What type of flooring?

[childrenanddogs]

Hi all,

So, 18 months in to the renovation of our Georgian farmhouse, and we've got LBC and PP to convert the attached barn in to a kitchen/breakfast/family room (hurrah!).

One of the conditions of LBC is that we get sign off on the flooring that we're going to use, so we're just starting to think about that. I would love a flagstone type floor, and think that would be most appropriate for the house, but the room will be approx 100m square, so we'd either need to rob a bank or sell a small child to fund it.

Any ideas? I've seen 'replica' flagstones but am worried they'll just look naff. But we just don't have the budget to buy 100m of York Stone!

Thanks all.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Replica will look naff. Sorry.
And I'm really sorry (no I'm not :twisted: ) to be very, very pedantic, but 100m square is about two acres.

 

[plasticpigeon]

It's all the rage to have big kitchens these days

 

[worms]

to be very, very pedantic, but 100m square is about two acres.

to be very, very, very pedantic, it will be exactly 1 hectare!

Just occasionally the metric system comes in handy!

 

[Owain]

Would solid wood floorboards be acceptable for the building? You could then use a Georgian tile-effect vinyl over the boards in the kitchen area for local non-permanent protection. It's not as though a kitchen in a barn is authentic.

I assume you've ruled out http://www.londonmosaic.com/ on grounds of cost? Although compared to flagstones tiles might be reasonable. In comparison. Won't be cheap.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Ooh, that's a very nice, but very Victorian looking tile. I wouldn't put in in a Georgian building, even if it is a modern barn conversion.

A brick floor? We've got a kind of pamment in our Georgian kitchen, original, terracotta coloured.


Another idea is modern kitchen tiles around the cooking bits and then that lovely rush matting used in NT properties for more seating type areas.

http://www.rushmatters.co.uk/

 

[Owain]

new Norfolk pamments are about £60 per sq metre.
http://www.pamments.co.uk/prices.htm

Or quarry tiles from Ruabon etc?

More tile porn at
http://www.cravendunnill-jackfield.co.uk/floor.html

 

[MdB]

new Norfolk pamments are about £60 per sq metre.

or £600,000 per hectare :shock:

 

[plasticpigeon]

If you hunt you can get reclaimed quarries for around £20/m^2 if you don't mind them being a bit rough round the edges and a bit worn on top, and the average cost from a yard is around £40/m^2

 

[Moo]

Do you know what the barn was used for (plant storage/livestock?) and what was on the floor then?
That might provide a clue as to what would be appropriate.

 

[worms]

Do you know what the barn was used for (plant storage/livestock?) and what was on the floor then?
That might provide a clue as to what would be appropriate.

I don't think a layer of dung is quite what the OP had in mind for the kitchen!

 

[Moo]

You silly boy.

 

[childrenanddogs]

Thanks all. I should clarify, the room will be approx 100m - 20m x 5m ish. Hence 100m sq!

The Ruabon tiles are what was in part of the house, and we've carefully taken those up and cleaned them, so could reuse them in the kitchen. But it's going to cost a small fortune to cover such a big floor space in them and I'm just not sure we've got the budget. I agree with Joce&Chris that the mosaic type floor tiles just wouldn't be right in a Georgian house (particularly as ours is very early Georgian/late Queen Anne).

The barn (more of a shed really!) was used for turkey storage and plucking. It's not an original part of the house, it's hideous 1980's engineered brick and asbestos roofing, so we've got to clad it in wood to hide the brick and keep the CO happy, and re-roof. So although it's technically part of the listed building, it's not historic.

It's a tricky one. :?

 

[Moo]

Might it be an idea to have a totally different floor in the non- kitchen part?

 

[michael]

Another company to try with a huge selection of reclaimed flooring.
www.ajeer.co.uk
They always used to have a large selection of York paving slabs somthing i was looking for some years back. It turned out that the heavier 50mm thick slabs were less desirable than the thinner 25mm slabs and were consequently much cheaper.

 

[AMc]

Bloke who delivered my patio slabs asked me if it was the new kitchen floor. I looked puzzled, he told me plenty of people were using sandstone (what I was having delivered) as internal flooring as it looks a bit like Yorkstone but costs less. I was a bit sceptical but having laid it, I can see with would probably work.

I had to get some slabs replaced as they had step changes in the surface that I considered a trip hazard outside (over 10mm difference) but they were replaced promptly and without fuss from the manufacturer (Bradstone IIRC) when I spoke to the retailer and sent them pictures.
If you decided to go that route it needs a full mortar bed and some care with laying and handling. Mine was laid on lime mortar, primarily because of the environmental impact of cement. The lime mortar has a complimentary biege tone to the stone (fossil buff IIRC) grey cement would have looked rubbish (to me).

I spent a lot of time comparison shopping and this is where I ordered saving several hundred quid on a couple of large patios compared with ordering from my local builders merchants even using a friend's trade discount.
The only drawback was a kerbside delivery on a handtruck so I couldn't get them forked to where they were needed.
http://simplypaving.com/paving/natural-stone.html One of those pictures shows them being used internally BTW.

I would perhaps pick up a slab or two in a DIY shed and see what you think before splurging £100's.

 

[MdB]

Thanks all. I should clarify, the room will be approx 100m - 20m x 5m ish. Hence 100m sq!

100m sq = 100m x 100m (not what you mean)

100 sq m = 20m x 5m (what you mean)

(sorry - maths pedant...)

 

[Flyfisher]

Easier (perhaps) to think of it as:

m = metres = length

m x m = m2 = square metres = area

m x m x m = m3 = cubic metres = volume



(I'm donning my anorak as I type . . . . :wink: )

 

[LadyArowana]

Easier (perhaps) to think of it as:

m = metres = length

m x m = m2 = square metres = area

m x m x m = m3 = cubic metres = volume



(I'm donning my anorak as I type . . . . :wink: )

Yes, but what about m4? Shouldn't you have posted the answer already?

 

[MdB]

m^4 is used in Second Moment of Area calculations....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_moment_of_area