Ex coucil house - floor, bitumen, ashphalt?? Needs fixing

[kathb0110]

Hi

We are in the process of "doing up" an ex council house with solid floors. I've just taken up the old (very very rusty) mat holder and with it came some 1" thick black hard stuff. (I don't know what it's called) On closer inspection and with a bit of prodding the black stuff came up in huge pieces.

Going back a bit, the floors are all covered in this black stuff, but a 2" border around the room is filled with some loose gritty sandy mixture. Because we had removed fitted cupboards and a wall, we knew we would have to level the floor somehow. Now though, I'm not sure if we should try to remove all the black stuff before levelling, or only where it breaks up easily.

When I took up the slabs of "black stuff" I could smell the damp - I am now left with a concrete floor. On the underneath of the black slab, it it very smooth - ie not an imprint of the concrete, it looks as though it could have been layed on some sort of membrane, which has either vanished or welded in the the black stuff.

Any help on where to go from here would be most welcome.

 

[mac391]

Hi



The "black stuff" is asphalt, largely used in road construction but also used extensively in smoothing and damproofing concrete floors in council houses. The sandy mixture was often used as an infill. The asphalt would be a heated liquid when applied to the floor and would disappear down any holes/gaps between the floor & walls, making it uneven.. so battens were put down to stop it escaping. Once dried, battens were removed and filled with sand/gravel. It also had damp proof properties which is why you can smell damp in the areas where it has lifted.

It does break up easily when things like matt holders/carpet grippers are glued, nailed or screwed to it as it becomes brittle with age. You'll prolly find tho, if you try to take it all up the majority will be well stuck down and youll wish you had never started. Depends what sort on new floor covering you want to put don as to wether it should come up or be repaired.
Hope this helps..

Andy


We are in the process of "doing up" an ex council house with solid floors. I've just taken up the old (very very rusty) mat holder and with it came some 1" thick black hard stuff. (I don't know what it's called) On closer inspection and with a bit of prodding the black stuff came up in huge pieces.

Going back a bit, the floors are all covered in this black stuff, but a 2" border around the room is filled with some loose gritty sandy mixture. Because we had removed fitted cupboards and a wall, we knew we would have to level the floor somehow. Now though, I'm not sure if we should try to remove all the black stuff before levelling, or only where it breaks up easily.

When I took up the slabs of "black stuff" I could smell the damp - I am now left with a concrete floor. On the underneath of the black slab, it it very smooth - ie not an imprint of the concrete, it looks as though it could have been layed on some sort of membrane, which has either vanished or welded in the the black stuff.

Any help on where to go from here would be most welcome.

 

[kathb0110]

Thanks for your reply Andy

I've spent today tackling the floor. The asphalt came up easily, the hardest bit being the kitchen area which had been covered with a marmoleum type covering, the covering was tougher than the asphalt!

In the wash house area (will be the new kitchen), there was a lot of grit sand, filling in a large hole in the concrete. The concrete throughout has small cracks in it. The old hearth was filled in with cement on top of the concrete - which was very well adhered.

Now the asphalt is gone - but it smells damp, so:

What do I need to fill the large hole in the concrete with?
Do I need a damp proof membrane?
What type of floor levelling compound do I need?
Do they make one that will stick and contains a damproofer?

We've always had wooden floors so this is a new area for us, so extremely grateful for any advice.

Kath