Insulating floor results?

[gemi_babe]

Hiya

About a month ago there was talk about insulating the floor here on the forum and I was wondering if anyone has/had any success.


I too have a freezing cold kitchen floor and since the boards are in bad condition(tried both methods to clean them up, to no avail) I am going to have to lay either floating or lino but before I do would like to insulate it first.

And.... has anyone heard of kitchen carpet? If so is it any good?

[simon c]

I haven't heard of kitchen carpet but having been English once, I have certainly had bathroom carpet in most of the houses I've lived in. That was great in winter.

For me, the obvious floor covering for a kitchen that is warm would be cork tiles. They look great for the first few years but do tend to look a bit dated after a while. It will save money on broken china too as they cushion dropages.

[Barry_White]

We have cork tiles which are about 7 mm thick with a slightly rough surface. The are layed on a concrete slab. They have been down about 20 years and are starting to look a bit jaded but another coat of estapol will bring them back.

As far as being warm I wouldn't go past them. We get down to minus 9 degrees in the winter and have no trouble walking about in bare feet with out feeling cold.

Although you can buy kitchen carpet, keeping it clean would be a problem especially with spills etc.

You would probably have to put down a hardboard underlay first for both the cork or the kitchen carpet.

[jackiew]

I still haven't got round to insulating the floor yet ... its on that list

you can get kitchen carpet which tends to be looped artificial fibre with almost non existant pile and a rubbery backing. This is carpet which you can scrub, take up and hose down in the garden etc but its pretty rank - haven't seen any which I wouldn't be embarassed to own. Certainly you don't want anything which is non washable unless your skills at carrying cups of tea are better than mine!.

If you go for lino/vinyl and the room has cutouts and other awkward shapes to navigate - make a paper pattern of the floor out of sheets of newspaper and masking tape and cut the vinyl slightly larger on the lawn using the pattern before trying to lay it in the room ...

and simon c ... surely if you're english you're english ... non negotiable? Despite my australian citizenship i'm still English - as I give away everytime I say anything. though every time Australians hear my outrageously strong London accent for the first time they ask me if I'm from Manchester :confused:

[Toddy]

Hi there,
I am not sure if this is the solution to your cold floor problem however, I will provide the info anyway. My father-in-law built a caravan that looks like a huge tic-tac. The outside is fibreglass with an inner layer of 'spray on foam' over a steel frame. The guy that came to spray the foam (mobile unit) told me he had also applied the foam to the underside of floors to provide an insulation layer as well as sealing off drafts. The foam is a bit like the stuff you get in cans to fill cracks. It expands as it dries and leaves a skin that is fairly sturdy.
Cheers
Todd

[simon c]

jackiew, I like to think I'm an aussie when I'm here and only english when I go back or when I have more than 4 beers - as my London accent reverts with alcohol.

If you have a London accent and live in the eastern suburbs, I'll listen out for you at Bunnings Nunawading.

[gemi_babe]

Toddy would you happen to know the contact details for the spray on foam? I'm in the south west and it sounds interesting.

I know foam has a bad rep but it does work. I insulated my laundry with polystyrene sheets, cut them to size and fitted inbetween the studs. Works a treat.

Does anyone know if there is something on the market that I could put over the existing floorboards as a filler? These floorboards have gaps that I can poke a knife thru.

I am going to go with cork tiles for the kitchen and don't wish to have the underside all gappy.

Thanks to all who replied/replies.

Regards,
Gemi

[Toddy]

Hi Gemi,
The product is a Polyurethane foam spray. Check out page 1971 of the Perth 2004 Yellow pages (L-Z edition). Graeme (my father-in-law) said the guy that did his caravan came from Byford and apparently has a couple of mobile units that travel around WA. If he finds the contact details in his barn (shed) I will pass them on to you. In terms of your floorboards, do you mean that you can poke a knife right through to the underside because there is no toungue on the boards?
I helped a floor sander do the boards in my old house and he used a product called Agnew's (not sure about the spelling) water putty to fill the gaps. We mixed a red/brown oxide through the dry putty mix to match the colour of the floor. The putty sets hard so you need to make sure the floor is well nailed and firm.
Good luck.
Todd

[gemi_babe]

Its an old house where there use to be an old wood stove in the kitchen.... it dried out the floor boards so much that they have shrunk heaps. The tungs are not in the grooves.

[Tonyz]

in South Aust we have a Dept of Energy who answer problems like yours Gemi babe it may pay you to get their opinion and 'R' rating of spray foam Tonto

[soundman]

A couple of thaughts.
You can fix ordinary insulation bats to the floor with spray glue, the poly or poly wool bats stay together better than fibreglass.
or dunlop make a foam sheet (normal foam) that is fire retardant that could be fixed in the same way.

as far as the gaps
anything you put down as a floor covering will need some form of board underlay anyway so I wouldn't worry about it. just sheet up over the lot.

Cork tiles are great, but the durability and the quality of the look depends on how many coats of cleer are put over the top.
our kitchen has only 3 coats & is starting to show its age in places, my mate dave did his kitchen over 20 years ago & his still looks real good 20 years traffic from a family of 6.
He did it in true dave fashion 6 generous coats of the best cork floor poly he could buy. cooking in the laundry for a week, greif from the misses for the diration but he has no regrets.

cheers

[rsser]

The Vic Govt data on heat loss shows that there's relatively little through the floor, so insulating underneath it will probably not help you much. You need to be aiming for something that doesn't feel cold underfoot, and cork is the best option there.

Three coats of quality poly designed for cork will give good results; I've done it in a heavy wear family room and after ten years it only now needs a recoat.

[gemi_babe]

Thank you to all who replied. I am going to go for the cork flooring as some of you have suggested.

If you think about it rsser heat loss is not happening thru the floor, because the cold air is powering thru it. I checked out that site and it is very helpful. I am draught proofing my house slowly. Need to do something about the bathroom walls. They are not insulated and freezing to touch also.

Thanks again,
Gemi