HELP Please ASAP How deep to pour finish floors?

Goll Mac Morna

Hello all
We are coming to the end of our build and are about to pour finish floors.
A flooring contractor is to pour a concrete screed to bury pipework etc.
We have left the depth of a block (4'' or 100mm) to allow for this.

Our builder has all the door frames in place 'floating in the air' four inches above the sub floor waiting for the finished floor.

The flooring contractor is due to come to us on Thur or Fri of this week.

The question I have is ... can anyone offer/ suggest the best method for fixing wooden floors and therefore what depth to leave to account for this.

We plan to have a 20mm solid oak floor in two downstairs rooms and tile the rest (hall, kitchen, utility, toilet).

Most people say '...allow 10mm for the tile and adhesive...'.

On the wooden floor a no of people have suggested using 5/8 inch plywood and nailing the floor to this so this would involve leaving approx 30mm or 35mm in these rooms.

Could anyone offer advice from experience on what is the best depth to leave ?
What is the best approach to take?
Thanks a million
Goll

Goll Mac Morna

Sorry .Wrong forum .

Corkey123

Goll

To put solid flooring on the a concrete base you will need to place batons of at least 3/4 so as to secret nail the boards. Therefore I'd suggest the level of the floor in which you are putting floor baords should be 3/4 to 1 inch blow the level of the rest of the house i.e tiling, etc.

Alternatively you could glue the boards directly to the concrete - though not sure of that method.

hjsimpson

You could do what i did......put all the finished screed floor in at the same level. Solid floors 18 / 20mm can be glued straight to the DRIED screed, semi-solid can be floated (15mm floor +3mm underlay), tiles usually 10mm / 14mm including adhesive.
There are numerous mouldings and ramp sections available in metal or solid wood to hide the few millimeter difference at doorways etc.
Make sure screed is dry before laying any timber floor......aim for 3 to 4 %.
Be prepared to wait up to a month per inch depth of screed to dry properly.

You didnt mention if there is underfloor heating.......this will affect adhesive choice (and indeed wood choice!)

tradesman

Hello Goll
Believe it or not everything depends on the thickness of your tiles and your door frame heights.You say you are putting roughly 4" of concrete in. Has the carpenter left the bottoms of the door frames all at 4" from the subfloor? Are you fitting saddleboards? Has the carpenter allowed for saddles in the frame heights?If he has then measure the depth of your tile, add approx 3-5mm for the adhesive and that is the measurement below the door frame you need to be working to.Solid floors are generally best laid on battens. In this case i would fit 2" x 2" battens to the sub - floor using compression anchors. These would need to be fitted perfectly level so as to give you a level floor. You should use a straight edge and level to fix perfectly level timbers in the room at the 2 opposite walls.Then fit another timber/s depending on the width of the room in between these two. Use packers to take out the inconsistencies in the subfloor.Then fill in between these with the other 2" x 2" timber battens Remember to take your time at this stage and get it right otherwise everything else will end up being bodged to look right. You should aim to keep the 2" x 2"'s approx. 12" apart. Other people will tell you there is no need to be so close together but at the end of the day all you are spareing is a couple of timbers! this way you will have a more solid floor underfoot.Now you will need to measure up from the 2" x 2" battens to the height of the bottom of your tile and adhesive and then fit either 2" x 1" battens on top of the 2" x 2"'s or if these are not at the right height you have to purchase plywood of the relevant thickness to bring you up to the correct height. You will be saving on the cost of the concrete if you do it this way. So you only need to concrete where the tiles are going. In fact it would be best to lay the concrete for the tiled areas first then it will give you a correct measurement from the tiles to work to. The critical measurement in all works concerned with houses is what is known as the "FINISHED FLOOR HEIGHT" as that is the key level that everything else is taken from. Sorry for being long winded and hope you follow what i am trying to explain! If not ask again.