Lower floor by 15cm - how much £££

gemma.zhang

Hi all,

we are thinking about lower the floor level to be flat with the rest of the property. This is 15cm higher. Understand we need to redo the tiles etc. It’s about 50 square meter size.

how much would cost for manual ? -
digging Lower, redo the insulation, underfloor heating, door, reuse the kitchen..

Am I crazy ??

Risteard

gemma.zhang wrote: Am I crazy ??

Probably...

Silvertabby

Just fit a step.

gemma.zhang

Silvertabby said:

Just fit a step.

What do you mean ?

gemma.zhang

Anyone has experience this before ?
We made the wrong decision at the start of the build,
now looking at possible fix before I am swallowed up by the regret. 

Thanks 

ThisIsWeird

A bit more info, please, ideally with a floor plan.
Which rooms are involved? How big is that door?

gemma.zhang

Just one room, extension.
55 square meters.

FreeBear

gemma.zhang said:we are thinking about lower the floor level to be flat with the rest of the property. This is 15cm higher. Understand we need to redo the tiles etc. It’s about 50 square meter size.

It is not just the tiling. You'd need to plaster the bottom 15-200mm of wall. Skirting would probably need to be replaced depending on how easy it is to remove. Doors and frames would need to be lowered and a filler inserted above. If this extension has already been signed off by Building Control, they would need to be notified when the floor is dug up and any external doors moved.

If you had any floor to ceiling kitchen units, you're going to need more filler strips at the top.

Oh, and the landscaping outside that bifold/sliding door will also need to be dropped down by ~150mm.

On the plus side, you get the opportunity to increase the level of insulation in the floor slab - Go to 150mm or even 200mm, and you'll have a floor with very little heat loss. For even more insulation, you could specify foamed glass in place of any MOT1 or hardcore under the slab.

Can't see you getting much change out of £25K - You'd probably need to budget £30K or more.

Photos of the extension here -> https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6590093/extension-decision-regret-cant-get-over-it-what-options-do-i-have/

MikeJXE

Assuming the DPC is at floor level dropping the floor by 15cm would be a big mistake 

gemma.zhang

@FreeBear

Would 30k just the labour ?
that sounds a lot 🙈.
I am worried sick that our shortsighted decision of a step would put off buyers when coming to sell later on. Wont be doing this now, maybe in future once all things r used and worn out and I can put the reno nightmare to the back of my mind. 

gemma.zhang said:we are thinking about lower the floor level to be flat with the rest of the property. This is 15cm higher. Understand we need to redo the tiles etc. It’s about 50 square meter size.

It is not just the tiling. You'd need to plaster the bottom 15-200mm of wall. Skirting would probably need to be replaced depending on how easy it is to remove. Doors and frames would need to be lowered and a filler inserted above. If this extension has already been signed off by Building Control, they would need to be notified when the floor is dug up and any external doors moved.

If you had any floor to ceiling kitchen units, you're going to need more filler strips at the top.

Oh, and the landscaping outside that bifold/sliding door will also need to be dropped down by ~150mm.

On the plus side, you get the opportunity to increase the level of insulation in the floor slab - Go to 150mm or even 200mm, and you'll have a floor with very little heat loss. For even more insulation, you could specify foamed glass in place of any MOT1 or hardcore under the slab.

Can't see you getting much change out of £25K - You'd probably need to budget £30K or more.

Photos of the extension here -> https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6590093/extension-decision-regret-cant-get-over-it-what-options-do-i-have/

GDB2222

I expect you will get used to it, and will stop noticing.

15 cm is not a huge step, but you could build a platform that splits the step in half, so it is two steps of 7.5 cm.