I've had a downstairs bathroom re-fitted, but a few weeks after finishing I noticed damp in an adjoining room, lifted the vinyl flooring to find the concrete floor soaking wet. The fitters had left a leak in the newly boxed in pipes. The flooring and bathroom fittings have all been removed. I've had a de-humidifier and fan running in the room for a month now, but can still detect damp in places in the floor. I don't have a damp meter, but use a multi-meter on the 2meg ohms scale. It's a '50s-'60s built property and it looks like the floor was originally laid with thin, hard tiles, stuck down on bitumen/tar like compound. I suspect this black stuff is preventing the concrete from breathing to expel the moisture.
Any suggestions as to what I can do?
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Lift the tiles with a chisel/scraper style of tool?
Heat from a hot air gun will soften the bitumen.
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Not the most attractive prospect as a solution but white sprit will probably soften/dissolve bituminous material.
It might well have been put on as a membrane/sealant. I used some proprietary black tarry stuff in the new house in addition to the radon/damp membrane.
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Don’t go messing around with that stuff. It’s black mastic adhesive and may well contain asbestos.
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>> Don’t go messing around with that stuff. It’s black mastic adhesive and may well contain
>> asbestos.
I assume you mean BT's old stuff.
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Yes the stuff he calls bitumen/tar like stuff. It’s an asphalt based product that was used for sticking down all sorts of tiles. It often contains a asbestos. I had it in a previous 1950s house. Was advised to leave it well alone and put new flooring over the top.
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Get the ruddy fitters to sort it and pay for it. Incompetent fools.
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>> Get the ruddy fitters to sort it and pay for it. Incompetent fools.
I'd love to, but we're waiting to move in, they say "it's not very wet and will be OK to lay the floor". I reckon it needs to be completely dry. I'm less than happy with lots of their other work, so I'm reluctant to listen to their advice.
To add to my pleasure, a council, ride-on mower has just demolished the garden wall, right next to the for sale board on the house I'm trying to sell. That's a great incentive to prospective purchasers!
Last edited by: bathtub tom on Tue 21 Jun 22 at 10:12
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How to dry a wet floor - Fullchat
