Victorian House Damp and Floors

DonalOCinneide

Hi,

A house I have made an offer on has had the survey come back. As is often the case with Victorian homes it includes some "rising" damp in a cupboard under the stairs. However, the issue for us is the underlying costs associated with addressing this concern at its origin. (As seen elsewhere on these boards this seems to be prior unsympathetic adjustments made to the floor of the building and plaster). Currently the house has laminate flooring downstairs. The front lounge has some springiness underfoot (rotten joists?), the rear downstairs floors are noted as "solid construction". The building also has an unusual drop down between the front and rear lounge as they have been converted into open plan.

Now, the implication from the report via a relative who is a retired architect is that the rear rooms are likely concrete replacements of an original raised timber floor. Doing research on here and in conjunction with what my uncle suggests it seems that to actually tackle the issue properly and not just to do a quick fix would entail digging up the floor downstairs, breaking up the concrete and installing a raised floor with air blocks. We can't see for sure what is under the laminate without the vendor's permission and further expensive surveys, but advice suggests this could be a very expensive job (5K on a good day).

We had budgeted to redo most of the rooms and windows as it has a dated interior, but the idea of large-scale structural work at a house already at the top of our budget is very concerning. We could get the vendor to knock off some money, but of course that will not be cash in hand and we will still need to do a fair bit of saving to tackle a job like the floor.
Any thoughts on the scenario (or likely costs) would be much appreciated.

jonnygee2

It sounds costly, disruptive and expensive. It also sounds like the kind of place where you will pull one thing up and find another problem. It's Victorian (terrible builders anyway) and from your description has been badly maintained since. The costs may well not stop at what the surveyor has already picked up.

This can be a bargain if you have the cash and lots time to sort it out, but if you are cash strapped I'd think twice about whether this project is really for you. You could always DIY the decor, though, and use the cash for that to fix stuff? But do you have the time and patience for this and will the results be worth it compared to just buying a place in decent nick?

Doozergirl

It's actually incredibly unusual to take up a suspended floor and replace it with concrete. It's not unusual to have a mix of solid and suspended floors either, IME.

Swapping suspended for solid is expensive and there's just no need. Houses were designed correctly for their time. The sub floor should be ventilated correctly with air bricks and any rotten joists replaced and placed back on a piece of slate or another damp resistant product to give the joists their own damp proof membrane as well.

Contrary to a post above, replacing the original floors - which admitted may well look pretty shoddy (and move over time) but they were there for a purpose and allowed damp to escape and the house to breathe - new concrete floors with a plastic DPM underneath can push dampness up the internal walls.

Dampness in understairs is really common and in most cases, it's perfectly alright to live with it. I would lime plaster it so the walls can breathe and ventilate the cupboard with either grilles or strategically placed holes in the door. It wouldn't hurt to keep the walls warm by having a radiator in the room on the other side. That will help moisture evaporare and not condense on cold walls in cupboards.

I certainly wouldn't be going to the expense of digging up the floors to deal with isolated damp in a cupboard. It is what it is. I've lived in several houses with damp cupboards and seen countless more.

DonalOCinneide

Thanks for these replies; I guess I am worried that just plastering the offending area with lime will only be putting a sticky plaster on any potential issues. The back of the understairs area with the damp is a party wall. It also runs along the back of the kitchen cupboards and fixtures- so may be affecting that area also.
The impression I'm getting here mirrors my own concerns that this will be more complex and expensive than we had originally foreseen when making the offer.
Any other thoughts much appreciated!

Novice_investor101

I bought a Victorian terrace with a solid kitchen (back of the house) floor & a cellar under the lounge (front of the house), which is the same for all the houses on this very long street.
The lounge floor joists had completely rotted due to no ventilation in the cellar & water rising up/collecting in it. I had the whole lounge floor replaced with new joists & extra air bricks, & waterproof membrane & concrete in the cellar. All this was accounted for in the purchase price. Also, two tubs of that water collecting dessicant keeps the cellar pretty much dry.
The kitchen is fine. There is damp in one of the corner, floor level, cupboards which I just use to store all the DIY stuff like paint tins. On the other cupboards I've put some air vents in to the kick boards & they're fine.
One party wall in the lounge seems to suffer from very mild damp in the bottom 30cm of wall, but not noticeable under the wallpaper & behind a bookcase.
I've never suffered any actual damp problems (like mould or a damp smell) as the builders did a good job of insulating the roof & sorting out the cellar. A lot of friends, who live in typical student digs, have even noted they can tell it is a "dry" house (ie no damp problems).

Keeping it well ventilated & using the heating properly in winter seems to do a good job. Even drying washing indoors causes no issues. I just always have the upstairs bathroom & main bedroom windows on the latch - locked open a couple of centimetres.