My property is a 2nd floor flat in a block built in mid 1990's. All the floors are floating floors consisting of 18mm chipboard (not glued), nailed on wooden battens (62mm high x 44mm wide at 450mm centres), sitting on top of 5mm strips of some kind of foam on top of a plastic sheet (presumably dampproof) on top of concrete slab. The 5mm foam is only under the battens (presumably sound dampening from wood on concrete) and there is no insulation. Water, heating and electrical conduit pipes are loosely contained within the voids.
I am about to replace the bathrooms and would appreciate suggestions for the flooring. First and foremost, I don't want the final floor level to be any higher than the existing floor so that there is a seamless transition from the bedrooms. The existing bathroom flooring is carpet (don't blame me, I recently bought the place!) on the chipboard, but the new floor from the top will be slate tiles on adhesive on heated floor wires on elemental board (I want to have the bathrooms waterproofed - is tanked the word?), in effect future-proofing for wet-room use. Clearly with all that, there is no room for the existing 62mm high battens. So, ripping out everything that is there at the moment and starting at the concrete slab, what should the layers be to bring me up to the current level?
You will notice from language and description that I have limited knowledge and can best describe myself as a recent retiree who now has time to actually enjoy DIY rather than just as a means to an end. Constant deliveries from Amazon attest to my ever-growing range of tools and projects!
Anyway, any thoughts and suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.
