And still i wish i never bought this house, rotten beams now :(

[brightspark]

My mate bought a house with a bit of wood nailed to the skirting...as he pulled the wood off the skirting with a bar the floor sank with him on it...was quite funny at the time .

I'm not a big fan of cement floors...if they go wrong (ie damp issues) I can see them being a bit hassle to put right. Timber is easy to work with and fix.

bit difficult to get damp with a layer of visqueen under and up the sides of floor

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

bit difficult to get damp with a layer of visqueen under and up the sides of floor

Yea in theory it should be fine...but 4 foot of infill is a lot of material to dig out if it isn't fine.

I think with old houses they just need to breath properly...doesn't look like the walls have a damp proof layer either?

My 1930s house doesn't have a damp proof layer but it's bone dry because it's well ventilated . When they put in the cement kitchen floor in the 1930s they cast in a pipe to maintain airflow...quite clever.

 

[julianf]

If you pour concrete, all that moisture that those timbers have sucked up will go into your walls.

 

[tom2207]

maybe an expensive woman.

cheap ones cost more ,,,,

Dolly Partons quote ,,, Honey it takes a lot of cash to look this cheap ...

 

[brightspark]

worked in 3 houses fault finding on downstairs ring mains . it ****** down for 3 days a few month ago and there was water under the wooden floors high water tables water and condensation in joint boxes

 

[W.olly]

first pic easy enough to replace the beams id advise taking a brick out above for easier access to slotting in the new beams at side of them it will be fine
View attachment 394588

id advise building a wall tower it will support the beam and also when your fitting in your new beam at side of it on the wall will also support it as well

easiest way to do it and you will have to jack up the floor and beam and support them while stuff sets

View attachment 394589View attachment 394590

good idea, will be a lot of digging out to get to a good base for the support pillar. a few of these houses around here have all the builders rubble around and under them. i dug down over four foot to get to good ground when i build the conservatory. and still didnt get to the footing base of the house. good old council houses lol.. will dig and see what i can get to though. thanks kida.

 

[angellonewolf]

id fix the vents cut the old ones out drill through otherside put in the duct then add the vents at the face brick

 

[gaz1]

build the support pillar 3ft away if you use 2ft its not enough to spread the load between 2 wood joists but 3ft does

you can use 7x2s or 9x2s doubled up

i also advise taking the skirting board off the wall above where your working if you dont when you jack up the floor it will jamb up and make it difficult to fit it

 

[W.olly]

And why would folk use 80 x 100mm joists. which is wat they are.

 

[gaz1]

that for you top joists not your beam that is 3-4" x 9-12"

but buying a small 12" beam is costly when you can get the same in 2" beams

 

[pedrobedro]

In our front room the floor dropped 3 inches in one corner and the skirting board had been fitted to the level of the floor. I took the skirting off and a few floorboards out and found the floor joists were originally ledged on a 3x2 which rested on top of the footings where they corbelled out. The 3x2 had rotted away but the joists were still good so I got a trolley jack under the floor and lifted it while I put a new 3x2 in, refitted the skirting in the correct place and job done. You could fit a piece to the wall with concrete screws like a wall plate and do something similar resting the joists on it.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

You could fit a piece to the wall with concrete screws like a wall plate and do something similar resting the joists on it.

Last week I did an under stairs cupboard which looked similar to the original pic....I just used resin fix and threaded rod. It was a pain drilling out the holes and the resin takes a while to cure but less risky vs knocking out bricks I think the fit joists alongside the existing joists sticking thro the wall.

 

[Gareth J]

Now's the chance to add insulation...

There is a school of thought that, by filling the underfloor void with EPS beads, you heat the wooden structure with the house heat and drive any dew point downwards where it does no harm. Clearly you wouldn't need 4 feet of insulation but filling some of the floor with rubble or clean chippings and the rest with EPS would be something I'd consider exploring. Cut out draughts, insulate and keep the floor structure dry. Win, win win.

Will try to remember where I read up on it if it's of interest.

 

[redlig]

what i was thinking a DIY job. can get free rubble so biggest cost concrete, and moving a couple of cables and i think radiator pipe work.

Wish T listened to me way back and buy a boat to live on haha

With your luck it would probably have sunk by now and then you would know what real damp was.
best of luck!

 

[gaz1]

i wouldnt not with that stuff

if your going to insulate under the floor beams make sure you do it right

insulation board comes with issues if you spill anything on that floor its got no where to go other than stay on your insulation boards

whilst i would use fibreglass insulation if a spill does happen it will get out of the material

whilst the roof has the same issue before you find out the floor can be more costly it not worth it

 

[Gareth J]

i wouldnt not with that stuff

if your going to insulate under the floor beams make sure you do it right

insulation board comes with issues if you spill anything on that floor its got no where to go other than stay on your insulation boards

whilst i would use fibreglass insulation if a spill does happen it will get out of the material

whilst the roof has the same issue before you find out the floor can be more costly it not worth it

If you are commenting regarding the use of EPS beads, you've misunderstood. It's not wrong to use that method. Main drawback I can see is that T,&E sweats on contact.

 

[hunter27]

Looks like the damp wood is only caused where it is in contact with the brick work Replacing the joist ends and rotten wood with tantalized timber and isolating it from the damp brick work by wrapping any contact areas with damp course material would be my solution.

 

[Onoff]

[ considered to remove enough to get head room and use it. cant be bothered , mates house is same over the road but a eight to ten foot head room. footings go to Australia i reckon haha

You're missing a golden opportunity given the current climate. That's the start of a fallout shelter!

 

[redlig]

You're missing a golden opportunity given the current climate. That's the start of a fallout shelter!

Have you seen the size of the spider in pic 3 I'll take my chances with a Putin banger.