treating brick pamments

[dannyjames]

We've just discovered the old original brick floor pamments under our carpet and 2 inches of cement in our cottage. Having read on this website that this may be the cause of the damp in our walls as the house has not been allowed to breathe, we are currently taking up the carpet and cement. I have read on this site that the best way to treat this type of floor is with turps and beeswax, but does anyone have any tips for the process of this? i.e. just coat with turps, then how long till we can put the wax on nd how much wax etc?
Many thanks

Danny

 

[AMc]

Welcome to the forum - always nice to read pamments

Letting the floor breathe is sure to help with your damp problem but something I would consider is why your pamments were covered in cement in the first place.
It's possible that they are laid on bare earth and will prove to be quite damp themselves. If I were in your shoes I would remove the cement and give them a clean with soap and water. Then see how much moisture you get over a few days/weeks before you invest a lot of time in cleaning and finishing them.

 

[biffvernon]

Ecover do a floor soap that contains linseed oil. Just wash with that from time to time.

 

[Moo]

It's possible that they are laid on bare earth and will prove to be quite damp themselves.

If they've been buried under cement for any length of time, poor things, dampness is almost inevitable.

 

[Davidstacey42]

Mine are laid on the bare earth with a little sand to level them up. I stopped the damp by laying a french drain all around the house and then letting the floors dry out for a year before putting any polish on. Have used comercial liquid floor wax which does the trick but recently saw a lovely brick floor in an Italian villa that was shiny without being slippery or tacky - the secret, apparently, is to seal with a mix of boiled linseed oil and turps followed by a polish with good old beeswax/turps. My floor is never what you might call bone dry but never damp enough to grow mould or rot carpets.