Replacing floor

IvorBiggun

Hi

The floor in our dining has developed some "holes". If is made from chipboard sheets laid over joists with an approximately 1 feet air gap (with air bricks) underneath. Over time the wood has rotted and there are places where is has given way making "holes". These holes are only in a limited area of a few square feet.

I got some quotes to replace the floor but they were ridiculous, around £1500. I feel like having a go myself; I am not an experienced DIYer.

I plan to buy some floorboards which seem easier to work with than plywood or chipboard sheets, cut then to size and screw them down to the joists in the affected area.

Does this seem like a sensible plan? Anything I need to consider? The rest of the floor seems pretty solid.

What tools will I need to do the job? I was planning on getting a mains powered driver such as: this and a jigsaw such as this and something like this to help me cut the wood accurately.

This will be the first job of a whole house renovation so much skirting board, architrave and coving will be cut in the future.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

IvorBiggun

Having just had a closer look at the floor I think replacing the whole lot is probably wise.

wallbash

Yes to the drill and jigsaw ( have also the same jigsaw , very happy)
The mitre ....... touch over the top, I would go for a cheap chop saw, if your floor has gone, you are NOT living in a modern house and therefore none of your walls are at right angles, it will be a case of adapting the wood to the corners and a chop saw will be a great help i.e a little at a time.

Chop saw £80 at screwfix

tony6403

I would redo it with 22mm tongue and groove (600mm x 2400mm) chipboard. Less than £7.50 per sq m.
Timber flooring will cost £18 per sq m and you can have problems with cupping , splitting and some of it being in wind.
A drill driver set at the right torque to countersink the screwheads and some chipboard screws will have it down in no time and , whilst a jigsaw will do the job , a very much cheaper handsaw will make straighter cuts (I assume that you will tuck the flooring under the skirting so millimetre accuracy is not needed).
While you are at it you might consider insulating under the new floor - something which new builds have to have.

DRP

why has it rotted?


How do the joists look?

Before spending money fitting the new floor i think it would be a good idea to check underneath - is there a proper DPM on joist ends and supporting pier walls? do you have an infestation?

You may need some help from a builder to sort out some problems before you start the DIY bit...

IvorBiggun

Just a few questions about the replies:

What is a DPM?

What sort of insulation should I be looking at?

I have looked at the large chipboard sheets but they seem heavy and hard to manoeuvre. It will be just me and I am a bit out of shape, floorboards seem easy to lift and handle and cut.

I think it has gone because it is old and used a lot, not looked at the joists since it would mean ripping up part of the floor and it is a high traffic corridor in the house so the wife would not allow it to be out of action long. The floor is very poorly done, by a previous DIYer and I just think he did a bad bad job.

I was going to go for something like this, what do you think?

wallbash

IvorBiggun wrote: »

Just a few questions about the replies:

What is a DPM?

Damp proof membrane , could be a solid material, looks like a plastic sheet or a paint. ( or both)

What sort of insulation should I be looking at?
Go to a shed , look for large white light weight slabs

I have looked at the large chipboard sheets but they seem heavy and hard to manoeuvre. It will be just me and I am a bit out of shape, floorboards seem easy to lift and handle and cut.

Most sheets are 8' by 4

I think it has gone because it is old and used a lot, not looked at the joists since it would mean ripping up part of the floor and it is a high traffic corridor in the house so the wife would not allow it to be out of action long. The floor is very poorly done, by a previous DIYer and I just think he did a bad bad job.

I was going to go for something like this, what do you think?

Have you coasted it out?

IvorBiggun

wallbash wrote: »

Have you coasted it out?

Given that 1m x 0.144m costs £2.34 and the room is about 9m^2 then I should see change from £200 assuming some wastage.

Tool costs on top of course and maybe skip hire to get rid of the old floor; but we could probably fill several skips with some of the junk we should throw out and as stated before this is the first step of a whole house renovation so the tools will be reused many times.

IvorBiggun

The insulation slabs - do I just wedge them between the joists? How should they be secured?

I presume you mean something like this for the insulation?

Sorry for all the questions.

wallbash

Yes

The stuff is very easily cut, so cut slightly bigger than required and jam into space.
But must admit I have never insulated a floor, ripped up an old wooden suspended floor and installed a solid concrete one.That was a big job .
It was the whole of the ground floor

DRP

IvorBiggun wrote: »

The insulation slabs - do I just wedge them between the joists? How should they be secured?

I presume you mean something like this for the insulation?

Sorry for all the questions.

We had a bouncy chipboard floor with a few holes in it where the chipboard had broken up. The underlying problem was a combination of damp, historical ?wooodworm? infestation and the supporting pier walls were collapsing.

we cleared the whole lot out down to mud ground level - then a builder sorted out the supporting walls and fitted joists and new dpm. I could never have done this and created a level floor! I put the insulation in. I used a bread knife to cut the sheets to size, wedged them in place, and sealed the small gaps and around the walls with aluminium insulation tape to help prevent draughts...

The floorboards were then put down by the builder - but we wanted exposed floorboards - if you're going to cover with carpet then you'll be fine putting the floorboards in yourself - just use decking screws or similar.