Lowering a concrete floor?

[Rampage]

Hi, We've just bought a house and found that a concrete floor has a ramp in it!
There is a difference in height of approx 2 inches at each end of the ramp which is around 14 inches wide.
It is between 2 rooms that used to be completely seperate, they have since been knocked through into one (lounge and dining room). We want to put wooden flooring in, but ideally the ramp would have to go. The floor in the dining room is the higher one. If this was lowered then it would leave the utility room higher, which could probably be lived with.

The alternative is raising the lounge floor which is (due to carpets and tiling in the ajoining rooms) around ¾ inch lower, but the wooden flooring would raise this up too high!

So I'm stuck as to what to do!
Is it expensive to get a solid concrete floor lowered.
We've considered Acid Stained concrete too, but not sure about the colours, or been able to find anyone to do it!

 

[cmother1]

Sorry , but I still can't understand this post.
As a general principle, though, if you've 2 concrete floors that are different heights it's always easier to raise the lower one.

 

[Rampage]

The utility room and dining room are an extension onto the main building, they used be a completely seperate living area apparently.
The wall between the lounge and dining room was then knocked through to make a large room, unfortunately the dining area/utility had had the floor layed at a higher level than the rest of the house, hence the ramp!
I don't think raising the lower floor would be practical.
Possibly extending the ramp out into the room more would make it less noticable!



Chris

 

[joe-90]

You'd have to completely dig it up and redo it. Messy business but obviously possible.

 

[Rampage]

There's no way of removing the top layer by machine?

 

[cmother1]

Risky, unless you know exactly how the floor was constructed. Trying to remove 2" could take you down to the damp proof membrane in the floor. You'd then be into a real can of worms.

 

[joe-90]

There's no way of removing the top layer by machine?

Not that I know of. It would be much quicker to dig it all up.

If your top screed is crumbly and standard 50 mm you might be able to lower it by the depth of the screed. Give a try.

 

[Rampage]

It's not crumply at all.
It's probably the best looking concrete I've ever seen!
I might try drilling into it to see if it's layered.
Would the DPM be at the same level as the damp proof course in the brickwork? Is it the same thing?

 

[cmother1]

You won't be able to see much by drilling unless it's a pretty big hole. The DPM is a layer of thick plastic sheet buried in the floor. It is supposed to join up with the damp proof course in the walls to give continuous damp protection.
I still don't think lowering the floor is the way to go unless, as Joe-90 suggests, you're prepared to dig up the lot. I've a newish concrete floor out back which, from the top, goes -> 3" screed, DPM, 3" Celotex, another DPM (ask BCO, not me), 6" sub-floor concrete, hardcore. If you tried to take 2" off this floor you wouldn't have enough screed left for it to be viable on top of the insulation. The only way to do it and not fall foul of the building regs would be to dig the whole floor up and lower it. Is it really less practical to raise the other half?

 

[Rampage]

Ok, thanks.
We're now considering other options!