Solid floor, old or modern

[Lithgae]

Hi,
Trying to figure out what is going on with my floors and some dampness issues. Not entirely sure of the age of the house, at least 1885, but as the bay window appears to have been added, I suspect the original house is a good bit older.

Back of the house is at a higher level and is solid floor, while front is suspended timber. Entire ground floor has been covered with modern varnished timber flooring, which is in turn on top of vinyl floor tiles, and I have a theory that a contributing factor to the dampness in the walls at the lower level, might be the modern impermeable floor coverings forcing moisture into the walls. However, I am not entirely sure whether the solid floor at the rear of the house is historic, or if it has been filled at some point more recently. I have put a pic below from a cupboard where the wood floor hasn't been run, and I just needed to lift the old vinyl tiles. I chipped away a small thumb sized amount in the pic with a chisel, and it is a pinkish/reddish colour. It's not grey like modern cement, seems almost like soft brick - anyone any ideas what this could be? It does seem to be continuous as far as I can see.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5az3jsa491ivozy/2018-03-26%2019.44.54.jpg?dl=0

 

[plasticpigeon]

Cement with red sand?

Sorry about the woes. Damp on the walls where the suspended floor is is surprising. Is the ground under the suspended floor wet? If so it probably means that the ventilation is not good enough.

 

[Me!]

That looks rather like the colour of the red sandstone used in Glasgow. Could it be sandstone slabs?

 

[Lithgae]

Plastic,
The problem, I think, is that the back room is solid and higher than the front room, so the skirting in the front room is butted against a wall that is under the ground level at the back. Through ventilation is obviously not possible because of the solid floor in the back room, although someone has attempted to improve this at some point in the past by butchering the old fireplace into a side vent. Even if the under floor was fully ventilated though, the fact that the skirting is butted up against a stone wall which is butted up against a solid floor covered with impermeable materials, is I suspect the main problem. The cement render that is currently being removed from the outside wall probably wasn't helping either.

Me!
Now that you say it, it does remind me of red sandstone too. It does seem to be continuous though, so it could be as plastic says a cement with red sand in it, perhaps done a while back when local sand was still being used, or maybe the flags are just too big. I'll have to try and get more of the vinyl off and see if I can find a join in the stone.

 

[Lithgae]

Pulled away the vinyl tiles where the floor goes under the stairs and the red floor covering meets some old stone flagstones underneath the stairs. Its definitely a continuous mass so it must be some kind of concrete, whether a modern one or historic I wouldn't be able to say.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gzzr0ow356ktk26/2018-03-27%2021.19.05.jpg?dl=0

I chipped away a bit where it meets the stone flags and it is fairly thick, but it doesn't feel like it is deep enough for there to have been a raised timber floor there before. Maybe this room was solid and they have removed the old flagstones and poured a concrete layer on in its place. My worry is that this is driving moisture into the walls and anywhere else that is not covered, for example in the pic above the back of this under stairs space is very damp.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/d4ebq0d0p91aory/2018-03-27%2021.20.56.jpg?dl=0

 

[noj]

The row of holes in the first photo suggests you've also had an injected damp course at some point.
If you've had a plastic floor covering on the inside, cement render on the outside and a partial seal in the wall above floor level the only place left for any/all moisture from the entire room footprint to go is out behind your skirting board. A perfect concentration of factors for creating damp I'd have thought...

 

[Kearn]

It may just be the image quality, but in the first image, the plaster on the wall to the left of the little hole (what is this by the way? External wall I assume) looks a very similar colour to the floor substance. Possible that this coloured aggregate was added to floor and wall plaster?

 

[Lithgae]

noj,
This is exactly my thoughts. The exterior cement render is now off and if going to be pointed and left bare stone. There was also a vent on this wall when we moved in last year that was painted over, and one of the first things I did was clear this. A cement patched chimney that was probably taking in water at that gable has just been rebuilt, and I repaired blocked and leaking cast iron gutters last year. Opening the bricked up fireplace in the offending room a few weeks back also revealed a plastic sheet sealed over the hearth which would have been forcing moisture into the walls too. All in all a perfect storm of damp contributors, but this floor remains a concern. I could lift the modern wood flooring, and take out the rest of the vinyl between this and the solid floor, but if this is a modern concrete floor that is itself impermeable then that's not going to make much difference.

There has been an injected damp proof course at some point in the past - pointlessly, and destructive in my opinion - its also one the outside front and sides.

Kearn,
The little hole on the floor is where I chiselled to try and see what was underneath. The wall to the left is originally an external wall, but has a modern (1980's) extension built on. I agree some of the plaster there does look a similar colour, but its just in some parts. Most of the plaster that remains on the wall in that cupboard is white and has hair in it so is presumably original. The square hole at the back of the picture has been blocked up with what I think is a bag of plaster that I think has been wetted then shoved into the hole, as the brown paper of the bag is still there. The other side of this hole is not visible but I presume came out near where the original back door was, and may have been a coal shute. I suspect this room may have been the original kitchen, and this cupboard under the stairs where the coal was kept.