Hi all,
I've recently finished laying a limecrete floor throughout my little victorian cottage and thought I would share my experience with everyone. I have learnt a lot throughout the process so I'm happy to share some of the information I wish I had before starting the project. Please excuse any typos as my laptop has so much dust behind the keys that it's a gamble as of which keys will work without excessive "persuasion". :roll:
This thread will be fairly image heavy so anyone still on 56k dial up look away now (is there still such a thing?)
So why Limecrete? - After removing over 5 layers of carpet in each room I found the original brick flooring laid thoughout the house. This was largely untouched and laid directly onto soil. The floor was cold, slightly damp and as the whole house is being renovated something needed to be done. I looked at a few different options such as a raised wooden floor but headroom would have been an issue. The Limecrete system seemed to fit the bill. It's breathable, allowed for some insulation, I could fit UFH and I could keep the original brick floor. Brilliant!
So to set the scene this is the floor plan of my cottage. The green shaded area was the section that was to be filled with limcerete. Click on any thumbnails for full size images.
So Mike Wye or Ty Mawr? - This is was my first question. I emailed both companies with a floor plan and I got no reply from Ty Mawr. A few phone calls and emails later and I finally got a quote which was quite a hefty amount more than the quote received by Mike Wye. It was a no brainer, Mike Wye it was.
The cost of laying a limecrete floor was one of my the many questions floating around my head before starting the project, I could never find a solid answer so here is the estimate from Mike Wye for the above floor plan. Please note I had 10bags of NHL5.0, 1 case of cork insulation and enough geotextile for the kitchen area already so this quote is for the floorplan above minus what I already had.
A big thanks to the lovely lady on here whom gave me the above items as they were surplus to requirements following her own limecrete project. Her house is stunningly beautiful and it was an absolute pleasure to meet you.
So the first job for me was to remove the concrete layer covering the kitchen section of the floor plan. I found the best way to tackle it was a combination of an SDS drill, a crowbar and swearing seemed to do the trick. A long laborious job that I tacked throughout a week inbetween doing other jobs. The bricks hidden beneath the concrete were wet to touch from trapped moisture. Most of these bricks had to be discarded as they were either damaged from removing the concrete or crumbly from years of concrete abuse.
Next job was to pick up each floor brick and stack them outside on pallets in the garden. A difficult and weighty job for one man, especially if you couldn't get a wheel barrow through the door so it all had to be carried by hand. :shock: I spent 2 days just picking up, cleaning, and restacking the bricks in the garden. In hindsight help would have made the job almost enjoyable.
I will carry on this tomorrow as its got pretty late very quickly!
I've recently finished laying a limecrete floor throughout my little victorian cottage and thought I would share my experience with everyone. I have learnt a lot throughout the process so I'm happy to share some of the information I wish I had before starting the project. Please excuse any typos as my laptop has so much dust behind the keys that it's a gamble as of which keys will work without excessive "persuasion". :roll:
This thread will be fairly image heavy so anyone still on 56k dial up look away now (is there still such a thing?)
So why Limecrete? - After removing over 5 layers of carpet in each room I found the original brick flooring laid thoughout the house. This was largely untouched and laid directly onto soil. The floor was cold, slightly damp and as the whole house is being renovated something needed to be done. I looked at a few different options such as a raised wooden floor but headroom would have been an issue. The Limecrete system seemed to fit the bill. It's breathable, allowed for some insulation, I could fit UFH and I could keep the original brick floor. Brilliant!
So to set the scene this is the floor plan of my cottage. The green shaded area was the section that was to be filled with limcerete. Click on any thumbnails for full size images.
So Mike Wye or Ty Mawr? - This is was my first question. I emailed both companies with a floor plan and I got no reply from Ty Mawr. A few phone calls and emails later and I finally got a quote which was quite a hefty amount more than the quote received by Mike Wye. It was a no brainer, Mike Wye it was.
The cost of laying a limecrete floor was one of my the many questions floating around my head before starting the project, I could never find a solid answer so here is the estimate from Mike Wye for the above floor plan. Please note I had 10bags of NHL5.0, 1 case of cork insulation and enough geotextile for the kitchen area already so this quote is for the floorplan above minus what I already had.
A big thanks to the lovely lady on here whom gave me the above items as they were surplus to requirements following her own limecrete project. Her house is stunningly beautiful and it was an absolute pleasure to meet you.
So the first job for me was to remove the concrete layer covering the kitchen section of the floor plan. I found the best way to tackle it was a combination of an SDS drill, a crowbar and swearing seemed to do the trick. A long laborious job that I tacked throughout a week inbetween doing other jobs. The bricks hidden beneath the concrete were wet to touch from trapped moisture. Most of these bricks had to be discarded as they were either damaged from removing the concrete or crumbly from years of concrete abuse.
Next job was to pick up each floor brick and stack them outside on pallets in the garden. A difficult and weighty job for one man, especially if you couldn't get a wheel barrow through the door so it all had to be carried by hand. :shock: I spent 2 days just picking up, cleaning, and restacking the bricks in the garden. In hindsight help would have made the job almost enjoyable.
I will carry on this tomorrow as its got pretty late very quickly!
