As I’m getting longer in the tooth & generally work by myself I thought I’d done with kitchens that was until a good friends son & daughter in law bought what has turned into a nightmare for them.
My friend was going to help them sort the kitchen that was until the building firm they employed to remove the wall between the kitchen & dining room found more horrors than a little, at this point I got the “could you just” phone call
First up an old chimney breast had been removed but not the hearth which consisted of very rough broken up concrete was simply carpeted over to hide it, so first up was to remove that.
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New joists & mr chipboard flooring was installed, next up the original kitchen floor which was covered with vinyl flooring turned out to be very damp quarry tiles these were dug out.
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Then a membrane & insulation installed
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After which a fibre reinforced screed was laid
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The concrete floor in the extended part of the kitchen was solid enough but turned out not to have a damp proof membrane under it & whilst it wasn’t showing any noticeable damp it was decided to apply a liquid damp proof membrane.
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This then had a thick covering of self levelling compound to bring it up to the level of the new kitchen floor which was higher than the original as with the wall removed the wooden dining room floor was higher than the old kitchen floor
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Most of the walls were showing signs of damp, luckily my friend knew a specialist damp proofing firm which saved me an awful lot of work as they sorted the damp & plastered both rooms.
After a few weeks of two dehumidifiers running I was finally able to get the kitchen fitted along with herringbone flooring & skirting.
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There were many other numerous problems along the way but thankfully they are all sorted I just needed to refit the new radiators once the decorator has finished.