www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Hi, I'm a new member and must say that I'm most impressed with your site! I've leant quite a lot of good stuff already!

I recently had a survey done on a 1930s house with an old concrete floor in the kitchen. There's no DPC in it and of course the recommendation is to rip it out and relay. Ive had this before in another house, and apart from the floor looking tired and dirty it seems reasonably undamp really and in good shape. Looking through various websites it looks like I can bitumen seal around the edges (to seal floor to wall) and then lay some kind of epoxy based floor sealant, following a suitable cleaning /priming preparation. I just wondered if someone could recommend suitable DIY products to do this rather than take pot-luck? Ive not spotted a similar case in your forum which really surprises me. I intend to lay either a wooden floor or carpet on top eventually, although if the floor looks good after painting I may just leave it. Look forward to any helpful comments!
Many thanks
Martin R.

Hi,

Under no circumstances would i ever consider laying a wooden floor on this! there are professional products on the market which carry a DPM built into a latex (a 2 part system) which you can lay and then lay carpet on top, but i would advise speaking to a professional flooring co for further advice or maybe even a damproofing firm as some products do not breathe well

Have you considered having the floor asphalted?

It is not a diy job, but will sort out the problem of damp in the concrete.

Thanks very much for the feedback guys. Asphalt sounds like a very good option, as the house is empty at the moment. I am surprised though that this doesn't come up more often? I'll see if there are any proprietary polyeurathane or epoxy type coatings available to cover it.
Cheers.
Martin.

I had it done a few years back in a house and it worked really well.

You should be able to measure the room and then call an asphalt firm for a quote over the phone.

It's ideal if the property is empty, especially if you intend renovating it afterwards.

Normally anything epoxy based is expensive from my experience.

Thanks once again for passing on your experience with the asphalt. I'm also in the process of considering damp roofing old cavity walls so I may ask them to asphalt up the walls at the same time!!! (only joking).
Many thanks
Martin.

martinrich wrote:Thanks once again for passing on your experience with the asphalt. I'm also in the process of considering damp roofing old cavity walls so I may ask them to asphalt up the walls at the same time!!! (only joking).
Many thanks
Martin.

Don't joke

Because some of the asphalting firms will also tank your walls, but it works out bloomin expensive.

triton chemicals have a product called trimol, its one of the epoxy coatings, 2 part, 2 coat... bout 100 quid but will solve your problem
a 'bottle cove' along the edges consisting of sbr and neat cement will cover the join...
then theres the damp proofing to worry about...

Thanks for the info about epoxy Chris; I'll look into it

Not sure what a "bottle cove" or "sbr" is. Please can you explain?
Cheers
Martin