Should I have air bricks

gerad_way

Just wondering about air bricks.
I have a 1900 terraced property suffering from dreaded damp.It has solid walls and concrete floors in all the rooms, so would it need air bricks?? The reason I ask is because other properties in the street have air bricks, but I was led to believe you only need air bricks if you have wooden floors??
Also the fire places have all been boarded up should they still have air vents ???

ukwoody

If you have solid walls and concrete floors, the floors are likely to be straight on top of earth at that age of house, therefore air bricks would only really be of use for general room air circulation. Yes it might help the damp a tad, but not a lot as the air flow could only help the damp immediatly adjacent to the tunnel.
Although the walls may be thick, are you sure there is absolutly no cavity there since your neighbours have them? If there is, an air brick or two may possibly help towards the damp.

Chimneys should always have a vent in them to allow for air circulation. It is one of the biggest causes of damp around chimneys, people block them off and keep damp air in there. In an ideal world you have a vent top and bottom thus creating a Plenum for vertical air movment substancially reducing the risk of damp.

Just thinking here, if your neighbours have a gas or open fire in their rooms then there may well be a need for an external vent which may be why they have them.

Woody

peediedj

my house has wooden floor,s and i have airbricks,but 3 years ago got a extension,that has a concrete floor,and they put airbricks in it? so not sure on that one

ariba10

When your house was built, in all probability it had suspended wooden floors.

The Air Bricks would have been taken out when the solid floor was installed.

Air Bricks are used to ventilate Cavity walls and Suspended floors.

adaze

peediedj wrote: »

my house has wooden floor,s and i have airbricks,but 3 years ago got a extension,that has a concrete floor,and they put airbricks in it? so not sure on that one

If your extension covered existing air bricks, venting your existing under floor, then a good builder would continue this air flow and vent from under the extension. That's what we've done anyway, to maintain a decent airflow.

petewhitemdr1

Hi, if your house was built in the 1900 it would almost definately be solid brick 9 inch thick walls and not a cavity wall construction.there fore you don't need air bricks unless it was a block and concrete beam construction which would be very unlikely. if the concrete floors were put in after the original build. (1900 houses were built with timber floor boards)it should have a dpm(damp proof membrane )to stop moisture penetration coming up through the floors. if it has no dpm then the floor will always be damp.alternative is to start again or add dpm to top of floor and add another 2 inches of screed.

suiko

Thanks, all.

Not sure about suspended wooden floors. I think they're concrete, but the carpet is nailed down. The house is a 1930 ex-council house, 99% sure no structural work has been carried out since. It definitely has no cavity in this wall though, as I had cavity insulation put in the other walls (front and back).

So nothing much to do (apart from remove the stuffing from the chimney)?