Hi All
I posted about this last year, but the problem, sadly, hasn't gone away.
I discovered in December 2018 that in one corner of our bungalow's main bedroom, the floor was damp under the carpet, to the extent that the carpet had to be binned and replaced. After taking advice on this forum, I opted to lay a DPM sheet over the bitumen painted floor, polystyrene insulation over that, then rubber underlay, then a new carpet. Since then it appears that the damp has continued to occur, and after moving some furniture and noticing that the new carpet smelled damp in that same corner, I lifted it and found the carpet gripper covered in black mould and the rubber underlay pretty damp. The problem appears to be confined to the corner of the floor in an area about a metre square, so with luck it is just condensation forming on a cold external corner.
The polystyrene insulation appears unaffected by the damp, so I'm assuming that condensation is forming between the insulation and the rubber underlay, then seeping through the underlay to the carpet. I think I need a localised solution using some breathable material to replace the rubber underlay so that the condensation can escape to air, along with measures to reduce the condensation such as a dehumidifier and ventilation. Could anyone suggest such a material? I did read that wool or felt underlay might be able to perform this function, but I'm unsure.
Would putting a vent in the wall near the corner be likely to have any positive effect?
Thanks in advance.
I posted about this last year, but the problem, sadly, hasn't gone away.
I discovered in December 2018 that in one corner of our bungalow's main bedroom, the floor was damp under the carpet, to the extent that the carpet had to be binned and replaced. After taking advice on this forum, I opted to lay a DPM sheet over the bitumen painted floor, polystyrene insulation over that, then rubber underlay, then a new carpet. Since then it appears that the damp has continued to occur, and after moving some furniture and noticing that the new carpet smelled damp in that same corner, I lifted it and found the carpet gripper covered in black mould and the rubber underlay pretty damp. The problem appears to be confined to the corner of the floor in an area about a metre square, so with luck it is just condensation forming on a cold external corner.
The polystyrene insulation appears unaffected by the damp, so I'm assuming that condensation is forming between the insulation and the rubber underlay, then seeping through the underlay to the carpet. I think I need a localised solution using some breathable material to replace the rubber underlay so that the condensation can escape to air, along with measures to reduce the condensation such as a dehumidifier and ventilation. Could anyone suggest such a material? I did read that wool or felt underlay might be able to perform this function, but I'm unsure.
Would putting a vent in the wall near the corner be likely to have any positive effect?
Thanks in advance.