Hi There,
I'd like to start off by saying that I know NOTHING about renovations/home building etc. I'm trying to branch out to some more knowledgeable folk who may know what needs to be done and then I will very likely contract that help out.
I just bought my first home. It's a late 1960's home, new wiring, plumbing etc. and main floor completely renovated. The basement looks like it was renovated within the last 15-20 years, but done as cheaply as possible. It has some very flimsy, cheap looking faux wood panelling and then the worst carpet you've ever seen.
We rolled up the existing carpet and underlay as we intended to get new carpet installed this week. Unfortunuately we found water and dirt under the carpet. The dirt was mostly in one corner, but there are some spots where you can see cracks and dirt has run along the floors. There are parts where the paint thats on top of the concrete has bubbled up and when you disturb it, the paint layer comes off and what is underneath is concrete but not hard, smooth concrete, its more chunky and loose (is this normal? I imagined homes had concrete subfloors that looked more like sidewalks, smooth and solid, not this loose concrete look). We've started to remove the wood panelling and insulation to see where the water is coming from in the corner so we can hopefully seal it. But what do these patches on the floor mean? And what about the loose concrete? As I said before - is this normal? This issue seems to be contained to only one portion of the basement, thank goodness. This is the only room where carpet was laid, so the rest of the basement is bare concrete and we can see that there is no moisture or cracking.
Any help would be MUCH appreciated.
I'd like to start off by saying that I know NOTHING about renovations/home building etc. I'm trying to branch out to some more knowledgeable folk who may know what needs to be done and then I will very likely contract that help out.
I just bought my first home. It's a late 1960's home, new wiring, plumbing etc. and main floor completely renovated. The basement looks like it was renovated within the last 15-20 years, but done as cheaply as possible. It has some very flimsy, cheap looking faux wood panelling and then the worst carpet you've ever seen.
We rolled up the existing carpet and underlay as we intended to get new carpet installed this week. Unfortunuately we found water and dirt under the carpet. The dirt was mostly in one corner, but there are some spots where you can see cracks and dirt has run along the floors. There are parts where the paint thats on top of the concrete has bubbled up and when you disturb it, the paint layer comes off and what is underneath is concrete but not hard, smooth concrete, its more chunky and loose (is this normal? I imagined homes had concrete subfloors that looked more like sidewalks, smooth and solid, not this loose concrete look). We've started to remove the wood panelling and insulation to see where the water is coming from in the corner so we can hopefully seal it. But what do these patches on the floor mean? And what about the loose concrete? As I said before - is this normal? This issue seems to be contained to only one portion of the basement, thank goodness. This is the only room where carpet was laid, so the rest of the basement is bare concrete and we can see that there is no moisture or cracking.
Any help would be MUCH appreciated.