Parquet Flooring and Flagstones, Problem!

[andymason79]

My wife and I are renovating an 1870's house. Under the lounge carpet i

what I presume to be the original Flagstones "great" you might think!

Problem is I was hoping for a screeded floor, as we intend on layin parquet flooring in a double herringbone pattern and as I am sure yo are all aware, a flat surface is required. Well the flagstones b nature are not flat!

Here are my options as I see it:

A. Cover the flagstones in a thin screed, a shame to waste them an thin is not good, cracks etc.

B. Take out the flagstones and try to sell them on ebay, lay a new 4 concrete floor for the parquet flooring.

C. Forget it and lay some new carpet.

If anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated

-- andymason79

[Nigel Molesworth]

What is this, bad taste week?

You have got ORIGINAL FLAGSTONES, and you are going to cover them up. While you are at it, why not rip out the fireplaces and make all the doors flush with hardboard. Some uPVC windows might be nice.

Clean the floor, buy rugs.

[Chris Bacon]

What are these "flagstones" like?

Replacing the "flagstones" with concrete will be best, if you really want a parquet floor, as thin screen is iffy, and the stones may rock enough to be a problem anyway. Option "C" is obviously the easiest. Making a feature of the floor, but covering most of it with a large rug or rugs may be nicest. Up to you.

[Grunff]

I love it when someone who's never actually lived with 'original flagstones' wades in...

Yes, very sensibly. Flagstones weren't used because they are a great floor, they were used because they were relatively cheap and hard wearing. They have many, many drawbacks.

Some? Why do a half-arsed job? Replace the lot.

ROFL

[Nigel Molesworth]

I realise there can be problems (movement, damp etc) but figured that if they were good enough to lay carpet on, they should be sound.

I helped a friend re-lay the flagstones in his barn conversion, it looked fantastic when it was finished.

[Grunff]

Yes, they can look good. But they're cold. And they trap dirt in the thick grout lines. Really only worth considering if you're laying 2" of insulation and UFH underneath - otherwise not nice at all.

[andymason79]

You say that, but don't know enough about what previous owners hav done to the rest of the property!

I have ripped out the fireplace, it was the most ugly (1960's) piece o S**T you could ever come across. I really wanted a coal fire but th original fire was gone, as was the chimmney all to make room for backboiler, so that feature was gone. As for the windows, we wer thinking about getting Upvc ones fitted because again the window currently here are nasty 1950's ones covered in a sea of white gloss The only original sash is on the landing and its suffered the sam fate.

Had the flagstones been in the kitchen it would have been great, wanted a farmhouse look, but someone about 20 years ago had beaten m to screeding over them (I would not have in the kitchen). By the wa there are cracks in the screed there, so I guess concrete is best.

Anymore advice appreciated

-- andymason79

[Nigel Molesworth]

So is thin strips of wood placed on top.

[Christian McArdle]

I'd be thinking 'B'. Whilst I'm all for keeping original features, flagstones in the lounge would be a step too far unless it was the sort of genuine country cottage that really benefits visually from them.

If you are redoing the floor, you should really be insulating it too. I'd consider laying underfloor heating pipes at the same time so you can save yourself wallspace from the radiators.

Christian.

[Dave Fawthrop]

|If you are redoing the floor, you should really be insulating it too.

Amen to that. I lived in a house with flagged floors years ago, and they were $%$%$=A3%(* cold.

--=20 Dave Fawthrop

17,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg! Yorkshire Dialect go to

[Rick]

There is probably no DPM under the flagstones, so they will need to come out, even if later replaced.

OK, they don't need to come out if you are doing one of those "lime motar is great, lets make this place cold and drafty" type renovations.

Rick

[owdman]

Why buy an old house if you are going to f**k it over by replacing period stuff with poor quality modern alternatives? If the flags are dry why not just leave them alone. If damp then you could lift and re-lay on soft sand/dpm/sand/hardcore as necessary. Concrete not necessary but insulation could be added above dpm .

cheers

Jacob

[owdman]

Nonsense. Flagstones were expensive. Cheap floors were cobbled - often "pitched" i.e. thin stones on edge, cheaper floors were bare earth compacted and improved with mutton fat etc. Some flags e.g. big limestone ones were very expensive and would cost a fortune to replace nowadays. Quarry tiles took over because they were much cheaper by the late 19C and an improvement on some (but not all) stone surfaces.

cheers

Jacob

[The Natural Philosopher]

HEAR HEAR!!!

[The Natural Philosopher]

I feel for you.

If at all possible rip te stines up, wash off in brick acid, and sell or use somewhere else.

If at all possible, rip up the complete floor underneath and do what Grunff suggested - i.e. put a decent floor with insulation down underneath it.

Essentially about 4 " of concrete over a hardcore base, DPM, at least 2" of polystyrene, and then 4 " of screed with UFH pipes laid in it. THEN parquet it.

THAT is what I call a FLOOR.

Samshin up te original floor is the worst..after that its just pay money to good screeders...the rest is DIY. Even te screeding is DIY if you take the trouble to lay guides of wood, and can mix the screed correctly.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Becasue just because a house is old, doesn't mean its worth preserving. Partcularly if large parts of it have all ready been buggered into a shagged out old tart.

Renovating old buildings is an art, and a balance between what to get rid of, and what to keep. Sometimes all you want is te basic wa;lls cost the rest is rotten, nothing special, and costly to maintain.

Sometimes you want it all, because its really very pretty - even here though - even if those flags were kept, I'd STILL rip te floor up and put insulation and UFH down and THEN re-lay the flags.

Unless its listed the owner can do what he bloody well likes. And rightly so.

Thats how buidlings develop over time.

[owdman]

The problem is that people tend to destroy the very thing they want - you see it everywhere; old cottage has complete makeover, repointing, re-roofing, new doors and windows, caustic dipped doors, replastering, outbuildings demolished, new wide gravel driveway, coach lamps from B&Q, etc etc. Then when it's all done virtually every vestige of the picturesque old building had been eliminated and it might as well be new built. So I think it is essential to persuade people to leave well alone and try to do the minimum necessary - if it turns out not to be enough they can always do a bit more, but if you do it all at the beginning there is no going back. Once it's gone it's gone forever. "Thats how buildlings develop over time" not so. It used to be in bits and bobs as repairs or small changes were needed - nowadays it's a disastrous irreversible major facelift or nothing.

cheers

Jacob

[The Natural Philosopher]

I don't think that has ever really been the case. New wings added, bits burnt down and replaced..beams covered up..beams exposed again..all according to the fashion of the day.

I mean how DO you create a tudor bathroom? hot coppers on an open fire and an oubliette into a bucket in the street?

Come on.

Even Ray Mears uses a high carbon steel machete...not a buch of flints on a stick.