Victorian Terrace - Basement Concrete Floor and Damp

[mavisbeacon]

Hello,

I've recently moved in to an 1877 Victorian Villa which has a lower ground floor / basement that I think has always been a habitable part of the house.

We know there is an issue with the roof and guttering which is causing some damp both here and in other areas of the house, we are looking to rectify that first.

However I think the basement has a secondary issue, firstly it has a solid concrete floor which my research tells me won't be helping and secondly the drains run somewhere beneath the house and there's currently a random load of pipes feeding a hopper which is then feeding a very small open drain which seems a bit inadequte in this day and age.

My intention is to dig up the concrete floor and then lay a semi-permeable membrane and a non-wicking recycled glass aggregate, I could then look at UFH or simply just apply a lime screed. My understanding is this will then make the floor breath? Does this make sense or is there another solution?

My other question is that the house is in a hill and the lower ground floor is below road level and at both the front and the back the main external walls have what I can only describe as large retaining blocks (pictures below) - I don't know what they're made of or what impact they could be having on the damp issue.

 

[Willsa]

With something as complex as a damp basement, I'd start one job at a time and observe the results.

I'm no pro and maybe someone has a ready to go recipe (though I highly doubt it! ) but knowing every single nook and cranny of the house and applying the best practice solutions to every encountered problem is the only way to go.

I'm only dealing with a damp and rotting Victorian ground floor but for over a year now I've been uncovering problematic previous "fixes" and water ingress points.
I've been living with no plaster on the first metre of my downstairs walls (that's how far they were thick cement rendered) as I'm watching the walls respond to the fixes and dry.
I've dug out around the front of my house to find old pipes/pipe holes channelling water under the floor, enough missing bricks to stick a cat through, absent pointing... No lime floor or plaster would remedy that internally.
Literally and metaphorically speaking - the more you dig, the more you find. And first you have to find!

I'm yet to dig the concrete and the rubble out downstairs - first I want to create the best environment possible for the new floor to have a chance to survive.
I did start with the roof&rain goods. Drainage. One job at a time! Don't trust any tradies suggesting one-fix solutions. Learn as you go. And watch the house respond.

Good luck!