Retrofitting Block and Beam - has anyone done this before?

[andycarr1]

HI,

I've got an old victorian house to sort out and one of the major jobs is sorting the floor, in some rooms I have suspended wooden floors on rotten joists, in some I have flooring bricks laid direct on earth, in some I have old concrete pads (no DPM) and in one room flags laid on earth.

I'm fairly lucky that the building is long and uniform in size (4.1m by 50 for the front half, where I need the new floor) the outside long front wall and two end walls are 3 solid bricks thick, (no cavity), the foundations are a good 3ft of laid brick work in the ground on top of limestone sets, and the 'back' wall (or middle if you consider the whole house) is 2 foot thick solid brickwork....

To sort out the floor with good ventaillation, insulation, UFH and DPM, I plan on ripping the floor out in stages down its length and replacing it with block and beam, 100mm kingspan, DPC and 75 mm screed with UFH.

So, any thoughts? - has any one actually retrofitted B&B before?? what about sleeper walls and foundations, and advice on size? and how should I make connection with the four walls, (or should I put up a new inner skin with insulation inside on 3 exterior walls, what about the back wall, how do i connect with that?)

All your thoughts and points gratefully recieved, has any one retrofitted B&B before?

Cheers
Andy

 

[tony1851]

and two en walls are 3 solid bricks thick, foundations a good 3ft of laid brick work in teh ground, and the 'back' wall is 2 foot thick solid brickwork....

Is this a house or a fortress?

 

[andycarr1]

Oh yes...

you have no idea! - I just found a 5000 gallon, 5' deep active water cistern under the room with flags in..... (vaulted brick archwork... lovely, might not actually change this bit of the floor...)

 

[andycarr1]

Bump

 

[andycarr1]

I'm slowly exacatating teh rooms to 2 foot depth, but still no further forward with ideas of connecting floor to walls, any ideas?

Ta

Andy

 

[IJWS15]

Why block and beam, why not just cast a concrete slab and lay insulation on top?

 

[pinenot]

If you do decide to go for block and beam, why not use aerated blocks, just as strong i.e. made fro the job, similar price if not cheaper and more sustainable.
Alternatively you could use wriggly tin decking and hempcrete (cuts out the need for insulation = cheaper) or similar as your flooring medium. the known benefits are worth investigating...pinenot