Kitchen flooring renovation - how low should we go?

Hriss

We are renovating our ground floor kitchen in Edwardian (1930s) house in London. No extensions/structural/notifiable (as far as we know) work planned, just new flooring and kitchen units.

Whilst pulling up the old kitchen and flooring, the builder has highlighted that the current flooring is bad and recommended that we strip it all down to joists and fit exterior grade plywood on top. The area where the sink was is definitely loose with the floorboards falling apart. Now that we can see the layers, it is original suspended timber floor, layer of tiles, some sort of old LVT tiles.

 We were not anticipating doing so much work to the floor, hoping we can lay LVT or re-lay new laminate (I know, not ideal, but we have time and budget considerations)

 Question – should we just fix joists only under the new cabinets and replace laminate, hoping it will last another 5-10 years, or invest in doing the floor properly? Our major concern is unearthing even more work and problems as we will be lifting 100-year old floorboards for the first time ever, without external advice on how to fix things properly.

 Are there any building regulations that we need to be aware of prior to going ahead with replacing all the flooring (up to the joists), or other things to consider?

Being a “simple” renovation, we don’t have an architect or structural engineer on the project. Our key concerns are around any building reg requirements for updating joists/ flooring – eg is it compulsory to add insulation (replacing 100% of the floor in that room), reinforce joists, is the spacing between the original joists important, does everything need to be brought up to 2024 building standards? What are the implications down the line if we don’t when it comes to selling the house? We trust our builders will do a good job but adhering to building regulations is what is giving us anxiety.

Thank you all for your help - we are under pressure to make a decision asap so it adds to the stress! 

 

FreeBear

Hriss said: Our key concerns are around any building reg requirements for updating joists/ flooring – eg is it compulsory to add insulation (replacing 100% of the floor in that room), reinforce joists, is the spacing between the original joists important, does everything need to be brought up to 2024 building standards? What are the implications down the line if we don’t when it comes to selling the house? We trust our builders will do a good job but adhering to building regulations is what is giving us anxiety.

Basic rule of thumb - If you are replacing more than 25% of a thermal element in a room, then Building Control should be notified. They may require additional insulation to be added subject to cost and projected savings over a 15 year period.

But many people will look at a floor, and replace using similar materials and not bother with notifying Building Control. If you can incorporate some insulation in the floor as it is replaced at a reasonable cost, it makes sense to do so.

Swasterix

Do it properly. Anything else is a bodge. I’d maybe get a second opinion though. 

Ps. The “old LVT tiles”. Are they roughly 9x9 inch and glued down? If so, they may be old vinyl tiles which can contain asbestos. 

In terms of building regulations, in my opinion all you need do is replace like for like. When you come to sell the property, who is going to know it’s been done? Provided it’s done to a good standard I don’t see a problem personally…

Albermarle

 Now that we can see the layers, it is original suspended timber floor, layer of tiles, some sort of old LVT tiles.

Firstly to be pedantic LVT means 'Luxury Vinyl Tile' and I suspect these tiles are not the Luxury sort.

Are they flexible, or do they break easily when you remove them? If it is the latter then there is the possibility, as the previous poster said, they are partly filled with asbestos, depending on how old they are and who made them.

We were not anticipating doing so much work to the floor, hoping we can lay LVT or re-lay new laminate

Another alternative is to use sheet vinyl or sheet linoleum. Probably cheaper and quicker to fit ( by a carpet/floor fitter) 

danrv

Swasterix said:

Ps. The “old LVT tiles”. Are they roughly 9x9 inch and glued down? If so, they may be old vinyl tiles which can contain asbestos. 

Sounds like the builder has already got some or all of the tiles up. If not, water spray and brushed on diluted PVA is a good idea if tiles are suspected to contain asbestos.

Swasterix

danrv said:

Swasterix said:

Ps. The “old LVT tiles”. Are they roughly 9x9 inch and glued down? If so, they may be old vinyl tiles which can contain asbestos. 

Sounds like the builder has already got some or all of the tiles up. If not, water spray and brushed on diluted PVA is a good idea if tiles are suspected to contain asbestos.

Yep, just thought it should be pointed out just incase. As I understand it, the tiles are pretty benign in that it’s very difficult to release the asbestos from them, but you wouldn’t want to go at them with a circular saw (unlikely I know).