Thorfun Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 greetings. our plant room is in the basement and we've had the whole thing (basement that is) screeded with Cemfloor liquid screed. There is 15mm throughout to put a finished flooring in so we're most likely going to go with LVT throughout the entire basement. But what is recommended for the plant room? should I just leave the screed and live with a 15mm step down in to it or should I put tiles down and have a small step up (maybe 5 - 10mm) in to it or should I put cheap lino...errr....I mean LVT in it just to keep it the same level as the rest of the basement? With tiles I'm concerned about fixing down in to it as I'll have to go through tiles and I wonder if spending money on LVT for a plant room is just crazy when I have a pretty smooth screed already. Also, the plant room is against the exterior wall of the basement so one wall is concrete (250mm thick) and the other 3 are dense concrete blocks. What would be the best way to cover these? I think the concrete wall should just be painted as it's pretty smooth already but how about the block walls? I was thinking of putting ply on the walls to make a smooth surface for fixing to but don't want to reduce the size too much so would have to limit myself to not too thick ply. or is that just a waste and I should simply PVA it all and paint it? ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 LVT is only about 3mm thick. Just paint on the plant room walls. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfun Posted March 20, 2022 Author Share Posted March 20, 2022 4 minutes ago, Mr Punter said: Just paint on the plant room walls. yeah. figured this would be best. is PVA enough to seal the concrete blocks or should I be looking for something a bit more specialised? 4 minutes ago, Mr Punter said: LVT is only about 3mm thick. plus underlay though, right? but, even so, with 5mm underlay it would still only be an 8mm step down in to the plant room. so, just paint the plant room floor sounds like the best and most cost effective route! 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 I have only had LVT onto chipboard sub floor with no underlay. If they are not paint grade blocks they can be a pain to get the paint to cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 1 hour ago, Thorfun said: greetings. our plant room is in the basement and we've had the whole thing (basement that is) screeded with Cemfloor liquid screed. There is 15mm throughout to put a finished flooring in so we're most likely going to go with LVT throughout the entire basement. But what is recommended for the plant room? should I just leave the screed and live with a 15mm step down in to it or should I put tiles down and have a small step up (maybe 5 - 10mm) in to it or should I put cheap lino...errr....I mean LVT in it just to keep it the same level as the rest of the basement? With tiles I'm concerned about fixing down in to it as I'll have to go through tiles and I wonder if spending money on LVT for a plant room is just crazy when I have a pretty smooth screed already. Also, the plant room is against the exterior wall of the basement so one wall is concrete (250mm thick) and the other 3 are dense concrete blocks. What would be the best way to cover these? I think the concrete wall should just be painted as it's pretty smooth already but how about the block walls? I was thinking of putting ply on the walls to make a smooth surface for fixing to but don't want to reduce the size too much so would have to limit myself to not too thick ply. or is that just a waste and I should simply PVA it all and paint it? ideas? I left my plant room unfinished on purpose as it's the only place I can still see the cast concrete walls, which I really like. Floor is covered in self levelling compound that was used in rest of basement and it wears reasonable well. Unfinished plasterboard to the interior wall where the door is and ceiling. BC just asked me to fill any gaps with fireproof LE foam which was a 20 min job. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willbish Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 Don't forget the ceiling, you may need pipework running across the ceiling before heading out to different areas of the building. I needed my plant room walls finishing whilst the exterior render guy was on site. On a rainy morning he put on a base coat and finished with acrylic thin coat. Painted ply ceiling and floor the same finish as the rest of the ground floor. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfun Posted March 20, 2022 Author Share Posted March 20, 2022 thanks guys. I've ordered some interior block filler paint for the block walls and some acrylic floor paint for the floor. should do the job and probably cheaper than plasterboard or ply at the moment! I'll update this thread once I've finished it for appraisal of my work. 😉 but more seriously, in case any one else has the same question and wants to know how my solution went. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam2 Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 We put ply on our walls and painted. Floor we just tiled as realised needed doing quite early in the overall plan as has uvc etc to be installed. Ceiling is not done yet but I expect plasterboard and painted. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenki Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 12 hours ago, Thorfun said: thanks guys. I've ordered some interior block filler paint for the block walls and some acrylic floor paint for the floor. should do the job and probably cheaper than plasterboard or ply at the moment! I'll update this thread once I've finished it for appraisal of my work. 😉 but more seriously, in case any one else has the same question and wants to know how my solution went. Spraying the Block walls can get a more even finish. Screwfix do a fairly cheap Airless sprayer that is also great for mist coating all the walls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfun Posted March 21, 2022 Author Share Posted March 21, 2022 14 minutes ago, Jenki said: Spraying the Block walls can get a more even finish. Screwfix do a fairly cheap Airless sprayer that is also great for mist coating all the walls. I’m still on the fence about spray painting due to the prep time required to tape everything up and the cleanup time afterwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenki Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 3 minutes ago, Thorfun said: I’m still on the fence about spray painting due to the prep time required to tape everything up and the cleanup time afterwards. Yep, and don't forgot that you also have to dilute the paint to get good flow rates, but this is down to the area to be covered. spraying gives a better finish than a roller, especially for the mist / base coat IMHO. If you've got one room then not sure its worth it, the whole house is different, you only have to mask the windows / floor if the trim work is not in place, then blast the lot. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfun Posted March 21, 2022 Author Share Posted March 21, 2022 14 minutes ago, Jenki said: you only have to mask the windows / floor if the trim work is not in place, then blast the lot. we have a lot of windows 😂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 We're putting lino (vinyl) down. £10m². No more effort than painting the floor. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfun Posted April 3, 2022 Author Share Posted April 3, 2022 I ended up painting the walls with a roller and used Dulux Trade Blockfiller. probably would've got a better finish spraying as it was really hard to try and fill the gaps in the blocks but I think it came out alright and it is, after all, just a plant room! we decided to leave the external concrete wall as is (à la @Bitpipe) which we also like and it'll be the only room that retains that concrete look. Bought some grey floor paint but haven't done that yet even though it might look like it but the screed was grey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 1 hour ago, Thorfun said: we decided to leave the external concrete wall as is (à la @Bitpipe) which we also like and it'll be the only room that retains that concrete look. I've asked Banksy to come put something on mine, add a few hundred grand to the value of the house... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 I would have put 18mm ply on and left it at that. makes a neat install and makes it easy for fixings…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfun Posted April 3, 2022 Author Share Posted April 3, 2022 Just now, TonyT said: I would have put 18mm ply on and left it at that. makes a neat install and makes it easy for fixings…. Bloody expensive though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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