Projects per year
Abstract
When impermeable ground bearing slabs are installed in old buildings without a damp-proof course, it is a common belief of conservation practitioners that ground moisture will be ‘driven’ up adjacent walls by capillary action. However, there is limited evidence to test this hypothesis.
An experiment was used to determine if the installation of a vapour-proof barrier above a flagstone floor in a historic building would increase moisture content levels in an adjacent stone rubble wall. This was achieved by undertaking measurements of wall, soil and atmospheric moisture content over a 3-year period. Measurements taken using timber dowels showed that the moisture content within the wall did not vary in response to wall evaporation rates and did not increase following the installation of a vapour-proof barrier above the floor. This indicates that the moisture levels in the rubble wall were not influenced by changes in the vapour-permeability of the floor.
An experiment was used to determine if the installation of a vapour-proof barrier above a flagstone floor in a historic building would increase moisture content levels in an adjacent stone rubble wall. This was achieved by undertaking measurements of wall, soil and atmospheric moisture content over a 3-year period. Measurements taken using timber dowels showed that the moisture content within the wall did not vary in response to wall evaporation rates and did not increase following the installation of a vapour-proof barrier above the floor. This indicates that the moisture levels in the rubble wall were not influenced by changes in the vapour-permeability of the floor.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | e046 |
Journal | UCL Open : Environment |
Volume | 4 |
Early online date | 8 Nov 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 8 Nov 2022 |
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'In-situ measurements of wall moisture in a historic building in response to the installation of an impermeable floor'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Active
-
Moisture Movement Beneath Solid Ground Floors in Historic Buildings
Briggs, K. (PI) & Ball, R. (CoI)
1/11/16 → 1/10/26
Project: Central government, health and local authorities
Datasets
-
Dataset for daily weather data (2017-2020) measured in Caldicot, Wales
Briggs, K. (Creator), Ball, R. (Creator) & McCaig, I. (Creator), University of Bath, 21 Sept 2022
DOI: 10.15125/BATH-01101
Dataset