I’m currently in the process of renovating my terraced property. I don’t know the exact date of construction, but I suspect it be sometime between 1900 – 1930.
After taking back about 3 layers of lino, the kitchen had some nice quarry tiles underneath, however a high percentage of these are damaged and need to be removed. An internal wall has also been removed where there was an outhouse/shed, and which simply had a few large slabs laying on soil. The quarry tiles seem to be set on a bed of ash and black mortar, however I’m not sure how deep this goes before hitting soil.
My dilemma is that I am now uncertain what to do with the floor. I think there is a slate DPC in the walls, however who knows how good a condition that is in. From what I can see there are no damp issues in the house, however I don’t want to put something in place which is going to cause a problem in years to come.
Everyone I speak to has a drastically different perspective, however in essence my options seem to be as follows:
Keep the existing ash surface (minus the quarry tiles) and remove a few inches of soil in the extra space in order to lay a membrane and some self-levelling concrete to meet the level of the ash bed. I may need to work on the surface to remove the pattern of the quarry tile backs and repair any holes with some self-levelling compound before tiling or laying some vinyl over the whole area.
(The entire room is about 3.3meters x 5.2 meters, with the additional soil area being about 1 x 3.3 meters)
A second option is to complete the surface in a similar way, minus the self-levelling compound, and use unsealed natural stone tiles on the ash bed in order to retain a permeable surface. However being natural stone this is far more expensive, and being unsealed it would be very susceptible to stains etc.
It has been suggested to me that it would be sufficient to use a self-levelling compound and some liquid membrane to prepare the surface and cover within anything I need. Bearing in mind the walls will probably be finished in modern plaster – how big is the risk of subsequent damp issues, and are there any cost-effective measures I can take to avoid this?
Digging down about 40cms to lay a brand new concrete slab isn’t viable for me given the cost, not to mention the fact I’m not sure how much foundation there is to work with. Space is also an issue – as there is no direct off-street parking available outside for a skip, the only option is to carry everything through the house in 25kg rubble sacks.
To further complicate things I may need to dig a trench through a part of the floor in order to fit a new soil pipe. Once removed, what is the best material/method of backfilling the trench?
I appreciate this is not the ideal situation for a property of this age, but I’m trying to find a pragmatic solution to completing the work, and I would be very grateful for any help and suggestions on the best way to do so.
After taking back about 3 layers of lino, the kitchen had some nice quarry tiles underneath, however a high percentage of these are damaged and need to be removed. An internal wall has also been removed where there was an outhouse/shed, and which simply had a few large slabs laying on soil. The quarry tiles seem to be set on a bed of ash and black mortar, however I’m not sure how deep this goes before hitting soil.
My dilemma is that I am now uncertain what to do with the floor. I think there is a slate DPC in the walls, however who knows how good a condition that is in. From what I can see there are no damp issues in the house, however I don’t want to put something in place which is going to cause a problem in years to come.
Everyone I speak to has a drastically different perspective, however in essence my options seem to be as follows:
Keep the existing ash surface (minus the quarry tiles) and remove a few inches of soil in the extra space in order to lay a membrane and some self-levelling concrete to meet the level of the ash bed. I may need to work on the surface to remove the pattern of the quarry tile backs and repair any holes with some self-levelling compound before tiling or laying some vinyl over the whole area.
(The entire room is about 3.3meters x 5.2 meters, with the additional soil area being about 1 x 3.3 meters)
A second option is to complete the surface in a similar way, minus the self-levelling compound, and use unsealed natural stone tiles on the ash bed in order to retain a permeable surface. However being natural stone this is far more expensive, and being unsealed it would be very susceptible to stains etc.
It has been suggested to me that it would be sufficient to use a self-levelling compound and some liquid membrane to prepare the surface and cover within anything I need. Bearing in mind the walls will probably be finished in modern plaster – how big is the risk of subsequent damp issues, and are there any cost-effective measures I can take to avoid this?
Digging down about 40cms to lay a brand new concrete slab isn’t viable for me given the cost, not to mention the fact I’m not sure how much foundation there is to work with. Space is also an issue – as there is no direct off-street parking available outside for a skip, the only option is to carry everything through the house in 25kg rubble sacks.
To further complicate things I may need to dig a trench through a part of the floor in order to fit a new soil pipe. Once removed, what is the best material/method of backfilling the trench?
I appreciate this is not the ideal situation for a property of this age, but I’m trying to find a pragmatic solution to completing the work, and I would be very grateful for any help and suggestions on the best way to do so.