above ground level. There is and will be, no dpc.
Clearly, I have to lower the external ground which I will do as part of a gardening exercise.
In the room... coming to the point now... there is a concrete screed/dpm, a legacy I believe of a 1970s building campaign. Can only assume this was put down due to damp arising from the elevated ground level, as there is no such screed in the upper room. I would like to break out the screed, but what to replace it with?
Beneath will be soil. The soil is friable and free-draining and I think the free-draining nature is what has saved the house from a serious damp problem as it has been repointed with cement in/out, and painted with impervious masonry paint. All the wrong things.... . that 99% of people would do...
The soil would make a good base for a stone floor, or quarries in lime, but we have quarries & stone in the upper room, and the wife is not keen on another solid floor.
What options do I have?
The walls are rustic stone, irregular, there are no skirtings, this does not lend itself to wood, and in any case I expect that wood laid over soil will rot, even hardwood...... unless I put a dpm under it which would defeat the point of the exercise.
A builder has suggested polystyrene-backed ply over the existing screed to create some insulation, but this is hardly 'breathable'.
What options, if any, do I have?
Ivor
In our new house there are two 'reception' rooms, one about 2ft lower than the other. The upper room is warm, but when one steps down into the lower room it feels cold. We didn't notice this when viewing, but I recall that POs were keen on opening windows & doors....
On the south side, the floor in that room is about 20" below external ground level. It varies because the garden slopes so sharply across the room, although the predominant slope is downwards towards the house, I guess about 1 in 6. Yes, the dreaded North Slope :shock:
I think there is the beginnings of rising damp in the solid stone wall. Haven't put the meter on it yet, but it looks slightly damp (darker colour) and feels cold relative to the wall above ground level. There is and will be, no dpc.
Clearly, I have to lower the external ground which I will do as part of a gardening exercise.
In the room... coming to the point now... there is a concrete screed/dpm, a legacy I believe of a 1970s building campaign. Can only assume this was put down due to damp arising from the elevated ground level, as there is no such screed in the upper room. I would like to break out the screed, but what to replace it with?
Beneath will be soil. The soil is friable and free-draining and I think the free-draining nature is what has saved the house from a serious damp problem as it has been repointed with cement in/out, and painted with impervious masonry paint. All the wrong things.... . that 99% of people would do...
The soil would make a good base for a stone floor, or quarries in lime, but we have quarries & stone in the upper room, and the wife is not keen on another solid floor.
What options do I have?
The walls are rustic stone, irregular, there are no skirtings, this does not lend itself to wood, and in any case I expect that wood laid over soil will rot, even hardwood...... unless I put a dpm under it which would defeat the point of the exercise.
A builder has suggested polystyrene-backed ply over the existing screed to create some insulation, but this is hardly 'breathable'.
What options, if any, do I have?
Ivor
and I already need shorter legs in some of the rooms.