Ground Floors

Abstract

Great care must be taken in the construction of timber floors, especially of suspended ground-floors, because serious problems may arise in a building at this point. Badly-constructed ground floors are often the cause of dry rot attacking the timbers in a building. The omission of damp-proof courses, inadequate ventilation underneath the floors, timbers built in or touching the outer brick walls are common causes of trouble. It is essential to prevent the absorption of moisture by timbers forming part of a building because if a certain water level is reached, namely, 20 per cent of the dry weight of the timber, and if other conditions also prevail, then dry rot will occur.