Lime/glass crete floor

[Pennyviz]

Hi
Have 14th C listed farmhouse with rising damp on some internal walls. The previous owner has laid porcelain tiles over old quarry tiles on kitchen floor of area about 13m2. Situation was made worse by cracked gully outside from kitchen sink, washing machine etc causing water to pass back under external kitchen wall and floor tiles and surface up through walls. Fixing the gully has improved damp considerably but I'm worried that a wet winter will just make things deteriorate again.

The received wisdom seems to be a glasscrete floor but am having problems getting quotes (most builders just want to lay concrete and I have asked Ty Mawr for suggestions) and am getting quotes of about £6K (without underfloor heating or anything fancy), this seems to be an awful lot - or am I being simplistic?

Is the full glasscrete floor the only option or are there other ways to go?

Thanks

 

[MatthewC]

I laid a 20 sq m limecrete floor five years ago (is it really that long?) - see http://houseintheenchantedforest.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/fitting-limecrete-floor-part-1.html (and subsequent).

It certainly sounds as though you need a decent floor. I have been very happy with mine - I never really added up the costs but I guess it was about £3k for the stuff and £1k for the labour, then there's spoil removal. Builders who will do limecrete are few and far between; I had a useful contact who was a strong lad who did all sorts, and he had a strong friend so the three of us did it between us, with me providing the technical input (with frequent phone calls to Mike Wye). NB If I did it again I would use recycled foamed glass instead of LECA, but otherwise it works as advertised.

Where are you? I'm in Oxfordshire and would happily talk through it with you. Send me a PM.

Matthew

 

[plasticpigeon]

I've also done this and my floor was about the same area as yours. I got stuff from Ty mawr. I used foamed glass hardcore and foamed glass aggregate in the lime mix. If I remember it was around £1500 for materials and around 1k for labour. I did my own digging out though so that would account for quite a lot of labour. It reeally isn't much different from a normal concrete floor, it is just using different materials. We got away with using a normal cement mixer for the slab and just made it the stiffest that would mix, and it seems fine. The best thing is to get the instructions from a supplier and some open minded tough blokes as Matthew did and manage the job yourself. I have found the floor to be very good, no damp on the internal wall with no dpc and it is obvious that there is still a little evaporation from the surface as if we leave something on the quarries, like a plastic bag, it will be a bit damp underneath, so it does what it is supposed to do.

 

[TheForge]

I replaced a crumbling concrete floor in our kitchen with limecrete last year, using GeoCell foamed glass as the insulation/sub base and a single layer 6 inch slab of sand and lime. We did it ourselves and I would estimate the materials were about £950 from Mike Wye (we already had several tonnes of sand so there was some cost saving there) for 18sq m. This included cork boards to reduce heat loss from the slab into the outside walls. We hired a large rotary pan mixer which greatly sped up the mixing process. The whole process from digging up the concrete, digging out and levelling and laying the floor took about 10 days but it's hard physical work!

 

[88v8]

Hello and welcome.
Edit your Profile to show your location.

We had a limecrete/LECA floor laid in our C17. About 180 sq ft. We went as deep as we could (no foundations) the slab was around 4".
Ty Mawr recommended Brownstone Building
http://www.brownstoneconstruction.co.uk/index.html#2

They dug out the concrete slab/dpc that was causing damp problems.
On the limecrete slab we laid a quarry tile border to give maximum joint area for evaporation, and did the remainder in stone slabs, all bedded and pointed in NHL.
The cost to break out, and lay the limecrete was about £4k iirc. Anyway, whatever it was it didn't seem excessive.

We also used Brownstone for other works. They are very good, happy to recommend them. Only reason we stopped is they are about 60 miles from us, and we wanted to find someone more local for the future.

Ivor

 

[Pennyviz]

Thanks can't seem to work out how to edit my location. However I'm equal distances between Bath/Bristol/Chippenham, just south off J18 on M4. Just out of range for most of Ty Mawrs chaps or Mike Wye. Much as I would love to to do it myself, but I'm a 50 yr old single Mum so just not practical.

However, I'll try some of your recommendations and at least I know what is realistic (or not) now

Penny

 

[88v8]

That's a pain.
Hopefully someone can recommend a more local company.

However, Google finds these chaps who are limecrete specialists
http://limecrete.co.uk/laying-limecrete-at-a-new-restaurant-in-bristol/
and obviously work in Bath and elsewhere,

To edit your Profile, click on your username in this thread, where it says ...by..
Now you'll be in the Viewing Profile page, and next to your Username you see [Edit profile]
Click on that, now you can fill in as much as you like.

Ivor

 

[Pennyviz]

Thanks Ivor

Not getting any 'edit profile' options anywhere on profile page.

Lime repair - are quite south of me in Shepton Mallet - but called them ages ago (they were one of Ty Mawr's suggestions too), spoke to them, sent them Ty Mawrs quote for product, a detailed plan of kitchen (to save them travelling to quote if possible) and ... nothing. Have emailed, called and left voicemail but still no response. Not even a courtesy call.

Am waiting for Brownstone construction to call back but been several days. Times are good for limecrete floor installers I think!

Penny

 

[88v8]

On the Profile page by your username. Where it says Username: Pennyviz in small print, [Edit Profile]

Unfortunately, anyone good at doing Period things tends to be busy. It's one of the reasons many of us DIY, although for most of us including me, several tons of floor is a DIY too far.

Ivor

 

[Pennyviz]

Thanks Ivor, but this is all I get:

Viewing profile - Pennyviz



Usernameennyviz Groups:Newly registered usersRegistered users

Can't seem to paste screenprint on whole page, but definitely no edit profile option.

Penny

 

[Pennyviz]

 

[MatthewC]

That's what I see when I look at your profile, so are you sure you were logged in when you took the screenprint? When logged in, looking at my own profile I see "[edit profile]" beside my user name above where it says "registered users" in the drop down box.

Sorry if this is stating the obvious to an expert!

Matthew

Edited: Forget that, you must have been logged in as I just saw in your screenprint "Online" and your user name in the top right hand corner. I suggest you report the problem (if it will let you!)

 

[Pennyviz]

Thanks Mathew

Thought it was just me not seeing the blindingly obvious (which has been known!).

Have sent an email to admin.

Penny