Quarry Tile Floor - Options

[Anonymous]

The previous owners of our c1910 house had put a sheet of polythene under the underlay and carpet in the dining room, and had rubber backed carpet tiles in the kitchen. We've taken up the carpet and revealed a pretty miserable looking, damp quarry tiled floor, which with a bit of TLC "might" scrub up to a presentable standard. I believe some of the damp in the walls has been caused by the plastic sheeting forcing the water sideways to the walls.

As I understand it I have three options:

1. Cover the floor with carpet and face further damp problems/rotten carpets in a number of years.
2. Clean the tiles up and live with them, damp 'n' all.
3. Lift the lot; dig it all out and fill it with concrete + dpm or put in a suspended floor.

The problem with option 1 is obvious, unless there's some miracle underlay that allows the tiles to breathe.

Option 2 seems the best, but am worried about wooden furniture being damaged by the moisture coming up through the tiles. I've noticed if I leave a box on the floor for anymore than a couple of hours it leaves a damp patch where the box was.

Option 3 is too disruptive, too expensive to dig out both rooms, and we'd lose one of the few remaining "original features".

Do I have any more options?? I'm beginning to think buying the house was a bad decision as we already seem to be running over budget <IMG SRC="http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/discussing/smileys/frown.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="">

Thanks for any advice people can offer.

 

[Anonymous]

Option two does not need to include, "damp 'n' all".

It will dry out nicely now it can breathe again.

 

[Anonymous]

I too have a lot of quarry tiling. I suggest you leave them bare and unsealed of course. How about rugs? Hessian backed should allow air through. Don't suggest you use any kind of polish on them though because you may end up sailing through the house on the rug, as it were!
Our house has Minton in the hallway and there has been a ventilation pipe laid beneath....would it be possible to do similar?
Has anyone sugested lifting the tiles and putting in a new bed? How about buying a humidifier to turn on during cold nights? Sorry, all very obviuos solutions I suppose!

 

[Anonymous]

So am I right in thinking that because the tiles have been so damp for so many years they are at a kind of 'saturation point', i.e. the porous tile can hold no more moisture. The tiniest bit of moisture will push the water level 'over the top' and so leave a visible damp patch? Therefore if they are allowed to dry out more, the dampness won't be so visible?

 

[Anonymous]

I'm not a betting person usually, but I'm willing to put money on the likelihood that if you let the tiles breathe they will dry out, end up looking wonderful, and you will forget that there was ever a 'damp problem'.

This summer I discovered to my dismay that I had a sweaty-foot problem. Yuk! The odd thing was that it only happened when I'd spent the day in my new, stylish, bargain, plastic trainers.
No, of course it wasn't really odd - just like your floor, my feet hadn't been able to breathe. At least your floor doesn't get whiffy.

 

[Anonymous]

You might be lucky and the floor dry out to an acceptable level. You will have to give it a chance, and perhaps leave a dehumidifier running for a while to speed things up. Old quarry tiles can certainly can brush up and look good, and are definately back in fashion!

I'm in a similar situation in my kitchen and living room. In my kitchen the floor is comming up and I'm going to lay flagstones basically straight onto earth. The room isn't damp, but to ensure a decent amount of heat and ventilation in the winter, I'm going to install a Rayburn in the ingelnook. Many modern range cookers are room sealed, but Rayburns aren't. Hopefully any winter damp will go up the chimney.

In my living room, which has all but dried out since removing the damp proof membrane, I'm going to be slightly naughty. I'm considering fixing very shallow battens directly to the floor, and putting an oak floor on top. This should leave an air gap for ventilation.