RushupEdge
Member
- Messages
- 28
Hi all,
In the process of renovating my period home and it's nearly time to do the floors/skirting etc. Apologies for the pretty exhaustive post below, but I am pretty exhausted just thinking about how to approach all of this.
I had some, lets say less than careful, tradesmen in last year and they've done a bit of a number on the floorboards so I think I'll need to replace some and repair the ones I can.
They've basically cut across more boards than needed in order to lift some of the boards (...and this is probably the prettiest example)
We also have some signs of historic (hopefully not active) wood worm and our living room floor dips toward one side, to the point where there is a noticeable gap between the floorboards and the skirting board (excuse the state of the skirting boards—the previous owner had decorators in that loved decorators caulk so much they've basically caulked 95% of any hole or gap in the house)
I'm going a little bit mad here and wondering what the best course of action is...
1.) what's the best way to lift the floorboards without damaging more? Most original boards that are in a good state are nailed down with clasp nails. Is there a way to pull these boards/nails up with as little damage to the boards as possible?
2.) Quite a few of the floor boards run under a 100 brick wall or other stud walls (living room to hallway, dining room to under stairs cupboard). Is the best course of action to replace one of these at a time to not cause structural issues? and is there a way to remove these 'whole' or should I cut them under the skirting board and as close to the joist as possible?
3.) The dipping floor in the living room is a bit of an issue near the wall as mentioned. It doesn't seem like there is a wall plate/joist underneath the area with the skirting boards so the boards have gradually warped with the weight of the previous owners vinyl collection which was resting on this bit of floor. Would attaching a new wall joist be the best way to even this floor out a bit? Realise it'll never be fully level but would be nice to close the gap between the skirting and floor. Theres quite a draft in this corner!
4.) There are a few boards that need to be replaced around the radiators and piping. The central heating engineers bored holes just tight enough for the pipes (pre-fitting valves etc. - image below) and passed these through, but some of the boards are so damaged they'll need to be removed. Whats the best way of doing this without draining the whole system? I'm thinking cutting the boards in half (pipe holes in the middle) and joining either side of the pipe? Does this sound sensible? I also have a similar issue with the electrics. The master supply to the house (big thick braided cable) runs through a board that has wood worm damage... it's quite a tight hole around this too.
5.) With regard to the wood worm, the floor used to be under a thick carpet and had a patio that was directly flooding water into the sub-floor as it was built-up to a height that covered half of the air bricks (I've previously posted about this issue). Now that we have sorted this out, I'm hoping the moisture levels in the wood will drop to normal levels. Obviously some of the boards are incredibly damaged by the wood worm - is the best course of action to just fully remove these damaged sections? Should I be thinking of treating the timbers and joists below?
6.) Finally, I was thinking about insulating the subfloor between joists with a breathable insulation e.g. lambswool or similar—has anyone else done this? I guess this will partly depend on the answer to 2 as in order to do this I'll need to lift most of the boards. Any issues or advice?
Apologies for the war and peace length post!
In the process of renovating my period home and it's nearly time to do the floors/skirting etc. Apologies for the pretty exhaustive post below, but I am pretty exhausted just thinking about how to approach all of this.
I had some, lets say less than careful, tradesmen in last year and they've done a bit of a number on the floorboards so I think I'll need to replace some and repair the ones I can.
They've basically cut across more boards than needed in order to lift some of the boards (...and this is probably the prettiest example)
We also have some signs of historic (hopefully not active) wood worm and our living room floor dips toward one side, to the point where there is a noticeable gap between the floorboards and the skirting board (excuse the state of the skirting boards—the previous owner had decorators in that loved decorators caulk so much they've basically caulked 95% of any hole or gap in the house)
I'm going a little bit mad here and wondering what the best course of action is...
1.) what's the best way to lift the floorboards without damaging more? Most original boards that are in a good state are nailed down with clasp nails. Is there a way to pull these boards/nails up with as little damage to the boards as possible?
2.) Quite a few of the floor boards run under a 100 brick wall or other stud walls (living room to hallway, dining room to under stairs cupboard). Is the best course of action to replace one of these at a time to not cause structural issues? and is there a way to remove these 'whole' or should I cut them under the skirting board and as close to the joist as possible?
3.) The dipping floor in the living room is a bit of an issue near the wall as mentioned. It doesn't seem like there is a wall plate/joist underneath the area with the skirting boards so the boards have gradually warped with the weight of the previous owners vinyl collection which was resting on this bit of floor. Would attaching a new wall joist be the best way to even this floor out a bit? Realise it'll never be fully level but would be nice to close the gap between the skirting and floor. Theres quite a draft in this corner!
4.) There are a few boards that need to be replaced around the radiators and piping. The central heating engineers bored holes just tight enough for the pipes (pre-fitting valves etc. - image below) and passed these through, but some of the boards are so damaged they'll need to be removed. Whats the best way of doing this without draining the whole system? I'm thinking cutting the boards in half (pipe holes in the middle) and joining either side of the pipe? Does this sound sensible? I also have a similar issue with the electrics. The master supply to the house (big thick braided cable) runs through a board that has wood worm damage... it's quite a tight hole around this too.
5.) With regard to the wood worm, the floor used to be under a thick carpet and had a patio that was directly flooding water into the sub-floor as it was built-up to a height that covered half of the air bricks (I've previously posted about this issue). Now that we have sorted this out, I'm hoping the moisture levels in the wood will drop to normal levels. Obviously some of the boards are incredibly damaged by the wood worm - is the best course of action to just fully remove these damaged sections? Should I be thinking of treating the timbers and joists below?
6.) Finally, I was thinking about insulating the subfloor between joists with a breathable insulation e.g. lambswool or similar—has anyone else done this? I guess this will partly depend on the answer to 2 as in order to do this I'll need to lift most of the boards. Any issues or advice?
Apologies for the war and peace length post!