Old verandah...now an interior room. Need help with floor!
#1
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Old verandah...now an interior room. Need help with floor!
Hi everyone, hope someone can help me here.
I've moved in with my parents temporarily (yikes) and in lieu of rent I'm doing some DIY in the sleepout so I can use that as a room, and it 's renovated for them when I move out again.
In case that's an Aussie term you're not familiar with: old houses in Australia (~80 years+) used to have verandahs around all, or at least three sides of the house. This was before air-conditioning and fans and even electricity so they liked a lot of outdoor areas out of the sun. As insulation and air-conditioning and the like came in, and families grew, parts of these verandahs were closed in to create extra rooms, which were typically long and narrow, and called sleepouts.
Anyway...part of the DIY planned is the floor. Thanks to it's previous life as a verandah, and good old Aussie craftsmanship, it's lined with hardwood floor-boards about 2.5 inches wide, and interlocked quite snugly. There are some gaps here and there, but nothing to worry about. However they're only about 3/4 inch thick. Under those are about 2 feet of air and then dirt. On top is some 30-year-old carpet which needs to go. The area is around 18 sq mt, or 195 sq feet.
I'm on a very tight budget...say AU$150, $200 max. I have looked at cheap carpet and laminate flooring, but they seem...well...cheap. I know you get what you pay for. My latest idea was to sand and seal the floor-boards already in place, as they could look quite nice with the cedar blinds. However I'm worried that in winter 3/4 inch of wood is gonna get pretty cold.
Is there such a thing as under-floor insulation which I can basically crawl under the house with and line that section? Or can I use any type of insulation?
Also, I thought of running some sort of sealant in all the gaps and holes (sure there will be lots of tiny ones)...do you think this is necessary, that it will aid in insulation, and if so do I just go with a wood gap filler or something more flexible, given that it used to be a verandah and it's not rock-solid?
Any advice greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Sam
I've moved in with my parents temporarily (yikes) and in lieu of rent I'm doing some DIY in the sleepout so I can use that as a room, and it 's renovated for them when I move out again.
In case that's an Aussie term you're not familiar with: old houses in Australia (~80 years+) used to have verandahs around all, or at least three sides of the house. This was before air-conditioning and fans and even electricity so they liked a lot of outdoor areas out of the sun. As insulation and air-conditioning and the like came in, and families grew, parts of these verandahs were closed in to create extra rooms, which were typically long and narrow, and called sleepouts.
Anyway...part of the DIY planned is the floor. Thanks to it's previous life as a verandah, and good old Aussie craftsmanship, it's lined with hardwood floor-boards about 2.5 inches wide, and interlocked quite snugly. There are some gaps here and there, but nothing to worry about. However they're only about 3/4 inch thick. Under those are about 2 feet of air and then dirt. On top is some 30-year-old carpet which needs to go. The area is around 18 sq mt, or 195 sq feet.
I'm on a very tight budget...say AU$150, $200 max. I have looked at cheap carpet and laminate flooring, but they seem...well...cheap. I know you get what you pay for. My latest idea was to sand and seal the floor-boards already in place, as they could look quite nice with the cedar blinds. However I'm worried that in winter 3/4 inch of wood is gonna get pretty cold.
Is there such a thing as under-floor insulation which I can basically crawl under the house with and line that section? Or can I use any type of insulation?
Also, I thought of running some sort of sealant in all the gaps and holes (sure there will be lots of tiny ones)...do you think this is necessary, that it will aid in insulation, and if so do I just go with a wood gap filler or something more flexible, given that it used to be a verandah and it's not rock-solid?
Any advice greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Sam
#2
yes you could justt sand the floors and they would probably look very nice. As far as insulation goes any type would work but the cheapest would be fiberglass. Install it so that the foil or paper side is facing up. Unless the room is heated well I'm guessing it will still get cold in the winter. You could cut down on the draft coming up from the insulated floor by covering it from underneath with something. Plywood or osb would be the best but would cost more. You could staple a heavy duty plastic up to cover the insulation.
#4
The paper side goes to the warm side of the insulation. How cold are your winters? If your winters are mild and summers hot, you would want that paper to be towards the outside of the house.