Hi,
Recently bought and moved into a 1950's built semi built onto a fairly steep hill. To the rear of the property is an outhouse which is attached to the kitchen on the ground floor with external steps down to a coal shed type room underneath (due to the hill, the ground floor at the front of the house is essentially 1 storey up at the rear)
The outhouse is a double brick thickness wall (no cavity) for the bottom floor, with a 6' or so high suspended concrete ceiling with a single brick (no insulation) wall above. The concrete floor upstairs is about a 6" or so drop from the kitchen. Currently this space houses a toilet and a boiler, with a floorspace of 2m x 3m (apologies for the metric/imperial mix! I estimate in ft/inches, measure in mm)
I would like to convert the upstairs in a utility room by raising the floor and adding a insulation layer to the walls and ceiling. Ideally, I would like to turn the downstairs into a workshop/tool shed/beer storage facility for the garden by putting up a thin coat of render to seal it, then lining with thermal boards just to take the chill off in the winter.
My question is, could I remove the concrete floor/ceiling between the two rooms and replace with C24 47x125 joists to the required height. This would allow me more head room downstairs (alas, I am 6' 5) and also allow me to insulate, improve the damp proofing and have a level floor throughout the kitchen/utility space.
Am I underestimating the complexity of the task or would it be a fairly routine smash and bag with the concrete and just fit some hanging joists?
Thanks in advance