Concrete ceiling removal

[willc]

Hello, I am weighing up the possibility of bringing the our downstairs wc and coalhouse section up to scratch as part of a kitchen refit.

The house is 1930/40's ex council semi and of traditional brick construction. At the back of the house is a single story single leaf outhouse which currently has a WC and a larder area housing boiler and tumble dryer. There is also space for a large fridge in the hallway section. We already use this area as part of the downstairs accommodation and one additional area was converted to a breakfast room area some years ago with cavity wall and ceiling.

The remaining area has a concrete ceiling above which is a ridged tiled roof. I want to remove the existing ceiling as there is quite low headroom but have no idea on the best way to remove this concrete slab.

Sorry for the wordy description, any help and advice gratefully received.

My builder mate says I should leave it as he can't see the problem although he is on the short side!!

 

[simonjay]

Hello, I am weighing up the possibility of bringing the our downstairs wc and coalhouse section up to scratch as part of a kitchen refit.

The house is 1930/40's ex council semi and of traditional brick construction. At the back of the house is a single story single leaf outhouse which currently has a WC and a larder area housing boiler and tumble dryer. There is also space for a large fridge in the hallway section. We already use this area as part of the downstairs accommodation and one additional area was converted to a breakfast room area some years ago with cavity wall and ceiling.

The remaining area has a concrete ceiling above which is a ridged tiled roof. I want to remove the existing ceiling as there is quite low headroom but have no idea on the best way to remove this concrete slab.

Sorry for the wordy description, any help and advice gratefully received.

My builder mate says I should leave it as he can't see the problem although he is on the short side!!

I had the same type of outhouse / WC with a flat concrete roof. It did not have a roof above it though. There was a danger of it pushing the walls over or damaging the neighbours ajoining outhouse if removed in an unbalanced way, so I propped it from underneath in several places and sliced the slab off a piece at a time with a diamond saw.

With a roof on top ? I think you'd have to take off the roof to do the job properly. But possibly you could cut from underneath, leaving a ring around the edge that the roof is probably sat on.
Be very careful though - the slab will be extremely heavy and could fall on top of you.

Simon.

 

[investigator]

Hello, I am weighing up the possibility of bringing the our downstairs wc and coalhouse section up to scratch as part of a kitchen refit.

The house is 1930/40's ex council semi and of traditional brick construction. At the back of the house is a single story single leaf outhouse which currently has a WC and a larder area housing boiler and tumble dryer. There is also space for a large fridge in the hallway section. We already use this area as part of the downstairs accommodation and one additional area was converted to a breakfast room area some years ago with cavity wall and ceiling.

The remaining area has a concrete ceiling above which is a ridged tiled roof. I want to remove the existing ceiling as there is quite low headroom but have no idea on the best way to remove this concrete slab.

Sorry for the wordy description, any help and advice gratefully received.

My builder mate says I should leave it as he can't see the problem although he is on the short side!!

You can remove the cieling but its a lot of work to do without damaging the upper walls.
You would have to work above and use cutting equipment as the concrete will have steel reinforced, peck away at it carefully and it should be ok.