Hello!
I'm currently considering a house built in 1972 with a slab-on-grade foundation. Anticimex has conducted an inspection, and I have a few questions regarding the following points:
Point 1: Concrete slab on grade with raised and insulated flooring. The existing floor structure is at risk of moisture damage due to natural moisture exposure. This, in turn, can lead to microbial damage (attack by microorganisms) which may result in the spread of microbial odor to the living environment.
Question 1: Does this mean that one should essentially tear up the entire floor on the entrance level, frame it with steel beams, and lay a new floor, or what does this practically mean?? And if the entire floor is to be torn up, should this also be done under walls, etc.
Point 2 and Question 2: The property is from 1970. Are there any general "warnings" for properties from this period? It is a brick house with a wooden facade on the upper floor and concrete tiles on the roof. Oil-heated, meaning it has water radiators, and I assume they will work well even when transitioning to geothermal heating.
/alacs
I'm currently considering a house built in 1972 with a slab-on-grade foundation. Anticimex has conducted an inspection, and I have a few questions regarding the following points:
Point 1: Concrete slab on grade with raised and insulated flooring. The existing floor structure is at risk of moisture damage due to natural moisture exposure. This, in turn, can lead to microbial damage (attack by microorganisms) which may result in the spread of microbial odor to the living environment.
Question 1: Does this mean that one should essentially tear up the entire floor on the entrance level, frame it with steel beams, and lay a new floor, or what does this practically mean?? And if the entire floor is to be torn up, should this also be done under walls, etc.
Point 2 and Question 2: The property is from 1970. Are there any general "warnings" for properties from this period? It is a brick house with a wooden facade on the upper floor and concrete tiles on the roof. Oil-heated, meaning it has water radiators, and I assume they will work well even when transitioning to geothermal heating.
/alacs
The 70s villas were/are known for their problems...
However, it does not apply to all properties
The answer to question 1, see question 2 (70s villa)
They had a penchant for building these houses completely wrong construction-wise....
Wooden studs were cast into the concrete, wood against ground/piers/slabs without moisture stop.....
Often a heating cable was embedded that the homeowner later disconnected because it consumed too much electricity, quite foolish since this cable was the only thing that kept the slab in somewhat good condition...
the smell becomes difficult to build away, it is due to a faulty construction
"builder"
However, it does not apply to all properties
The answer to question 1, see question 2 (70s villa)
They had a penchant for building these houses completely wrong construction-wise....
Wooden studs were cast into the concrete, wood against ground/piers/slabs without moisture stop.....
Often a heating cable was embedded that the homeowner later disconnected because it consumed too much electricity, quite foolish since this cable was the only thing that kept the slab in somewhat good condition...
the smell becomes difficult to build away, it is due to a faulty construction
"builder"
Recently bought a house from '75 with approximately the same construction, i.e., slab-on-ground and sills on/in it. During the inspection, the moisture content in the sills was measured and it was just above the moisture thresholds - so we negotiated the price of the house down and replaced the sills immediately. Sill replacement is very advantageous to utilize the ROT deduction for - it is a lot of labor time but not much material...
Before you become too worried and judge all houses the same, make sure to check if there are issues with moisture, growth, and odor. Anticimex level 2 inspection includes this and in our case, it was worth every penny to do this somewhat extended inspection
Before you become too worried and judge all houses the same, make sure to check if there are issues with moisture, growth, and odor. Anticimex level 2 inspection includes this and in our case, it was worth every penny to do this somewhat extended inspection
If nothing has happened so far, the risk is probably small that it will happen in the future. Anticimex writing is a common disclaimer from an inspector.
Bring in a competent inspector who can explain the house to you in detail.
Bring in a competent inspector who can explain the house to you in detail.
Thanks. How did the sill replacement go concretely? Did you break up the entire ground floor? How many square meters? What was the cost? Did you do a lot of the work yourself, or did you hire a company?KristinaRT said:- so we negotiated the price of the house down and replaced the sill beams directly. Sill replacement is very advantageous to utilize the ROT deduction for - it involves a lot of labor time but not so much material...
Before you get too worried and judge all houses the same, make sure to check if there are issues with moisture, growth, and odor. Anticimex level 2 inspection includes this, and in our case, it was worth every penny to do this somewhat extended inspection
alacs - We didn't lift a finger ourselves; we outsourced the entire job. We only replaced the outer wall sills, and this was done from the outside because we didn't want a lot of cut walls indoors. The construction of our house was such that two pressure-treated boards lay on/half-recessed in the slab, forming the sill. Since we have brick walls at the bottom, the craftsmen sawed away the two lowest layers (leaving a piece at regular intervals to prevent the house from collapsing ), cut away the sills, and replaced them with lecablock at the bottom, then a moisture barrier, and finally an untreated wood sill. Afterwards, they re-laid the bricks and restored the base. In total, it took less than a week for two men to do this. The price is around 2000 SEK per linear meter, at least here in Skåne..... Addition - the house is about 40 linear meters around, and the price is without ROT deduction.
When the sills were removed, we were really glad we replaced them; they didn't look very nice, and the sill in the wall facing the garage didn't smell good at all, DESPITE the moisture levels being above the threshold values (if only just over)..... However, the inner wall sill looked fine, even though the measurements showed similar values to the outer wall sills. It turned out that the inspector had driven the measuring device's pin through the sill and into the slab
I don't quite understand why you would need to rip up all the floors? Aren't the floors laid on the slab (with some insulation in between)? You don't need to rip up any floors to replace sills; even inner wall sills can be replaced by cutting up the lower part of the wall and then concealing it by either spackling and painting or wallpapering the wall, or if you don't want to redo it - installing a higher threshold.....
), cut away the sills, and replaced them with lecablock at the bottom, then a moisture barrier, and finally an untreated wood sill. Afterwards, they re-laid the bricks and restored the base. In total, it took less than a week for two men to do this. The price is around 2000 SEK per linear meter, at least here in Skåne..... Addition - the house is about 40 linear meters around, and the price is without ROT deduction.When the sills were removed, we were really glad we replaced them; they didn't look very nice, and the sill in the wall facing the garage didn't smell good at all, DESPITE the moisture levels being above the threshold values (if only just over)..... However, the inner wall sill looked fine, even though the measurements showed similar values to the outer wall sills. It turned out that the inspector had driven the measuring device's pin through the sill and into the slab
I don't quite understand why you would need to rip up all the floors? Aren't the floors laid on the slab (with some insulation in between)? You don't need to rip up any floors to replace sills; even inner wall sills can be replaced by cutting up the lower part of the wall and then concealing it by either spackling and painting or wallpapering the wall, or if you don't want to redo it - installing a higher threshold.....
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