Floor in an outbuilding

[Skaggaranx]

How do... first time poster so please be kind!

I have recently purchased a house and am therefore now honing my DIY "skills". Actually, everything has gone to plan so far indoors and I'm feeling confident... but for my next trick, I'm taking on a damp floor in a small outbuilding at the bottom of my garden.

The building is small, over a hundred years old and was originally a piggery... yes, a building for pigs. The floor of the piggery is brick and is raised slightly (in that you have to step up slightly to get in the building)... the building has no foundations and the brick floor is always slightly damp because (I assume) they have essentially just been laid in the ground when it was constructed and other the years the damp has penetrated all of the bricks which now don't have the chance to dry out. The bricks are now rather uneven and it all just needs a bit of TLC so that I can get the building back in action.

I was thinking of introducing a layer of concrete on top of the floor to even it out, keep the damp at bay and to smarten it up... which sounds to me quite easy to do. Would it require something between the bricks and concrete to aid the damp proofing?

Or, and I suspect you may be of this opinion, should I be digging the bricks up and laying the floor properly with gravel and sand first?

Many thanks in advance!

 

[vinn]

Are you prescribing what you are going to do or are you asking for advice?

If you want advice why not post pics of the floor(s) the interior, and the exterior?

 

[^woody^]

Concrete is not waterproof even with an additive, so your plan won't work.

You need to think about if you would prefer to raise the floor to insert a physical barrier and protection, or if you want to dig it out to keep the finished level where it is now