Suspended or Concrete floor

[Londoner2]

Hiya,

Looking into having a kitchen extension built, can anyone tell me the pros and cons of building a suspended or a concrete floor?

ta

 

[JP_]

Concrete slab is cheaper, quicker.

Suspended concrete costs more .... Pros - no idea!
Suspended timber must be cheaper materials, but prone to rot and I'd assume a bit more labour time?

 

[^woody^]

Speed

 

[Londoner2]

Speed

Film?

 

[JP_]

maybe access too? I guess if you do not have easy access to the rear of a property, but can carry a concrete beam through the house, this might be better than pumping concrete or walking barrows of it through the house.

 

[Leofric]

What is your existing floor construction and how high is the floor level above external ground level

 

[ivixor]

Block and beam floor needs no concrete pumping or curing time.

 

[tomfe]

Block and beam floor needs no concrete pumping or curing time.

Slab does not need to be pumped and BnB still needs screed curing time, so you might save 2 weeks, other work can still be going on.
Suspended floor is for speed and where levels would cause problems.

Always go for a slab where you can.

 

[Leofric]

A ground bearing insulated concrete slab is usually the preferred option unless ground conditions dictate otherwise. Suspended ground floor construction usually means the finished floor level is quite high which can be a problem for level access and might be a problem lining through with your existing floor level ( hence the question what is your existing floor construction and height above ground level.) If your existing floor is suspended you would need to duct ventilation from air bricks through a new concrete slab to ventilate the underfloor void . (but only you know )

 

[Notch7]

If youve moved concrete beams around, you would prefer pumped concrete

Usually site conditions dictate your option.

-deep footings due to trees, probably block n beam

-ground level much lower than floor level -b n b

-poor ground, for eg 600mm of top soil or made up ground b n b

Im not convinced by speed argument -thats only true if the veams are pre ordered, as they take a week plus quite often.

 

[Leofric]

It depends on the existing floor and ground conditions but Londoner2 won't tell us .

 

[Nige F]

Suspended wooden floor + washing machine =