how hard to remove concrete flooring?

[rjlwest]

I bought a house last year, the living room and dining room are connected into one room, the floor of the dining room is concrete and not very level, the living room is wooden floorboards, they don't match up. I would like to replace the concrete with wooden floorboards, so that it's level and it feels the same on my feet.

Is this feasible? Would it be a big job? Would I need to have all of the concrete removed or just enough to clear space for joists? what's underneath the concrete? would there already be a damp course? would the vibrations created grinding the concrete away affect the foundations? Is this concrete that's in the dining room possibly be connected to the foundations and should not be messed with?

The dining room was once the kitchen if that affects anything.

 

[Burnerman]

It would be a hell of a job to get rid of that concrete.....it could well have been poured there to try to reduce water penetration due to a high water table - who knows?
You would hope a polythene barrier would have been laid, but again there's no way of being certain unless you can see some appearing up the sides of the concrete.
John

 

[m0t]

Kitchens were often built with poured concrete floors rather than wooden ones so there may not be anything underneath it.

It might be easier to use a self leveling compound and then a thick high quality underlay to try to make it feel like the other room (extra work would be required if it was damp though).