Bitumen

Hello

I have parquet floors in some of my rooms and can smell the bitumen - there are slight damp issues at the base of the wall in some places, but I can't understand why 90 year old bitumen would still smell or is that because of the damp? The concrete slab itself seems dry, for example if I life a loose block but the bitumen stinks.

Some people can smell it, others don't seem to notice (or are being polite).

Considering ripping the lot up.. has anyone come across this before please?

Thanks
Mike

 

Where are you based? Maybe one of us lot could pop down and have a look.

 

Have you only noticed the smell since the hot weather? Heat can soften the adhesive and then you'll smell it again

 

Thanks for the replies

It does come and go now you mention it and perhaps with the warmer weather (more humid?) it is worse - i guess the air lingers around too. Its not a "in your face" smell but rather just sort of hangs there in the background. If something has been on one of the floors for a while it takes on the smell too - for example if i put a piece of paper down for a while, or a box.

 

Sounds like a damp problem.

 

OK cool - so how do i go about solving it? Rip up the lot and lay a DPM?

The bungalow is 1930's, solid concrete floors - extended at the back with modern floors but these three rooms (plus hall) are all original.

In one of the front rooms i've removed the blocks and skirting to monitor a small damp patch - its the bottom of a bay window - i think what may be happening (hoping) is there is a penetration damp coming through the wall and this is travelling around the room along the edges of the floor slab? There is a 2-3mm gap between slab and wall, all below DPC (which is about 2" higher than slab), and I put a 3"x3" sheet of clear plastic sheet down the gap this evening - it doesn't take even half an hour before droplets appear on the wall side of the plastic, but not the slab - I am considering taking bricks out and inspecting the cavity - we havent had significant rain for days but I used the pressure washer earlier. Am going to get drains CCTV'd first too.

Alternative is to rip up the slabs and put new current spec floors in -tempted by this but woudl be too expensive I think.

 

Dig out the concrete and put a new slab in. While its out you could get the walls treated too. Maybe some sort of drainage around the outside of the house needed?

 

Sounds like a mare! Any idea on ball park cost for 16sqm room?

 

What's the outside like?
is there soil right up against the property?
is the subfloor lower than the outside soil?
do you have soakaways or a drain from the gutters ie downpipes, they may be blocked?
people don't clean there gutters out often enough and the downpipes get blocked causing a back up of water.

 

Outside is fine, blockpaving 6" lower than external DPC. The internal floor slab is at least two inches above external gnd level, but is two inches below the internal DPC level.. bricks below the internal DPC are wet in places, as mentioned. I am in contact with a cctv company to examine drains... Not sure of a problem there but underground waste runs alongside one of the damp rooms. Drains are empty / clear though unsure of their integrity. Thanks.

 

Thanks - what kind of pro, a builder?

 

could be clay pipe split/broken.
did builders link onto this pipe with new poly pipe with a socket/spigot?

 

Ummm not sure sorry! I guess cctv will reveal that. Whats cheaper, replace a floor or excavate a block driveway and replace underground drainage, ho hum..

 

this a pipe that has had a root growing for a while in a clay pipe. Not to say yours will be like that though.....

 

depends on how much of it you can do