Joists not secure to anything & Damp

[davidh87]

Hello I'm needing some help,

I have recently ripped up my living room floor because there was a bad smell of damp in the room under the carpet there was chipboard which some of was rotten. I removed the flooring and found the stone around the air brick from the out side wasn't knocked through and there was only a tiny hole of ventilation getting through.

I am about to fit new airbricks, lay damp proof sheeting & insulate then fit tongue and groove flooring but before I can start this I have a problem.

The joists are sitting on bricks with a little black membrane not secured to anything and wobbling is this normal how can I secure them ?

Thanks in advance

 

[vinn]

Now that you've lifted that much flooring it might be in your interest to lift the remaining flooring and joists and then dig out to give a min. of 150mm clearance below the joists. Then lay a vapour barrier on the soil.
You will need two or three air bricks, and through ventilation to rooms beyond the living room. Keep the air bricks in the joist bays.
Knock off plaster/render/plasterboard for 50mm above the joists. Do you have dot and dab?
More on fixing the joists later but first, are the walls stone walls (I can see stone) Is there a hearth?
Some joist tails are rotten and some have had sistering-on attempts.

 

[davidh87]

Hi Vinn thank you for your reply,

I'm planning on taking the rest of the flooring up and have just managed to unblock an old air brick at the back of the room which was blocked up the air bricks at the front also need drilled out as their holes are too small. there are three stone walls and one dot and dab on the outer wall. There is no hearth but there's a old gas fire in the wall and the floor beneath that is just block board in between two existing joists.

Thanks again

 

[vinn]

The air brick at the back is it in the house rear wall? Your better off with two or three new air bricks in the front and rear walls for good ventilation.
I would dump any old gas fire and think about what you might want to do with the hearth/fireplace opening in the future?
What next when the floor has been lifted? Does my excavation proposal sound OK?
Look up on this web site or google for: bolt-ons and cutting pockets in walls for capped joist tails, & insulating between joists.

 

[davidh87]

yes it is at the back of the house 'rear wall' only one at the moment but I'll put another in and clear the two at the front. Dumping the gas fire was the plan not sure if we're going to put a wood burner or open fire in yet but defiantly a fire of some sort. Thanks for the tip about the earth I'll remove some. Is there any clips I could drill in to the wall for instance to keep the joists steady whist they sat on the bricks ?

The walls are solid stone so don't think I would be able to cut any pockets into wall but I'll look it up.