Damp hearth! Please advise

[CMB123]

Hello any help would be really appreciated!

Just bought a mid terrace Victorian approx 1900

Removed laminate flooring today and revealed damp concrete hearth, picture attached, the damp has spread out from it, possibly from being trapped under the laminate, and the floor board nearest the left hand edge is soft and rotten.

Fire has been removed but chimney still there etc.

Any ideas on what's causing this?
Any advice on what I can do about it?
And if I got someone in the cost?

I want to get the floorboards sanded and finished but need to sort this out asap

Cheers

Chris

 

[bobasd]

read Related Threads at the bottom of this page and search for my post reply last sat to levelling hearths.
do you want to do a full and prper job?

 

[blup]

The damp may have come from the floor under the concrete hearth because it has not been properly damp proofed, and spread to the joists. If that is right the hearth would need to be dug out and the joists cut back and properly supported, with the whole area being properly damp proofed

A lot of older properties are done up to look great but have hidden problems like this.

There may be other causes and you should get a builder in if you are not confident in identifying and resolving the problem

Blup

 

[CMB123]

Cheers everyone, joist OK just need treating! So that's a relief

Turns out my flashing on chimney was basically a crisp packet so had been letting water in for god knows how long

 

[bobasd]

cmb123, thanks for comin back.hope youve not been advised by a damp and timber man?

the damp in the photo is caused by far more than just a joist that needs treatin.
fwiw how was this joist treated - by someone goin under the floor and examining and treating the joist? or by raising floor boards?

chimney stack flashing has nothing to do with water entering the chimney flues.
stack flashing prevents water penetrating the roof not the stack brickwork.

come back again if you want to know how to do a proper job.

 

[CMB123]

Sorry been a bit vauge there

So I had little to no flashing on chimney, no caps and cracked/broken roof tiles so water had been collecting for sometime at lowest point and was trapped under laminate flooring and it's waterproof underlay.

Fixed all that stuff now, also having air bricks changed to increase air flow to sub base

When they went under the floor boards there was no signs of active wet rot/dry rot to timbers just the packing and everything has dried out pretty rapidly since pulling up the laminate

They did recommend a damp proof course but now I've sorted the water ingress I'm just gonna see how it goes

 

[CMB123]

Not had the bricks and timber treatments done yet

 

[ToastyToes]

Exactly the same as my 2 ground floor hearths.

We are midway renovation so I just smashed the thing with a hammer and removed it.. no damp proofing below just rubble and concrete sitting on the floor. Moisture is pulling up into the rubble and living in the hearth.

Lovely.