Damp is something no homeowner wants to discover, but unfortunately it’s a common problem. In 2021, around 904,000 homes in England were found to have damp problems; that’s about 4% of all homes in the country.

If you’ve spotted the signs of damp in or under your floorboards, you might be wondering how it got there – and how to get rid of it. That’s what we’ll answer here today.

Prokil are the South’s leading property care specialists, with over five decades of experience in the industry. Read on for our full guide to floorboard damp, including what it is, why it happens, and how to treat it!

What is damp?

First thing first, what actually is damp?

Damp is simply a build-up of moisture in the structure of your home. Tell-tale signs include discoloured materials, musty odours, and a feeling of moisture when you touch the affected area.

Unchecked damp can cause building materials to deteriorate, requiring expensive repairs. In organic materials (such as timber), it can also lead to rot and encourage woodworm.

Why does damp affect floorboards?

Damp usually comes in one of three forms:

• Rising damp: When moisture rises from the ground into the structure of your home.
• Penetrating damp: When moisture water penetrates through the fabric of the property – walls, floor and roof.
• Condensation: When moist air comes into contact with a colder surfaces (such as a window), causing the moisture in the air to condense and turn into liquid droplets.

Possible causes of damp in floorboards are:

• Rising damp – moisture rising through the foundation and sleeper walls of your home to your subfloor timbers and floorboards, due to a lack of or defective damp proof course DPC.
• Lack of subfloor ventilation – adequate subfloor ventilation is vital to reduce the build-up of condensation on the subfloor timbers which could lead to rot, decay and wood boring activities.
• Water penetration – due to external issues such as defective rainwater goods and poor condition of the masonry. It could also be due to raised external ground levels above the internal floor level.

How do you get rid of damp in your floorboards?

Unfortunately, treating damp-infected floorboards isn’t all that simple. You usually can’t spot damp until it’s already infected much of the structure of your home, so you’ll need to go to the source to figure out the problem.

Your best bet is to call in the help of an expert. They’ll be able to identify the defects and issues; providing affective solutions and competitive quotes for effective damp-proofing solutions, and remedial works to the affected floorboards as necessary.

Eliminate damp and mould from your home with Prokil

Prokil have been treating damp, rot, and mould in properties across the South for over 50 years. Our experienced team has the know-how to effectively treat damp of all kinds, whether it’s limited to a few floorboards or covers most of your home’s structure. We’ll also apply a preservation treatment to protect your timber from future recurrences.

Over the decades, we’ve successfully treated damp in thousands of residential and commercial properties – just read through some of our case studies to find out how!

Let us make your home a clean, dry, and safe place to live once again. Book a damp survey online or call us on 0800 048 9488 today!