floor blown in out building

[loady]

Hi,

I had a concrete block outbuilding erected in the depths of last winter by a polish builder which i was generally happy with. I had asked him to level the floor so i could paint it, it seemed to take ever to dry out and i just painted it anyway with a cheap floor paint and left a border around the outside with the idea of letting moisture escape, for months after i would find condensation on the surface of the floor and that stopped as the weather got warmer. Recently i have just come back of holiday and the other day i dropped something on the floor which made a strange hollow sound upon impact, with closer inspection the floor had fine cracks all over and i have now literally lifted the whole surface off in slabs with just a screwdriver !!!

I guess the levelling compound they used was water based and the slab should have been let to dry before it was laid, the slab itself is about 20cm thick. I have read a through stickies on here about flooring but dont want to spend money getting the dampness measured, there is no DPC in the slab and the building is not heated at all and does get extremely cold in the winter, i had the notion to lay ceramic tiles at £7 a sq mtr but have been told they will not survive the extreme coldness and porcelain is just to expensive for what i need it for. The slab 'seems' to be very dry now and i quite level on the whole but rough surfaced, i just want a smoothish surface in there that i can clean as it is going to be used as a micro brewery, i also dont want to spend lots of money, it is 2.5 x 3.5 sq mtr max in dimensions, can anyone recommend an all in one soloution ? ideally i would like to pull everything out for 24hrs, do the job, let it dry and then put it all back in.

 

[HERTS P&D]

Have you tried to call your builder back to see what he thinks?

Andy

 

[loady]

Im sure if I complained after nearly a year he would come back and redo it. I paid for the materials so he would probably do the same again. I got a fair job at a very good price, I want the floor done right so would rather do it myself correctly. Anyone else ?

 

[JohnD]

What materials were used?

How old was the slab underneath? was the surface scrabbled, or was an adhesive methiod used?

Was it frosty?

How long did it stay damp?

 

[loady]

The Old slab was broken down and used as hardcore and then the new 20cm slab poured using standard concrete that you would use for a base. It was damp for a good 4 months but this may also be due to the fact that I had asked him to someway butt the existing garden bed to the wall. This did not work and soaked the wall and I dug it all out about 4 months ago and the wall is completely dry now. The fact that the leveling layer had blown seems to indicate it had died, indeed when I removed it all there was no damp at all. It was extremely cold and wet when laid but I don't recall frost as such. Not sure whether I need a dpc or not, I would have thought the thickness of the slab would stop moisture coming through anyway. . it is after all only an outbuilding for which I want a smooth floor as I have stuff on wheels and currently is to rough for them to glide over.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/OYti6kzYJSwLQBOlH_GIwdMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

 

[dann09]

The best questions have already been put to you.

However, from what i can make out from the pic, the mix for the pour, ( or is it the screed?) was well too sloppy. Was that a hand mix or a delivered mix?
And was some sort of "finish" /screed smeared on top as the whole thing dried?
Neither is that how you finish, or polish off, a pour, or rub up a "leveling layer".

Is a membrane in place below the slab? ( is that your ref to a DPC? )
Was any insulation used?

Quarry tiles are perfectly adequate for your purpose, but any persistant damp could blow them off, or release constant salts.

 

[loady]

Basically that is it. It was mixed in cement mixer and Laid. 2 days later they built on it.. Then when block work was finished they put self levelling stuff down.. which is blown and now removed.. it was still very very damp when they put it down. There is no dpc in the slab and there is no insulation in it.

 

[dann09]

OK, i understand better now. The smears i see are the remains of the SLC.

Its hard to tell from a pic, but that slab appears to be still damp/green, indicating, perhaps, that too much water & not enough cement was placed in the mix.

Where you go from here for any cheap, permanent solution i dont know.
Maybe, get a local builder in for a view on site?

 

[loady]

Hmm..not sure where your seeing green there, there is no algae present, the paint i used on the levelling laying (now removed) was green, maybe you can see some flecks of that...i have uploaded a higher quality video to you tube...there is no dampness i can feel on my skin when i press my hand to the floor...not sure if that is a good indicator or not.

http://youtu.be/kHSRud_Ws_o

 

[big-all]

Hmm..not sure where your seeing green there, there is no algae present, the paint i used on the levelling laying (now removed) was green, maybe you can see some flecks of that...i have uploaded a higher quality video to you tube...there is no dampness i can feel on my skin when i press my hand to the floor...not sure if that is a good indicator or not.

http://youtu.be/kHSRud_Ws_o

green in this context means new /unseasoned

 

[loady]

I have managed to source some porcelain floor tiles for £8 mtr which will be about £50 to tile the floor...being an outbuilding...should i worry to much about small holes or just cram more adhesive in there ??..not sure if this is going to be cheaper than levelling compound or not.