Having bought an ex-pub in Devon, I have a large room (20' by 40') that needs re-flooring, with the final aim of fitting a carpet.
The old floor comprised pine boards laid directly on concrete, and as many were spongy and mouldy I have grubbed them all up. The concrete beneath is crumbly in places, to uneven to fit boards or Cellotex directly, and worse still I am told it has no DPC. (Traces of tar indicate that was the preferred DPC when the floor was laid, anything up to 50 years ago I imagine.)
As I can't for the life of me find anyone both qualified and available in the foreseeable future to do this work, even though I am willing and eager to throw money at them, it looks like I am lumbered with this monstrous undertaking myself. So knowing next to nothing about screeding, I will very much welcome any DIY advice from experts here.
My inclination is to simply lay new screed to roughly the thickness of the boards, then lay hardwood boards, and finally the underlay and carpet. But Ideally, to save having to tinker with doors and add steps, I'd prefer to keep the carpeted floor surface at the level of the boards, and that suggests I may have to drill out a layer of the old concrete with a Kango.
An expert who I did manage to persuade to look at the room mentioned that a proper DPC would be essential. But I'm not even sure what this refers to in the context of a floor. I realise a wall DPC is a layer two bricks above ground level, which this room probably doesn't have either. But surely the guy wasn't suggesting I knock down the walls or drill into them to fit this perishing DPC?!
So in summary - HELP!!
Regards
John
The old floor comprised pine boards laid directly on concrete, and as many were spongy and mouldy I have grubbed them all up. The concrete beneath is crumbly in places, to uneven to fit boards or Cellotex directly, and worse still I am told it has no DPC. (Traces of tar indicate that was the preferred DPC when the floor was laid, anything up to 50 years ago I imagine.)
As I can't for the life of me find anyone both qualified and available in the foreseeable future to do this work, even though I am willing and eager to throw money at them, it looks like I am lumbered with this monstrous undertaking myself. So knowing next to nothing about screeding, I will very much welcome any DIY advice from experts here.
My inclination is to simply lay new screed to roughly the thickness of the boards, then lay hardwood boards, and finally the underlay and carpet. But Ideally, to save having to tinker with doors and add steps, I'd prefer to keep the carpeted floor surface at the level of the boards, and that suggests I may have to drill out a layer of the old concrete with a Kango.
An expert who I did manage to persuade to look at the room mentioned that a proper DPC would be essential. But I'm not even sure what this refers to in the context of a floor. I realise a wall DPC is a layer two bricks above ground level, which this room probably doesn't have either. But surely the guy wasn't suggesting I knock down the walls or drill into them to fit this perishing DPC?!
So in summary - HELP!!
Regards
John