Home improvements - time the house had some TLC!

[JhnBssll]

is it wet john or is it just very stained from the constant water leak??

nice job again by the way

It's still wet unfortunately. No obvious change this morning either, I expect it will take a week or two to dry out at this rate

@JhnBssll how come you went down the batten route as opposed to self levelling scree and then insulation? I need to do something similar in mine when the kitchen is renewed.

It might be worth puttting some sealing oil based paint over the damp patches to stop any residual damp from rising up and rotting your ply and where the wet appliances will go putting water resistance treated timber down instead of normal ply so it’s a bit more resistant.

There are loads of gaps between the blocks, a self leveller would have ended up on the dirt under the house unless I went around and sealed it all first but I did consider it. The main reason I went for pressure treated battens was to minimise flex as we're going to tile the floor. I've levelled and screwed the battens down in to the blocks then screwed the ply to the battens so it's a pretty solid structure now compared to the old floating floor which was a bit like a trampoline in places The downside was it took a bloody long time to do, a self leveller would have been far quicker of course. Re. sealing, the foil tape and foil faced insulation board should keep anything from coming up from below. I've got some 5mm cement board to screw down over the ply which I'll then paint with diluted SBR - the cement board will stiffen the floor further and the sbr will waterproof it to minimise anything getting to the ply from above

 

[bikingdad90]

@JhnBssll great, make sure you take plenty of pictures of key areas as then it will save anything getting ripped up/off by insurance co if anything does happen again! Great job

 

[fossyant]

Gosh, some work there. Who the heck did the central heating like that - i.e. under the floor ! Some right bodges you've had to sort from previous owners.

 

[JhnBssll]

Gosh, some work there. Who the heck did the central heating like that - i.e. under the floor ! Some right bodges you've had to sort from previous owners.

I think its fair to say some of the work wasn't done professionally I wonder what the next owner will make of my handiwork

I made some more progress this afternoon, most of the floor is now down. The corner block is still noticably damp so that corner won't be going down for a while yet I'd imagine but other than that there's just the bit under the washing machine left to do now I would have done it today but Mrs Bssll decided she needed to do some washing and of course it couldn't wait, who was I to argue 😄

Here's the state of play as it stands this evening:

Tomorrow the washing machine will come out so I can batten, insulate and board the cupboard floor. Next I'll start with the cement board, laying it in the opposite direction to the ply and screwing it down with lots of screws to try and make it as rigid as possible. It's already a huge improvement over the old floor, much to my relief - if it had still been springy after all this time and effort I'd have been pretty gutted

Right, those photos have reminded me I still haven't done the dishes I best pop down and do those now, else I'll be in the dog house

 

[fossyant]

Fair Play, you've done an astouding job already. Righty, what about the Van....

I just groan at extra DIY... Painting a ceramic floor this weekend before the bloody cats come back. All four of them and MrsF.....

 

[jowwy]

I think its fair to say some of the work wasn't done professionally I wonder what the next owner will make of my handiwork

I made some more progress this afternoon, most of the floor is now down. The corner block is still noticably damp so that corner won't be going down for a while yet I'd imagine but other than that there's just the bit under the washing machine left to do now I would have done it today but Mrs Bssll decided she needed to do some washing and of course it couldn't wait, who was I to argue 😄

Here's the state of play as it stands this evening:

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View attachment 603994

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Tomorrow the washing machine will come out so I can batten, insulate and board the cupboard floor. Next I'll start with the cement board, laying it in the opposite direction to the ply and screwing it down with lots of screws to try and make it as rigid as possible. It's already a huge improvement over the old floor, much to my relief - if it had still been springy after all this time and effort I'd have been pretty gutted

Right, those photos have reminded me I still haven't done the dishes I best pop down and do those now, else I'll be in the dog house

Just one question….

once you fit the concrete boards and tiles to the floor, will the back door still open??? It looks like it could be pretty tight

 

[JhnBssll]

Just one question….

once you fit the concrete boards and tiles to the floor, will the back door still open??? It looks like it could be pretty tight

I hope so 😄

The finished floor level will be slightly higher than it used to be but the back door will still clear it. I'm expecting to have to plane a little off the bottom of the internal door

 

[neil_merseyside]

If you're not going to get every piece of ply to match then please don't take pictures of those pieces that don't match, though to be fair the graded spirit levels is so nice it nearly compensates .

 

[JhnBssll]

With Mrs Bssll out for the weekend on a stag do (true story) I took the opportunity to whip the washing machine out again today. First job was to correct a mistake I made when fitting the appliance connector valve - by putting it neatly flush to the wall it was very tricky to screw the hose connector on A simple fix, I isolated the water, loosened the compression nut slightly and rotated it 90 degrees so it points out from the wall now

I then turned my attention back to the floor. I've got this down to an art now, so quickly had it battened...

Then just as quickly it was insulated...

Then double boarded - ply then cement board.

Its all connected up again now, won't have to come back out until its time to tile the floor. At this rate thats a way off, as the chief worktop and tile chooser keeps changing their mind

I also spent some time fitting a few other cement boards, I'll carry on with it tomorrow and hope to get the new dishwasher in and temporarily connected

The wet corner block is still wet It does seem to be getting lighter in colour though which is encouraging

 

[JhnBssll]

Quick update this evening. I have done as much to the floor as I can for now, at least until the last corner is dry. I've also got the new dishwasher temporarily fitted and plumbed in and the fridge back in.

I need to have a think now and plan what to attack next

 

[JhnBssll]

The corner was dry when I checked at lunchtime and with no meetings in my calendar for the afternoon I booked some last minute holiday. Managed to get the floor all finished, nice to tick something off the list!

Mrs Bssll is away for the weekend so I will have a chance to make a mess - might be time to drain the heating down if I'm feeling brave

 

[Gunk]

Mrs Bssll is away for the weekend

she seems to be away most weekends, is your DIY driving her out of the house?

 

[bikingdad90]

Nah, get outside and finish that extension as your other projects are lacking!

Have you got time to ride that swish Bianchi of yours!

 

[Gunk]

Nah, get outside and finish that extension!

and that bloody van!

 

[JhnBssll]

she seems to be away most weekends, is your DIY driving her out of the house?

I tell people it's the DIY that drives her away

I've got far too many jobs on to know where to turn next, can't remember the last time I had a day off work or projects - it's starting to take its toll