Insulation on top of concrete floor Help, advice, information, answers and tips on all types of flooring from laminate and carpet to timber and vinyl

[jonny]

I have recently moved into a house with an outbuilding. The outbuilding used to be used as a flower studio, so the walls are timber clad and insulated and there is a small roof void that's insulated, but the floor is just solid concrete which is not insulated.

I want to make this a more liveable space for an office and games room etc. simply by installing a couple of wall mounted oil radiators and laying some flooring. I'm assuming however that I need to put some kind of insulation and damp proofing between the painted concrete floor and the floor covering (which will either be laminate or perhaps a bit of cheap carpet).

Do I have to use just a plastic membrane and standard underlay products or is there something better/more efficient that will better keep the heat in and the floor covering damp free?

Any suggestions?

[thedoctor]

The floor can be painted with a solution called Synthapruf, know as black jack in the trade. This can be bought from builders merchants. Take a look at our Underfloor Insulation project for all the guidance you need on insulating a concrete floor without ripping everything up.

[renovationman]

A colleague of mine turned a workshop into an office.

For the concrete floor, he used a Poly DPM over which was laid 2 inch extruded expanded polystyrene panels 9for this purpose) over which was lain interlocking flooring grade chipboard.

The result was then covered in part carpet, heavy wear areas, vinyl.
(The latter was adhered to the floor as per manufacturer's instructions.

[renovationman]

Despite my other post,

Have used Synthaprufe many times with great success (as recommended by thedoctor. - wear marigolds - latex can dissolve with this stuff)