Old floorboards upstairs are uneven- what type of floor

Buying house2020

Hi,

Complete DIY novice here.

Currently doing up our 'fixer upper'.
Money is very tight, so we planned on getting some nice cheap vinyl for the bedrooms and bathroom upstairs.
Had a company out to measure the floors, they said that vinyl would not be suitable because of the old floorboards and the fact that they are uneven.

Has anyone encountered this problem?
We can get carpets for the bedrooms, but our issue is trying to find a suitable floor for the bathroom, carpet in the bathroom just doesn't appeal!

We are looking for something that is the cheapest option yet presentable for the moment.

NickNickleby

I suppose it depends how bad it is, but a cheap remedy would be to lay hardboard down over the floor boards. Make sure the edges meet properly. Use the biggest practical sheet, to minimise the number of joins.

My daughter had tiles laid over a slightly uneven floor, and the guy put down stuff he called 'cement board' . It was like plaster board, but solid (like cement :pac:) and it made the whole floor completely level. It was about 1 to 1.5 cm thick.

HTH

my3cents

Are the old floors worth cleaning up and making a feature of?

macnug

The cheapest option in the bathroom (that would last a bit) would probably be plywood screwed to the joist and some tiles with a flexible adhesive and grout. If you tile it yourselves you can do it for very little money and it will last for years.

tonydude

Take up the floor boards down to joist level and put down 3/4" ply. Then tile it yourself.

Or

Lay 6mm ply over the floor , close the gaps between sheets and use a levelling compound to feather out the discrepancies as using thin sheeting will only follow the floor unevenness. Don't use hardboard.

antiskeptic

Buying house2020 wrote: »

Hi,

Complete DIY novice here.

Currently doing up our 'fixer upper'.
Money is very tight, so we planned on getting some nice cheap vinyl for the bedrooms and bathroom upstairs.
Had a company out to measure the floors, they said that vinyl would not be suitable because of the old floorboards and the fact that they are uneven.

Has anyone encountered this problem?
We can get carpets for the bedrooms, but our issue is trying to find a suitable floor for the bathroom, carpet in the bathroom just doesn't appeal!

We are looking for something that is the cheapest option yet presentable for the moment.

Tiling will accommodate a fair degree of unevenness. Vinyl would need a billiard table like flatness. I don't imagine the boards are that uneven in themselves. If there's a big step though then either something is trapped between board and joist, preventing it laying flat.. or a wrong thickness board has been used. Either replace with correct thickness board or sand the thick board down.

Your tile + adhesive is going to raise the floor level. Which creates a problem at the door saddle. The trick here is to remove the saddle (replace it if it has to be broken out) and cut a slice along the sloped section to get the thickness of the saddle on the bathroom side up to the level of the laid tiles. Do this first and work the tile to the door saddle.

The boards need to be well fixed down - screwing is best. If loose you can't just ram a screw through though, there could be cables/plumbing laid in the joist and you'll go into those. A loose board needs to be lifted to check the way is clear, then screw it down.

Look online for board removal. You really need a circular saw set to 2/3rd the depth of the board to cut through the tongue for easy removal. Simply sawing through with a saw could see you cut through cables/plumbing.

It's worth nothing at this point investment in tools. I did up my own house and took the wise step of buying stuff as I needed it. Trying to do up a house with a hammer and a screwdriver just leads to a lot of grief. You don't need top quality but avoid crap as well. Ryobi is a decent enough DIY grade brand for example.

Use biggish tiles (and flexible tiling adhesive) and lay them out to ensure a tile joint doesn't occur right over a floorboard joint (certainly not in a well trodden area) and you'll be good to go. Oh, and remove the skirtings at least for a tidy job. I'd remove toilet bowl and sink pedestals too but toilets are hard to remove and often get broken and the sink might need to be raised if the pedestal comes to sit on tiles.

If you've anything but straight line cuts for the tiling, consider investing in a 4" angle grinder and a diamond tile cutting disc. It's more versatile than a tile cutting machine.

Buying house2020

my3cents wrote: »

Are the old floors worth cleaning up and making a feature of?

I considered that, but theres a lot of gaps between the floor boards.