Jump to content

Floors and ceilings


Recommended Posts

Just at the stage of taking through options and had a builder out today. My budget is very tight, so can I have your thoughts?

 

The roof has ugly trusses so I am considering having the roof off to have something more attractive. This will give both head height and the illusion of space. (Unless anyone can suggest an attractive option for the trusses?)

 

The floor is solid concrete, so the options are to dig down etc etc insulate or just to go on top. Obviously the latter will be quicker (cheaper) and passable if we improve the ceiling height. What are the pros and cons? I like the idea of loads of insulation and under floor heating.

IMG_5878.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would take the roof off and have a proper one designed.  I assume you are single storey so you can include some rooflights and maybe a mezzanine with all roof insulation at rafter level.

 

If the floor is good you could just add 100mm insulation with underfloor heating incorporated, then 22mm chipboard and engineered oak to finish although I don't know if this would work with the existing door and window arrangements.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are changing the roof and the floor --sounds like you need a bulldozer and start again -it could end up being cheaper.

 nearly always cheaper building new  -other wise you are spending lots of money on carefully pulling things to bits, supporting things ,trying to save things ,which is time consuming,

then trying to rebuild around problems you already have and compromising  all the time.

with new floor built on top of original  means all door frames etc will be wrong by 150mm (6")minimum,so you are now into altering walls  and lintels to fit new door frames ,or have them hobbit size

ceiling heights  could be too low after --the list is endless ,so you need to think it all out now before starting   

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd be inclined to do as @Mr Punter says just build up from the existing floor if you can, that's what we're doing. Things we encountered are:

 

  • are you having any internal load bearing walls? If so then check suitability of the floor with SE to carry those walls and you may need to dig strip foundations. We done a couple of test cuts in our floor which revealed that it varied between 5-8 inches. SE spec was 8 inches so we dug the strips out. Even though at the time it seemed pointless to take concrete out only to put it back in I'm glad we did as in some places it was only 4 inches thick!
  • are the external walls on the concrete slab or do they have their own foundations? We had to cut the perimeter of the slab to install trenchfill.
  • be careful with ceiling heights! It's surprising how quickly the vertical space disappears once you start adding floor insulation/screed etc.
  • check plumb and level of the walls and floor. We thought our floor was level - it was only once we took some levels of our floor that we realised it had a fall of 80mm end to end! So we have to compensate for that in our floor build-up.

I would try and avoid digging down if you can. Removing the floor can get quite awkward (which equals expensive) sometimes if access is tight and there's obstacles to negotiate inside the building.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

then trying to do it cheap will be hard .

If you lifting roof then you could always run a couple more rows of blocks round the top of wall to give you hieght?

maybe just jack it up where it is  with acrow props and secure while first row of  blocks are added-then dop it back down--then up again for next row of blocks --or just pack it as you  go ,

thats what I,ve done that before on old scottich barn . using a car trolly hack to lift --then adjusted acrows to suit ---tight against wall so it can not wobble 

how much height do you need?

 

make up plywood box beams in  lengths and slip in  like a very thick sole plate ,

I made one of those to use instead of an RSJ

could not get crane in to lift RSJ 

but made in plywood --was man handleable by 6 men --26ft long -to replace roof truss support that previous owner had cut out when removing supporting wall to make car show room bigger

15"deep with zig zag internal bracings all glued and screwed  and one vertical support-you would need no vertical support as it would still on wall head

its still there now 25 years later and roof never moved?

 

Edited by scottishjohn
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...