House subfloor

Locornwall

I am looking to buy a bungalow which needs renovation work. My plan would be to knock down all the internal walls, as they are stud partitions and star again.

I understand the floor is likely to be concrete and was wondering if this is something I should look into more in terms of the condition of the subfloor. Any ideas?

anselld

Depends if you are in an area which is liable to suffer from sulphate attack, ie a former coal mining area. Or indeed if there are any other signs of subsidence of the floor. What does your survey say?

Davesnave

You might consider ceiling heights if you were to insulate them, and then decide whether to dig them out, or not. Modern extensions garage conversions etc have at least 100mmm of floor insulation to counter energy lost that way.

You could also think about underfloor heating, which has some advantages in certain circumstances. e.g. heat pump based CH.

AdrianC

You're sure ALL internal walls are studwork, and there's no structural walls, or non-structural block walls?

If so, then the studwork will have gone in after the concrete subfloor was poured. There'll be screwholes, but that's about it. Non-structural block will probably be on top of the slab, structural probably won't.

So it's really just about whether you want to dig the slab out for floor heights or insulation, or if the concrete's somehow faulty (unlikely - what are the current floor coverings?)

PhilE

Smooth, no cracks or bumps.

Consider insulation before putting carpet/underlay down.