Damp can be a real problem, and if you found that you’ve got damp appearing in your floor then you might be tempted to just carpet or put fresh flooring over it, and consider the job done.
However the fact of the matter is if you leave damp well attended the problem can get a lot worse and just covering it with carpet might not be the solution you need.
Is There Damp in Your Floor?
Why Might Damp Be Appearing in My Floor?
There are plenty of reasons that damp might start appearing in your floor. First off it’s important to understand the three different kinds of damp.
First off there’s rising damp. This is a form of damp that appears in a property when the damp proof course in the exterior walls fails, leaving your property’s walls unprotected from moisture entering them. Once this moisture has entered the walls it then rises up within them through a process known as capillary action. This process lead to a properties walls displaying signs of damp up to about one metre above ground level.
From here it’s pretty easy to see how that damp might affect your properties floors. The damp within the walls could easily spread into the connecting stonework, floorboards, or whatever material comprises your properties floor.
This might mean that when it rains you notice the damp in the floor more often than when it’s dry. That’s because the moisture from the rain is entering your properties walls spreading into the floor and causing the damp to appear.
This is also true the second main kind of damp that might affect your properties floor; penetrating damp.
Penetrating damp is a form of damp that occurs when your property has a defect, allowing moisture to enter it where it shouldn’t normally be allowed to enter. This might mean that a drain has become blocked, and water that might normally drain away is now building up around the base of your property and seeping into the walls, leading to damp over time.
It doesn’t have to be the gutters – there are all kinds of different ways that a property can develop penetrating damp, and sometimes it can be difficult for someone not trained in property care to spot what might be causing it.
The third type of damp is condensation based. However, because of the way in which condensation behaves, its very unlikely that over time a condensation issue could cause damp to appear in a floor.
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Should I Put Carpet Over a Damp Floor?
The short answer here is no. If you suspect, or know, that the floor of your property has a damp issue, then the last thing you should be doing is putting a carpet, or even a carpet and underlay on top of it.
Whilst you might be tempted to just cover the floor with the carpet and call the job done, the reality is that you are only wasting money, and only delaying having to deal with the real problem. It might well be that you cover the damp floor with carpet in the summer, and because the damp in your floor reacts to the weather and rain, it won’t present as a problem until months later in the rainier months.
In any case, the same capillary action that allows for rising damp to travel through your properties walls is going to be the same vehicle that the damp will use to spread up out of your floor, and into the underlay before going into the carpet itself.
We are sure that everybody reading this article has a clear idea of what a damp carpet might look and smell like. If you haven’t seen one somewhere in a house before (spaces near exterior walls are common spots to discover damp carpet), you might have seen or smelled it in a garage or shed that has a bit of carpet on the floor.
In any case, it isn’t pleasant.
The moisture from the damp when introduced to the carpet creates the perfect breeding ground for fungi to grow, including black mould and even dry rot.
This is obviously nasty for a few reasons, not in the least that black mould and other fungi, when allowed to spread, could potentially cause a health hazard, especially if anybody within the home already has respiratory issues.
Plus, black mould and dry rot are problems that are known to spread quickly if they aren’t dealt with early. If they are left alone, and if the damp allowing the perfect growth conditions aren’t treated, then the problem is only going to get worse.
Then there is the effect it has on the carpet itself. If damp does get into your carpet, you can expect it’s quality to disappear, the carpet itself often yellowing, disintegrating, even losing its plushness and colour entirely.
Basically, if you suspect that there is damp in a section of your floor, the last thing you should do is carpet over it.
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What Should I Do If My Carpet is Already Damp?
If your carpet has already shown signs of dampness, then its highly likely that the floor underneath has damp, and it will need treatment before you even start to think about replacing the carpet.
This is a fairly simple process to follow. First off, organise a survey with a PCA certified surveyor, like one of the experts here at Timberwise.
These specialists are capable of more than just letting you know if you have a damp problem. They are also going to be able to determine the cause of the damp, and map out a series of actions our technicians can take to stop the damp problem from reappearing in the future.
The solution will depend entirely on the type of damp present, with rising damp often tackled with a damp proof course installation, and penetrating damp stopped through corrective works to whatever is allowing the damp to set in the first place.
The first step you need to take to make sure that damp stops spreading through your floors is to arrange a survey. Just call 0800 288 8660, or fill in one of our online contact forms, and we will be in touch to arrange a survey as soon as possible.
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