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Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Wed Aug 02, 23 9:43 am Post subject:

I particularly appreciate dpack's caveats about the difficulty in generalizing advice about this kind of topic.

I don't know that my perspective from the climate here will apply there...
When I suggested perimeter insulation around the slab, it's with the assumption that there's no insulation under it, but that it sits on a reasonably drained/dry substrate. I also didn't clarify that I was envisioning foamboard going against the entirety of the slab's edge (with the primary goal of slowing heat loss to cold air above grade) but also burying it below grade, with high performance tape at the joints of the foamboard, to seal off the substrate from thermal wicking as well - well to slow it anyway. Here, that would mean splitting 4'x8" sheets of foamboard down the middle, and trying to cover 24" from exterior cladding down into a trench (or split in three and cover 16"-ish). Great care would need to be paid as to the location of any underground power, plumbing, etc.
Exposed foamboard can be covered with flashing.

This would help to limit the concrete from dipping below ground temperature, which is significant here, because air temperatures can be so low for so long over winter, and you may be able to consider the slab and the substrate below it as a bit of thermal mass. You could never expect a retrofit like that to get it to function the way a concrete slab does in a holistically designed passive solar house, but it could help reduce the heat wicking potential of the slab.

I agree that addressing drafts first will be much more bang for your buck. Heat loss via the concrete is nothing relative to cold air intrusion (and associated warm air escaping at the top of the "stack")

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46247
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Aug 02, 23 10:46 am Post subject:

stop any water you can, multi layer lime and good ventilation might be best, you need a lime expert for the is it best and how much£ for that, 4 layer waterproof tanking would just change the problems
i had not remembered it was cob and half buried, i have seen/chatted about so many troubled buildings they blur into a collective like the borg

the root cause of much of the problems is the raised ground level

sorry not to be more help with that

odd thought to which i have no answer, there are assorted ways to reduce water flow in walls and in tunnel world that involve filling the pores with a resin type chemical or cement etc

i wonder if one of them would work in cob n mud walls with a large overfill outside
drill and squirt can be quite inexpensive and rather effective
not a cure but good at relieving symptoms if a cure is impractical for whatever reason

a cure needs a digger and a new hill a decent distance away

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9887
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Wed Aug 02, 23 11:34 am Post subject:

dpack wrote:

i had not remembered it was cob and half buried, i have seen/chatted about so many troubled buildings they blur into a collective like the borg

that's ok, I appreciate your advice and efforts - and chuckle at the idea of a historic building borg

Ty Gwyn

Joined: 22 Sep 2010
Posts: 4613
Location: Lampeter

Posted: Wed Aug 02, 23 1:34 pm Post subject:
Is the ground outside that you don`t own right up the house wall? How far away from your house wall are the buildings that are on this ground?

NorthernMonkeyGirl

Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 4630
Location: Peeping over your shoulder

Posted: Wed Aug 02, 23 3:00 pm Post subject:

Re. vinyl tiles and insulation - they can only tolerate a small amount of "squish" because the clicky-together bits are thin and fragile. This underlay I put down was marked for laminate flooring https://www.screwfix.com/p/diall-aquastop-underlay-5m-/2471r

Fitting the underlay sheets was dead easy; fitting the tiles was very fiddly because you need lots of room to manipulate and I didn't have that! I haven't finished off around the toilet base yet... Large rooms and straight runs would be ok I reckon.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9887
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Wed Aug 02, 23 3:41 pm Post subject:

Ty Gwyn wrote:

Is the ground outside that you don`t own right up the house wall?

How far away from your house wall are the buildings that are on this ground?

the ground and the buildings are adjacent to my house.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9887
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Wed Aug 02, 23 3:42 pm Post subject:

NorthernMonkeyGirl wrote:

thanks

Ty Gwyn

Joined: 22 Sep 2010
Posts: 4613
Location: Lampeter

Posted: Wed Aug 02, 23 9:52 pm Post subject:

Nicky cigreen wrote:

Ty Gwyn wrote:

Is the ground outside that you don`t own right up the house wall?

How far away from your house wall are the buildings that are on this ground?

the ground and the buildings are adjacent to my house.

Possibly that ground was belonging to your house at one time?

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9887
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Thu Aug 03, 23 8:56 am Post subject:

Ty Gwyn wrote:

Nicky cigreen wrote:

Ty Gwyn wrote:

Is the ground outside that you don`t own right up the house wall?

How far away from your house wall are the buildings that are on this ground?

the ground and the buildings are adjacent to my house.

Possibly that ground was belonging to your house at one time?

yeh my house was a farm a long time ago, ironically it was probably a previous owner who built up the land and plonked a building right up the the house... then later still it was sold off.

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