trying to sort out a diy disaster - i can see earth

[fi35]

Hi
Can anyone advise what I need to do:
I have 3 cupboards in the house which have been built as 3 mini extensions. One houses the washing machine and all pipework goes therefore under the flooring. The problem is:

I have lifted a bit of flooring to find all the pipes and fresh air - there are no foundations etc.
My main issue is two-fold - drafts and vermin.

I have rats in the cavity walls that I think have come in via this area and somehow got in.

What on earth do i do to rectify this without instructing a builder to pull them down and start again!!

 

[conny]

When you say 'cupboards built as extensions' do you mean they are built of brick/breezeblock as in the old outside lavatory style?
What kind of flooring have you looked under?
Timber/Chipboard laid on dry earth or on battens suspended above solid ground/earth?
Some pics would be a great help.

 

[fi35]

When you say 'cupboards built as extensions' do you mean they are built of brick/breezeblock as in the old outside lavatory style?
What kind of flooring have you looked under?
Timber/Chipboard laid on dry earth or on battens suspended above solid ground/earth?
Some pics would be a great help.

I'll try to get some piccies but in the meantime:
Breeze block construction
Chipboard flooring pretty sure battens suspended above solid earth

There is some sort of pipe that comes up through the flooring and the outlet for the washing machine goes in this

thanks

f

 

[conny]

The pipe coming up will be for the washing machine drain outlet and may just go to the outside and into a surface drain. See if you can trace its route to the outside. Where the breeze block sits on the ground it should be on a concrete slab or a wall of 'engineering' bricks. These are usually blueish in colour and different to 'normal' house bricks. They should protrude above the soil by at least 2 courses to prevent rainwater from spashing up onto the breeze block structure.

Some pics would be really useful. I must point out that I am not a builder but a keen DIY'er who will try to help if I can but any advice I try to give should be checked out with a proper builder.