Laying a kitchen floor over an uneven surface

newbie71_2

Hello everyone, have had such great common sense advice on this forum before, I thought I'd try again with our next new house job...but being a dodo I posted to the Is this Fair section earlier today so am reposting here..

We recently moved in to house in a bit of state. Kitchen floor in particular was grim. It is quite a small kitchen and we managed to get up half the lino floor which wasn't stuck down properly and so could practically be lifted up with one hand!

However, underneath the lino are the original thermoplastic tiles from when the house was built in the 1960s. The surveyor said these may contain asbestos, so obviously we haven't touched these and nor have we attempted to take up the remaining lino as that is well and truly stuck down and we don't want to risk breaking the thermoplastic tiles underneath if there's a chance they contain asbestos.

The end result is we now have an uneven floor surface, - slightly lower on one side and higher on the other where the lino is still in place.

I'm guessing if we attempted to lay lino over this you would be able to see the uneveness coming through - so my question is what would you put down first in order to achieve a flat surface to put the new floor covering down on?

Again any advice greatfully received. Thank you

darren7

ok,

the simple and cheapest method, and this will also seal it in is to.

Go to wickes, and by some self levelling... don’t get the latex one ....just the one that mixes with water..... you just mix it in a bucket and throw it down, get a 2x4 wood around 3 feet long to help it level a little and it will be fine.

most tilers use this.


really easy and cheap

laird

Could you not use a combilay type underlay, it can be cut to fit the shape required and would be roughly the same height as lino.
Depends I guess a bit on what you intend to put over the top, A laminate might be a good option if the floor is otherwise generally level.

HugoSP

For about £8.50 you can get a book published by the HSE called "Asbestos Essentials" ISBN-0-7176-1887-0

This is a compilation of method statements and risk assessments for asbestos related tasks. On Page 70 it has A23 - Removal of Asbestos Containing Floor Tiles!

I would buy or borrow this as it details the recommended method for removal. You DONT have to get a contractor in, you can do it yourself safely if you follow this guide.

The guide is split into two sections: Section 1 is Guidance on preparation for the tasks and Section 2 is the method statements for the tasks. The method statements include references to preparation discussed in Section 1.

To be honest there is so much information here I'm not going to repeat any of it here for fear of missing something out - get the book and read it!

newbie71_2

Thanks very much for the all the useful ideas - lots for me to think about!

epz_2

HugoSP wrote:

For about £8.50 you can get a book published by the HSE called "Asbestos Essentials" ISBN-0-7176-1887-0

This is a compilation of method statements and risk assessments for asbestos related tasks. On Page 70 it has A23 - Removal of Asbestos Containing Floor Tiles!

I would buy or borrow this as it details the recommended method for removal. You DONT have to get a contractor in, you can do it yourself safely if you follow this guide.

The guide is split into two sections: Section 1 is Guidance on preparation for the tasks and Section 2 is the method statements for the tasks. The method statements include references to preparation discussed in Section 1.

To be honest there is so much information here I'm not going to repeat any of it here for fear of missing something out - get the book and read it!

to be honest i know its probably 100% safe but the risk of a slow painful lingering death over paying a few quid to let a contractor take the risk or sealing them in just doesnt seem worth the cash you would save.

death due to aspestos has to be one of the worst ways to go i can imagine

navig8r

When my Daughter wanted a floor leveling which had thermo plastic tiles a firm that lay floors said they would pour leveling compound over it..I was not really happy with this so I contacted the tech department of several firms that make the compound and they all said that the tiles had to be taken up and any remaining adhesive had to be removed to expose the screed to a minimum of 80% of the floor area.

Dave

HugoSP

epz wrote:

to be honest i know its probably 100% safe but the risk of a slow painful lingering death over paying a few quid to let a contractor take the risk or sealing them in just doesnt seem worth the cash you would save.

death due to aspestos has to be one of the worst ways to go i can imagine

It's important to fully understand how asbestos affects the human body, so that you can understand the risks. Otherwise I could scare you witless by simply pointing the many materials that contain asbestos, for example do you know that until recently cars used asbestos brake linings? I bet there are still a few in use on the road today.

Essentially there are 2 common types of asbestos. The blue type that was used commonly in heating and insulation applications is lethal. This costs a fortune to remove due to the health and safety requirements. IIRC if one fibre from this stuff can get into your lungs it is quite likely to kill you.

At the other end of the scale white asbestos that was commonly used in the building trade for panelling, tiles etc is far less harmful and far far less likely to cause illness. If hundreds of fibres of this stuff gets into your lungs you are still comparitively unlikely to suffer.

The point I am trying to make is that there are hazards in any activity the building trade. Asbestosis is only one of them. Others include working from heights, cement burns, electrocution, other inhalation issues etc. The list could go on.

Asbestosis is one of the hardest to manage, I agree but there are still sensible approaches that can be put into place, such as the use of disposable coveralls, P3 masks, water to dampen asbestos materials etc. All these precautions plus more besides (as indicated in the booklet) bring the risks down to an acceptable level. As a result you are only just as likely to come to any harm with asbestosis as with any other hazard that is properly managed.

epz_2

fair point, i actually know a bit about asbestos since i used to work for a fireproof board manufacturer who killed a whole bunch of people before they banned it. this was long before i worked there but i did here people talk about how it affected people.

my point wasnt that it was dangerous, as you said electriity hight and fire are dangerous but if the worst does happen its a relativly quick and painless death, asbestos can take decades to kill you while you gasp for every breath.

frankly if i had it a would pray for someone to shoot me and put me out my misery, not a fate i would even remotely risk to save a few quid.

Mander

Obviously the OP has long since decided what to do and finished the job! but just in case someone runs across this thread in a google search (which I just did), we had exactly the same problem in our new house. The previous owner had tried to take up some of the tiles, but had only suceeded in ripping up a few chunks here and there. We got some self-levelling compound from B&Q, filled in the gaps, and laid heavy sheet vinyl over them. It looks fine and you can't tell where the low spots were.

Derby2

We've recently been flooded and have had a similar problem. Our kitchen laminate was ripped up, and underneath asbestos tiles have been screeded with a thin layer of concrete. It was fine before the flood, but the asbestos tiles are holding all the moisture. The concrete floor in the living room has now dried, but the tiles are causing a major problem.

This should be considered when planning to cover them up. Any flood incident (like troublesome washing machines) could cause future problems.