Replacing and old concrete and ash floor.

TheRizza

I'm currently halfway through fixing up my first home and under 3 layers of carpet in the living room it turns out I have an old concrete and ash floor.

I'm unsure what do do with it but my dad is adamant I dig it up and put insulation and a new concrete floor down.

The house is a victorian terraced built about 1903.. the room is about 4m x 3.5m the old stuff is about 3 inches thick and then has ash underneath it, it also isn't very level and has cracked in a few places with a bit of damp on the walls also.

any idea's on the best option? I've also been told just to use self levelling compound and to dig out and floor board it so unsure which to do.

Thanks

Furts

The eco, or energy efficient, option with regards to your comfort and heating bills would be to renew the floor. Obviously this will incur time, cost and logistics. But a detail like a membrane covered by 100-150mm Celotex/Kingspan/Xtratherm with a membrane and 100mm concrete slab would be typical.

The quick option is to level it up with a levelling screed. This is not as easy as it sounds and many DIY folks would fail to do a satisfactory job.

TheRizza

Thanks for the reply, I thought that would be the case although I was thinking of the leveller as a quick fix as it's no fun living in a building site.

Think I'll go for the concrete for peace of mind which I estimate about £1000 doing it all myself, might be wrong with that though

brightontraveller

With an older building modern concrete floors can cause a problems e.g. if you’ve a high ground water table or floors below natural external ground level, breathability etc.
Laying modern concrete floor, membrane etc can result in dampness being drawn from under it and into the walls resulting in worse problems in walls? Certainly isn’t always the case but can happen? I’d check before breaking old all out, (Also consider limecrete floor) check externally for causes of damp in walls etc. Putting in modern concrete floor .isn’t difficult getting it levels a bit harder but removing it’s a nightmare so before you put one down be sure it will solve the problem not create a new one,,,