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hi all, i am just begining a barn conversion in france and for cost reasons i am taking all to work on myself. i have a limited knowlage of concreating and was wondering the following points...
1, in what order do i lay the waterproof membrain, insulation and concreate to coply with french standards and what depth of each?
2, at the moment i have compacted earth floor but a hugh amount of height in the barn, can i lay my hardcore/concreate onto the compacted earth and raise the foor level rather than digging it all out?
3, can the slab be laid in one or should it be sections?, its aprox 20 m x 10 m.
4, do i need steel reinfocement wire laid in?
5, does anyone have a vaige idea what it will cost?
many thanks for taking the time to read this....brian

Brian,
I too am doing a barn conversion in France. It would appear that I am at the same stage as you. I have excavated the old sub floor to a depth of approx. 40cm. The area is 6.6 metres wide by 8 metres long. I intend to install underfloor heating, so I am allowing 6.5cm for screed (chape), 5cm insulation, 10cm of concrete, 5cm of sand and the remainder will be hardcore. My barn is built on fairly solid bedrock, but I have been advised that I need to include wire reinforcing into the concrete. As it is built on bedrock, I have been advised that I could lay it in a single slab, but I am tempted to include joints every three metres.
Hope this helps, but I would be interested in any other ideas.

Alan

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