|
|
|
|
Concrete floor in Victorian flat - How is it held up ?
(Andy Hide) wrote in message . com...
Just started re-fitting the bathroom in my 1910ish first floor flat.
After removing the carpet I find that what I expected to be a wooden
floor (as all the other rooms in the flat are) appears to be concrete.
Previously the bathroom would have been the kitchen when the flat was
originally built.
Closer inspection under the floor in the adjacent bedroom reveals that
just before the joists disappear under the solid wall into the
bathroom the gap between the joists has been filled with concrete.
This appears to continue on into the bathroom. I am guessing the
bathroom has then had a layer of concrete skimmed over the top to give
the solid floor appearance.
My question:
1) How on earth is this held up? If you poured concrete between the
joists onto a lath and plaster ceiling surely it would collapse almost
immediately. Would the concrete have been supported from below during
construction with the support being removed once the concrete had set
?
I didnt follow your setup description at all, but it might be
supported at the ends by some wall bricks being removed when the crete
was put in, or it might sit on wood joists. Or perhaps even bits of
cast iron in the wall.
2) Was it a requirement that kitchens of the time had to have a solid
floor for fire protection hence this construction otherwise why bother
?
There were no building regs in 1910, they came in in IIRC 1916 or
1917. The worst houses from then have all been demolished. So every
surviving house from that period has various extras over and above the
most basic builds of the time. Many have concrete kitchen floors, for
3 reasons:
- a respectable 1910 house would have contained a coal or wood range,
which constituted a fire risk,
- and a washing machine (nothing at all like those of today, rather
this was a brickwork bucket and fire type arrangement) that used a
caustic for washing, which doesnt go well with wood,
- the lack of antibiotics and very high death rates (around 25% child
mortality) meant a positive obsession with cleanliness, so kitchen
floors would be scrubbed frequently.
All of these just dont go with wood floors.
Just curious to know if this type of construction was common on older
properties ?
The ones I've seen are mostly that way.
Also, on a similar subject, how would the slab of
concrete in front of each fireplace have been held up in an upstairs
room ?
I think wood joists in most cases.
Regards, NT
|