Damp floor patches help!!

[joeybabe84]

Hello could anyone help me? 2 weeks ago i noticed that underneath my lounge carpet on the underlay there were several damp patches, i then pulled up the whole of the carpet and underneath there are like very old fashioned tile brick sort of things! The house was built in 1930! I noticed in the cracks where the tiles meet that there was like a white powder, but it could me mould? It doesn't smell mouldy! I then gave the floor a good bleaching, and have left it to dry for 2 weeks. You can still see damp patches on the floor now and the white bits are still there to even though i have moped the floor various times. Does this sound familiar with anyone? I do have a cellar that has been filled in before i moved in, as the housed is a middle terraced house. One of my friends recommended that i may need a damp course, but i am not sure. If anyone has got any ideas to why this is happening to my floor id really appreciate it if you could reply!

Thanx jo

 

[jbonding]

dab your finger on the white powder and dab it on your tongue, if its salty its efflorescence caused by damp, if your tongue goes numb its cocaine

 

[joeybabe84]

Hi there, thank you very much for replying thats cool! made me laugh! No i can definitely assure you that it isn't cocaine, unless theres a secret stash underneath the house!
I really dont like the sound of putting it in my mouth, but there is quite a lot of it so i am assuming it is what you have put. Do you know what causes this type of damp? Do you think that it is rising damp? Looks like i will have to get the proffesionals out to have a look at it i wonder how long it has been lurking under that carpet?

 

[JohnD]

I wonder if the floor is Quarry Tiles*? Dark red, 6" square, like a glazed pot or roof tile?

If it's a 1930's house they would be laid on concrete, not usually very damp but unlikely to have a damp course under the concrete like a modern house. Not a cheap floor, if you happen to like it you can make a feature of it with a few loose-laid rugs or mats.

More usual in kitchen or halls where there wasn't expected to be a carpet when the house was built, easy to wet-mop clean and there is a red floor polish that can be used. Bleach will not take the salts crystals off but vinegar and water will (you have to mop or sponge it dry, if you leave the water down with salts dissolved in it they will just crystalise again when they dry out. If loose and powdery they will hoover or sweep up.

Does your carpet have a rubber backing? If so it might be preventing slight moisture from evaporating away, so that you notice damp accumulating. Is the efflorescence all over, or does it seem to be worse e.g. in a line along a wall running towards the kitchen, or anywhere near a radiator or sink?

Is there any sign of a tidemark on any of the walls, esp. of the room with that floor?

*("Quarry" does not mean they are dug up like slates, it is a corruption of the french Carré meaning square)

 

[joeybabe84]

Hi there, thankyou very much for replying to me! Yes i think that the tiles are like you said quarry tiles, they do have a slight glaze to them, but most of them are all cracked and worn now because they are so old!

Yes the carpet did have a rubber backing but i have pulled it all up now so i just have a bare tiled floor now!! The efflorescence is just in several places but there is a really bad damp wet patch that is by the wall. Not many damp patches are in the centre of the floor, just the efflorescence in the middle! What would have to be done to put the damp course in? Would they have to rip all the tiles off and then put it in on top of the concrete, that would be a nightmare!!

Also i have noticed that if i go into the cellar the floor is damp/ a little wet just like in the lounge. The cellar isnt very dig at all though only a small space, which makes me think that it has been filled in as i can not see it going through under the floors.

No i cannot see any trace of a tidemark on the walls. I have peeled back a little of the backing paper and the walls are dry and clean

Thankyou for replying to me again, i would be really gratefull if you could provide me with any more help or advice to post back!!

Many thanks jo

 

[JohnD]

If there is a damp patch by the wall there is a possibility that there might be a pipe under there which is leaking. That is why I was asking about it going towards the kitchen (where a water main might be ) or a radiator or sink.

A steel pipe in a house of that age is probably rusting through by now, especially if there is an elbow there.

You might find if you have taken up the rubber backed carpet that it can dry out now.

It is possible to level the floor and coat it with a waterproofer, but I rather think it would be a better (but more expensive) job to dig it out and relay with DPM and new concrete.

I have taken up one of those floors before, and it is hard work.

Lets see what other ideas people have.

 

[joeybabe84]

Hi there, thanks for that, well one of the damp patches is by the wall that backs onto next door, not near the kitchen so it could be someting to do with the house next door, but nobody has lived there for 6 months+ Then there is another patch by the stairs and a couple by the cellar, also at the bottom of the cellar it is quite damp there. Its really strange, lets hope someone other people let us know there ideas!!

 

[jbonding]

Hi there, thanks for that, well one of the damp patches is by the wall that backs onto next door, not near the kitchen so it could be someting to do with the house next door, but nobody has lived there for 6 months+ Then there is another patch by the stairs and a couple by the cellar, also at the bottom of the cellar it is quite damp there. Its really strange, lets hope someone other people let us know there ideas!!

maybe they left a tap on

 

[JohnD]

 

[joeybabe84]

Or left the bath running!

 

[JohnD]

If there are cellars in those houses, I would expect the local water table to be lowered, so I still think there might be a leaking pipe in the floor.