Concrete floor.

[Tootsiroll]

How difficult is it to get my downstairs wooden floor ripped up, floorboards, joists, the lot and have them pour concrete down?

Long and short of it is, two joists are damaged, carpenter says it's not termites and the wood is dry but as it's such an old floor it might be something from the past that was fixed then just ignored.

I don't like wood floors downstairs, I'm use to Terra Firma so I'm lobbying my partner to just get concrete put down.

I know it's not that simple and it'll cost but how difficult would this be to get done assuming I can find the right people?

Not that hard, assuming you can get decent access for a cement truck.

But make sure you get it insulated! The key thing is whether you have enough space to put down the concrete and the insulation. If you don't and you have to dig down I revise my opinion to 'not worth it'.

It needs to be done by very skilled people so it has a nice finish. Hence it is expensive. And even then, it is prone to cracking and staining. Some people don’t mind, but if this would bother you, I would look for a different solution.

how big is the void under the joist to
all your services like wires and pipes are under the floor
you’d need damp proofing and membrane
would it breach houses existing damp course

honestly seems a bit extreme for a few rotten joists

Also, while I think it looks great in a kitchen/dining area, I wouldn’t be keen in a living room as I think it looks too industrial. It may not appeal to potential buyers if you do the whole ground floor.

What would the benefit be? I don't get it tbh.

I don't think OP is thinking of having polished concrete as a floor, I'm assuming you would then put some flooring on it OP? Either wood or tiles or stone of some kind.

If it's an old house you won't be able to fit a beam and block floor, it will need a poured concrete slab, with reinforcing steel work, the big problem with that sort of slab is the curing time, google suggests you could walk on it in 48 hours, but it will take something between 28 days and 6 months to be finally cured, hence the popularity of beam and block with a thin layer of screed for new builds. Just get the bad joists replaced if there's no sign of wet or dry rot.

Thank you, I clearly didn’t understand the brief. I will get my coat 🙂

Yeah I'm not after a polished floor, just a firm foundation underfoot that won't rot, warp, sag or anything else!! There are several signs of past repairs where joists have been sistered and I don't want the worry of future issues where I don't know something is wrong until my foot goes through. I was genuinely surprised to find out it was wood, everywhere else downstairs is concrete and the house wasn't even built with air bricks so there's no ventilation down there.

I get that it's overkill but once it's done it's done, no more worry.

The house is an old one so I'm not sure what the options are, do I even need planning permission?

Depending on the age of the house and how it has been built, you could bridge the damp proof course and cause damp issues in the walls.

Technology has moved on joist ends used to ends used to be bare and levelled up using random bits of slate

now the ends can be treated and wrapped in dcp plastic to protect them

it’s a dramatic job but very straightforward
if they rake the skirtings off carefully and replace them with deeper ones so making good is minimal you can go for floorboards or sheet material
unless there flooding you should get absolute years out of a wooden suspended floor

some of our joist ends had gone we had them repaired rotten but cut out and new spliced in
28years later no issues