Floor Progress

So! We finally figured out how to tackle the floor downstairs. After much researching and planning here is how we will do it:

1. Cover the floor with a damp-proof membrane (essentially a thick plastic sheet)
2. Lay out wooden joists with 30cm gaps in between, making sure they are level (easier said than done as the concrete underfloor is very uneven.)
3. Insert foam insulation boards in between the gaps left by the joists.
4. Put down tongue & groove chipboard flooring and screw into joists.
5. Cover the chipboard floor with a thin foam underlay (approx. 3mm thick)
6. Install the hardwood engineered tongue & groove floorboards as a 'floating' floor, e.g. the boards are glued to each other along each groove but are not fixed to the sub floor construction.

Of course before any of this work can be done there are a number of prep jobs to be completed, such as installing radiators and connecting them to the heating loop. Luckily our resident plumber worked very hard over the past two weeks to get this job done, and then proceeded with the floor in the living room. There are also other smaller jobs that have to be done like painting the old radiators, clearing the concrete floor of debris so that it won't pierce the damp-proof membrane and of course finding and ordering all the material. These are jobs I can still help with; crawling around on floors and leveling joists is getting a little difficult though. Oh - and documenting the progress of course! ;)

'Where are the pictures already?' I hear you say, so without further ado here they are:

 Tongue & Groove Chipboard

I think we were nearing the maximum load capacity of Alfred with the hardwood flooring. But we managed to transport it all in one go!

 Insulation Boards for kitchen and living room (we have more depth to work with in the kitchen so the insulation there will be double the thickness of the living room - see boards on the right)

 The mess that needs to be cleared before work can start.

The new radiator we bought (all others are the old ones that were in the house - but will be given a new lick of paint).

Laying out the damp-proof membrane

 Smoothed and cut to size

Back to plumbing

 One of the old radiators

 Pipe work into the kitchen

Leak Testing!!

 Finally work begins on the subfloor

 Zooming along

Screwing down the chipboard flooring

 Looking good!

That's how far we got.

Don't get too excited about seeing the finished floor soon though - before we lay that we have to apply the final coat of paint to the walls which also involves some more work on the new door frames we have put in. But I'll let you have a sneak-peak of what it will look like (I had to lay out a few boards as soon as we got them I was so excited!)

 That's all for now - have a good week!