Stone kitchen floor - to seal or not to seal?

[curiouspidge]

Firstly thanks for allowing me to join, I've been lurking for a little while since we bought our house and as an old house newbie have found it really useful.

The house is mostly 1780s with a Victorian extension, not listed. We're replacing the kitchen and debating what to do about the stone floor, which is rather "rustic" sandstone slabs which extend through the whole ground floor. The stone is absolutely filthy so needs a good clean, but I'm unsure whether we should then seal it, and if so, with what.

The previous owner did an extensive refurbishment nearly 20 years ago and as part of that took the flags up (they were directly on the ground), put a damp proof membrane underneath and relaid them. Our structural survey didn't show any damp but we don't have any air bricks or a visible DPC in the walls.

Sealing the clean stone would seem sensible since it's a kitchen (ease of cleaning, spillages etc), but is it a bad idea to have a DPC underneath and sealant on top? It goes against everything I've read about letting the house breathe...

 

[Pennyviz]

Hi there!

Two issues - if previous owner has put dpc under flags it may cause the damp to move elsewhere (in my case this meant up the walls causing paint flaking and plaster to fall off) - if you have no sign of this then you are lucky!

Sealing - if floor has dpc underneath then it has an impermeable layer already so won't be able to breathe or whatever, so I would use one of the strong cleaners and then seal with whatever finish you like. LTP do a good range and are readily available.



Penny

 

[88v8]

Hello and welcome.

Yes it's quite wrong... but if the ground beneath the slabs is and remains dry, then no damp will spread into the walls, and after twenty years
I think you can reasonably say you got lucky and it's passed the test of time.
So seal away.

In this part of the house at least.

Ivor

 

[Pennyviz]

I'm not sure how long you have been in your house now ….

Just a word of warning, my walls didn't show any signs of damp to the surveyor or when I moved in as the previous owner had replastered in patches and painted over everything. However a year down the line …..

Penny

 

[curiouspidge]

Aargh don't say that :shock: We've been in since July.

The previous owner was pretty upfront about a leak from the chimney that she'd had fixed, replastered and painted so fingers crossed we'll be ok. rays:

 

[masochists-r-us]

Agree with others seal, you might as well, but having recently tried three different stone sealers recently, agree with Pennyviz about LTP which was the most effective and had the least impact in terms of colour change. Bear in mind the stones will darken when sealed, obviously. Make sure you like the effect before you do the whole floor.