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21
ground floor rooms. It is very comn.on to find the surface of the
ground floor on a level with the adjoining street, so that obviously the
damp course to be below the floor timbers must be 7—9 inches under
ground, and consequently a plinth from the offset of the foot'ngs to
nine inches above the groundline is necessary to keep the ground
moisture from soaking up into the walls. In a very few instances no
horizontal damp course could be found, and to prevent further decay
to the floor timbers the owners have without hesitation inserted one.
Another common defect was found to be decay in joists and wall
plates in ground floor rooms. Though it is uncommon to find the
house walls without a damp course, the same cannot be said of the
piers or sleeper walls carrying ground floor joists, so that there is nothing
to prevent the damp from the ground soaking into the wall plates and
rotting the floors. To shew the various times that elapse before a floor
without a damp course will shew decay, the following instances are
useful:— A house in Bickley built about 15 years; floor boards
decaying and floors sinking, joists found decayed about half-way
through and no damp course under floor timbers; floor taken up and
relaid on damp course. A house in Page Heath Lane, built about 28
years ; kitchen floor boards decayed, ends of joists almost disappeared
through resting on sleeper wall without a damp course ; new floor
boards, wall plates, and joists put in on damp course.
Two houses in Widmore Road, built about 60 years; complaint
of damp floors in half-basement roorrs ; wood plates on sleeper walls
but sand half-way up the plates and no damp course under any of the
floor timbers ; parts of the plates fairly sound, elsewhere rotted through
or nearly so, all basement room floors in two houses (six rooms) taken
up, earth excavated, joists, wall plates and floorboards nearly all
renewed with a damp course under the new plates.
Another defect frequently dealt with is the cleansing and white
washing of houses or parts thereof, as will be seen by the table in the
Inspector's report. Defects to drains are not numerous, but the
number of defective W.C.'s repaired, damp walls from leaky roofs and