DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi,

We've moved to an old stone Cottage that is built over four floors, two of which are underground (the rear walls anyway). My problem is that the ground floor is freezing and has old quarry tiles, layed I believe on a scree directly onto the earth. I want to take these up, dig down to put in some insulation and then replace the tiles with floorboarding.

I'm a complete novice with old properties/flloring and in need of some advice. Can anyone direct me to where I start, what depth to I take it down to, will wooden joists be ok or would it need to be concrete?

Any help appreciated.

Milford_John wrote:Hi,

We've moved to an old stone Cottage that is built over four floors, two of which are underground (the rear walls anyway). My problem is that the ground floor is freezing and has old quarry tiles, layed I believe on a scree directly onto the earth. I want to take these up, dig down to put in some insulation and then replace the tiles with floorboarding.

I'm a complete novice with old properties/flloring and in need of some advice. Can anyone direct me to where I start, what depth to I take it down to, will wooden joists be ok or would it need to be concrete?

Any help appreciated.

well i believe now all building extensions and houses when the oversite is layed they put a min of 4 inch polystyrene down ontop of damp membrane then screed over that with 4 inches of sharp sand and cement so if you are going to dig down i would dig down at least 10 inches then blind it with sand before putting the membrane down so as not to get holes in.fold the membrane up walls so it is past the damp course. then the polystyrene and lay your floor. you can also dot and dab walls and stick plasterboard that has a insulation backing on.
if not shaw then you can always go and ask advice from your local building regs at the council. hope this is some help to you.

Cheers Tidy, much appreciated.