Where is the DPM in this photo of my dug up floor?!

[blueharvester]

This is a follow-up on to a previous topic of mine which was trying to figure out if my damp problem was a leaky pipe or dodgy building work. It was dodgy building work, and the builder attached the sunroom to the house incorrectly!

I had the NHBC out and the guy said that yes it was faulty but because it would take less than the minimum claim value of £1224 to fix the problem they weren't liable! Here is how he said the problem could be fixed:

The repair would entail exposing a small area of the floor to DPM level and enclosing the brick under the DPC in a DPC to prevent the damp re-occurring then re-installing the small area of screen, the tile and the skirting.

Yesterday I dug up the floor. Would I be correct in saying that there is no DPM in this photo? And if not then this would leading to a deeper problem of the damp rising up into my screed, right? Because there was no membrane between the red brick in the picture and the screen that I dug away.

To see a full photo timeline of this problem see here.

 

[chapeau]

Well to my non expert eye it looks rubbish but i wouldn't know much more than that.

I had the NHBC out and the guy said that yes it was faulty but because it would take less than the minimum claim value of £1224 to fix the problem they weren't liable!

Somebody is though, and that would be the builder. If it's within 6 years of the contract then you could get him in the small claims court. If the NHBC says it's faulty then you will win. I suspect the likes of trading standards might be interested too but you would have to try them to see.

 

[r896neo]

whilst there is no dpm in your photo there would not normaly be a dpm between the concrete floor and a screed.

Normal floor construction would be bottom up

dpm-insulation-concrete-screed

Or in your case the alternative method which is perfectly fine is

dpm-concrete-insulation-screed.

So i would not expect to see a dpm in your photo if you have merely remove the screed. However you would expect to see some dpm tight to the wall where it should be coming up past the dpc in the walls. which itself should be folded down tight past the dpm

It is easily identifiable as it is merely smooth black polythene (think of a thick black shopping bag) where as DPC is thicker and stiffer and most notably has a criss-cross texture on the surface.