Rubble in underfloor void

stuart45

Unless there's something sitting at the top of the rubble that looks suspect, it would be difficult to know. On Victorian builds the void under the floor was often around 4ft deep, so there's possibly a lot of rubble in there. 

Eldi_Dos

If there is enough debris under the floorboards that you suspect it is from a wall taken down, that suggests to me whoever done it was not very professional. Might be worth making enquiries about what work was carried out and what support if required was put in place.

Mistral001

If you are planning to do this yourself, lifting the floorboards of one small room and starting to take out the rubble by hand might be the best way to proceed.  If you find asbestos then go to plan B which could be something like inserting under floor insulation between the joists in that one room before laying the floorbaords and increasing the number of under floor void vents for all rooms.

PS.  Before doing anything, I would check that the existing vents are doing their job, by lifting a few boards at each vent and inspecting what is behind them to make sure they are not obstructed by the rubble or anything else.  If you find that they are not obstructed, then you might not feel that you have to do anything other than perhaps increase the number of vents as a precaution.

ThisIsWeird

hatt55 said:

This is one of those instances where I really overthink things (though hazardous materials are maybe a good reason to think a bit more...). If the damp surveyor is right and this is common practice then surely not everyone can be approaching rubble in their house as needing to be treated as hazardous waste. 

You are absolutely right, Hatt. You are overthinking things :-)
There is a good reason to have it removed, as explained before - you want an unhindered flow of air under your timber joists and floorboards, and the rubble is bound to affect this to some degree. In addition, the rubble could also be acting like a 'wick', raising damp from the ground up to a higher level, and releasing it into what is a much reduced air space.
On the other hand, none of that could be happening. It might be coping perfectly well.
Assuming, tho', you - sensibly - wish to have it removed, then employ a certified disposal contractor to do so. And that is that.
Right at this moment, there are 1,000s of such companies turning up to look at a 1,000s of mounds of detritus and rubble all over the country, with the simple instruction, "Could you get rid of this, please?". The rest is up to them.
They will carry out due diligence, which will likely begin with a visual assessment of what's there, and they'll wear suitable protective gear. They will keep looking at what they are removing, and their experience should help them detect any suspicious looking items and have them reaching for their test and sample kits. 
Your job would be to clear that room of all furniture and furnishings. And to close any door to the rest of the house. And to not worry.
How many ground floor rooms do you suspect may be affected? 
Once they have finished, ventilate the room, put on a dust mask, and hoover it up thoroughly.
Any risk to you will be soooo infinitesimal as to not exist at all. 

stuart45

After this it will be safely taken away to be dumped in the Golf club car park after midnight.

hatt55

ThisIsWeird said:

hatt55 said:

This is one of those instances where I really overthink things (though hazardous materials are maybe a good reason to think a bit more...). If the damp surveyor is right and this is common practice then surely not everyone can be approaching rubble in their house as needing to be treated as hazardous waste. 

Right at this moment, there are 1,000s of such companies turning up to look at a 1,000s of mounds of detritus and rubble all over the country, with the simple instruction, "Could you get rid of this, please?". The rest is up to them.
They will carry out due diligence, which will likely begin with a visual assessment of what's there, and they'll wear suitable protective gear. They will keep looking at what they are removing, and their experience should help them detect any suspicious looking items and have them reaching for their test and sample kits. 
Your job would be to clear that room of all furniture and furnishings. And to close any door to the rest of the house. And to not worry.
How many ground floor rooms do you suspect may be affected? 
Once they have finished, ventilate the room, put on a dust mask, and hoover it up thoroughly.
Any risk to you will be soooo infinitesimal as to not exist at all. 

Many sensible thoughts here! I get myself tied up in knots about stuff relating to the house. Other people would just get a contractor to do something, whereas I seem to fall down a rabbit hole and never get anything sorted.

The floorboards have only been lifted in a couple of places in a knocked through living/dining room. Its a relatively small terrace, so not a huge area, but I don't have a sense of how deep the sub-floor is or whether the same depth of rubble is spread right the way across. To be honest the whole thing has unnerved me a bit and I was away on holiday not long after I found it, so I haven't been able to bring myself to look any further. 

ThisIsWeird

hatt55 said:

Many sensible thoughts here! I get myself tied up in knots about stuff relating to the house. Other people would just get a contractor to do something, whereas I seem to fall down a rabbit hole and never get anything sorted.

The floorboards have only been lifted in a couple of places in a knocked through living/dining room. Its a relatively small terrace, so not a huge area, but I don't have a sense of how deep the sub-floor is or whether the same depth of rubble is spread right the way across. To be honest the whole thing has unnerved me a bit and I was away on holiday not long after I found it, so I haven't been able to bring myself to look any further. 

Understandable, Hatt, but this is really a pretty minor issue in the scheme of things. If you had to replace rotten joists and floorboards, that would be a different matter :-)

Do you know a friendly builder, someone who you may end up using for jobs in any case? Perhaps they could pop round and stick their head down t'gap in t'boards and give an opinion? It could well be that the amount of rubble present will have no adverse effect at all, and to not bovver. And if it should really be removed, he'll likely guide you to how many boards would need lifting. And he will almost certainly even recommend someone who does this kind of work. 

We have a fab guy here that our builder always uses (for digger work as well as removing rubbish). When I last called him out to take a variety of stuff away, he went to stupid lengths to sort it all out in different places on the back of his truck, not so much that he did the 'right thing' in not simply dumping it all together as builders' waste, but to save me a few bob; "This stuff is a cheaper rate, so..." Amazing.