high damp reading through floor Damp can be a major issue in the home. Find answers to questions or post your own here.

[kazzie72]

We have been fixing up my mums bungalow since 2006 from a basic messy shell. Was thankfully completed august 2010 and she moved in. She has since noticed that anything placed on the carpet in the second bedroom ends up covered in white fluffy mould. I have removed all furniture from the room, repointed the outside bottom two courses of bricks and the outside concrete skirt and sealed with a water sealer. I have also fully treated the inside skirting boards of the room with an anti-fungicide spray, thoroughly hoovered, de-humidified for over a week, and it just keep filling with water. There are no signs of mould or tide marks on internal or external walls or even on skirting boards. I purchased a damp test meter ( the needle type one) to try and discover what was going on. There is no reading at all off the walls but when you place the prongs into the carpet it goes through the roof. It gives a slightly higher reading in the corner where two external walls meet. I wondered if anyone has any ideas before i rip up the reasonably new carpet to see whats underneath. It has a suspended wooden floor and the void to my recollection was about one and a half foot deep. She has also recently had cavity and loft insulation done but that has not made a difference. All airbricks are clear from outside. Please help

[kazzie72]

i have now lifted a small section of carpet in the corner to check the floor boards. They are totally dry and no reading off the boards themselves but i do get a reading if i poke the prongs in the gap between the boards or into the carpet.... CONFUSED!?

[welsh brickie]

you need to remove some floorboards and make sure there is no standing water in the floor void.The floor should be concrete,brushed clean and all airbricks clear,so a good circulation of air is constant.

[kazzie72]

thanks, will do that and see what happens

[kazzie72]

well i lifted floor boards and it is bone dry underneath. no reading off of floor boards or joists. only high reading is off the actual ground beneath although it is dry.
The driveway was shingled about a year ago with a porous material beneath for weed control. it was layed right up to the house and the ground under that was very wet so i have pulled back the material to leave approx a 6 inch gap between the bungalow and the material.
Could this be the problem? My uncle said i should just slide some damp proof membrane sheeting onto the ground beneath the floor boards... will this help?