Hi all,
I'm aware this has been discussed in previous threads, most of which I've read through at length. However, I'm about to take the plunge and get started so thought I might pass my plans by the group to see if anyone notices anything alarming in what I'm proposing....!
We currently have a seperate bathroom and toilet, both too small to be comfortable, and are proposing to knock through to make one big(ish) bathroom. The dividing wall is non-structural, built on top of the floorboards, and should be relatively easy to remove (once cistern and radiator are removed...). Our intention is to tile the floor in the new bathroom - currently we have carpet on lino (on 1940s newspaper!) on floorboards. The boards are mostly in good nick, except for where a previous central heating installer has attacked them. We want to put underfloor heating in under the tiles to keep our feet warm in winter, and intend to use the electric cable & mat route with controller mounter outside the bathroom. In order to make sure the tiles don't lift, we're going to need to put chipboard flooring and insulation down - but if we put this over the floorboards, then add the UFH, then the tile adhesive, then the tiles, we're going to have a floor that's about an inch higher than the hall. So the plan is to remove the old floorboards, replace with chipboard, then add thermal tile backer board, then the UFH, then the tiles.
My main concern is that some of the central heating pipework runs under the floor (the hw tank is in a cupboard in the bathroom) so we're going to be making any future access to that pipework well nigh impossible. Having just been at a friends house where a solder joint gave up last week, I'm a bit nervous about the same happening at some time in the future under our tiles... I'm pretty much committed to the route I'm going to take, but if anyone has any suggestions re. providing access to pipes under floors, or sees anything in the above plan which rings alarm bells, your input will be much appreciated!
Many thanks
Tom
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