Concrete living rooms or leave as wooden floor?

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No pics so far?

Pics of the sub-floor would help so would pics of the outside of the house at ground level?

Its common to replace suspended floors with solid floors.
But there are a number of variables to take into account.
 
You can copy and paste pics into your post.
 
Concrete is a common fix where floor joists have rotted (usually due to blocked air bricks or rubble in the subfloor). Best do both rooms or neither, just doing 1 will deprive the other of airflow. And don't be lazy (like the clowns who concreted floors in my House of Pain and left the joists in).
Pro:
Easy to insulate - lose all the timber, chuck hardcore, sand, dpm, insulation boards, concrete in the hole.
No air bricks needed (so no draughts behind the skirting boards)
Quieter.
No risk of joists rotting.
Con.
Need to duct or reroute heating pipes, power cables, comms cables etc.
Need to consider gas pipes (if your meter is under the stairs you musn't bury the supply pipe as well as not burying your distribution pipes)
Same with electrical supply (if the meter is under stairs or inside somewhere, don't bury the supply cable).
And water supply.
You'll have to cover the concrete with something (carpet, laminate, timber)- you can finish concrete flat & level but its more common to screed (but more time & money).
EDIT If the floorboards & joists are in good nick you don't have to replace them. Consider insulating between joists while the place is empty, also check you still have airflow now you've concreted the kitchen
 
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oldbutnotdead said:
Concrete is a common fix where floor joists have rotted (usually due to blocked air bricks or rubble in the subfloor). Best do both rooms or neither, just doing 1 will deprive the other of airflow. And don't be lazy (like the clowns who concreted floors in my House of Pain and left the joists in).No air bricks needed (so no draughts behind the skirting boards)
Click to expand...
Is the reason for the air flow in this houses specifically to keep the wooden joists that the floorboards are fixed to dry so they won't rot?
 
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Yes, the airbricks are there to keep the floor timbers ventilated and dry. No floor timbers = no need for airbricks.
If the joists here weren't already rotten, casing them in concrete finished the job off- fortunately whoever did the concrete was mean as well as lazy, there was very little cement in it so it broke up very easily.
Gas pipes must be in a ventilated space (so if there is a leak you'll smell it). The pipe leading to the meter is not yours so making it inaccessible to its owners might be unwise.
Your electric supply cable (before the meter) again isn't yours. Ducting it is probably OK as long as the duct would allow a replacement cable to be pulled through.
Your distribution pipework (heating, water) can be ducted, as can power distribution. Any gas pipes- ventilated duct.
Its tricky getting a deep pour of concrete to a flat and level finish. Much easier to leave it 25mm low then screed it to flat/level.
 
A rotten floor is often due to a source of water such as a leaking pipe or broken drain. Covering it in concrete makes it much harder to subsequently find and repair the fault.
 
oldbutnotdead said:
If the joists here weren't already rotten, casing them in concrete finished the job off- fortunately whoever did the concrete was mean as well as lazy, there was very little cement in it so it broke up very easily.
Click to expand...
Was it common for people to use weak screed mixtures?
 
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JohnD said:
A rotten floor is often due to a source of water such as a leaking pipe or broken drain. Covering it in concrete makes it much harder to subsequently find and repair the fault.
Click to expand...
So when installing a concrete floor it's important to mark where the water pipes go
 
Replacing a floor falls under buildings regs, so it needs to comply with current part L regulations - i.e. Insulation.
 
Are the boards or joists rotten and beyond economical repair? If not you're really just throwing a few grands worth of concrete into the ground for very little gain.
 
Ideally you would avoid burying service pipes with concrete. If you're paying someone else to do the floor, concrete is cheaper because its quicker (so less labour). If you are DIYing it, suspended timber isn't much dearer for materials and avoids lots of your ducting/buried services problems.
 
cdbe said:
Are the boards or joists rotten and beyond economical repair? If not you're really just throwing a few grands worth of concrete into the ground for very little gain.
Click to expand...
No they're in good condition. Concrete would be better and would stop rodents and be firmer underfoot
 
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old properties with suspended timber floors should be left as is.
the ventilation under the floor is vital for drying out brick/stone and mortar work under the floor level.
stone houses with no or slate dpc suffer far worse with rising dampness if the floors have been filled in.
 
D

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