Brick Floor

[Hutchpocket]

Hi all,

I am new to this forum. We have purchased a single storey cottage that used to be thatched but replaced with slate 15 years ago. The entrance hall that has fireplace smelt damp,
So pulled up carpet to expose mouldy underlay stuck to brick floor. Could anyone offer any advice? The house was built around 1840. Many thanks

 

[malcolm]

That's a nice floor. It's old and breathable so will let water through from the ground. Was the underlay made of rubber by any chance? Carpets are OK but you need a breathable carpet and breathable underlay rather than the rubber backed stuff.

That fireplace has been poorly modified to take the wood burner. Bricks would fall out less if you had a simple arch in there.

 

[Hutchpocket]

Hi yes it was rubber, we have been hoping it would dry out but we had a box of tiles on the floor and the box felt damp when we lifted it. Is there a way of making the floor watertight or is that the wrong thing to do?

 

[malcolm]

Making the floor watertight is normally a bad thing to do. The water will just find somewhere else to go. Normally it goes up the walls and gives you damp there after you damp proof the floor. Finding ways to let water escape is important in old houses and the floor is a fairly harmless place for it to escape.

 

[Hutchpocket]

OK thank you for your help

 

[Zebra]

That is a gorgeous floor.

 

[a twig]

Ditto what Zebra says - basis of a beautiful floor there, clean up / repairs where necessary and correction to that chimney breast and it will look stunning

 

[Hutchpocket]

Hopefully we can restore it, working hard at getting the black underlay off.

 

[a twig]

Also historic damp takes forever to fully dry out so don’t expect bone dry in a few months. Ivor will be along with his rule of thumb for wall drying rates shortly I expect

 

[Zebra]

I find with that sort of thing, there's only so far you can go before you just think "Ah well, it's part of the house's history." I have internal brickwork where I couldn't get all the cement render off, there's traces and bits still there, and I won't go so far as to say it's a feature, but it's just....still there.... Anyway with a floor surely if you just trot about on it, the remaining rubber underlay will just come away in time??

 

[Easrow]

We have a brick floor in our hallway which then leads to flagstone floors in the rooms off. When we moved in we had the same problem with damp carpets so lifted them and found concrete, so lifted that and found the brick. It has been uncovered for a couple of years and no longer smells. I'm still yet to restore as the house is an ongoing restoration but this week we replaced a few broken bricks. Next is the big clean up. They will not be sealed and just left to breath. What you will find is if you put anything on the original solid floors is that it will become damp underneath pretty quickly so any furniture really needs to be on legs. We have a thick wool rug in the living room and that is fine. It will dry out and the haunted house smell will dissipate.

 

[Hutchpocket]

Ah Thanku. I have ordered a large sisal rug for that area. Im having trouble getting the black underlay off of it. But hoping in time I will.

 

[Easrow]

Ah Thanku. I have ordered a large sisal rug for that area. Im having trouble getting the black underlay off of it. But hoping in time I will.

I'm planning to use an angle grinder/polishing tool to clean ours up. You may find a nylon brush on the grinder will do the trick. A metal brush may mark them but you can always try in an inconspicuous area. Ours have concrete stuck to them so planning on being pretty harsh with them as I did with the flags and they have come out amazingly

 

[Hutchpocket]

Oh wow thanks

 

[Easrow]

This is our hall at the moment. The brick are pretty scruffy and rough. They will get a sand and polish and repointed with lime. Other than that we use an olive oil soap for washing the floors.

 

[Hutchpocket]

Oh that’s lovely, Ours seems v crumbly on the top, maybe from the damp underlay.

 

[RBailey]

I'm planning to use an angle grinder/polishing tool to clean ours up. You may find a nylon brush on the grinder will do the trick. A metal brush may mark them but you can always try in an inconspicuous area. Ours have concrete stuck to them so planning on being pretty harsh with them as I did with the flags and they have come out amazingly

Be cautious about using anything to aggressive on bricks as they have a hard "skin" and if you go through this they will be much softer.

Cheers,
Richard B.

 

[Easrow]

Be cautious about using anything to aggressive on bricks as they have a hard "skin" and if you go through this they will be much softer.

Cheers,
Richard B.

Thanks. I have noticed they seem to have a hard outer. I'm not planning to fully level or flatten the floor, just remove and clean up the old concrete staining so shouldn't be too bad. No diamond floor grinders that's for sure. It will be a one brick at a time job, leaving the unevenness. A scrubbing brush doesn't touch it though. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[stuart45]

You might find rubbing with a softer brick will help clean them.

 

[Easrow]

You might find rubbing with a softer brick will help clean them.

Ah like the old bridgwater bricks made from river silt for cleaning