ᐅ Insulating a Cold Home Office Floor – But How?

Hello,

about six years ago, I bought a prefabricated house built in 1980.
Although we insulated the exterior with about 15 cm (6 inches) and around 50 cm (20 inches) into the ground, the floor in my home office is still constantly cold.
The floor consists of approximately 25 cm (10 inches) of screed and reinforced concrete beams.
Beneath that is our unheated pellet bunker, which makes it very difficult or impossible to insulate the ceiling below.
Therefore, the floor itself needs to be insulated with a covering that provides the most efficient insulation possible.
The problem is that due to transitions into the hallway and other connections, the maximum height for both insulation and floor covering must not exceed 2 cm (0.8 inches).

Currently, the insulation consists of a plastic sheet and a short-pile carpet costing €1.99 per square meter (about $2 per square yard).
This is now completely worn out and needs to be replaced with something better.
I would appreciate your advice on what materials or solutions would be suitable.

At 2cm (0.8 inches), it’s almost not worth doing since the effect will probably be negligible.

If you want to insulate, it’s better to do it in the basement.

What type of flooring is in the office? Tiles? How about cork? It definitely feels warmer.

As mentioned above:

drakrochma schrieb:

Currently, the insulation consists of a plastic sheet and a short-pile carpet costing €1.99 per m² (0.19 USD per sq ft).

Unfortunately, that’s all there is.

Yes, I had also considered cork.
5mm (0.2 inch) impact sound insulation underneath and then 12mm (0.5 inch) cork on top.
But we have already installed cork in the bedroom and children’s room.
Unfortunately, it is not very abrasion-resistant.
In the office, I move around a lot with the office chair and I’m afraid the cork won’t last long there.

A wool carpet would solve the problem, but it costs significantly more than 1.5 meters (5 feet).

I’m not saying that price doesn’t matter, but I have no problem spending a few more euros if it means the job is done properly afterwards.

The room is about 4 x 5.5 m (13 x 18 ft), so whether the price per square meter is 40€ or 50€ doesn’t really make a big difference.
I’d prefer to stay under 100€/sqm (about $10 per sq ft) though 🙂
But I’m definitely happy to pay more than 1.99€/sqm ($0.20 per sq ft).

At the same time, I want the window properly fitted into the wall, because the interior trim is poor and the window currently protrudes about 1 cm (0.4 inch) into the room at the lower left side.
Also, there’s an awkward granite windowsill right above the radiator, which prevents the room from heating properly.

So, drywall (plasterboard) on two walls will be removed, as well as the chipboard panels. The exterior walls will be re-insulated between the rafters, the electrical wiring completely redone, and of course the floor as well.
For a nice project like this, it definitely should not fail because of an extra 5€ per sqm (about $0.50 per sq ft). The main thing is that the room is fully finished and ready for the next 10 years.

The windowsill usually extends over the radiator on purpose, as this helps to create a good airflow.

Is the radiator possibly too small?

Could you gain a few millimeters downward? If you reach 45mm (1.8 inches), you can install a dry system underfloor heating.