musty smell in gas elec understairs cuboard' concrete floor

hooly · Post by **hooly** » Fri Jun 05, 2020 5:28 pm

there is a very dry concrete floor were gas elec boxes are' its been like it since moving in 5 yrs' i never took much notice till now' ive emptied the cupboard cleaned out' bit of bleach and left some baking soda in a bowl

would pva seal the floor? or any ideas' its more a musty smell

cheers

Surveyorman · Post by **Surveyorman** » Fri Jun 05, 2020 6:06 pm

The musty smell your are referring to is more than likely associated moisture laden air being trapped in this area. Before you consider "sealing" the floor with anything let's establish a few things if possible - How old is the house we are talking about here? Are all the floors concrete like this or is this an infill in the under stair cupboard area only?

hooly · Post by **hooly** » Fri Jun 05, 2020 6:29 pm

prob 50 yrs if not bit more' all concrete floors yes' that is slightly raised to the hallway floor

hooly · Post by **hooly** » Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:00 pm

i used to think it was just a dusty floor' then had a cardboad box of books in there' thats when noticed more' its a cold floor'

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:43 pm

What ventilation is there?

hooly · Post by **hooly** » Fri Jun 05, 2020 8:08 pm

none' it very rarely opens' sometimes weeks on end

Surveyorman · Post by **Surveyorman** » Fri Jun 05, 2020 8:53 pm

As Someone-Else might be driving towards, I would look to creating some ventilation to the under stair cupboard area. The musty smell that you are noticing is more than likely trapped moisture laden air that causes condensation to form in this area. The fact that you have noticed that the floor is a “cold spot” would mean that moisture laden air will be attracted to this space as moisture particles move from areas of high pressure to low pressure. When the moisture laden air gets to the cold floor it cannot hold its moisture particles any longer as the temperature of the air begins to drop below what is known as the Dew Point. This is the temperature at which condensation is formed. I have seen good results from air bricks being installed if your cupboard is on an external wall. If not, consider creating a vent in the cupboard door. It sounds as though this area may also benefit from an increase in heating. I wouldn’t use any sealant on the floor as this will probably just make the floor appear wet when condensation occurs. Think about ventilation and heating.

hooly · Post by **hooly** » Fri Jun 05, 2020 9:10 pm

ok cheers' ive never seen any damp condensation' ive stored things all been ok' bar noticed a smell on the cardboard box' i will look towards getting a new door with the slats in or similer' a rad is opp but wont be on for a while now' it does seem as the smell is on the concrete' so maybe leave open for a few days' then get a new door' when things get back to norm cheers

it is a outside wall' air brick in the cuboard next to it' which is ok

but may be cheaper for the door'

cheers

hooly · Post by **hooly** » Sun Jun 28, 2020 9:31 am

just thinking there is a passageway with next doors house attached as the roof of the passage way, there is water tap n water meter, also a few cracks about 5 10 mill and the damp course is about 2 bricks to a brick and half over, sometimes the concrete outside seems damp, ive yorkshire water coming to check for any leaks,