Advice on floor prep!

[PGM Tiling Solutions]

Hello all,

I will shortly be starting a DIY kitchen refit but have a question regarding sorting out a split level floor in our current kitchen/diner. The current kitchen floor is 4 and a 1/2 inches lower than the dining room and both floors have been tiled previoulsy (very poorly!). The plan is to make the kitchen the dining room and vice versa and when the new kitchen is in we want to tile the floor again. Both floors are concrete and a DPM has been laid previously.

Anyway........I have read loads of posts/threads ref flooring and was wondering how others would approach this project.

Option 1: Is to remove the existing tiles and raise the floor the required amount with concrete over insulation board then SLC. I would also then need to use an uncoupling membrane between the 2 rooms.

Option 2: Remove existing tiles and fit wooden joists and secure with anchor bolts to the concrete floor. Fit noggins every 300mm and then screw 25mm marine ply or hardibacker boards (also lay insulation board). Again, use an uncoupling membrane between the 2 rooms.

The major problem that I have with this job is that I am only home at weekends and will not be able to put the current kitchen out of use completely while a concete floor sets.

Any advice or hints will be gratfully recieved!

Cheers

Paul

[doug boardley]

If I'm reading this properly, I'd be inclined to remove all tiles, raise the lower floor with a concrete screed then use 10mm insulation boards (available from U-heat) right through both rooms. Where the new screed meets the existing higher floor I'd form an expansion joint in the screed and use an expansion strip here. Hope this helps.

[diamondtiling]

If I'm reading this properly, I'd be inclined to remove all tiles, raise the lower floor with a concrete screed then use 10mm insulation boards (available from U-heat) right through both rooms. Where the new screed meets the existing higher floor I'd form an expansion joint in the screed and use an expansion strip here. Hope this helps.

Cant add anything to that Bomber.

[365drills]

On my own kitchen floor I has a split level too.

Level one was old screeded concretr.
Level two was a lower level wooden floor with a snooker table!

Having got rid of the snooker table I dug up the wooden floor. Laid a membrane. Filled it with bricks and rubble. Dumped cement into it and let it go off for 6 weeks. We then had it screeded 5 inches to the other floor.

Waited 3 weeks. Then had the entire floor fibreglass reinforced (very smelly - and knocks you out). On top of that had a 5mm latex resin pour mixture which took 2 weeks to set fully. AND THEN we put the kitchen in. Total time spent 11 weeks.



The result of the latex screen across two previous levels brought up to meet with a screed.



Final result of the latex resin.

So I think your tile project will be a lot quicker !

[PGM Tiling Solutions]

Thanks for the replies and advice gven by all. That's a pretty impressive end result 365! Concrete it is then! Only problem is that if I raise both floors with insulation board it will create a step from the hallway which leads straight through. I'm thinking to concrete and insulation board the lower floor and go with the expansion joint. Might be a silly question but.....! Will I need to SLC on the insulation board or just make sure I get my concrete height bang on and level?

Thanks again

Paul

[Sean Kelly]

Lovely kitchen Richard. I was looking at another post of your and wondered what the floor was made of. Have you got any tiles in your kitchen?? Looks like you are in for a healthy lunch. Cheers Sean