This is an amended, shorter version of my previous, very lengthy post which I hope is much easier to digest. Thanks for reading! I haven't been able to find a definitive answer as to the best way to proceed with the ground floor aspect of the renovation of our Victorian terraced house, hence I want to ask for your advice! Thanks so much!
1.We’re about to build a side infill/return extension and also had planned to replace the current concrete floor in the rear of the house as it’s been poorly done. This has led us to consider removing the suspended timber floor at the front of the house too and replacing the entire floor area throughout with a hardcore, sand blinded, dpm, insulation and concrete oversite build up. This will hopefully address issues with rodent ingress and different warm up times for ufh should we leave the suspended floor and also have concrete underfloor areas. The floor laid throughout will be engineered wood with ufh.
2.What are your views on doing this, as I’m worried about problems with damp occurring as the subfloor area will be solid and unable to breathe?
3.The other options would be a.making the entire floor throughout suspended with a breathable subfloor throughout or b.proceeding with the extension and rear floors in the concrete oversite finish and leaving the original floor suspended. This would of course be problematic in terms of the ufh warm-up times and cost. Would either of these options be preferable to the first?