MrMoods
2011-12-08 13:32:25
- #1
Hi!
I intend to move back into the two-family house from the 1950s, which is family-owned. To be precise, into the upper and attic floors.
This house (semi-detached) is leaning due to subsidence caused by the local, now closed, hard coal mining. If I roughly calculate in my head, the house tilts about 2.5° (with a room length of 3.5 meters, this results in a height difference of about 15 cm on the opposite walls). The house leans toward the front side.
I am now facing the thankless task of leveling the floors in the apartment before I move in. Previously, my grandma lived there, and she solved the problem by placing beer coasters under the table legs. However, that solution doesn’t really appeal to me.
The original floors consist of a concrete slab, on top of which a plank floor was refinished. The planks will be removed so that I have a clear path for leveling.
The floors on the ground floor were already leveled about 20 years ago, but in a basic manner. A carpenter removed the planks, laid wooden beams of various thicknesses, leveled them with small wedges, and then screwed chipboards on top. This solution doesn’t appeal to me either. Firstly, the wood worked and settled, causing the floor to start squeaking and creaking after only a few years. Secondly, walking is extremely loud because of the resonating cavity under the boards. Thirdly, even at the flattest point, the boards have to be supported with a beam which raises the entire floor by exactly that beam thickness.
Just to mention: I will completely redo the electrical installation, so I would prefer a solution that allows me to lay the new cables directly in the floor.
Now the following ideas came up to solve the problem:
1.) Wood
Underlay with beams and wooden boards. Only as a last resort. Actually discarded for the reasons mentioned above (loud, hollow, raised, works)...
2.) Concrete
Pouring the room with concrete until the floor is level. However, we have concerns about the statics. Is the weight of the concrete so critical that it would affect the floor below? The rooms are about 3.5 x 3.5 meters. With the roughly estimated tilt, it would be (if I’m not too dumb to calculate) about 0.9 to 1.0 cubic meters of concrete. Per room!
3.) Liquid screed
Pouring the room with liquid screed. We were told that this is only possible up to a thickness of 4 or 7 centimeters (I can't remember exactly what the building materials supplier told us). Is that really so? Where does this limitation come from? Does it have something to do with curing? If yes, is it not possible to lay one layer, let it cure, then lay the next layer, and so on? Or are there other reasons? How about the weight? Would we have similar static problems as with concrete?
4.) Beads
A neighbor leveled his floors with some strange screed (?) beads. These are very expensive, and according to the building materials supplier, have to be mechanically compacted from a height of 6 centimeters. To save costs, the neighbor first leveled with polystyrene balls and then put a layer of screed beads on top and laid wooden boards over that. Somehow, I cannot imagine that this doesn’t settle over time; polystyrene is not that stable, is it? However, this seems extremely elaborate. Several layers of beads, compacting after each layer, then floating wooden boards with tongue and groove, additionally glued.
Does anyone have other ideas?
Regards
MrM
I intend to move back into the two-family house from the 1950s, which is family-owned. To be precise, into the upper and attic floors.
This house (semi-detached) is leaning due to subsidence caused by the local, now closed, hard coal mining. If I roughly calculate in my head, the house tilts about 2.5° (with a room length of 3.5 meters, this results in a height difference of about 15 cm on the opposite walls). The house leans toward the front side.
I am now facing the thankless task of leveling the floors in the apartment before I move in. Previously, my grandma lived there, and she solved the problem by placing beer coasters under the table legs. However, that solution doesn’t really appeal to me.
The original floors consist of a concrete slab, on top of which a plank floor was refinished. The planks will be removed so that I have a clear path for leveling.
The floors on the ground floor were already leveled about 20 years ago, but in a basic manner. A carpenter removed the planks, laid wooden beams of various thicknesses, leveled them with small wedges, and then screwed chipboards on top. This solution doesn’t appeal to me either. Firstly, the wood worked and settled, causing the floor to start squeaking and creaking after only a few years. Secondly, walking is extremely loud because of the resonating cavity under the boards. Thirdly, even at the flattest point, the boards have to be supported with a beam which raises the entire floor by exactly that beam thickness.
Just to mention: I will completely redo the electrical installation, so I would prefer a solution that allows me to lay the new cables directly in the floor.
Now the following ideas came up to solve the problem:
1.) Wood
Underlay with beams and wooden boards. Only as a last resort. Actually discarded for the reasons mentioned above (loud, hollow, raised, works)...
2.) Concrete
Pouring the room with concrete until the floor is level. However, we have concerns about the statics. Is the weight of the concrete so critical that it would affect the floor below? The rooms are about 3.5 x 3.5 meters. With the roughly estimated tilt, it would be (if I’m not too dumb to calculate) about 0.9 to 1.0 cubic meters of concrete. Per room!
3.) Liquid screed
Pouring the room with liquid screed. We were told that this is only possible up to a thickness of 4 or 7 centimeters (I can't remember exactly what the building materials supplier told us). Is that really so? Where does this limitation come from? Does it have something to do with curing? If yes, is it not possible to lay one layer, let it cure, then lay the next layer, and so on? Or are there other reasons? How about the weight? Would we have similar static problems as with concrete?
4.) Beads
A neighbor leveled his floors with some strange screed (?) beads. These are very expensive, and according to the building materials supplier, have to be mechanically compacted from a height of 6 centimeters. To save costs, the neighbor first leveled with polystyrene balls and then put a layer of screed beads on top and laid wooden boards over that. Somehow, I cannot imagine that this doesn’t settle over time; polystyrene is not that stable, is it? However, this seems extremely elaborate. Several layers of beads, compacting after each layer, then floating wooden boards with tongue and groove, additionally glued.
Does anyone have other ideas?
Regards
MrM