Some houses have a ground floor that is built of horizontal timber joists with floor boards or other boarding over the top and a gap underneath.
Solid concrete floor insulation.
It is an oddly designed house and the living room is down three steps from the rest of the house.
The three retrofitting options are.
Solid floors however present an altogether different challenge.
Timber floorboards on joists.
Solid floors of brick tile or stone were frequently laid directly on to soil sometimes with a bed of lime mortar or sand.
Insulation is laid on the concrete and covered with a screed.
Solid floors are insulated using rigid insulation foam which can be fitted either above or below the concrete.
In a solid or ground bearing because it is continuously supported by the ground across its whole area concrete floor the choice of insulation position relative to the concrete slab is commonly linked to the building s heating system.
Most modern homes have a solid floor for example.
When uninsulated they will both have a u value of between 0 45w m 2 k and 0 70w m 2 k but this depends on the geometry of the floor and the amount of thermal bridging.
If the concrete is above the insulation it can sometimes store heat during the day which helps keep the room warm at night.
If the insulation is above the concrete the room will heat up more quickly in the morning.
These can be fitted with new rigid concrete solid flooring or fixed plasterboard that should help fill any cracks or gaps formed over time and improve the overlay s insulating properties.
The dilemma i have is how best to insulate my living room floor.
If the ground floor of your house is made of a solid concrete slab or flagstones or similar with no air gap underneath then you may want to consider solid floor insulation.
Whilst heat rises it is also very important to insulate the floors as part of the total building envelope.
Insulating a solid floor.
Floor insulation ecotherm offer thin rigid floor insulation boards suitable for solid concrete timber and suspended floors.
Consequently they can be cold to the touch and are difficult to thermally insulate.
Generally ground floors are either solid usually concrete slabs or suspended i e.
Solid floor insulation cost.
Most newer properties will already have solid floor bases constructed directly below a room especially on the ground floor.
There will be a damp proof membrane under the insulation and possibly a second membrane on top depending on the type of screed.
Where concrete floor slabs.
It has a solid concrete base.
Rigid insulation such as kooltherm k103 floorboard can be cut with a fine toothed saw and slotted between the floor joists.
Insulation solid floors part 2.