ᐅ Insulating the foundation slab – ceiling height is insufficient
Created on: 11 May 2021 10:17
Q
querys_
Hello everyone,
We are considering buying my mother-in-law’s half-timbered house, as it is currently vacant.
The house is technically at the 1944 standard, so basically everything needs to be redone.
Here is our problem or question:
On the ground floor, several rooms have a concrete ceiling with a basement underneath. On top of that are beams, sometimes insulated with glass wool or mineral wool, then chipboard and PVC flooring. The total height is about 15cm (6 inches).
There is another room below without a basement. It has a concrete floor with PVC flooring on top.
Since the ceiling height is limited (doorway height 1.99m (6 ft 6 in), ceiling height about 2.2m (7 ft 3 in)), adding insulation will be difficult.
Therefore, our question is: How critical is it if a single room in the house is left without insulation underneath?
Attached are the floor plan of the ground floor (the room outlined in red) and a photo of the room.
Maybe someone has an idea without having to replace the entire slab?
We are considering buying my mother-in-law’s half-timbered house, as it is currently vacant.
The house is technically at the 1944 standard, so basically everything needs to be redone.
Here is our problem or question:
On the ground floor, several rooms have a concrete ceiling with a basement underneath. On top of that are beams, sometimes insulated with glass wool or mineral wool, then chipboard and PVC flooring. The total height is about 15cm (6 inches).
There is another room below without a basement. It has a concrete floor with PVC flooring on top.
Since the ceiling height is limited (doorway height 1.99m (6 ft 6 in), ceiling height about 2.2m (7 ft 3 in)), adding insulation will be difficult.
Therefore, our question is: How critical is it if a single room in the house is left without insulation underneath?
Attached are the floor plan of the ground floor (the room outlined in red) and a photo of the room.
Maybe someone has an idea without having to replace the entire slab?
M
Myrna_Loy11 May 2021 11:30Well, all of that is rather pointless cosmetic work when there is 15 cm (6 inches) of soil underneath.
N
nordanney11 May 2021 11:39Myrna_Loy schrieb:
Well, that all seems like pointless cosmetic work when there’s 15 cm (6 inches) of soil underneath.Why? The concrete slab is just a floor—remove it, excavate a bit, and install insulation along with a modern floor construction.Whether this is economically reasonable for a house from the 1940s, with technology and fittings from that era, is something everyone has to decide for themselves. Based on experience (technology, ceiling heights, cutting patterns, etc.) and intuition, I recommend using a large excavator and building a nice new house.
M
Myrna_Loy11 May 2021 11:45Because without a proper capillary-breaking layer, you will always have problems with moisture. A simple membrane under the slab is not enough.
nordanney schrieb:
Whether this is all economically viable for a house from the 1940s with technology and fittings from that era is something everyone has to decide for themselves. Based on intuition and experience (technology, ceiling heights, layouts, etc.), I recommend a large excavator and a nice new build. I would like to, but unfortunately it’s not possible because there is a separately inhabited extension from 1989 that would be lost. So the options are either to modernize the existing building as much as possible or simply not buy it.
N
nordanney11 May 2021 11:51querys_ schrieb:
Either modernize the existing one as best as possible, or just don’t buy it.Do the latter. “As best as possible” is about the same as “nice”…