Old house - Floor insulation or not?

sarkozy

We're getting our 1910'ish house renovated.

We'll be insulating the external walls and attic, but we're getting mixed advice about setting down an insulated slab.

The house itself is typical of its age - practically no foundations and the ground floor is a simple suspended timber floor over dirt no more than 8 inches below the floorboards. The floor plates (which have probably been in situ over 100 years) are going in some corners, there is one damp patch and one or two corner presses have a slight mould problem (but nothing I don't spect from this type of house).

We can't extend out the back now but may in the future.

Our question is: our architect has recommended we lay down a new, insulated, damp-proofed concrete slab. We're looking to spend as little money as possible, so others have said we don't need this as heat loss occurs through the walls and roof. But I'm not sure whether moisture is coming into the rooms through the floor and, were this to be the case, with fully insulated rooms, I assume that moisture would get trapped in our rooms downstairs.

Others have said that if there's a slight dampness/condensation issue due to the floor and construction, and we're looking to save money, a slab 1 metre deep on the inside of all ground floor external walls would actually be enough.

Any advice?

The Cuban

Did you go ahead with insulating the floor after?