Damp concrete kitchen floor..... another one. Mapei Triblock P?

[Tile Shop]

Doing some tiling for a friend in a few weeks 9 sqm kitchen floor. house built 1912, no DPC/M that we can tell. Lino recently lifted and the floor is wetter than an otters pocket. (ok, slight exaggeration, but definitely suffering from a small amount rising damp (currently testing and ventilating)).

Various DPMs available which a leveller can be laid directly onto (i.e. Ardex DPM1C covered with NA). This is the way I was leaning to. Until...........

I spoke to Mapei Tech to see if they had a solution, and they came up with Triblock P (a 3 part epoxy primer) which as the floor is almost perfectly flat, I can just prime with Eco PrimGrip and tile with Keraquick S1. A 5kg can be picked up for around £35-£40.

http://www.mapei.com/public/COM/products/2043_triblock_p_gb.pdf

At 40 notes, it seems too good to be true but can't see any reason why it wouldn't retain rising moisture as long as the floor can be dried out sufficiently before applying..... Anyone ever used it or have any thought on it?

 

[Ajax123]

How would you propose to dry a floor that has rising damp. Liquid Dpm's are generally for suppression of residual moisture and not rising damp.

 

[Tile Shop]

I'm going round to see it in about an hour. They took the lino up yesterday morning and there was condensation. So might not be rising damp. But old house, no damp course, no leaks, can't imagine it would be anything else.

Mapei said as long as we can get the surface dry there shouldn't be any reason it can't be applied. Just can't apply it to standing water

Any suggestions for tackling it in terms of testing and drying it out, and if the surface DPM is a no go, how do we get the tiles down on it?

 

[Flintstone]

Is the magic carpet any good for this ?

 

[Tile Shop]

FML! this is [probably] a write off already but i'll take your thoughts on it. His builder mate went round last night and "apparently" it was already dry. He left it over night and put some grey unbranded dpm over it this morning (still tacky now and came in a plain white tin).

I had a look outside and there are holes where it looks like the dpc has actually been done. So the builder said to put the epoxy down just to be on the safe side on the off chance something was wrong, like belts and braces "won't do no 'arm". But the patio has been built up to the same height as the kitchen floor with the tiniest of steps leading to outside. However it does slope away from the house into a narrow gully that leads to a manhole further up the garden.

But not convinced the floor would have been dry enough for epoxy after only 24 hrs...... would it?

They're gonna put the units in and tile up to the legs so tiling will only be 1m wide up the galley and only 2.5 at its widest and 4m long.

They don't want it doing for another week or so. Need the practice but concerned if they all lift further down the line bevause of incorrect prep.

Gonna speak to Mapei in the morning and see what they say, but after that convo if i have any doubts, his builder mate can crack on. But if they say 100% it ok to tile as is or let me know what prep is needed, will consider having a go.

 

[Flintstone]

Personally i just wouldn't bother, sounds a lot of what ifs and maybes for a small job and with this new spanner in the works too.

 

[Ttt1601]

That doesn't sound like a good Base to start from, the dpm going down prematurely really isn't a good thing, I'd swerve it myself and let the builder take responsibility. If you come across this again, ultra do a couple of great products, I've used their "suppress it" a couple of times now and it's seems great where the floor is dry but your not sure if there is a dpm

 

[Tile Shop]

Update. I'm going for it. I am going to grind up the DPM tonight and give it time to dry out properly. As a damp course has been done, I suspect it was just condensation under the lino so will give it a week and see how it is.

If all is well, I'll prime with Eco Prim Grip, and stick 'em with Keraflex. Maybe level it in between if I go a little gung-ho with the grinder......... as in, angle grinder (thought I'd better clarify after recent comments about grinding)

 

[Dumbo]

Just because a silicone dpc has been in the brick course it doesn't mean the floor can't suffer from rising damp . As regards using level it if you have to use level it use level it 2 as some of the fillers In level it 1 will expand if they become damp causing failure .