Hello everyone, firstly thanks to the people who set-up this site. I hope that you will all be as generous with your advice to me, as you have been with others. Please forgive me if this a bit long, but I want to try to explain my problems as completely as possible.
I have just bought an ex-local authority flat that is in need of substantial modernisation it is in a West London brick-built 16 floor block. Having a limited budget, I am going to undertake the renovations. I have very limited experience of DIY, but I can follow directions. We have about 8 to 9 weeks before we have to move in.
Just to set the scene, here is a plan of the somewhat unusual layout. It is approx 720 sq ft.
My first, and biggest problem is the floor and walls. Internally, all the floors (except kitchen see later) are 18mm chipboard sitting on a lattice of (4.5cm x 3.5cm) batons at 2 ft centres. Beneath this is a sound insulation material that looks likes polystyrene ceiling tiles that sit on the rough concrete floor as this picture shows.
The electrics of the flat are just slung under this floor.
FLOORS
Planning to install a real wood laminate floor in the hallway and lounge with machined slate in the kitchen area, toilet and bathroom. The bedroom floors seem OK and will be carpeted.
Over the 25 years of life that the existing floor has been down has caused the sound insulation to compact and made the surface uneven, creaky and spongy. The floor to ceiling height is 232cm so over-boarding the existing is not an option.
I am planning to rip-up the chipboard and renew the sound insulation, then try and re-level the batons before over boarding with either chipboard or plywood, which I intend to screw-fix.
Is this the right thing to do?
What material should I use for sound insulation and should I apply it in the same way as before (i.e at the point where the battons meet)?
Would plywood be better than chipboard? The kitchen area is plywood and seems to be OK?
Would it be better and cheaper to rip-it all out and screed it (obviously I would need to get someone in to do this.) and change 5 doors
WALLS
Things are made a bit more complex because all the internal walls are plasterboard that is built off this floating floor. It seems that the floor was put down throughout the flat then the walls were built on top. Unfortunately the walls seem to have dropped as the floor has sunk as this pic of the wall / cceiling illustrates.
It also seems that the feet of the walls don’t line up with the batons in the sub-floor.
Obviously, my re-flooring plan starts to get complicated in the hall because I can’t easily cut out the chipboard without the walls collapsing. As this picture shows.
I have thought about running a circular saw along the wall edge either side at 18mm depth removing the chipboard and sliding some timber blocks under the walls, before cutting the exisitng battons and replacing them (i.e. the hall will have it's own sub-floor as would the bathroom toilet etc.
Does this sound reasonable?
Anyone got any better ideas or is there anything I should watchout for.
One last thing, Is there anything I could use under the bath in the bathroom instead of chipboard, this room is more saggy than the others, which I guess is from water spillage.
Thank you in advance,
Jonny G
I have just bought an ex-local authority flat that is in need of substantial modernisation it is in a West London brick-built 16 floor block. Having a limited budget, I am going to undertake the renovations. I have very limited experience of DIY, but I can follow directions. We have about 8 to 9 weeks before we have to move in.
Just to set the scene, here is a plan of the somewhat unusual layout. It is approx 720 sq ft.
My first, and biggest problem is the floor and walls. Internally, all the floors (except kitchen see later) are 18mm chipboard sitting on a lattice of (4.5cm x 3.5cm) batons at 2 ft centres. Beneath this is a sound insulation material that looks likes polystyrene ceiling tiles that sit on the rough concrete floor as this picture shows.
The electrics of the flat are just slung under this floor.
FLOORS
Planning to install a real wood laminate floor in the hallway and lounge with machined slate in the kitchen area, toilet and bathroom. The bedroom floors seem OK and will be carpeted.
Over the 25 years of life that the existing floor has been down has caused the sound insulation to compact and made the surface uneven, creaky and spongy. The floor to ceiling height is 232cm so over-boarding the existing is not an option.
I am planning to rip-up the chipboard and renew the sound insulation, then try and re-level the batons before over boarding with either chipboard or plywood, which I intend to screw-fix.
Is this the right thing to do?
What material should I use for sound insulation and should I apply it in the same way as before (i.e at the point where the battons meet)?
Would plywood be better than chipboard? The kitchen area is plywood and seems to be OK?
Would it be better and cheaper to rip-it all out and screed it (obviously I would need to get someone in to do this.) and change 5 doors
WALLS
Things are made a bit more complex because all the internal walls are plasterboard that is built off this floating floor. It seems that the floor was put down throughout the flat then the walls were built on top. Unfortunately the walls seem to have dropped as the floor has sunk as this pic of the wall / cceiling illustrates.
It also seems that the feet of the walls don’t line up with the batons in the sub-floor.
Obviously, my re-flooring plan starts to get complicated in the hall because I can’t easily cut out the chipboard without the walls collapsing. As this picture shows.
I have thought about running a circular saw along the wall edge either side at 18mm depth removing the chipboard and sliding some timber blocks under the walls, before cutting the exisitng battons and replacing them (i.e. the hall will have it's own sub-floor as would the bathroom toilet etc.
Does this sound reasonable?
Anyone got any better ideas or is there anything I should watchout for.
One last thing, Is there anything I could use under the bath in the bathroom instead of chipboard, this room is more saggy than the others, which I guess is from water spillage.
Thank you in advance,
Jonny G
