How to raise floor by ~35mm

C

Con

Registered User
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Hi AAm,

I will be laying a timber floor on a concrete floor and need to put it down on batons which I think will be about 25mm. The problem is that when I lay tiles in the kitchen that they would be lower than the timber floor, not desirable in a new house. I am considering laying cheap tiles under the good ones, can anybody see a problem with this or maybe have an easier solution?
 
Why not just use a wider saddle at the doorway where the timber stops, and goes into the kitchen? Have it sloped to the tiles. If you raise the whole floor,
A - there is the expense
B - what happens then on the exterior door on the kitchen, it will have to be choppped on the bottom
C - You may run into problems with the height of your kitchen units under window sills etc. etc.

Really recommend you give this some serious thought - balance of one aesthetic over another.
 

Why do you "need" battens? You could go for a floating floor surely, then you wouldn't have to deal with such a difference in level between the two floors.
 
Marksa,
Thanks for your reply, I am giving it some thought and realise it is alot of work instead of a wide saddle board and I take your suggestions on board

I never considered the external door but I'd imagine that they would open out.

I did think of the kitchen and measured the sill and this will not be a problem.

Expense, this is a problem as I will be strapped moving in but it is my kitchen floor and I will look at it every day and I want to get it right.
 
Avns1s said:
Why do you "need" battens? You could go for a floating floor surely, then you wouldn't have to deal with such a difference in level between the two floors.
Click to expand...

The floor cannot be floated according to the supplier, he said I could risk it but they would not give any guarantee. Can I float it?
 
Con said:
The floor cannot be floated according to the supplier, he said I could risk it but they would not give any guarantee. Can I float it?
Click to expand...
What type of wood is it? Is it solid, semi solid? I thought most of these would have been able to be floated. I floated over 100 sq. mteres of french oak, in a new build just before last Christmas. No problems at all!
 
Thanks Avns1s,

Its a solid walnut and it would save a lot of problems if I could float it.

What is the difference between putting it on batons and floating it? What are the possible problems?
 
Con said:
Thanks Avns1s,

Its a solid walnut and it would save a lot of problems if I could float it.

What is the difference between putting it on batons and floating it? What are the possible problems?
Click to expand...

Mate of mine floated solid walnut a few weeks ago. No prob!

Floating means that you will put down an underlay to help prevent moisture take up and it also softens the feel of the wood underfoot. The boards are then glued together in the tongues and grooves and fit together as they would if they were nailed to battens, and laid on top of the underlay. You will leave about 10 -12 mm around the edges to allow for any expansion. This space will be hidden when you refit the skirtings after the floor is down.

Its presumably called floating as the wood floor is not "attached" to anything. Its just laid on the underlay. I would have thought that floating is the way to go in your case. There are saddles you can get that range in heights (that will match your wood type) to bridge the levels between the wood and your tiles.

Generally this (floating) would be the method used in a building where the floor screeds are already in place. In a new build, where provision has been made for battens then this seems to be the preferred method.

Ask your supplier why it cannot be floating.

Hope this helps. Keep us posted.
 
Thanks again Avns1s,

As I said floating would be the easiest solution so I will have to consider this a bit more. If your friend that has floated the walnut has any problems in the meantime please do let me know
 
I'm in a similar situation and I'm not prepared to float a solid wood floor as I've seen problems when it's done this way. It's perfecet for semi solid which have tighter fit in the tongues and grooves and a wider board to absorb any uneveness though.

If raising the floor and nailing it to wood, I wouldn't use battens - this will create a soundbox effect and be very noisy. I'd lay 3/4" plywood and nail into this, just another option though.

Another option I heard on here is glueing the solid wood floor to the concrete slab using an underlay that has adhesive on both sides, I believe it's called elastillon. Pros seem to be you don't increase finished floor height, and it's not as messy as mixing and pouring the glue yourself, but cons seem to be it might come up in time where theres uneveness, and would be very difficult to remove and replace.
 
A few boards came loose. Floor underneath was a little uneven and should have been levelled, though I believe other methods (nailing, glueing full board to floor) wouldn't have had a problem as it wasn't majorly off - I feel that floating is weakest as only the tongues and grooves are glued so it will be more vulnerable to coming loose in the long run.
 
You are saying that this is a new house and the kitchen floor will be 35mm lower than the batten solid timber floor, can you not raise the kitchen floor by 35mm including tile or have you all your units in, I know the doors will be low but wouldn't take much to cut them, Think about it,
 
bskinti,

this is in the first thread, I asked if I should lay cheap tiles to raise the level
 
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