Help required for a newbie (to this forum and to period property ownership)! We have taken on a small C17th listed cottage of timber frame construction. The house has had little changed in 30 years but is quite dry and in fairly good (though somewhat dated) repair. Walls and ceilings are of lime and straw/reed with thatched roof.
The two nasties in the mix are the external cement render and concrete floors. We have decided to tackle the floors first as without these any internal redecoration will be difficult. Flooring over 35m2 is currently mix of vinyl/ lino and carpet tile on concrete. We would like to have a natural stone or pamment floor and put in place a flooring solution that will help the property to breathe and safeguard it for the longer term. Limecrete seems an excellent solution but is (of course) very costly. Trial holes reveal dirt floors/ quite soft sandy soil below the concrete (no period flooring treasures, I'm afraid!) As I understand the workhorse of this system is the Glapor foam layer, the NHL screed then providing stability and a level surface on which to lay an appropriate flooring material. The former seems very DIYable and within our limited abilities (with additional labour from some very practical friends). Lime screeding appears to be a job you don't want to make mistakes on.
Has anyone used another hybrid system incorporating Glapor (or similar)? Ideally, I'm looking for a material which is equally stable, quicker to lay/ cure (don't want to have to leave home for a month!), and has the stability needed to lay a natural stone or clay tile floor above without excessive movement or general disaster! Perhaps I'm going in the wrong direction but would be interested to hear if anyone has considered alternatives which keep all the breathability we need but are swifter and provide a stable base. Gravels, sands, mixtures, cob blocks...
Thoughts would be appreciated as the knowledge base on here seems vast.
Thank you!
The two nasties in the mix are the external cement render and concrete floors. We have decided to tackle the floors first as without these any internal redecoration will be difficult. Flooring over 35m2 is currently mix of vinyl/ lino and carpet tile on concrete. We would like to have a natural stone or pamment floor and put in place a flooring solution that will help the property to breathe and safeguard it for the longer term. Limecrete seems an excellent solution but is (of course) very costly. Trial holes reveal dirt floors/ quite soft sandy soil below the concrete (no period flooring treasures, I'm afraid!) As I understand the workhorse of this system is the Glapor foam layer, the NHL screed then providing stability and a level surface on which to lay an appropriate flooring material. The former seems very DIYable and within our limited abilities (with additional labour from some very practical friends). Lime screeding appears to be a job you don't want to make mistakes on.
Has anyone used another hybrid system incorporating Glapor (or similar)? Ideally, I'm looking for a material which is equally stable, quicker to lay/ cure (don't want to have to leave home for a month!), and has the stability needed to lay a natural stone or clay tile floor above without excessive movement or general disaster! Perhaps I'm going in the wrong direction but would be interested to hear if anyone has considered alternatives which keep all the breathability we need but are swifter and provide a stable base. Gravels, sands, mixtures, cob blocks...
Thoughts would be appreciated as the knowledge base on here seems vast.
Thank you!