1990s concrete floors insulated?

bitr1984

Hi guys, this is my first post, im baffled by whether it was common practice to insulate concrete floors by the early 90's or was that a later development? Im looking at a renovation right now and would like to have some idea whether it was common practice or not, any help would be much appreciated as the current owner doesn't know whether the floors are insulated or not and we cannot contact the builder that put down the floor when the place was last renovated its a 1960s house that originally had floating wooden floors, really any help would be much appreciated here

archtech

It would have been standard practice to provide a strip of insulation 1.0 m wide around the permiter at that time prior to the introduction of the building regs in 1992. From then on insulation under the entire floor slab became the norm. That said without taking a core or series of cores it is not possible to tell. Unless you are putting in underfloor heating or doing excess works which requires reinstatement of the floor the pay back may be too long in terms energy saving. A good retrofit consultant will be able to advise.

bitr1984

archtech wrote: »

It would have been standard practice to provide a strip of insulation 1.0 m wide around the permiter at that time prior to the introduction of the building regs in 1992. From then on insulation under the entire floor slab became the norm. That said without taking a core or series of cores it is not possible to tell. Unless you are putting in underfloor heating or doing excess works which requires reinstatement of the floor the pay back may be too long in terms energy saving. A good retrofit consultant will be able to advise.

thanks for the reply, we wouldnt be doing anything near the floor so i think i might scratch that cost from my budget, we will be doing external insulation as there was never any unsulation addedto the walls, but i dont think that should affect the situation,

Thanks again for your advice

archtech

Be sure and continue the external insulation at least 600mm below ground (footpath) level to a similar thickness as the rest of the walls and not stop it at footpath level.

bitr1984

will do, thanks

bigreddog

if you aren't going to do anything with the floor structure (i.e. insulate), it might be worth taking a moment to consider your floor coverings - i.e. timber flooring instead of stone tiles.

A 20mm timber floor (18mm wood + 2mm underlay) will have the same insulative value as about 5-6mm EPS - doesn't sound like much, but something is better than nothing!

BryanF

bitr1984 wrote: »

we wouldnt be doing anything near the floor so i think i might scratch that cost from my budget, we will be doing external insulation

as archtech say take the external to the foundations, & overlap with roof insulation if at all possible, think through the window and threshold details carefully, consider the rainwater goods & outside fixings at an early stage. this along with any heating & ventilation upgrades will make the most difference to occupant comfort.

bigreddog wrote: »

if you aren't going to do anything with the floor structure (i.e. insulate), it might be worth taking a moment to consider your floor coverings - i.e. timber flooring instead of stone tiles.

A 20mm timber floor (18mm wood + 2mm underlay) will have the same insulative value as about 5-6mm EPS - doesn't sound like much, but something is better than nothing!

pointless waste of money imo - spending 20/50€ x msq on new flooring for insulation purposes? just ware slippers!

bigreddog

BryanF wrote: »

pointless waste of money imo - spending 20/50€ x msq on new flooring for insulation purposes? just ware slippers!

agreed, but bear it in mind if you are changing floor coverings - my parents changed carpet for ceramic floor tiles in their hallway, and that room has never been so cold!