Bungalow built in 1969 Solid Floor

[Chainsawcharlie]

Lived in my Bungalow for 27 years, built in 1969 according to Deeds,

Always have faint musty smell to carpets around most floor edges of the house.

Never any water noticed.

When we moved in 27 years ago some of the thermal tiles were lifting from the bitumen, particularly around the edges.
We ripped up all the tiles, then painted the floors with garage paint.

This paint is still as sound as it was when we painted it to the floor 27 years ago.
Can I take it this is a sure sign we have a dpm installed. I don't see it keying in to the dpc behind the skirting BTW.

I guess the paint would have flaked off by now if there was moisture rising up through the floor?
Am I right?

Cheers

 

[Pat ex]

DPMs were starting to be installed in floors from about the mid-60's. So yours may, or may not have a dpm.
Often the the bitumen was used as the dpm. The garage paint may be acting sufficiently as the dpm now.
But there won't be any insulation, and an uninsulated concrete floor (with or without a dpm) 'sweats', which is condensation more than rising damp.
This condensation can soak into an unsealed concrete floor, until it becomes saturated. (Different building materials have different abilities to absorb moisture). All building materials that absorb moisture can allow that moisture to evaporate again under differing circumstances.
An uninsulated, but sealed concrete floor can still experience condensation, but that condensation will not soak into the floor.
It may be the fabric (i.e. the carpet) that is allowing the absorption of the condensation to create the 'musty' smell.

Air flow can help to alleviate (by assisting evaporation) of condensation, but this may be restricted at the edges of the rooms.

Perhaps the adoption of fitted carpets, rather than a central carpet square in the middle of the room has given rise to more instances of your symptoms. Or was it a conscious decision to avoid carpeting the edges of the rooms, or a simple matter of availability and cost of fitted carpets, back prior to the use of insulation in floors?

 

[Chainsawcharlie]

Thanks, we don't have any visible damp, and we still have the thermal tiles down in 2 bedrooms, it is one of these bedrooms which has the musty smelling felt carpet underlay on the floor right next to the skirting on the outside wall. That same skirting smells musty

On other skirtings in the house I have discovered when removing the skirting to find the dpc in the wall about 2 or 3 cm up from the floor with no dpm keyed in.

 

[Pat ex]

Thanks, we don't have any visible damp, and we still have the thermal tiles down in 2 bedrooms, it is one of these bedrooms which has the musty smelling felt carpet underlay on the floor right next to the skirting on the outside wall. That same skirting smells musty

On other skirtings in the house I have discovered when removing the skirting to find the dpc in the wall about 2 or 3 cm up from the floor with no dpm keyed in.

What is a 'thermal tile' other than those used to protect from very high temperatures?

Your dpc above the floor level will create other issues.

 

[Chainsawcharlie]

What is a 'thermal tile' other than those used to protect from very high temperatures?

Your dpc above the floor level will create other issues.

Those vinyl tiles on the floor, referred to as thermal tiles, or thermoplastic

 

[Pat ex]

Those vinyl tiles on the floor, referred to as thermal tiles, or thermoplastic

Thermoplastic. They have no thermal properties.

 

[Chainsawcharlie]

Thermoplastic. They have no thermal properties.

Thanks, my mistake I was getting mixed up about it.

 

[Pat ex]

Just another comment about your floor (which applies equally to all building materials and fabrics). If the dpm is at the top of the concrete floor, as in your case, both with the bitumen and the paint, it can mean that the concrete slab is permanently wet or damp.
That will reduce any innate thermal properties of that concrete slab. So a dpm at the top of the slab is of less value (thermally speaking) than a dpm below the slab.