Cowboy Builders

[user22161]

Inherited a conservatory with bungalow we purchased 11 years ago. Obvious at time of purchase there were some cracked floor tiles in external door reveal but over the years, tiles started to rise a little. After many years of hints, decided to earn some brownie points and have a look at it. On removing the loose tiles, obvious some cement skim had lifted but, what I didn't expect to see was to find the floor slab and dpc finishes level with room side of reveal/face of brickwork and the gap from there to the door is made up of aerated soft blocks, damp meter hits 50%.

Obviously that bit needs digging out and sorting but wondering about the rest of the floor, which has several wear and tear cracked tiles. Lifting tiles no problem but what about the hard adhesive?

Tempted to pour self leveling compound and lay laminate but, will self leveling stick to old uneven but sound adhesive, if I PVA it first?

 

[Spectric]

but what about the hard adhesive

You need one of these, Roughneck Big Mutt Pro Multi-Use Building & Decorating Tool 7

 

[Lons]

Impossible to tell from 'photos Graham and there's clearly a damp issue but the blocks might well not be what you think they are, you can buy aerated blocks specifically made for foundations, they are soft and look just like standard thermalite but also available in 300mm wide format, I've used them many times and have a stack of them sitting behind my shed. Look up lightweight trench blocks.

 

[user22161]

The door sits on a single brick wall which is continuation of the outer course of the cavity walls either side, cavity wall filled with concrete and junk. The floor slab sits on dpc which is on 1" of polystyrene on top of sand blinding. The blocks and broken bricks I've broken out aren't damp, they're wet with no dpc around them.

I'll most likely line with Visqueen, pour cement then top off to tile level with epoxy patching compound which will act as damp barrier, rather than self leveling compound. Tiles staying down, we have enough leeway to lay laminate floor on top.