Limecrete floor

[milldam]

Hi,

I’ve just joined. We have an old croft house, stone walls, stone slab roof. I’d like to lay a limecrete floor with UFH. Would this be easily damaged by falling roof slabs if we were to re-do the roof later on?

TIA

 

[Cubist]

Hi There and Welcome,

I would think that any floor, including a Portland Cement concrete, would take damage from a falling roof stone slab. A limecrete floor may suffer slightly more damage but it would be just as cheap and simple to repair. If you're worried about the security of the slabs you may be better advised to address that threat to life and limb before getting too worried about the floor.

 

[milldam]

Hi There and Welcome,

I would think that any floor, including a Portland Cement concrete, would take damage from a falling roof stone slab. A limecrete floor may suffer slightly more damage but it would be just as cheap and simple to repair. If you're worried about the security of the slabs you may be better advised to address that threat to life and limb before getting too worried about the floor.

Thanks for your reply. My partner is worried we’d have to relay it, but I think we should just be able to fit in cracks/dents?
The roof should be good for at least another 15 years, so no immediate threat. It’s just difficult to take off the slabs without risking one falling through the rafters.

 

[Kearn]

Hi,

I’ve just joined. We have an old croft house, stone walls, stone slab roof. I’d like to lay a limecrete floor with UFH. Would this be easily damaged by falling roof slabs if we were to re-do the roof later on?

TIA

Presumably you’ll have a finish on top of the limecrete anyway, tiles/slabs/paviours….? Therefore more likely to take the brunt of the impact and more essential than usual to have a good excess stock tucked away. Limecrete would be relatively straightforward to patch in if need be, I guess if impact goes that deep…

 

[Cubist]

A method I saw in a Cornish village many years ago; its a bit smelly but you could use an old fishnet to make the space below safe while work is done on the roof

 

[Kearn]

A method I saw in a Cornish village many years ago; its a bit smelly but you could use an old fishnet to make the space below safe while work is done on the roof

Or hire a bouncy castle…

 

[MatthewC]

Just how much are your stone slabs in the roof likely to weigh? I would think that it would be almost as good as concrete of a similar thickness at resisting a stone slab falling. I think my limecrete floor is 150mm thick, plus 20mm stone on a mortar bed of 30-40mm - call it 200mm minimum. If you want, you could just make yours even thicker. As others have said, if you are that worried then fix the roof; otherwise, do the floor!

 

[LadyArowana]

Just how much are your stone slabs in the roof likely to weigh? I would think that it would be almost as good as concrete of a similar thickness at resisting a stone slab falling. I think my limecrete floor is 150mm thick, plus 20mm stone on a mortar bed of 30-40mm - call it 200mm minimum. If you want, you could just make yours even thicker. As others have said, if you are that worried then fix the roof; otherwise, do the floor!

I’m looking at the profile picture and thinking to myself “those are some mighty big bits of stone”