Replacing a living room floor

[philbo10]

Hi , I'm looking to buy a house, and a report has come back that the living room floor has a very high damp reading and that the whole floor will need replacing , ie joists, wall plates , floor boards, and at the same time ventilation under the floor needs improving ( air bricks ) , a guy has quoted me 2k to do the work , can i do this work myself and save a lump of ££ ? , 1950s double skin brick walls, floor size approx 15 2m. thanks

 

[Lower]

It depends on how capable you are.

It is a good size job for a DIYer but certainly possible.

 

[philbo10]

I do have a bit of experience , done loads of stuff on previous houses , i just wasn't sure quite what to expect once id got the boards up , think ill give it a bash , IF the purchase goes through .

 

[Lower]

I'm part way through undertaking the same job in my current house.

If you've ever built a deck, its not dissimilar

 

[philbo10]

Right , i did build a deck few years ago , i think this will the 1st ( well 3rd ) of many posts if i buy this house, it needs a lot of TLC

 

[Burnerman]

Lift a few boards up and see why its damp.....no dpc on sleeper walls to wall plate for example, or blocked or missing air bricks.
There's no real issues with this sort of job, but if the joists run under a studding wall for example then it needs a bit of thought.
If you decide not to continue, a contractor will do the same thing anyway.
John

 

[RedHerring2]

Give some thought to your choice of floor boards/sheets and preservative.

I did a similar job thirty years ago. I'd just finished. I was stood there admiring my work, when I realised, with a little bit of forethought, that I could have avoided the lovely new floorboards, now stained a bright green from the preservative.

 

[gregers]

mmm are you sure the whole floor needs ripping up and replacing,ive done loads in my time and VERY rarly have i had to remove all the floor,you may find that yes the wallplates are beyond help,but before going at it all hammer and tongs up grade the sub floor ventilation,then start to investigate.
even when we replaced floors if we could keep any then we would,obviously pics would give us more info.

 

[philbo10]

ok, ive had a couple of guys round to quote me on this floor and damp job and have never got back to me , so it looks like im diy , one of the jobs that needs doing is to raise the air bricks with a periscope , easy to fit ? how many bricks need to come out to allow me to get the periscope in ??? any other issues ??? , cheers in advance guys .