Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Hempcrete floor insulation cast in the void under a suspended floor in a late Victorian terraced
house.
When retrofitting a breathable floor, special attention should be paid to adequate drainage
in the form of French drains around the building. Where these exist, they may need clear-
ing out; if they were not there originally, they are worth installing, as this is an effi-
cient way of helping to divert the flow of groundwater around the building and so redu-
cing the amount of moisture that the floor has to deal with. It also has little or no im-
pact on the original fabric of the building, and so is usually possible even in listed build-
ings. French drains are especially important uphill of structures that are built into sloping
ground. Where a building stands on 'flat' land and further landscaping is appropriate, try
to do so in such a way that the ground adjacent to the building slopes gently away from the
walls, to encourage rainwater to flow away from them.
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