Levelling floor

mexican_dave

I still reckon you should lay something more "forgiving" like laminate planks. Use the type that are suited for a hallway, we also laid a small rubber backed runner (from Dunelm) over ours to capture water from wet feet. If you are intending to lay vinyl then as previously pointed out by others this is going to highlight any unevenness, much like it does in your photos. The vinyl is telling you it's not a good look, time for change?

danrv

stuart45 said:

Are you taking all the tiles up?

Probably not. Too much hassle plus there's the asbestos thing with these type.

danrv

mexican_dave said:

I still reckon you should lay something more "forgiving" like laminate planks. Use the type that are suited for a hallway, we also laid a small rubber backed runner (from Dunelm) over ours to capture water from wet feet. If you are intending to lay vinyl then as previously pointed out by others this is going to highlight any unevenness, much like it does in your photos. The vinyl is telling you it's not a good look, time for change?

The rigid planks would work OK if cut to work around the distinct break in the floor halfway along.
Other than that, the tiles are even.

danrv

mexican_dave said:

take care not to damage the plastic membrane (dpc).

Run a bit of dpc over the top of any bare concrete. 

The plastic dpc is certainly damaged. I don't have any spare but have got plenty of black dpm.
I'll stick a bit over the old stuff.

mexican_dave

Suggest you consider laying the laminate planks at 90 degrees to the walls. With the right preparation your laminate will ride over the slight ridge in the middle without snapping. Worked for me when I laid mine 4-years ago over a rough and uneven duct in my hall floor. Like wallpapering it's all in the preparation!
Know that there is more waste laying the laminate in short lengths, but I had a good result. If you have time and inclination, take the skirting boards off before you start and put them back to cover the raw ends of your laminate - will make it look really professional.

danrv

mexican_dave said:

Suggest you consider laying the laminate planks at 90 degrees to the walls. With the right preparation your laminate will ride over the slight ridge in the middle without snapping. Worked for me when I laid mine 4-years ago over a rough and uneven duct in my hall floor. Like wallpapering it's all in the preparation!
Know that there is more waste laying the laminate in short lengths, but I had a good result. If you have time and inclination, take the skirting boards off before you start and put them back to cover the raw ends of your laminate - will make it look really professional.

Worth considering.
Not sure if it's worth trying to make the ridge less obvious. The tiles there should come up ok and then I'd need to chip away at the concrete and refill.
The old skirting boards are off. Agree that new ones would go on top of the LVT or laminate. If going with carpet, I'll stick them on first.

The other consideration is how much carpet adds to insulation as it's concrete floor. Maybe something could be added if going with laminate.

mexican_dave

When/if you buy your laminate they sell thin (4mm?) foamed plastic interlocking underlay with a face. This acts as a secondary damp membrane and insulation, so you have the full package.

pmartin86

Just a quick think yoiu might wnat to be aware of - They look like they could be Asphalt Tiles - If/when you start doing any work that might include breaking them up, you should get them tested for asbestos.

danrv

pmartin86 said:

Just a quick think yoiu might wnat to be aware of - They look like they could be Asphalt Tiles - If/when you start doing any work that might include breaking them up, you should get them tested for asbestos.

They might be Thermalite. I'm not going to be breaking any up. Just removing any loose/broken tiles and using diluted PVA on any bitumen showing.  

stuart45

Thermoplastic.