Repair to the floor

[sebed]

Hi,

My wife and I moved into a 1-bed end of terrace house about 6 months ago and I have been doing bits of DIY around the place trying to fix things or get rid of drafts. I noticed some time ago that the kitchen seems to be colder than the rest of the downstairs (it is basically one room but with a half-height partition between the two). I finally got fed up with it and decided to try and work out why. I took of the wood panels that cover the legs of the cupboards (like the fitted kitchen ones) and found a hole in the floor under the sink. It seems to be where the cold water enters the house (big black ABS type pipe that comes up).

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I don't know if it was shoddy building or why there is a draft there (I can certainly feel the air moving) and the hole is quite big and seems to be filled with paper cement bags, small cuts of mdf and random bits of metal!

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There doesn't seem to be any damp which is strange given that there is a draft and its quite deep into the floor.

I would like to fill the hole with something (cement, filler or something similar) but I'm not sure if this is advisable. Can anyone advise?

Many thanks,
Sebed

 

[richard633]

is this a timber suspended floor? Presumably so - if you are seeing builder's debris under the floor deck. I cant really understand the photos.

Assuming this is a wooden floor then - The space under the floor should be ventilated via airbricks which you should be able to see on the external walls of the house at ankle height. this stops the build up of moisture etc under the floor and keeps the timbers free from rot. This is why you are feeling a draught and don't worry its quite normal. You can reduce the draught into the kitchen by improving the seal between the water main and the floorboards. Try using an aerosol of foam gap filler. (Find some other jobs for it before you start because you only get one shot and one can can go a long way.)

 

[sebed]

Hi Richard,

Thanks for your post, I have been doing some research myself since posting and you are correct that there is an air brick there. There is a laminate wood floor fitted above the concrete (some sort of carpet/underlay between the two but definitely concrete underneath). From looking around the house I think there used to be a gas boiler which was removed at some point so maybe the air brick was for that. Now that there isn't gas and there isn't a proper wood floor do you think it is ok to seal up the air brick?

Thanks again,
Seb