[[email protected]]

I'm planning to convert a suspended ground floor of a terrace house
into a concrete floor.
As I have plenty of old victorian bricks at disposal, I'm thinking of
using them for the hardcore.
I'm aware the normal procedure is to break them into smaller pieces
(or better still use gravel).
My questions are very simple:

1) Are old bricks suitable for hardcore?
2) As the ground under the suspended floor is quite even and
compacted, would it be ok to use whole bricks for the hardcore?

Also, at present, there is a DPM over the ground (it was laid as an
attempt to reduce moisture in the crawlspace)....shall I leave it
there and lay the bricks on top if it?

Any suggestion appreciated.

[The Natural Philosopher]

wrote:
I'm planning to convert a suspended ground floor of a terrace house
into a concrete floor.
As I have plenty of old victorian bricks at disposal, I'm thinking of
using them for the hardcore.
I'm aware the normal procedure is to break them into smaller pieces
(or better still use gravel).
My questions are very simple:

1) Are old bricks suitable for hardcore?

Very.

2) As the ground under the suspended floor is quite even and
compacted, would it be ok to use whole bricks for the hardcore?


why not?

However I would also lay some sand or somesuch..the point about breaking
up is to have material that has graded particle sizes, and during
whacking the small stuff migrates downwards to do a load spread on the rest.

Also, at present, there is a DPM over the ground (it was laid as an
attempt to reduce moisture in the crawlspace)....shall I leave it
there and lay the bricks on top if it?


Mm. double hmm.

Strictly wherever you put that DPM it SHOULD curl up and come ABOVE the
wall DPC inside the house.

I'd leave it where it is, and lay another one as well..

Any suggestion appreciated.

do put in as much insulation as you can afford.
50mm of kingspan as a minimum.


Consider also laying UFH pipes in the screed. Even if you never use
them, having a load of suitable pipe under there enables you to utilise
warms water that you might get off heat pumps or solar panels and the like.

if you put in a coupe of spirals at 4 " spacing tied to some rebar, it
will mean you have a built in low temperature radiator should you ever
want to use it as such.

[Bolted[_2_]]

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
wrote:
As I have plenty of old victorian bricks at disposal, I'm thinking of
using them for the hardcore.

Very.

Check they aren't worth more secondhand than proper hardcore is to buy
in though.

[robert]

Bolted wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
wrote:
As I have plenty of old victorian bricks at disposal, I'm thinking of
using them for the hardcore.

Very.

Check they aren't worth more secondhand than proper hardcore is to buy
in though.

Very good point to consider regarding any old materials - slate, tiles ,
floorboards etc.

[[email protected]]

On 20 Jun, 22:58, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
wrote:
I'm planning to convert a suspended ground floor of a terrace house
into a concrete floor.
As I have plenty of old victorian bricks at disposal, I'm thinking of
using them for the hardcore.
I'm aware the normal procedure is to break them into smaller pieces
(or better still use gravel).
My questions are very simple:

1) Are old bricks suitable for hardcore?

Very.

2) As the ground under the suspended floor is quite even and
compacted, would it be ok to use whole bricks for the hardcore?

why not?

However I would also lay some sand or somesuch..the point about breaking
up is to have material that has graded particle sizes, and during
whacking the small stuff migrates downwards to do a load spread on the rest.

Also, at present, there is a DPM over the ground (it was laid as an
attempt to reduce moisture in the crawlspace)....shall I leave it
there and lay the bricks on top if it?

Mm. double hmm.

Strictly wherever you put that DPM it SHOULD curl up and come ABOVE the
wall DPC inside the house.

I'd leave it where it is, and lay another one as well..

Any suggestion appreciated.

do put in as much insulation as you can afford.
50mm of kingspan as a minimum.

Consider also laying UFH pipes in the screed. Even if you never use
them, having a load of suitable pipe under there enables you to utilise
warms water that you might get off heat pumps or solar panels and the like.

if you put in a coupe of spirals at 4 " spacing tied to some rebar, it
will mean you have a built in low temperature radiator should you ever
want to use it as such.



- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I second the NP on every count - especially the UFH - and add that I
would say 75mm insulation is minimum and would advise more
Also to make sure cracks between bricks are filled with sand/mortar if
they are significant
I have used bricks myself for this purpose but did have to add a bit
of proper hardcore later. Don't forget the hogging under the new
membrane!
Chris

[[email protected]]

On Jun 20, 6:03*pm, wrote:

I'm planning to convert a suspended ground floor of a terrace house
into a concrete floor.
As I have plenty of old victorian bricks at disposal, I'm thinking of
using them for the hardcore.
I'm aware the normal procedure is to break them into smaller pieces
(or better still use gravel).
My questions are very simple:

1) Are old bricks suitable for hardcore?
2) As the ground under the suspended floor is quite even and
compacted, would it be ok to use whole bricks for the hardcore?

Also, at present, there is a DPM over the ground (it was laid as an
attempt to reduce moisture in the crawlspace)....shall I leave it
there and lay the bricks on top if it?

Any suggestion appreciated.


This approach sometimes causes problems that are hard to undo. Ask the
people that study this stuff:
http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/index.php


NT

[Hugo Nebula]

On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:58:20 +0100, a particular chimpanzee, The
Natural Philosopher randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

wrote:
I'm planning to convert a suspended ground floor of a terrace house
into a concrete floor.
As I have plenty of old victorian bricks at disposal, I'm thinking of
using them for the hardcore.

1) Are old bricks suitable for hardcore?

Very.

However I would also lay some sand or somesuch..the point about breaking
up is to have material that has graded particle sizes, and during
whacking the small stuff migrates downwards to do a load spread on the rest.

The other issue with old bricks is whether they contain any dry rot
spores. These can live for years, and can spread through walls to any
nearby timber, just waiting for the right conditions.

Also, at present, there is a DPM over the ground (it was laid as an
attempt to reduce moisture in the crawlspace)....shall I leave it
there and lay the bricks on top if it?

do put in as much insulation as you can afford.
50mm of kingspan as a minimum.

As a legal minimum. As this is a 'renovation of a thermal element',
you should submit a Building Notice to the local Council[1], and the
floor should have a U-value of no more than 0.25W/m²K. The floor
should also have a properly installed DPM under it.

[1] However, if you don't, the chances of any come-backs is virtually
zero.
--
Hugo Nebula
"If no-one on the internet wants a piece of this,
just how far from the pack have you strayed?"

[[email protected]]

Thank you to all for your valuable suggestions.

Regarding insulation, there is no problem as the crawling space is
quite deep (about 900mm) there is plenty of space available for extra
thick insulation.

The present DPM over the ground was never meant to replace the proper
DPM on top of the hardcore+sand...

Regarding the UFH pipes...it's tempting, but I assume one needs the
right type of boiler for this stuff.

I don't get the one about filling the cracks between bricks with
mortar...I was aware that mortar is better be avoided for
hardcore...mind you, that would save me from cleaning the bricks from
old lime mortar!! Can anyone confirm this point?

[John Stumbles]

On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 04:41:43 -0700, swimmydeepo wrote:

Regarding the UFH pipes...it's tempting, but I assume one needs the
right type of boiler for this stuff.

Nope, but to commission it you'll need a bit of extra control gear. The
pukka way is an extra pump and a thermostatic mixing valve (rather
expensive kits shown in Toolstation cat) though there are systems with a
valve that limits the flow and hence the temperature in the UFH pipe. Have
a look at the UFH page on the wiki for some mfrs howto sheets & stuff.

However since you only need to bury a £50 roll of plastic pipework in the
screed (how much kingspan do you get for that money?) your initial
investment isn't too heavy. (And if you're in range of a Selco they do
own-brand kingspan much cheaper than the branded stuff.)



--
John Stumbles

Women always generalise

[The Natural Philosopher]

wrote:
On Jun 20, 6:03 pm, wrote:

I'm planning to convert a suspended ground floor of a terrace house
into a concrete floor.
As I have plenty of old victorian bricks at disposal, I'm thinking of
using them for the hardcore.
I'm aware the normal procedure is to break them into smaller pieces
(or better still use gravel).
My questions are very simple:

1) Are old bricks suitable for hardcore?
2) As the ground under the suspended floor is quite even and
compacted, would it be ok to use whole bricks for the hardcore?

Also, at present, there is a DPM over the ground (it was laid as an
attempt to reduce moisture in the crawlspace)....shall I leave it
there and lay the bricks on top if it?

Any suggestion appreciated.


This approach sometimes causes problems that are hard to undo. Ask the
people that study this stuff:
http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/index.php


NT
yawn. More spam from the period property fundi.

[The Natural Philosopher]

wrote:
Thank you to all for your valuable suggestions.

Regarding insulation, there is no problem as the crawling space is
quite deep (about 900mm) there is plenty of space available for extra
thick insulation.

The present DPM over the ground was never meant to replace the proper
DPM on top of the hardcore+sand...

Regarding the UFH pipes...it's tempting, but I assume one needs the
right type of boiler for this stuff.

No, but you prolly need a sperate pump and temp reducing valve for
existing boiler.