Building a Kitchen Extension, what floor construction?

[peca27]

Hi all, i'm a bit confused - wondering if you can help

I'm living in a terraced house, I want to build a single storey Kitchen extension at the rear of the property. The finished floor level of the house is 500mm higher than the external floor level of the rear garden, therefore we're going to need a few steps upto the Kitchen.

The question is what type of floor construction would I need? It's gonna have to be elevated (as I want the floor of the extension to be same as the existing house). One builder is saying timber floor joists with floor boards over & another is saying beam and block . I don't understand which to go for. Surley the timber joists wouldn't have the req'd insulation?

Also I've got a combined drain (foul & rwp) will that have to move from under the proposed extension to further out? therefore allowing access in future

 

[peca27]

c'mon people, i was hoping for some kind of reply.........any help please i'm begging now

 

[Static]

Depends on cost/time/accessabilty issues.

Timber floors are simple, anyone can install them and can be placed in the most inaccessable places. Dissadvantage is they need maintaining in future and get a little "springy" when on larger spans. Also can take a few days to get the floor in place and workable

Beam and block floors are precast beams with concrete blocks laid between, a floor can be laid in a matter of hours. B&B floors tend to be solid with little give in them over long spans. Dissadvantages are that the beams have to be mechanically lifted into place and if access is a problem(terrace house) this may not be the solution.

Both solutions require insulating with building regs.

If cost isnt your main concern, go for beam and block first and timber as backup.

 

[noseall]

allways go for masonary (beam and block) as they are better suited for ceramic tiles .

 

[anobium]

Sorry this is a bit late but the existing floors of your house are timber , then I recommend that you install a timber floor in your extension. The reason being that a solid floor will, a) reduce the ventilation to your existing timber floors and, b) could also bridge your dpc and cause decay to the joists your existing timber floors.

 

[peca27]

the existing floor construction isn't timber, it's concrete.
if i went for the beam + block they'd be air bricks ventilating the void wouldn't they.
the beam's would sit into the new wall on one side, but what would they sit on the other side, a sleepr wall?

 

[anobium]

In that case solid is ok. But why beam and block , would'nt conventional solid ie hardcore /concrete be much more economical ?