What is this feature/construct at the base of walls?

[smp50]

Hello. Could I please have a brief explanation of this feature at the base of my walls? It's found downstairs, on external walls (but not all of them), a wall that was once external but now meets an extension, and also on the wall shared by my neighbour (mine is end-of-terrace).

> In some places it seems to have been removed.
> In some places it has been painted up to look like skirting.
> In some places it has been plastered over completely (with normal skirting on top).

The floor in all of this area is concrete, no floorboards.

It doesn't seem to go through the walls but sits on the face of the brickwork - held securely for the most part but not so in some areas.

The first picture shows an area troubled by damp (the plaster was like soil, pipes corroded, etc.) and I'm wondering if this feature has something to do with that or not.

Thanks very much

 

[tony1851]

Just a guess here but in the immediate post-War period, timber was in short supply and many houses were built with cement-render skirtings internally instead of traditional timber.

 

[KenGMac]

hi.

Must agree with Tony here, I have seen a lot of these "Skirting's" made from Cement, they tend to have been "common" in "Wet areas" such as Sculleries / kitchens wash houses. in effect anywhere where there would be a lot of water on the floor from time to time. the rational was that the "designer / builder" rerecognizedhat timber skirting would simply not last and that a cement skirting would perform two functions.

First the cement would not rot, timber would not last that long. And the cement would afford a degree of "protection" to the Plaster on the wall and stop it from getting "wet" from what would be a Wet floor.

On one of your piccies that appears to be a floor drain, it is possible that the area you have photographed in the day was "classed" as a "wet area"?

Other areas that tended to have cement skirting were, "common circulation areas" meaning access passages to a flight of stairs or similar where it could be expected that the skirting would be exposed to some high degree of "abuse" and as above exposure to a lot of water, melting snow in winter and the "tender" mercies of buckets of water being used to clean the access.

I recall those days well?

Ken

 

[smp50]

Just a guess here but in the immediate post-War period, timber was in short supply and many houses were built with cement-render skirtings internally instead of traditional timber.

hi.

Must agree with Tony here, I have seen a lot of these "Skirting's" made from Cement, they tend to have been "common" in "Wet areas" such as Sculleries / kitchens wash houses. in effect anywhere where there would be a lot of water on the floor from time to time. the rational was that the "designer / builder" rerecognizedhat timber skirting would simply not last and that a cement skirting would perform two functions.

First the cement would not rot, timber would not last that long. And the cement would afford a degree of "protection" to the Plaster on the wall and stop it from getting "wet" from what would be a Wet floor.

On one of your piccies that appears to be a floor drain, it is possible that the area you have photographed in the day was "classed" as a "wet area"?

Other areas that tended to have cement skirting were, "common circulation areas" meaning access passages to a flight of stairs or similar where it could be expected that the skirting would be exposed to some high degree of "abuse" and as above exposure to a lot of water, melting snow in winter and the "tender" mercies of buckets of water being used to clean the access.

I recall those days well?

Ken

This does make sense - the area where this "skirting" is found was indeed once the kitchen, bathroom and utility/laundry room area of the house. Now those rooms are found in the extension and this is a dining room, but the pipework and other clues clearly remain.

Thanks very much - that's handy to know and helps my other quests as well, concerning damp and some other bits.