old brick floor

[smith]

Hi,
I have just taken up my modern concrete floor as my conservation officer said it was damaging the sole plates, we where hoping to use the brick floor which is underneath the concrete but it is too uneven and sunken in doorways also many bricks broken.
My question is if i level with sharp sand and lay breathable tiles or slate on top will this work.
Any advice on this subject would be much appreciated.

 

[Penners]

If all of the bricks are as bad as those in your picture, then unfortunately I think the floor is irrecoverable.

However, if that's a bad patch and the bricks elsewhere are worn but intact, then you might consider lifting them and turning them over. You should be able to replace any broken ones with reclaimed bricks from a reclamation yard. Take along one of yours and look for the closest match you can find.

I feel that your plan to lay tiles or slate on top of the bricks is questionable. How much thickness have you got play with? In order to get a good, firm "lay" you'll need a reasonable thickness of sand - my own amateur view is a minimum of 2 inches, but experts may have other opinions. You might be able to reduce the thickness of the bedding material if you lay your new floor on lime mortar instead of plain sand.

If the amount of thickness you have to play with is limited, then personally I think I would lift the irrecoverable floor and start again.

 

[binza]

Thanks for reply Penners,

The picture does not display it but i have roughly 5=6 inches of concrete i have lifted so depth is not a problem so it sounds like i need to find a good supplier of breathable tile or slates now.

Thanks for that.

 

[Penners]

Actually I'm not sure whether slate counts as breathable or not. It was widely used as a damp-proof course material at one time, and is of course a popular roofing material - which suggests that it's impermeable to water.

This needn't necessarily be a problem for you, depending on the amount of dampness in the substrate of your floor.

Maybe the experts on this forum will give a more informed view on this.

 

[Nemesis]

I would suggest that if the floor needs to be replaced, then brick or pamments may be more suitable than slate.

These things tend to be regional, and if brick is what is there, then it's not a slate flooring area in all probability.

http://www.pamments.co.uk is one place worth looking. There are others suppliers though.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Actually I'm not sure whether slate counts as breathable or not. It was widely used as a damp-proof course material at one time, and is of course a popular roofing material - which suggests that it's impermeable to water.

This needn't necessarily be a problem for you, depending on the amount of dampness in the substrate of your floor.

Maybe the experts on this forum will give a more informed view on this.

It's more important that the joints breathe, so lime + sand not concrete, please.