Rip it up and start again, rip it up and start againnnn!!!!

[FresnoBob]

Sorry about the awful singing, I hope you good people might be kind enough to give me some advice.

Our kitchen floor is awful, lumpy, bumpy and creaky. The construction seems to be concrete, vapour barrier and big polystyrene insulation blocks, with some godawful tongue and groove chipboard stuff on top. One creak too many has sent me over the edge, I want to rip the whole lot up and chuck it in a skip. The weathers getting warmer now, so I'm thinking it's now or never.

Once I'm down to concrete, I'm looking to remove and replace the airbricks with normal ones, put down some sort of self levelling compound then tile on top. I'm looking to use tiles with a textured/uneven appearance so they're a little more forgiving of my amateur tiling skills (I've previously did the kitchen wall tiles to a good diy standard). If the missus digs her heals in and wants something flat and shiny, I'll get a professional tiler in to do it once I've done the prep work.

I'm assuming the vapour barrier can be chucked as it's purely to stop the chipboard from getting moist, is this correct? What about insulation....(obviously I can't tile on top of polystyrene lol ), I'm assuming it would be best to tile directly onto the concrete, but would this end up being freezing cold and/or breaking any sort of building regulations regarding energy efficiency?

Sorry if this is answered elsewhere.

Thank you.

 

[FresnoBob]

My search skills are improving, looks like we have a similar set up to this fella....

//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=265985

So according to Richard C, it looks like Marmox boards might be the answer....lay these down and tile over.

 

[1john]

I suspect you have block and beam floor with DPM over top and then insulation with chip board, if you remove the insulation you will have a very cold floor.

 

[FresnoBob]

Yeah....just looking and that Marmox board stuff looks quite good, looks like it provides a good waterproof insulation and base to tile on, doing away with the need for the whole horrible, creaky, slightly bouncy (in places) uneven, plastic sheet, polystyrene and chipboard combination.

Has anyone any practical experience of using these boards on a kitchen floor to be tiled?

 

[tictic]

if your going down that route then..
lay a dpm
slurry coat then bed the insulation boards ontop with flexy addy..

then another slurry coat
then you can use a fast track screed...while the slurry coat is still wet..

mapei pronto..or..
ardex 35...

there are a few others also..but these type of fast track screeds are costly compared to just a sand/cement screed..

just follow manf guide lines/instructions..

 

[tictic]

if your going down that route then..
lay a dpm
slurry coat then bed the insulation boards ontop with flexy addy..

then another slurry coat
then you can use a fast track screed...while the slurry coat is still wet..

mapei pronto..or..
ardex 35...

there are a few others also..but these type of fast track screeds are costly compared to just a sand/cement screed..

just follow manf guide lines/instructions..

just logged back on....think i have replied to another post/thread you were on.....

ouch well....

 

[FresnoBob]

if your going down that route then..
lay a dpm
slurry coat then bed the insulation boards ontop with flexy addy..

then another slurry coat
then you can use a fast track screed...while the slurry coat is still wet..

mapei pronto..or..
ardex 35...

there are a few others also..but these type of fast track screeds are costly compared to just a sand/cement screed..

just follow manf guide lines/instructions..

In the thread linked to above Richard C mentions this Marmox board stuff not needing a DPM as it's waterproof itself anyway? I'm fairly sure (I've had part of the floor up before and like the OP on the other post, it's bone dry) there's a DPM under the blockwork.

And here's where my DIY knowledge (or lack of lol) comes unstuck....what do you mean by a 'slurry coat'? I was kind of hoping it would be as simple as just whacking the adhesive down, and laying these boards with nothing more complicated than perhaps a Self Levelling Compound first at the very worst.

Edit: Reading the other thread I see you're 'Old Skool' tic, I was hoping to do it as simply as possible even if it's not quite as satisfying, it's got to be better than the crappy bouncy, uneven, cruddy chipboard/polystyrene getup....

 

[tictic]

http://www.marmox.co.uk/products/thermoblock

ok been looking into this...lol

if you look at the diagram for a block and beam floor...

you will still need a good insulation board..X amount thick..and also a screed X amount thick ontop off this...

as i have said in the other post,if your going for marmox give their tech guys a call first mate and explain what type of subfloor you have..and they will advice better..i.e thickness of board and thickness of screed.

you have to remeber when the builder lays the block beam they are ment to "grout" over it,.. to fill in all the voids...sometimes yes they do it,sometimes they dont...

and if you look at the link it will cover thermal bridging etc,..with you taking away your dpm/insulation/chipboard you will be losing a LOT off HEAT through the floor.