Floor not level for laminate flooring

unstoppable6t2

Hi All,

I've just moved into my recently bought flat and I want to replace the laminate flooring in the lounge. However I've noticed that the floor is not even - the floor sort of sinks towards the center of the room. It's quite obvious because you can see the skirting also sink as you go away from the walls to towards the centre.

I will be doing the flooring myself (first DIY project!), so I will appreciate if someone more experience can shed some light on this please? Will this be easily fixable or will I not know about this until I rip out the existing laminate flooring?

Thanks.

FreeBear

Ground floor flat ?

What did your survey say about the floor ?

Bradden

Depends on what the flor is made of.. self levelling compunds are one option.

unstoppable6t2

We had a home buyer survey and the survey did not mention anything! This was not apparent to us either when we viewed the flat, it only became obvious to us when the lounge was empty when we moved in!

It's on 1nd floor of the flat which is in a block of 3 flats. So it's not ground floor as there is another flat below us, under which there are garages on the ground floor.

I cannot tell if the floor is concrete or there are floor boards below. It's a 1960s build. I guess I have to lift the current laminate flooring to check?

Thanks.

FreeBear

unstoppable6t2 said: It's on 1nd floor of the flat which is in a block of 3 flats. So it's not ground floor as there is another flat below us,

OK, that rules out a sinking floor due to sulphate attack. It may well be a concrete floor, in which case, a bag or three of self leveling compound will fix it.

A suspended timber floor would require quite a bit more work...

J_B

 ... or could you just live with it? (the unevenness, I mean)

stuart45

If it's a purpose built 60's block of flats the odds are it will have concrete floors, especially with a garage underneath. 
The Deflection of Reinforced Concrete - Tonkin

koalakoala

Maybe the radiator pipes will tell you, do they come through the wall or up from the floor?

stuart45

On quite a few of the early 60's flats and maisonettes  the concrete floor can be seen from the outside.

Jeepers_Creepers

unstoppable6t2 said:

I cannot tell if the floor is concrete or there are floor boards below. It's a 1960s build. I guess I have to lift the current laminate flooring to check?

Thanks.

Really needs to be done.

You do want to sort this as the new flooring could end up springy or even having joints opening up if there's too much movement. Worth doing properly.

What are the existing skirtings like? Are you up for replacing these too? If they are at all shabby or even 'bland', new skirtings will make a transformation, and they can also be placed over the laminate edges and make it a much neater job.

But, yes, come back when you know what sort of floor you have. :-)

unstoppable6t2

So I've checked and I can confirm the floor is concrete (luckily). I believe self levelling compound should fix the issue in prep for laminate.