Bungalow Flooring Help

[richo106]

Hi

 

We have just bought a bungalow that we will be converting to a house/dormer bungalow, the ground floor is joisted and floorboard with a depth underneath of around 600/700mm

 

We cannot decide if we want Wet UFH yet but my wife is concerned the tiles will be cold underfoot if we don't have it...in our old house we just had tiles direct onto concrete floor

 

Whatever route we go down I think we should insulate under the floor while we are doing the project, my question is how would people do this?

 

Rip all the old style floorboards up, screw pieces of 2 x 1 to the joists, slot in kingspan and then replace old floor boards or to me it makes more sense to use the 8 x 2ft new style floorboards.

 

If we did this could we lay tiles direct onto the floorboards or would we need a further tile backer board? In peoples opinion would this help keep some warmth in the tiles so they aren't so cold underfoot

 

Is there any other ways that this could be carried out and would achieve the same outcome? and is this worthwhile doing.

 

All advice/info very much appreciated

 

Many Thanks

[Mr Punter]

You could remove the suspended timber floor and install a new fully insulated solid floor.

Edited July 15, 2021 by Mr Punter

[richo106]

10 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

You could remove the suspended timber floor and install a new fully insulated solid floor.

How would you do this?

 

The cavity below the flooring is 600/700mm

[Mr Punter]

Maybe crushed concrete, Leca, EPS?  Work out the area and the required finish and see if it would work within your budget.

[SimonD]

I think it's sensible to use the existing floor structure and to retrofit insulation. Depending on joist depth you can pretty much select the insulation material of your choice, but if you're lacking depth then Kingspan stuff is probably a better choice even if it's a pain to install and detail properly, particularly in retrofit.

 

Above the new floor insulation you should also concentrate on making it air and vapour tight. Either chipboard, or osb subfloor would work well above. If tiling, then it's better to use a tile board - No More Ply sells a 6mm board for this purpose.

 

With floor insulated and timber subfloor your floor will feel warmer, but ceramic tiles are conductors so will feel cool underfoot without the boost of underfloor heating. However, this coolness doesn't tend to feel uncomfortable. The resilience of the timber floor structure actually adds to the comfort of the floor.

 

Here's a great resource about suspended timber floor and insulation. Covers pretty much everything you need to know and maybe more Suspended Timber Ground floors

 

HTH

Edited July 15, 2021 by SimonD