Damp in solid floor

[tireetim]

I'm renovating an 1920's house and the suspended wood floor has been replaced years ago for solid in the kitchen area. It seems there is quite a bit of rising damp (I'm guessing that's what it is) particularly in one internal corner and I'm trying to work out what best to do. No idea if there was a DPM put in when the solid floor was laid. Also I find it a bit strange as the adjacent sides of the walls the surround the solid floor are not damp at all. There is about 5ft height from the soil to the floor level. Also I'm 99% sure there are no pipes anywhere near that could be leaking.
Any advice on what to do to fix this? I suppose I could use a paint on DPM but not sure this would really fix the underlying problem of how the damp is getting there in the first place. Otherwise, I guess I could dig the floor out and re do it properly but that would be a lot of work given the depth and size of it.
Thanks.
Tim.

 

[dazlight]

Any pictures mate?
Most solid floors build before 1965 won't have a dpm in it.
The floor will breathe in sections but once covered up the damp will build up as it can't escape. Has the floor been covered up in that section?

 

[tireetim]

thanks dazlight, I will take some tomorrow when the light is better. It's been covered with quarry tiles. A few in one corner were dripping wet on top and I thought it might just be condensation as it's very cold in there but I pulled them up today and the concrete underneath is damp so I don't think it's that. Also, when we left the house for a few weeks we came back to a white cotton wool like stuff growing over quite a few areas on the floor.

 

[dazlight]

Sounds like the floor is starting to dry out a bit. Give it a good rush and vacuum mate. What are you having as the floor covering

 

[tireetim]

Yes, I've just checked it again and where I took off some tiles it is now really wet like the water is trying to escape at that point. It's ultimately going to have new tiles on it but even if I can sort out the damp it would need quite a bit of levelling. I think I will pull up all the tiles tomorrow and as there doesn't seem to be a dpm to damage maybe dig a hole in the corner and see what is actually there.

 

[dazlight]

Ceramic tiles? If that's the case you won't need a dpm. But if your going to use a smoothing compound screed on top make sure its moisture tolerant.

 

[tireetim]

But won't the water all come through the grouting?

 

[dazlight]

No mate if a floor is breathing no water will form.
Ceramics will let the floor breathe.

 

[tireetim]

Ok, thanks. I've now dug a hole in another area of the floor and can confirm that it's about 3 inches of concrete ontop of rubble (I suspect about 4 - 5 ft deep). No dpc. The concrete base in this area is also a bit damp but the rubble underneath is dry so I don't think it's rising damp. I'm thinking replacing the lot might be best as I can then put in a dpm and insulation and make the floor level. Although the existing concrete seems to be drying out I'm not entirely sure how it got so wet in the first place.