Opinions on best flooring solution for kitchen/utility

[Andyman35uk]

Hi, I do hope someone can offer some advice on this project because I’m really not sure of the best approach.

We’re soon to be replacing our kitchen and utility room and I’d like to fit under floor heating with ceramic tiles. Currently the kitchen is laminate over a battened chipboard subfloor. The battened chipboard sits on top of the house slab. In the adjacent utility room, which was a built extension some years ago the floor has been fully screeded and laid to matching laminate.

I’ve had very little success with flexible tile adhesive since previous owners have obviously laid quite a few different floor coverings over the years and the chipboard is fairly messy with what looks like old glue and lino backing well and truly cemented to it. To compound problems the sub-floor battens aren’t fixed to the slab so they do tend to flex as you walk around.

My current thinking is that the battened floor in the kitchen ought to be taken up and screeded to match the adjacent utility room. An electric under floor heating element run through and ceramic tiles laid.

However I do wonder whether this is the best approach. I’d be interested to know whether this is a common exercise when laying a heated ceramic floor or whether its overkill. My worry is that if the floor doesn’t live up to expectations it’ll be too late to do anything about it after the new kitchen is fitted.

I’d really appreciate any advice you may have.

All the best,
Andy.

 

[mac391]

Hi Andy,
Not entirely sure what you mean by a battened floor on top of a house slab. If you have woodchip flooring it is probably a fairly new build and that woodchip sits on insulation like kingspan and is fairly flexible which is maybe why you havn't had much luck with flexi adhesive. You need to absolutely sure there are battens/joists under the woodchip floor panels. To do this, just cut a small piece out and have a look. If there is a void or joists, it is likely the woodchip panels have been added. I need to know the sub-floor before can help further.

Hi, I do hope someone can offer some advice on this project because I’m really not sure of the best approach.

We’re soon to be replacing our kitchen and utility room and I’d like to fit under floor heating with ceramic tiles. Currently the kitchen is laminate over a battened chipboard subfloor. The battened chipboard sits on top of the house slab. In the adjacent utility room, which was a built extension some years ago the floor has been fully screeded and laid to matching laminate.

I’ve had very little success with flexible tile adhesive since previous owners have obviously laid quite a few different floor coverings over the years and the chipboard is fairly messy with what looks like old glue and lino backing well and truly cemented to it. To compound problems the sub-floor battens aren’t fixed to the slab so they do tend to flex as you walk around.

My current thinking is that the battened floor in the kitchen ought to be taken up and screeded to match the adjacent utility room. An electric under floor heating element run through and ceramic tiles laid.

However I do wonder whether this is the best approach. I’d be interested to know whether this is a common exercise when laying a heated ceramic floor or whether its overkill. My worry is that if the floor doesn’t live up to expectations it’ll be too late to do anything about it after the new kitchen is fitted.

I’d really appreciate any advice you may have.

All the best,
Andy.

 

[Andyman35uk]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I’ve previously had a small section of this flooring up to re-plumb a radiator so I can be sure of its construction. The chipboard floor is fixed to 2” battens, these sit directly on top of the concrete foundation slab separated by a PVC membrane only. The house is fairly modern, built in the mid-80’s but the only insulation in the floor is essentially the air gap provided by the 2” battens.

Hope this gives a better idea of the construction. Advice much appreciated.

Andy.

 

[mac391]

Hi Andy
Now i'm with you. Firstly, it's no wonder you havn't had much success with flexi tile adhesive if the battens arn't fixed to the sub-floor. Even if they were fixed the woodchip should still be overlayed with 12mm ply for added strength before tiling.
You're on theright tracks though, i would remove the woodchip and battens then use a cement backed insulation board (i use Marmox) just google it and you'll find it, there's loads more on the market aswell. Marmox do a 10mm thickness sheet which is stuck to the concrete slab by tile adhesive. it doesn't matter if your floor is slightly uneven, the tile adhesive will help to level. The insulation board is then primed with neoprene (comes with underfllor heating kit) then the cables placed on top. Latex screed over the cables then add the finished floor. i'm sure you know the benefits of insulation board, it makes underfloor heating "warm up time" much quicker and lower running costs long term. pretty expensive to buy though. You have aprox 43mm to match up with adjacent floor so careful planning req'd. You could use 20mm Marmox and karndean flooring, more insultion and a softer flooring ideal for underfloor heating.

Andy

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I’ve previously had a small section of this flooring up to re-plumb a radiator so I can be sure of its construction. The chipboard floor is fixed to 2” battens, these sit directly on top of the concrete foundation slab separated by a PVC membrane only. The house is fairly modern, built in the mid-80’s but the only insulation in the floor is essentially the air gap provided by the 2” battens.

Hope this gives a better idea of the construction. Advice much appreciated.

Andy.

 

[Andyman35uk]

Hi Andy,

That’s superb. Plenty of information there to get me going. I certainly wouldn’t be able to overlay 12mm ply and ceramic tile since the levels with adjoining rooms would be all wrong. It sounds like removing the chipboard and battens would be the best option. I’ll spend some time looking into the materials you suggest. The insulation layer sounds sensible since the laminate floor is already very cold heat loss must be fairly high.

Thank you very much for your advice. I’ll do some investigation.

Best regards,
Andy.