G
Gazzer
Yeah i was hoping he would come along
Concrete floor problem
- Thread starter Gazzer
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- concrete floor floor tiling problem usa
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G
Gazzer
Message fom friend
"a bloke came and drilled a big hole in the floor and sent a sample off to the lab. i believe it's sulphates that are the problem. there's no evidence of any heave or cracking, just 'potential' for a future problem. presumably the injected dpc isn't good enough, so looks like the lot will have to be redone. i found all this out at ten to five this afternoon, so can't do anything umtil monday now. the purchaser is trying to get a copy of the report and will forward it to us then."
"a bloke came and drilled a big hole in the floor and sent a sample off to the lab. i believe it's sulphates that are the problem. there's no evidence of any heave or cracking, just 'potential' for a future problem. presumably the injected dpc isn't good enough, so looks like the lot will have to be redone. i found all this out at ten to five this afternoon, so can't do anything umtil monday now. the purchaser is trying to get a copy of the report and will forward it to us then."
W
White Room
That's going to cost to do
G
Gazzer
Yeah i know, seems wrong to me.
W
White Room
Would be interesting how somebody wants to buy your house then end up having a core sample taken, can't get my head round this.
F
faithhealer
Building insurance ??
G
Gazzer
Yeah they are looking into that
D
Deleted member 9966
I'm with Dom on this one. Tell the buyer to bog off unless they're prepared to buy the house as it is now. I had to tell a buyer to go away after the chain fell apart underneath the sale of her house 3 times. I managed to find a new buyer within 8 weeks.
Seems wrong to me too.
There are predominantly 2 types of sulphate attack which affect concrete. Both occur naturally in most concretes but it is the level of the reaction which determines whether it is deleterious or not. Ettringite which is where reactive sulphates come into contact with moist portland cement and Thaumesite which is highly unlikley to have occurred in a house floor as it requires generally mobile ground water laden with sulphates. The former hydrates the cement to form a fribale weak crystal and is what often causes tile delamination with cement addy on gypsum screed and the latter basically turns the concrete to jelly and is a relatively recently diagnosed concrete pathology which affected a number of bridge structures down the M5 in the 1990's. Another issue which weakens the concrete is alkali silica reaction. This is where a reactive aggregate interacts with the hydroxyl ions within the cement pore solution. It forms an expansive gel which can seriously disrupt the integrity of the concrete. the concrete cancer scares in the 70's was predominantly about this.
Assuming there is a damp proof membrane under the concrete which would depend on how old it was it is highly unlikely that any of these are an issue in a house floor.
As for concrete giving off some sort of toxic dust - in my politest possible language - wot a load of bollards.
If there are visible signs of issues then fair enough but if there is nothing visible it sounnds like a bit of a con. I hope they have not parted with cash themselves to have this "analysis" done. The usual reason for core samples is to determine compressive strength, examine compaction and to carry out a petrographic analsis which looks at the particle distribution in the concrete. It is rare to see eother of the latter on an old concrete sample.
What age is the floor and are there visible signs of deterioration e.g. cracking, discolouration, pop outs or soft spots which can all be signs of various pathological conditions including heave, subsidence, shrinkage, substrate movement etc etc.
If the surface of the concrete is exposed why not just prime it and put some nice self levelling compound on it. Maybe even some nice quarry tiles....
There are predominantly 2 types of sulphate attack which affect concrete. Both occur naturally in most concretes but it is the level of the reaction which determines whether it is deleterious or not. Ettringite which is where reactive sulphates come into contact with moist portland cement and Thaumesite which is highly unlikley to have occurred in a house floor as it requires generally mobile ground water laden with sulphates. The former hydrates the cement to form a fribale weak crystal and is what often causes tile delamination with cement addy on gypsum screed and the latter basically turns the concrete to jelly and is a relatively recently diagnosed concrete pathology which affected a number of bridge structures down the M5 in the 1990's. Another issue which weakens the concrete is alkali silica reaction. This is where a reactive aggregate interacts with the hydroxyl ions within the cement pore solution. It forms an expansive gel which can seriously disrupt the integrity of the concrete. the concrete cancer scares in the 70's was predominantly about this.
Assuming there is a damp proof membrane under the concrete which would depend on how old it was it is highly unlikely that any of these are an issue in a house floor.
As for concrete giving off some sort of toxic dust - in my politest possible language - wot a load of bollards.
If there are visible signs of issues then fair enough but if there is nothing visible it sounnds like a bit of a con. I hope they have not parted with cash themselves to have this "analysis" done. The usual reason for core samples is to determine compressive strength, examine compaction and to carry out a petrographic analsis which looks at the particle distribution in the concrete. It is rare to see eother of the latter on an old concrete sample.
What age is the floor and are there visible signs of deterioration e.g. cracking, discolouration, pop outs or soft spots which can all be signs of various pathological conditions including heave, subsidence, shrinkage, substrate movement etc etc.
If the surface of the concrete is exposed why not just prime it and put some nice self levelling compound on it. Maybe even some nice quarry tiles....
G
Gazzer
Thanks for that Ajax...i hoped you would shed some light on this, I cant believe that some form of epoxy coating couldnt be used but its not for me to say. They are awaiting the written report and then decide what to do.
There is no visible signs of cracking etc. Removing this floor would mean a new kitchen as the existing one is old. I am wondering if the buyer is trying it on ?
There is no visible signs of cracking etc. Removing this floor would mean a new kitchen as the existing one is old. I am wondering if the buyer is trying it on ?
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