Floorboards over concrete?

[Sue]

I have a concrete kitchen floor.

I want to lay floorboards over it. I realise there will be a step up due to the level change, but is this feasible? Will it be too high due to needing joists, for example?

Laminate has been suggested but a) I hate laminate and b) It won't match the rest of the house.

Any ideas?

[red devil]

I once spoke to a guy at Junckers (timber floor specialists) about a similar scenario, and he told me that they wouldn't guarantee their solid boards laid directly onto concrete/screed, but they would for their engineered boards, as they are less prone to expansion/contraction.

If you want to go down the traditional floorboard look, you don't need to use traditional sized floor joists if you have a concrete floor, small timber battens or a WBP plywood base should suffice. But you need to be sure that no damp/moisture gets into the timber from the concrete, so best to lay a waterproof memebrane over the concrete. You will need to allow for expansion gaps at the perimeter, usually hidden under skirtings/kitchen units...

[computedshorty]

As you are over six feet tall anything you lay will give you a head ache You could use a composite material.

http://concreteflooringsolu.rtrk.co.uk/?scid=53767&kw=7062477&pub_cr_id=6518627727

http://www.pouredfloor.co.uk/

[Huggers]

we had original floorboards in dining room and concrete in kitchen and were knocking them into one room and needed a unified floor. Builder put plywood down and then new boards on top. The one by the washing machine has slightly warped and I don't think we did the waterproof membrane. But otherwise it looks great. There is now a little step up into the room but minimal difference to original height.

[DulwichFox]

Are you wanting to see the floorboards as a finished floor?

If so u need to float the floor on a vapour barrier membrane, best way probably to glue nthe tongue/groves and secret nail each tongue at 45 deg into the next board.

More suggestions... http://www.mybuilder.com/questions/v/1021/id-like-to-install-solid-wood-floorboards-on-concrete-whats-the-best-way-to-do-it-adhesive-chipboard

Foxy

[Sue]

Thanks all, very helpful :)

[Annette Curtain]

Make a huge pair of flip-flops with old pine planks

Every time you look down, hey presto! "Floorboards"

[Salsaboy]

This sounds like a Viz Top Tip.

Annette Curtain Wrote:

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> Make a huge pair of flip-flops with old pine

> planks

>

>

> Every time you look down, hey presto!

> "Floorboards"

[DulwichFox]

Annette Curtain Wrote:

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> Make a huge pair of flip-flops with old pine

> planks

>

>

> Every time you look down, hey presto!

> "Floorboards"

And.... If it Snows, You can Ski down to the shops. :)

Fox.

[red devil]

...you could also use them to carry hundreds of snails to a place of safety

[Sue]

red devil Wrote:

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> ...you could also use them to carry hundreds of

> snails to a place of safety

xxxxxxx

You've sold it to me :))

[MrBen]

Lounge thread of the year to date.

I had the same knock through kitchen -dining room scenario as Huggers above a few months back. As long as you effectively suspend the boards above the concrete by at least say 4cm+ you're allowing it to breath and reducing the chance of damp warping. Putting down a sheet DPC over the concrete but under the joists is a must as that will also help. The problem is your left with a small step in the room.

My builder and I got round the step problem by taking a Kango hammer drill to the concrete floor, removing almost 2 ft of concrete/hardcore and putting in new, full size joists, then sheeting the whole area with ply and putting down a new reclaimed timber floor. You're left with a beautiful level floor. WARNING: this will piss your neighbours off massively for about 100 yards in either direction.

If you want to keep the existing floorboards (on the existing suspended floor side)then you can buy some reclaimed floorboards to match yours and then lift and mix them all up to get a very nice /blended end result after sanding and finishing. Putting 18mm ply underneath still helps with insulation, sound proofing and giving a more solid feel.

An excellent place to find matching sized Victorian floor boards is Reclaimed warehouse out in Essex:

http://www.reclaimed.uk.com/victorian_floorboards.html

Ignore the crappy website and warehouse location- these guys know all there is about old timber flooring and have stuff going back to the 1800's...

Also check local skips - I got 5m2 free from one on a nearby street after asking the owner and chances are its similar stock to yours if original.

[Jeremy]

MrBen, in your situation, is it not just easier to lay new reclaimed floorboards over the existing floor (in both dining room and kitchen) rather than excavating a concrete floor? Is the stuff really that expensive?

[MrBen]

You could...but it's the cheaper fix and with elevation over the concrete you're still left with a step somewhere i.e. at the entrance to the kitchen/diner. A step isn't necessarily a problem but if you want to do it right......

[red devil]

MrBen Wrote:

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> My builder and I got round the step problem by

> taking a Kango hammer drill to the concrete floor,

> removing almost 2 ft of concrete/hardcore and

> putting in new, full size joists, then sheeting

> the whole area with ply and putting down a new

> reclaimed timber floor. You're left with a

> beautiful level floor.

Did you remove the existing Dining Room floor joists?

[MrBen]

Nope - as they were sound, well seasoned and almost all level.

[red devil]

Ok, did you overlay the plywood in the Dining Room, or just the Kitchen?

[MrBen]

Both. And also the entire ground floor....if that was where you are going :-)

[red devil]

It was... ;-)

[Sue]

My kitchen is a kitchen/diner as it's quite big, but it isn't connected to another room (only the hall), and the whole of the room presently has a concrete floor (with vinyl laid on top - which must be well over twenty years old :))).

The floorboards throughout the rest of the house are painted white (with varying degrees of efficiency depending on who did them :))), so matching the wood won't be a problem as I'll be painting it. Not very practical in a kitchen I know, but hey ho.

I'm happy to have a small step up from the hall to the kitchen, and I certainly think that is preferable to doing a major excavation job on the concrete, quite apart from pissing off the neighbours :))

However I do wonder what will happen re the kitchen units, as I'm having new units. Will the old units have to be removed and the floorboards laid throughout the kitchen before the new units are installed, or will it be possible to retain the old floor level underneath the new units, if you see what I mean?

As is obvious, I am totally useless at getting my head round all this :))

It's happily clear that I won't need to go down the laminate route, however, hooray!! Thanks everyone!!

[Huggers]

my floorboards were painted with a diluted emulsion,(something basic like dulux fern green I think) when dry they were lightly sanded so the grain showed very slightly and then varnished. The result is hardwearing and attractive. I attach pic for your interest. Taken before we finished decorating it and still with junk in the garden so looks much brighter now.

[red devil]

I would've thought it depended on what type of kitchen units you go for.

If you went for freestanding units, i.e. no fascia/kick plate, where you would see the floor finish under the units, then yes you would need to take the new floor finish right under the new units.

If you go for units with a fascia/kick plate, then you just need to run your new floor finish beyond the back of the fascia, usually just short of the legs that support the units. These legs are adjustable so will take up any difference in the level...

[Salsaboy]

I would go for running the new boards right under the kitchen units. No step to get a washing machine/dishwasher over if you need to pull it out.

[Sue]

Salsaboy Wrote:

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> I would go for running the new boards right under

> the kitchen units. No step to get a washing

> machine/dishwasher over if you need to pull it

> out.

xxxxxxx

Good point - though I think they're going to be integrated so they probably wouldn't pull out in quite the same way.

My present washing machine is about thirty years old so I don't feel too bad about investing in a new one, particularly as the lock no longer works and I've flooded the kitchen several times by opening the door before it's finished!

The dishwasher is relatively new (ie about ten years old :)) ) but I may sell that. Sadly apparently they're different widths to built-in ones, otherwise I would have kept it and just stored an extra door somewhere for when the existing dishwasher went to dishwasher heaven and I had to get a new one.

All still at the drawing board stage, however.

[Sue]

Huggers Wrote:

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> my floorboards were painted with a diluted

> emulsion,(something basic like dulux fern green I

> think) when dry they were lightly sanded so the

> grain showed very slightly and then varnished. The

> result is hardwearing and attractive. I attach pic

> for your interest. Taken before we finished

> decorating it and still with junk in the garden so

> looks much brighter now.

xxxxxxx

That's a good idea!

I really wish I had used somebody with experience of doing this kind of thing, but sadly I didn't and now have to live with the results.

Or at least I don't have to, but I don't want to pay out to have all the bad bits done again (living room, hall, stairs and landing), so it's having to wait till I've got time to redo it myself, hollow laugh, ie probably never!

At least some of the worst bits can be covered by rugs .....