# Forum Home Renovation Laundry  Sub Floor Laundry

## D2R

Hey Guys - First home owner about to start some work before we move in.  
What is the best product for prep and undercoat? 2 walls are masonry (sub floor on other side), 1 wall is masonry which separates a third toilet and shower. The fourth wall is some type of fibre cement(?) which separates the garage.  
Some of the paint has flaked off down low and is back to bare render.  
The door in the pic is to the subfloor.  
 The toilet/shower area also needs prepping and painting (1 wall to subfloor, 1 wall to outside &amp; 1 garage but is masonry unlike laundry). 
Cheers

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## Oldsaltoz

If thatflaking paint down low has a wet room on the other side you should investigate further. It could be leak. 
Good luck.   :Frown:

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## D2R

Other side of flaking paint is subfloor, there has been some water pooling in the past lower than the laundry floor. 
Will post in sub floor forum about some water issues. 
Cheers

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## goldie1

And check the fibre cement is not asbestos before you attack it.

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## D2R

If the fibre Cement wall is in good condition (no cracks, no holes, paint is not cracking or peeling) do I need to be concerned about it at this stage?
Could I tile over it as well? Thinking about doing tiles around the laundry up to a certain height then paint above it.   
The left, top and right walls are the masonry walls and are the ones that have the flaking paint. The furthest right wall (toilet shower wall) is an external wall. The subfloor area at the top of the pic is under an extension to back of the house (dirt is dry and has good ventilation in the area). 
Cheers

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## goldie1

If the fibre cement is from before around the mid 80s it is most likely asbestos. It is fine if its in 
good condition and painted. You must not do any thing to it that will create dust with out taking 
the appropriate precautions.. Read the stickies at the top of the asbestos forum and the information 
in the library on how to handle it. If you want to tile it and its painted you have to remove a lot of  
the paint to get the tiles to stick properly. This usually creates dust. Also  check the ceiling it could be the same material.

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## johnc

As for the bits of bare concrete, it sounds like an old moisture problem from the pooling that has now been rectified. I'd just put some water based undercoat of any description over what is a minimal area and then paint. As for tiling as Goldie has said watch out for the fibre cement, you can tile over paint but the adhesive will only fix to the paint so you would want to be sure the paint is firm and sound. Not ideal but unlikely to give any grief.

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## D2R

Cheers guys. 
Sub floor issue (on the left of the plan is not completely solved yet). About to start looking for other end of conduit that lets water into subfloor area.
Conduit can be seen on left of pic 
And I will be getting rid of the white wood board you see in the pic. 
My concern with the top wall is that there is dirt behind it up to about 10 courses below the vent (sloping block) so I want to make sure it is sealed properly. The 'top' wall was the old back wall of the house before a new back-room was added. So that vent is now to the 'new' subfloor.   
I think I will just paint the fibre cement wall for now and just look at tiling the masonry walls.  
Cheers

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## goldie1

Conduit ? Do you mean that 2 inch PVC waste pipe? Thats a waste from a bath room or sink  
above. Is it leaking? It should run into your sewer. If you have dirt against the wall with the laundry tub  
thats causing the dampness which is lifting the paint.  Do you have access behind that wall to clear the  soil 
down to below the floor level and put a drain behind the wall in the subfloor area?

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## D2R

Sorry bit hard to see in that pic to the left of the waste pipe at the corner of the bricks. It's about about a 16mm conduit. 
 Only seems to have water coming out of it after it's been raining for a while. After it goes through the brick it is under dirt on the other side of the bricks. 
Water is coming from crack in conduit where it has been bent up. If you pull it down the water will run out of the end. No water today, no rain. 
The wall with the laundry tub would have dirt up to 10 courses below the vent so about 1500mm above floor level (sloping block). So I don't think it will be possible to dig it out without some major work. 
Previous owners had lived in the house for 19 years. 
Cheers

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## goldie1

Its probable just there to allow some of the seepage to come through the brick work. The laundry 
wall should have been built as a double brick cavity wall up to ground level when it was first built 
but as you say major work to do it now. That wall will always be damp as it is now. If you have a look 
from the other side you will probably see the damp course just above ground level. Can you see where the dampcourse  
is in the other wall ?( the one with the access door) Another alternative would be to put a timber frame cavity wall on the  
inside but of course you would loose 100mm of your room. Failing that I would be doing some research into waterproofing.

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## D2R

I am starting to think the conduit was the old conduit to the old pool pump (there is a GPO marked 'POOL' in the garage) and there is a new orange conduit that goes out from under the extension (above but behind the laundry) the with newer TPS in it.  
I won't be back at the house till Friday night or Saturday will check out the damp course then.  
Cheers

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## goldie1

What ever it is its obviously no longer in use. The best place to seal it is on the other side of the wall. 
That sub floor area is always going to be damp. Make sure there are some vents to give a decent  
airflow and if the is some where to drain them to some drains at the base of the walls on the sub floor 
side.

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## D2R

Thanks Goldie improving the current airflow and better drainage for the subfloor area are definitely on the list to do. 
Cheers

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