Dabbler wrote:

When people walk into our living room, they exclaim: "ooh ! -
paving slabs". After a while, they say "Oh, its only concrete, but
hasn't it been laid well". I think the latter is true. House is one
of five in a terrace, converted from a mill in 1902. All living room
floors are identical, so pretty sure floor is about 100 years old.

Sometimes, small areas of the floor, particularly around the fireplace,
change colour, becoming darker than usual. My wife reckons this happens
when it rains. I'm not so su I think it might coincide with heavy
occupation (many people breathing, cooking etc).

lurking there - and then seal the floor with that transparent
concrete sealant stuff.

If the floor lacks a dpm, a sealer will prevent surface evaporation,
and it may become damp then wet. If this occurs you then get a damp
problem with the base of the walls. A safer option would be to carpet
over it using carpet with a permeable backing. Once carpeted there is
no sale issue.


NT