Hi
I'm trying to figure out whether there are any options to create a more solid base for a washer/dryer unit located in a small closet (roughly 75cm W X 95cm D) in my kitchen (ground floor) in a 1986 Barrat terraced house.
The closet previously housed an immersion tank (removed when converted to wall hung condensing boiler). I had my washer/dryer moved into the closet to create more kitchen space for a dishwasher. However, the tongue and groove chipboard sub floor in the closet had deteriorated and warped (from water damage) so I figured I would need to replace/strengthen the floor to provide a level surface for the washer. The washer worked OK but was prone to rocking/imbalances even when completely level.
I recently had a builder investigate and we both incorrectly assumed there were joists under the floor (probably because we heard hollow sounds from the few voids for water and gas pipes underneath). However, after carefully removing the chipboard in the closet, he realised it (and the rest of the kitchen sub floor) was floating tongue and groove chipboard over polystyrene insulation block on a concrete solid floor with service pipes sitting in the insulation.
While acknowledging it might not work that well, the builder suggested replacing the removed floor with heavy ply (3/4" I believe) and fixing it to the concrete below (through the insulation) avoiding any service pipes. He then put another layer of ply on top of that and fixed it again. However, as I expected, the washing machine (even though completely level) becomes unbalanced at higher spins due to the natural movement of the insulation underneath. In fact, it's probably worse than before because the load is not being distributed across the whole floating kitchen floor (basically just sitting against the back and side walls of the closet). We fixed some L brackets from the ply floor to the bottom of the door frame to stabilise but didn't make much difference.
So, I'm wondering if I have any options to construct something more solid in the closet to support the machine. Raising the floor higher than the rest of the kitchen would not be a problem because it's hidden behind a closet door. A few things I've been mulling:
1) Creating some sort of concrete base just in the closet (on top of the existing concrete/insulation). However there are water pipes running diagonally across the closet so would guess would require a conduit. Possible or workable?
2) Removing some of the insulation and fixing some sort of wood or metal battens to the concrete screed beneath to create a raised platform and mounting ply or similar onto that.
Any other options anyone can think of?
Thanks
I'm trying to figure out whether there are any options to create a more solid base for a washer/dryer unit located in a small closet (roughly 75cm W X 95cm D) in my kitchen (ground floor) in a 1986 Barrat terraced house.
The closet previously housed an immersion tank (removed when converted to wall hung condensing boiler). I had my washer/dryer moved into the closet to create more kitchen space for a dishwasher. However, the tongue and groove chipboard sub floor in the closet had deteriorated and warped (from water damage) so I figured I would need to replace/strengthen the floor to provide a level surface for the washer. The washer worked OK but was prone to rocking/imbalances even when completely level.
I recently had a builder investigate and we both incorrectly assumed there were joists under the floor (probably because we heard hollow sounds from the few voids for water and gas pipes underneath). However, after carefully removing the chipboard in the closet, he realised it (and the rest of the kitchen sub floor) was floating tongue and groove chipboard over polystyrene insulation block on a concrete solid floor with service pipes sitting in the insulation.
While acknowledging it might not work that well, the builder suggested replacing the removed floor with heavy ply (3/4" I believe) and fixing it to the concrete below (through the insulation) avoiding any service pipes. He then put another layer of ply on top of that and fixed it again. However, as I expected, the washing machine (even though completely level) becomes unbalanced at higher spins due to the natural movement of the insulation underneath. In fact, it's probably worse than before because the load is not being distributed across the whole floating kitchen floor (basically just sitting against the back and side walls of the closet). We fixed some L brackets from the ply floor to the bottom of the door frame to stabilise but didn't make much difference.
So, I'm wondering if I have any options to construct something more solid in the closet to support the machine. Raising the floor higher than the rest of the kitchen would not be a problem because it's hidden behind a closet door. A few things I've been mulling:
1) Creating some sort of concrete base just in the closet (on top of the existing concrete/insulation). However there are water pipes running diagonally across the closet so would guess would require a conduit. Possible or workable?
2) Removing some of the insulation and fixing some sort of wood or metal battens to the concrete screed beneath to create a raised platform and mounting ply or similar onto that.
Any other options anyone can think of?
Thanks