Sunk concrete floor

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Hi all
Hoping for abit of advice. Im in the process if removing my kitchen and noticed the concrete floor has sunk and cracked near a externall wall. Noticed that there is a 20mm gap underneath the skirting board where the dip is. It seems someone has filled where tye floor has cracked in the past and has re cracked in places. I assume the floor sunk around 30years ago as the kitcken and flooring is from around the 80s. Also the floor seems to smell musty. Abit damp which i understand is normal comsidering the house is 1930s .

Could anyone reccommend anything, i was going to re concrete the damaged parts of floor then re screed with self level compound. But obviously if the floor is damp maybe it may need a dpm installed?
Thanks
 
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Hi all
Hoping for abit of advice. Im in the process if removing my kitchen and noticed the concrete floor has sunk and cracked near a externall wall.
Does it sound hollow? Are there any cracks? A poorly constructed over-site usually results in large amounts of settlement and hollow spots around the outside walls due to the depth of excavated material wanting to settle.

Hi all
. Also the floor seems to smell musty. Abit damp
Was there a vinyl type floor covering down?

Hi all
Hoping for abit of advice. Im in the process if removing my kitchen and noticed the concrete floor has sunk and cracked near a externall wall. Noticed that there is a 20mm gap underneath the skirting board where the dip is. It seems someone has filled where tye floor has cracked in the past and has re cracked in places. I assume the floor sunk around 30years ago as the kitcken and flooring is from around the 80s. Also the floor seems to smell musty. Abit damp which i understand is normal comsidering the house is 1930s .

Could anyone reccommend anything, i was going to re concrete the damaged parts of floor then re screed with self level compound. But obviously if the floor is damp maybe it may need a dpm installed?
Thanks
Floor levelling compound could deal with any aesthetic discrepancies as could a decent tiler or kitchen fitter. Depends how far you want to go remedy wise.
 
Hi noseall

Hi doesn't seem to sound hollow but it is cracked on the edges where it has sunk in some isolated areas and have been repaired in the past . But recracked but I suspect the repair was done in the 80s

Yes there was sticky back vinyl on the floor originally so I'm assuming that damp couldn't escape?

And I was hoping to use self leveler but I'm abit concerned if it will just re crack etc

Is it quite normal for the concrete floors to sink from a 30s house at all?

Thanks again
 
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Is it quite normal for the concrete floors to sink from a 30s house at all
I'm not sure whether normal is the right word but poorly constructed floors sink whatever the decade. It's usually those properties built when materials were expensive and infill bought cheap. Floors containing a propensity of large units of infill, are the usual culprit combined with a lack of compacting or care when arranging the hard core.

I've seen it in plenty of pre-1990's buildings.
 
OP,
After the units have been stripped, & walls & floor are exposed then why not post photos of the floor, the walls, and pics of the ground level outside the kitchen door?

You mention cracks - typically, there can be a number of reasons for a concrete slab to crack.
You say previous repairs have failed, & that there appears to be a damp.
After removing the skirtings check for any damp issues in the walls, & locate your DPC?

SLC could be useless in the situation you describe - damp & movement will damage the SLC & any new floor coverings: this would possibly mean starting all over again with having to remove the new units, flooring SLC and slab to do the job properly.

Hopefully, the pics will show whats going on but its possible that digging out, a DPM, insulation & a new slab will be the min requirements?
 
Hi

That's great information
May I ask why I should take photos of the ground level outside the door?
 
Thanks again
I'm going to get all the floor coverings up and see what I'm left with. Worse case it will have to be dug up and sorted. Atleast that way any possible damp problems would be resolved

Thanks for your help
 
Sprocker, good evening.

Do you live in an area that once had a lot of Coal mining?

Back in the day a [very] cheap sub base was pit Bing waste, unfortunately that material has some nasty chemicals that can at times do funny things to solid concrete floors??

Ken.
 
Hi

I live in the south east so very much doubt it was a mining area

Thanks
 
No there isnt any air bricks around the kitchen that has the concrete floor but there are air bricks around the rest of the house that has a suspended floor

Thanks
 
There is a specific local Authority design up here where the main area of the house is suspended flooring with the kitchen being a concrete floor, at times this concrete floor extends to the Bathroom as well.

I have seen a couple of such properties where the concrete floor was in fact suspended and resting on timber wall plates [a really not good idea] over time the timber wall plates rot and the floor drops, in one case the timber shuttering was still in place we found it when there was an access made into the under floor area below the concrete?

Just a thought?

Ken.
 

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