Since having the floors replaced throughout the ground floor of our
house I have not got round to covering up the concrete under the stairs,
but now the time has come (or so I have been told).

The original plan was to put floorboards down (wickes french pine) on
battens screwed to the floor. This would bring the floor pretty level
with the indian stone flagging which it will butt up to at the cupboard
entrance.

However, on closer inspection in the corner the concrete seems to be
less thick (sounds a bit hollow) than the rest of the floor and the it
is a bit uneven and dips half an inch. I doubt the thickness will be an
issue for the traffic as we don't even walk on it, but I am a bit
reticent to drill into it to fix battens.

Ultimately we just want a half decent looking surface that is fairly
level, easy to clean and quick to fit.

If anyone has any suggestions how to approach the floorboards/battening
or other floor coverings that would work well I'd be interested to know
more.

Thanks in advance,

Alex.

AlexW wrote:
Since having the floors replaced throughout the ground floor of our
house I have not got round to covering up the concrete under the stairs,
but now the time has come (or so I have been told).

The original plan was to put floorboards down (wickes french pine) on
battens screwed to the floor. This would bring the floor pretty level
with the indian stone flagging which it will butt up to at the cupboard
entrance.

However, on closer inspection in the corner the concrete seems to be
less thick (sounds a bit hollow) than the rest of the floor and the it
is a bit uneven and dips half an inch. I doubt the thickness will be an
issue for the traffic as we don't even walk on it, but I am a bit
reticent to drill into it to fix battens.

Ultimately we just want a half decent looking surface that is fairly
level, easy to clean and quick to fit.

If anyone has any suggestions how to approach the floorboards/battening
or other floor coverings that would work well I'd be interested to know
more.


I went for tiles in the downstairs cupboards - quick to do, easy to
clean, and I had some left over from doing the kitchen.


--
Grunff

Grunff wrote:
AlexW wrote:

Since having the floors replaced throughout the ground floor of our
house I have not got round to covering up the concrete under the
stairs, but now the time has come (or so I have been told).

The original plan was to put floorboards down (wickes french pine) on
battens screwed to the floor. This would bring the floor pretty level
with the indian stone flagging which it will butt up to at the
cupboard entrance.

However, on closer inspection in the corner the concrete seems to be
less thick (sounds a bit hollow) than the rest of the floor and the it
is a bit uneven and dips half an inch. I doubt the thickness will be
an issue for the traffic as we don't even walk on it, but I am a bit
reticent to drill into it to fix battens.

Ultimately we just want a half decent looking surface that is fairly
level, easy to clean and quick to fit.

If anyone has any suggestions how to approach the
floorboards/battening or other floor coverings that would work well
I'd be interested to know more.



I went for tiles in the downstairs cupboards - quick to do, easy to
clean, and I had some left over from doing the kitchen.



I was thinking about that but with a 1/2 inch dip wouldn't I need self
levelling compound and all that?

Ta,

Alex.

AlexW wrote:
Since having the floors replaced throughout the ground floor of our
house I have not got round to covering up the concrete under the
stairs, but now the time has come (or so I have been told).

The original plan was to put floorboards down (wickes french pine) on
battens screwed to the floor. This would bring the floor pretty level
with the indian stone flagging which it will butt up to at the
cupboard entrance.

However, on closer inspection in the corner the concrete seems to be
less thick (sounds a bit hollow) than the rest of the floor and the it
is a bit uneven and dips half an inch. I doubt the thickness will be
an issue for the traffic as we don't even walk on it, but I am a bit
reticent to drill into it to fix battens.

Use no-more-nails to glue the battens down, packing any uneven ones to give
a level surface. Bung floor boards on top.

Dave

AlexW wrote:

I was thinking about that but with a 1/2 inch dip wouldn't I need self
levelling compound and all that?

You can easily make up half an inch in additional adhesive. While I
wouldn't want to do that on a heavy traffic floor, it'll be fine in a
cupboard.

Alternatively, just let your tiling follow the dip. If you use small
enough tiles (20x20), it'll barely be noticeable.


--
Grunff

Grunff wrote:
AlexW wrote:

I was thinking about that but with a 1/2 inch dip wouldn't I need self
levelling compound and all that?


You can easily make up half an inch in additional adhesive. While I
wouldn't want to do that on a heavy traffic floor, it'll be fine in a
cupboard.

Alternatively, just let your tiling follow the dip. If you use small
enough tiles (20x20), it'll barely be noticeable.



Cheers, I'll give it some thought.

Alex.

AlexW wrote:
Since having the floors replaced throughout the ground floor of our
house I have not got round to covering up the concrete under the stairs,
but now the time has come (or so I have been told).

The original plan was to put floorboards down (wickes french pine) on
battens screwed to the floor. This would bring the floor pretty level
with the indian stone flagging which it will butt up to at the cupboard
entrance.

However, on closer inspection in the corner the concrete seems to be
less thick (sounds a bit hollow) than the rest of the floor and the it
is a bit uneven and dips half an inch. I doubt the thickness will be an
issue for the traffic as we don't even walk on it, but I am a bit
reticent to drill into it to fix battens.

So don't fix them. Leave the floor floating, it's only an understair
cupboard.

MBQ

Dave wrote:
AlexW wrote:

Since having the floors replaced throughout the ground floor of our
house I have not got round to covering up the concrete under the
stairs, but now the time has come (or so I have been told).

The original plan was to put floorboards down (wickes french pine) on
battens screwed to the floor. This would bring the floor pretty level
with the indian stone flagging which it will butt up to at the
cupboard entrance.

However, on closer inspection in the corner the concrete seems to be
less thick (sounds a bit hollow) than the rest of the floor and the it
is a bit uneven and dips half an inch. I doubt the thickness will be
an issue for the traffic as we don't even walk on it, but I am a bit
reticent to drill into it to fix battens.


Use no-more-nails to glue the battens down, packing any uneven ones to give
a level surface. Bung floor boards on top.

Dave



Had been thinking about using n-m-n after bedding/levelling the battens
on sand & cement bed and letting it go off to get the surfaces to mate
but am unsure if this will hold long term (never use n-m-n in this mode
before).

Ta,

Alex.

wrote:
AlexW wrote:

Since having the floors replaced throughout the ground floor of our
house I have not got round to covering up the concrete under the stairs,
but now the time has come (or so I have been told).

The original plan was to put floorboards down (wickes french pine) on
battens screwed to the floor. This would bring the floor pretty level
with the indian stone flagging which it will butt up to at the cupboard
entrance.

However, on closer inspection in the corner the concrete seems to be
less thick (sounds a bit hollow) than the rest of the floor and the it
is a bit uneven and dips half an inch. I doubt the thickness will be an
issue for the traffic as we don't even walk on it, but I am a bit
reticent to drill into it to fix battens.


So don't fix them. Leave the floor floating, it's only an understair
cupboard.

MBQ


Pro'ly the simplest thing to do. I'll ask SWMBO if she minds a bit of a
wobble! If I get the skirting on nice and tight to the boards it might
not be very noticeable.
Ta,

Alex.

AlexW wrote:
wrote:
AlexW wrote:

Since having the floors replaced throughout the ground floor of our
house I have not got round to covering up the concrete under the
stairs, but now the time has come (or so I have been told).

The original plan was to put floorboards down (wickes french pine)
on battens screwed to the floor. This would bring the floor pretty
level with the indian stone flagging which it will butt up to at
the cupboard entrance.

However, on closer inspection in the corner the concrete seems to be
less thick (sounds a bit hollow) than the rest of the floor and the
it is a bit uneven and dips half an inch. I doubt the thickness
will be an issue for the traffic as we don't even walk on it, but I
am a bit reticent to drill into it to fix battens.


So don't fix them. Leave the floor floating, it's only an understair
cupboard.

MBQ


Pro'ly the simplest thing to do. I'll ask SWMBO if she minds a bit of
a wobble! If I get the skirting on nice and tight to the boards it
might not be very noticeable.

Chances are it won't move at all, but if you're concerned do as I suggested
earlier and glue the battens down... No more nails will work just fine for
this application.

Dave

"AlexW" wrote in message
...
Since having the floors replaced throughout the ground floor of our house
I have not got round to covering up the concrete under the stairs, but now
the time has come (or so I have been told).


Wickes levelling compound is quick and easy to use. Doesn't require anything
technical - just mix it up in a bucket, pour it in, and it levels itself.

Don't add more water than the instructions tell you though. DAMHIK, IJK, OK?

Si

Dave wrote:
AlexW wrote:

wrote:

AlexW wrote:


Since having the floors replaced throughout the ground floor of our
house I have not got round to covering up the concrete under the
stairs, but now the time has come (or so I have been told).

The original plan was to put floorboards down (wickes french pine)
on battens screwed to the floor. This would bring the floor pretty
level with the indian stone flagging which it will butt up to at
the cupboard entrance.

However, on closer inspection in the corner the concrete seems to be
less thick (sounds a bit hollow) than the rest of the floor and the
it is a bit uneven and dips half an inch. I doubt the thickness
will be an issue for the traffic as we don't even walk on it, but I
am a bit reticent to drill into it to fix battens.


So don't fix them. Leave the floor floating, it's only an understair
cupboard.

MBQ


Pro'ly the simplest thing to do. I'll ask SWMBO if she minds a bit of
a wobble! If I get the skirting on nice and tight to the boards it
might not be very noticeable.


Chances are it won't move at all, but if you're concerned do as I suggested
earlier and glue the battens down... No more nails will work just fine for
this application.

Dave


You're persuading me...

Alex.