SHould I raise the bathroom floor with concrete or timber

[badhairday]

The floor of my groundfloor bathroom is composed of a concrete floor, covered by a waterproof membrane, on which there is timber holding up a chipboard floor, on top of which there is lino.

My question is, since most of the pipes to my bathroom fixtures run overground in a box, is it wise to cement the floor so that it reaches the same height as the rest of the house and just cover it with DPM and lino. A plumber suggested it. Sounds a bit extreme, but he said that if I do that I wont have to keep worrying about any timber rotting etc as any leaks would be instantly visible due to the concrete holding it up....

the current situation is that , the chipboard is all soggy and there is quite a lot of water trapped between the concrete and the waterproof membrane. The water must have seeped under the waterproof membrane somehow, and been leaking for years. Thanks in advance.

 

[Bahco]

Good idea to use concrete.

What are your concerns

 

[badhairday]

For one thing, I was wondering if the weight of the cement would cause the existing floor to sink or something. I was speaking to a friend who said it might affect the strength of the foundation...

I was also wondering why the original builders chose to use timber to raise the height of the floor in the first place.......perhaps it has some advantages over cementing it up that I was not aware of?

Cement seems rather final and I worry about making the wrong decision and not being able to undo my mistake easily.

 

[Bahco]

I was wondering if the weight of the cement would cause the existing floor to sink or something.

Seems very unlikely to me.

Why not ask a builder to have a look or phone Building Control for some advice.

 

[badhairday]

Good idea. I'll call building control.
The builder does not envisage any problems, but I thought I should double check as it does seem rather final.