Aga Install and floor tiles

[thecottage]

First of all Hi, I'm new to these parts! We've recently bought a large cottage made up of 3 cottages, timber framed (but not on the outside?) I have loads of questions re:sensitive care and restoration but first of all I have an old broken watson england aga type cooker which has been floor tiled up to in the kitchen. I am going to get this removed and our aga (actually an Esse) reinstalled from our old house. Question... do I lay floor tiles while the old one is out so that the new Esse can sit on the tiles rather than be tiled up to and effectively be fixed in. Or alternatively is it more sensible to treat the Esse as a fixed part of the house and tile back up to it as it was? The latter way the floor tiles could be changed if required without removing the Esse. Help! Ian

 

[Lady_Mari]

I wouldn't lay tiles under a range, particularly a cast iron one, the weight may crack them.
When I had an Aga fitted in my previous home, we installed it on a brick plinth or you could put it on a cement or block pad & just face this with your choice of tiles.
The plinth gives it a bit of extra height which I prefer.

 

[Tom]

I agree with Lady_Mari. Our Rayburn is also on a plinth...the recommended way of siting them. We built the edge to size in brick the, once it had gone off, filled the centre with Limecrete. This gives a substantial and perfectly flat bed, which is ideal. Our floor (stone) was then laid up to the brick plinth. I should add that at the time of laying the bricks we did allow for the thickness of the stone flags, so that the full depth of the brick is visible. From an aesthetic and gooey point of view, this way of siting also gives an air of 'importance' to the heart of the home

Hope this helps.

Jaqy

 

[Tom]

Oh rats! I still can't get the hang of this image thing :? Let me know if you want a picture of it.

Jaqy

 

[Tom]

Ah, there you go :roll:

Jaqy

 

[Penners]

Our Esse stands on top of floor tiles, without any problems. But they are quarry tiles, so pretty tough.

I think it all depends on what sort of tiles you're planning, and how well laid they are.

 

[alice]

My kitchen is over a cellar and so the floor is wood over joists. I was thinking of tiling the floor when I had it redone (right now it's fitted carpet over very rough wood floorboards). If I had an underlayment put down, do you think that would make the floor stiff enough that heavy appliances, such as an Aga, wouldn't make the floor give and the tile crack? Right now, the floor feels really solid.

alice

 

[jocelyn plummer]

A solid base woiuld be better, most range cookers require a dead level surface.

 

[worms]

Worth getting that "dead level" absolutely right.

My kitchen floor is "dead level" but pancakes and omelettes cooked on the Rayburn hotplate have a tendency to want to run off the back!

 

[Moo]

My kitchen is over a cellar and so the floor is wood over joists. ... Right now, the floor feels really solid.

When we were 'doing' our house, and the architect learned that there was going to be a grand piano over the cellar, she insisted that I find out the weight of the instrument so that she could get the hefty beam that runs across the middle of the floor assessed for strength.
Our floor felt really solid, too, but she wasn't taking any chances.

 

[Penners]

My kitchen is over a cellar and so the floor is wood over joists. I was thinking of tiling the floor when I had it redone (right now it's fitted carpet over very rough wood floorboards). If I had an underlayment put down, do you think that would make the floor stiff enough that heavy appliances, such as an Aga, wouldn't make the floor give and the tile crack? Right now, the floor feels really solid.

No, I think you'd be inviting cracked tiles at the very least.

A typical Aga weighs about half a ton, concentrated over a fairly small area. I don't believe the average domestic suspended floor could support that weight without some flexing, at the very least. And ceramic tiles don't like flexing!

Even without the cracked tile problem, I feel you should seek expert structural advice about your floor before you stand an Aga on it.

 

[Andrew Bodenham]

alice,

You can't just stand an AGA type range cooker on a wooden floor. It is a combustion applicance and the installation should comply with the relevant building regulations, viz: Part J.

The approved document gives good guidance on hearth construction etc. and can be downloaded for free.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/buildingregulations/

For installation over a cellar I'd seek specialist advice from a structural engineer. You may well have to build up a plinth from the cellar floor to create a constructional hearth with sufficient bearing capacity.

 

[thecottage]

Many thanks for all the advice. The brick edge platform does look effective, not sure we'll have time to do something lilke that it is being reinstalled a week today! Ian