how to firm up my floors ?

[brugnospamsia]

Dear Group,

maybe I'm looking for excuses to not get on with my renovation ......

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I have lived for 20 years in what was, and probably still is, about the cheapest house in Bristol.

A 2 up 2 down Victorian terraced with very few "original features" (not my style anyway), not even central heating ...

I plan to sand the original floorboards downstairs for a fairly earthy and practical effect.

Upstairs the inspiration is Japanese, and for it to work the floor has to be spot on - either solid wood or good carpet. The front bedroom floor is reasonably good, the back bedroom has taken all the foot traffic over the years and may need major structural work to level it and cure the bounce - though there's no evidence of problems downstairs.

(period property fans may wish to stop reading at this point ;-)

My instinct is to replace the upstairs boards with 22mm chipboard and use them to fill in the gaps downstairs - and sell the rest to the salvage place down the road ...

Since it's upstairs and I'm replacing the staircase, presumably the floor level is not critical at this point so long as it is completely even.

I've been getting grief about my plans and I wonder if I could achieve the same results with less effort. Would it be sufficient to lay a new floor on top of the old ? Perhaps a layer of hardboard would be sufficient for the front bedroom ? How about a chipboard foor on top of planks ?

thanking you in anticipation ...

Jeremy

[Mike]

downstairs.

If you want Japanese-ish, why not lay bamboo "laminate" floor over the existing floorboards upstairs?

[brugnospamsia]

no need to be sarcastic ;-)

[bigcat]

indecipherable

earthy and

can look very good. Much easier and cheaper to just wash them though. I had thick filth coated ones come up nceily.

downstairs.

not difficult to fix, usually anyway.

salvage place

18mm's cheaper.

I trust your diying your stairacse

why?

yep, been done many times. It works, as long as you cover it with carpet or something, and screw loose boards down first. If youre real tight for cash its certainly an option. Not one I'd choose, but if you cant afford heating, it works.

If youre strapped a scrap wood floor is an option too, loads of half inch chip gets chucked. 2 layers of that gives you enough strength plus gap sealing and load spreading.

You cuold, but im not sure theres much point.

NT

[Mike]

I wasn't. I looked at these for my own house but despite assurances they can't take damp. (Went mouldy after a week)

[brugnospamsia]

In truth I'm not sure how close to the genuine "Tatami room" I'm aiming for :-

've found a western "take" on the "Shoji screen"

I should have cut out the story and said I just want the best possible floor for the least effort.

[brugnospamsia]

this is the sort of quality I'm after :-

fixable without replacing joists ?

I want a really firm floor

maybe .... but I have been advised that it's best to pay for fitting so I'm covered if I miscalculate ....

"you're making work for yourself .... if you ever sold the house the next people would expect real floorboards ..... the underfelt will disguise any floor problems ...."

I'm not /that/ short of funds. I just want to know the best practicable way to achieve near-perfection in a wobbly old house. Are you saying you would rip out the floorboards ?

thanks...

Jeremy

[The Natural Philosopher]

Be careful that either te BCO don't see it, or the new staircase is to current regs. Many victorian staircases are too narrow, too steep and have insuffcient headroom to pass regs.

Unless you nedd to beef up teh joists, I would strongly be tempted to simply use false joists and laed battens to level up what you have, and lay chip over it.

And leave the existing boarsd there for some pine glazed ditzhead to discover in 50 years time.

Nice period properties are one thing, Barrat superhurtch equivalent pre-building regs monstrosities are quite another.

Some hints

Pine. The chipboard and MFI of the victorian age.

'Stripped pine' , The equivalent of taking the melamine off contiboard to 'expose the natural wood effect'

Victoriam plumbing. Contradiction in terms. Tin bath and a kettle mate. And a two holer out the back.

Sash window. A device to let stale cabbage and farts out once a year in the days when mothers sewed tehmselves into their underwear for the winter, stayed at home all day, cooking and ironing and burglars got a crack over the head with the warming pan. No place in todays world.

Cast iron bath. The victorian equivalent to German Concrete. Used to keep coal in mainly. Coals too good for em IMHO.

Victorian insulation. Another horse blanket on the bed.

Victorian central heating. Husband and wife, the dog and three kids all in a four poster, held just above freezing point.

Victorian parlour. The place where you had tea with the vicar, and put granny in when she died, otherwise unused.

Victorian staircase. A ladder with the rungs filled in a bit.

Victorian cupboard. A contradiction in terms. No victorian had enough possessions or lived long enough to aquire any, to need a cupboard.

Gut the place if its structuraly sound, and throw the contents away, and build a decent house inside it.

[brugnospamsia]

My current one is just the wrong side of borderline at 42.4 degrees, the new one should be a bit shallower.

Any idea how much would it cost to have the "man from the ministry" come and give the once-over to all my modifications before they get decorated over?

I think you may well have convinced me - I don't think I have any problems with rotten beam ends.

Only problem is that it may allow me to bodge rather than replace the lumpy artexed l&p ceiling below.

LOL @ glossary of Victoriana :-)

My hovel had some spectacularly dodgy masonry in it. Luckily I had no posh fireplaces to angst over removing. The only thing I regretted losing was the ornamental arch in the hallway - there was more timber in the arch than the wooden beam it "disguised" . Funny how tastes change. I will be putting a nice concrete lintel in its place.

Jeremy

[bigcat]

stiffness so reveals all the undulations beneath.

Yup. Levelling and debouncing are done in one move. Remove floorboards, add furring strips to the tops of the existing joists to make a level, and reboard. Level, and stiffer. For stiffening to work well, glue and screw the furring every 6".

I should say check your joists are ok while youre there, just in case you do whats described then fall through it a year later cos it was rotten.

Thats down to the joists, 18mm chip is plenty firm.

you mean youre carpeting, not replacing the stairs?

practicable way

furring strips, and reboard closing up the gaps. You'll need a few extra strips of floorboard. Clean well and varnish. Chipboard instead of reboarding is also an option.

no, I dont think it makes any sense to remove good quality solid wood flooring to replace it with chip or other cheapass, and pay for the privilege.

But its what you did with the archway, so why not.

NT

[bigcat]

go on, tell us the details... dimensions etc. Sounds like you had a standard wooden lintel.

NT

[brugnospamsia]

It's a 2 and a bit by 4 laid "landscape". Give 'em their due it stayed up 140 years, but it will be supporting my new landing so it has to come out. Luckily the lintels are stuck into generous holes in the single brick party wall.

Losing the arch, makes it easier to get sheet materials upstairs among other things ...

The real horror in that room is a "feature fireplace" made of red and green reconstituted stone, presumably 1950s or 60s which I confess IS more hideous than most Victorian ones.

Jeremy

[bigcat]

losing

But was there a stone or brick arch there, or was it only the 2x4 supporting the triangle above it? If the latter, and its only a standard doors width, a triangle of 4" brickwork on a 2x4 should be well within its capabilities.

[bigcat]

losing

But was there a stone or brick arch there, or was it only the 2x4 supporting the triangle above it? If the latter, and its only a standard doors width, a triangle of 4" brickwork on a 2x4 should be well within its capabilities.

[bigcat]

losing

But was there a stone or brick arch there, or was it only the 2x4 supporting the triangle above it? If the latter, and its only a standard doors width, a triangle of 4" brickwork on a 2x4 should be well within its capabilities.

[brugnospamsia]

to be honest it wasn't supporting very much and the joists were joined between that and the lintel over the back room doorway ... and it was only a cupboard ... It's just the irony that so many people want exposed beams but the Victorians felt they had to disguise it. And the arch itself was hardly attached to the wall at all so it didn't contribute structurally .... If I had the choice I would probably live in a house made from steel and concrete .....

[The Natural Philosopher]

Mm. I wouldn't.

I think straw bales, or 10 ft thick masonry would be my first choices...depending on climate..

[brugnospamsia]

I like the idea of straw bales, but I live in "the inner city" and have visions of a big bad wolf huffing and puffing ;-)

[brugnospamsia]

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