Has anyone had to cement under their floor?

[namechange49573]

We noticed a damp patch on the floor in our living room that kept reappearing. Upon pulling up the carpet we have rotten wood caused by water under our floorboards.

After speaking to neighbour it's apparently a common issue in our area. One neighbours believes afew houses have had the floor cemented. Has anyone had to do this? I imagine it's going to cost ££££.

We haven't had anyone round yet to fully look/quote. We also had the suggestion of a pump fitted instead which would flush out the water. My issue with this is it does not look like we are full of water from what I can see it just looks damp/muddy and has soaked into the floor boards.

What is actually underneath the floorboards ?

Water will still get through cement in the end, it gets saturated and comes up. You're better off removing the problem than hiding it - with a sump, a pit would be dug to collect the water then when it fills to a certain level the pump would remove it. That would keep the floorboards above dry.

What are they sitting on at the moment?!

@LBOCS2 thanks that explains the pump idea better.
Form what I can see the under the floor boards they are just on wood panels stuck in the ground.

Check whether your water supply pipe coming in from the street is not leaking first.

How old is your house? It might be worth googling to see best solution for that age of house. Pouring concrete is usually a really really bad idea as it doesn't tackle the problem. Usually a pump and lots of ventilation is what would be recommended if the house is older than about 1940ish.

Do you have any blocked air brick front and back, make sure these are always clear as the movement of air evaporates the water unless it is after a heavy storm when a pump would be more useful.

Do not go to a damp expert though (if it is an older house), they will recommend damp proof course when they are hugely damaging (looks good for a bit because of the replastering) when really it traps damp into the walls with no way to get out. I know that mortgage companies say they need them done but if you explain you have an older house they usually drop it.

Ventilate as best you can but if you need to remove old joists and floorboards make sure there is plenty of ventilation left afterwards (just let your builder know that you think it is important). I hope it gets sorted!

I don't really know much about older houses but the idea that wood can be put down direct on earth is kind of interesting to me, I would have thought that only really works with stone. Unless you maybe are in a converted house and your floor is now what was the cellar and someone just boarded over it.

Anyway, good luck - I hope someone is along who knows more.

Is the room in question part of the original house, or potentially a dodgy DIY extension? We've recently renovated what was a derelict property. Original was 1912 and an extension in the 30's. All of it was slightly off the ground though, with air holes at either ends. No wonder yours is wet/rotting if the wood was put directly on the soil!

Could you check your deeds or if you had a survey done before buying, to see if anything is mentioned on there? IF you do need to dig it all up, could you put in underfloor heating to make use of the upheaval?

First, check for water leaks, ensure your air bricks aren't blocked, and that external ground levels aren't higher than internal floor level.

I assume it's a Victorian or older house, in which case a poured cement-based floor would be a terrible idea.