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Hi - first post here so be gentle.....
We have a 7m x 3m summerhouse in our garden - built in around 2004, although not by us - we moved in in 2015.
The floor is laid with concrete slabs and is uneven (a pain when you want a smooth surface), plus in winter, it's bloody cold. The building is built on a large concrete sub-base but we're not sure if the slabs are laid on a DPM or straight onto the concrete - we think the latter. Either way, water is getting under the slabs - which given the very high water table we have now isn't all that surprising maybe - certainly the wettest we've seen it since moving in. This is creating some efflorescence on the slabs - where this appears I'm seeing a moisture meter (standard 2 probe one but with a masonry setting) reading of over 20%; in dryer areas it's less than 15%.
We'd like to make the surface smooth and lay some Karndean type vinyl tiles over which means one of 2 approaches.
1. dig up the slabs and start again. not something we want to do as it's messy, and there is a T-shape stud partition at one end which is built on top of the slabs, so that would need removing as well to get all the floor up.
2. lay a self levelling floor. this is our preferred approach as we can then make a smooth surface, although it will raise the surface (not sure by how much as I haven't fully measured the rise and fall of the current slabs). I can remove the current skirting easily enough; walls are plasterboarded and the door threshold strip is being replaced so will be higher (new door going in). I reckon an additional depth of up to 20mm before the floor is flat.
My main question is whether to lay a latex type DPM over the current floor before laying the self levelling, and perhaps after as well?? Can you get water resistant self levelling?? And is there any treatment I should look at to remove the efflorescence or just brush/hoover it off??
Someone also suggested using Jackoboard over the self level before laying the vinyl tiles - not a product I'm familiar with but it looks interesting as it will also add some insulation and warmth.
Picture of the current slabs and efflorescence attached.
Apologies for the lengthy post - be interested in comments and suggestions!
We have a 7m x 3m summerhouse in our garden - built in around 2004, although not by us - we moved in in 2015.
The floor is laid with concrete slabs and is uneven (a pain when you want a smooth surface), plus in winter, it's bloody cold. The building is built on a large concrete sub-base but we're not sure if the slabs are laid on a DPM or straight onto the concrete - we think the latter. Either way, water is getting under the slabs - which given the very high water table we have now isn't all that surprising maybe - certainly the wettest we've seen it since moving in. This is creating some efflorescence on the slabs - where this appears I'm seeing a moisture meter (standard 2 probe one but with a masonry setting) reading of over 20%; in dryer areas it's less than 15%.
We'd like to make the surface smooth and lay some Karndean type vinyl tiles over which means one of 2 approaches.
1. dig up the slabs and start again. not something we want to do as it's messy, and there is a T-shape stud partition at one end which is built on top of the slabs, so that would need removing as well to get all the floor up.
2. lay a self levelling floor. this is our preferred approach as we can then make a smooth surface, although it will raise the surface (not sure by how much as I haven't fully measured the rise and fall of the current slabs). I can remove the current skirting easily enough; walls are plasterboarded and the door threshold strip is being replaced so will be higher (new door going in). I reckon an additional depth of up to 20mm before the floor is flat.
My main question is whether to lay a latex type DPM over the current floor before laying the self levelling, and perhaps after as well?? Can you get water resistant self levelling?? And is there any treatment I should look at to remove the efflorescence or just brush/hoover it off??
Someone also suggested using Jackoboard over the self level before laying the vinyl tiles - not a product I'm familiar with but it looks interesting as it will also add some insulation and warmth.
Picture of the current slabs and efflorescence attached.
Apologies for the lengthy post - be interested in comments and suggestions!