Carpets, Lino & Flooring

Dealing with damp solid stone slab floors

Anonymous user 03/03/2024 - 3.10 PM

I need some advice regarding damp floors in our house. The living room currently has a solid stone slab floor with a red coating over, and is very uneven. The previous owners had covered it with a carpet but when we took this up the underlay was soaking in some areas. This dried out after a few days/weeks. My question is how we deal with this. We have been advised by a friend to lay a breathable floor but I'm not really sure what this entails. We had hoped to install a wooden floor but I am concerned this will rot if the floor is wet. I'm really confused by the whole situation! Are there any damp proofing options? I am concerned that putting a membrane down may drive the damp into the walls. We also have a problem with condensation and mold on the external wall so I'm not sure if this is something to consider too. We also have the same stone slabs in the kitchen. I am happy leaving the slabs exposed here but I dont understand how the floor can be 'breathable' when the furniture is stood on it. Won't it get wet where cupboards stand and damage them? The skirting has already rotted. The gable wall is also suffering from penetrating damp as it is below ground level. Again I am wondering what the best option would be to deal with damp here. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.