kitchen floor and damp problems

[ajeli]

I'm doing up the kitchen and the plan is to put laminate on the existing kitchen floor. The kitchen is in the ground floor with wall and door facing to the garden.

The existing floor is made up of old red clay tiles that sit on soil. In order to secure the tiles and make sure we have an even floor, we put self levelling cement on. All was ok until the next day it started raining and dump was coming through the floor. The part of the floor that is closer to the garden. Never before we had notice this happening on the same floor.

The kitchen floor is higher from the garden floor only by a few inches. The garden is tiled by the same kind of red clay tiles sitting on soil, with lots of gaps between the tiles where the water can run through and go underneath the kitchen floor.

Any idea on what to do to avoid damp coming in from underneath the floor?
- tile properly the garden outside?
- remove kitchen tiles and cement kitchen floor?
- any other suggestions?

I'm trying to find a builder to help me out with no luck so far, plus we have no place to cook or wash dishes as we had to remove all kitchen units.

cheers

 

[JohnD]

dig up the kitchen floor

if it's just laid on earth that will be easy

lay a new concrete slab with dpm

preferably include a rigid foam insulating layer to reduce heat loss through the floor

 

[ajeli]

JohnD - Thanks for the info.
I was afraid it will be something like that.

A few more questions for you.

How thick does the cement need to be?
and if there are different types of Damp Proof Membrane (DMP) in the shops, which one should I be using?

Should I consider getting a builder in? or is it a straight forward task that someone with diy skills can do?

 

[JohnD]

you need to ask in "building", I don't know as I have not done it recently.
//www.diynot.com/forums/

It is a reasonable DIY job if you are fit and strong or can make your wife do it. It will be quite noisy, dirty and dusty and you should tape up the door into the house.

A small local builder could do it easily - ask round friends and neighbours for recommendations, and look at samples of their work. Be careful they do not try to save effort by not digging out deep enough.