saturated brick plinths.

[robgil]

anyhow , i am back from my trip up north to suffolk and i bring tidings of good fortune , well i bring some interesting info on my damp plinth problem but first i am going to have a chill and a cuppa because its a long drive up north and back and i am well and truly googly eyed.
i got some really good cottage porn to share as well.

 

[robgil]

ok guys , my third consecutive post , i am going for a record i think.

the plinths are saturated but its not due to high exterior ground level. the exterior ground level is around 100 mil below the interior floor level (i measured from the window sill to the ground on both sides) but it is soaked. the only place i could see high ground level relative to the inside floor level was on the new'ish 1970's extension which is also soaked inside.

the concrete floors are sopping , they are really wet to the touch. they are covered in what looks to be vinyl tiles heavily glued down so this probably isnt helping.
in the kitchen the concrete floor was covered in a sheet of plastic so this definitely wasn't helping any (the kitchen is a latter clay lump extension).

the whole house has very restricted breathing so to speak , the walls are papered and some are rendered with cement but all seem to be painted with a silk emulsion type half glossy paint. the inglenook has been restricted by way of a latter , smaller fire place and i doubt any windows have been opened in a long time.

i do feel like i might have to get an expert out to give me a consultation as to what's going on with it. can any one recommend anyone in the bury st edmunds area?

the subsidence is also in the 1970's extension and not in the main house which is a real relief but its still a problem to be sorted.

so whats my next plan of action with these wet floors guys? do i lift them? they are cracked to buggery anyways.

anyhow , here is some cottage porn to be getting on with.
or maybe not , the files are too big , i shall try photobucket.

 

[Schoolmarm]

Sat drumming fingers :lol:

 

[robgil]

he he , they are loading up as we speak.

 

[Schoolmarm]

 

[Schoolmarm]

What about young Mr Hughes? Is he too far to come out in a professional capacity?

 

[robgil]

i would love to have Gareth down but i was thinking more of an expert on damp and how to sort it?

unless Gareth could do this?

in the mean while some porn.

kitchen.

1980's? fire place? most of this wall is plastered with concrete.

bathroom has a lovely brick floor covered in white powdery damp stuff.

can someone confirm this to be a beetle infestation? lots of coiling sawdust.

in-between these joists its mostly fibre board but there is some lath and plaster also , its the same in the other down stairs front room thingy. i am going to have to learn how to lath and plaster a ceiling. :shock:

upstairs looks quite good , a complete catastrophe with regards to floor boards and varnished timbers , wood chip wallpaper everywhere and silk glossy type paint, but it still looks quite good.

 

[JoceAndChris]

OMG. This is the house I recommended? I'm sorry!!!! There's rather a lot to do, isn't there? Tons of charm, though. That bathroom floor's lovely, you can get the white efflorescence off with serious elbow grease and wire brushes. And I love all the beams!

You can sort it Robgil! Good luck!

You'll be amazed at what proper ventilation will do for the damp. I was so panicked when we moved here and had the first winter. But now it's really not too bad, with ventilation, dehumidifier, and heating.

I'll be interested to hear waht experts say about the floors, I'd be strongly tempted to take up the concrete ones.

 

[robgil]

it looks a lot worse than it is joce , really. :wink:
the house will dry out eventually , i am sure of it.
one thing i did notice , under a thin skim on the kitchen floor was this red , rough cement type stuff. its cracked to buggery and sopping wet but its red. ive never seen red cement before.

i am thinking this could be one of three things. i think moisture is passing through something red before it hits the concrete so i am thinking its either bricks or tiles under there (hopefully) , crushed bricks or it is in fact red cement. its most likely crushed bricks but i may be lucky.

 

[Penners]

i do feel like i might have to get an expert out to give me a consultation as to what's going on with it. can any one recommend anyone in the bury st edmunds area?

Stephen Boniface of the Whitworth Co-Partnership is the PPUK Agony Uncle, and regular contributor to this forum. They have an office in Bury St Edmunds. I can't think of anyone more qualifed to give you advice and guidance.

http://www.wcp-architects.com/

 

[Schoolmarm]

We had red cement with shiny crystal things in it. Never found out what or why, it went into a hole on a friends farm because I don't like dumping on my own farm.

 

[robgil]

cheers penners , i shall give them a call closer to the time.

schoolmarm , what was under this red cement , can you remember if it was crushed bricks?

 

[Schoolmarm]

No, lucky me 8) it was flag stones.

 

[chuckey]

I am wondering if the floor is damp from condensation, cold mass surfaced with a DPC (vinyl tiles). This water is then migrating downwards into the wall plate, soaking it and making the render damp. I have seen this effect on unheated cottages with flag floors.
The "red" stuff, My floors were covered with it, its a sort of vinyl?(latex?) based additive, designed to make the concrete screed flexible and water proof. Try a bit of exploratory chipping at a broken edge to see if its "red" with a grey surface. Loads of cottages round here still have it, I guess it dates from the 50s or 60s. Its easy to lift, a thin chisel under it and huge sheets will lift of the flags leaving just a thin colouration here and there.
Frank

 

[Lime]

The red floor looks like a composition floor commonly found in houses 1920s-1950s.

 

[DaveBrigg]

Don't despair about the damp. Our house had what sounds like very similar problems, although we are not quite so timber-framed. Our waterlogged floors dried out fairly quickly with the plastic sheets removed and plenty of ventilation. The biggest cause of damp by far was the lack of rainwater drainage. Our downpipes were either full of holes, so the water drained into the wall, or ended a couple of inches into the soil. Every time it rained, the entire catchment area of the roof drained straight into the base of the wall.
If the previous owners took that much care of the parts that they lived in, imagine how much attention they paid to what went on underground.

 

[robgil]

thanks guys ,all reassuring stuff. the red stuff on the floors does indeed have a thin , dark grey skim over the top and it is quite rough to touch. i think perhaps i need to stop thinking the worst and this damp is probably just the result of the cottage being empty , not ventilated or heated and not 'lived in' for a fairly long while. in fact the only source of heating i can find are the two fire places but i suspect the previous owner probably had electric heaters to compensate. i guess i will have to wait until i actually start work on the cottage before i know for sure whats going on with it.
while we are on the subject of floors , can any one tell me what would be an appropriate floor to lay in a 16c Suffolk cottage from a restoration point of view?

 

[Penners]

can any one tell me what would be an appropriate floor to lay in a 16c Suffolk cottage from a restoration point of view?

Pamments.

 

[Hatster]

No flagstones for you - get your pammets in now! (In case you missed the discussion on Joce's thread, they are baked clay tiles, like East Anglian terracotta).

 

[robgil]

clay pamments it is then. can you get them in the same size and shape as bricks?