Summerhouse renovation (with a stubborn client)

[JBM2015]

Hi All,

My Dad has recently purchased a property with a dilapidated summerhouse that I'm helping him bring back to life. The timber frame is actually in OK nick, so he's wanting to insulate everywhere and lay a screed floor with insulation on top.

We've ripped out the old rotten chipboard flooring to find various concrete slabs already in place, so he's wanting to compact hardcore in between existing concrete you can see, then 50mm 4:1 screed over the top, before thin layer of sand, DPM and 100mm insulation before flooring of choice.

I'm not a builder, but I've taken some advice and the general consensus seems to be that a 4:1 screed needs to be 100mm to make this work, but this won't be possible in areas (will only be 40-50mm).

He's adamant he doesn't want to dig out the floor (even though I offered!) and that weight on screed will be spread by insulation and flooring so cracking is unlikely. He's quite an experience DIYer but has been known to cut corners on occasions!

Can anybody suggest a solution that doesn't involve digging out the floor and working with what's there?

Thanks in advance.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Yes. Leave him get on with it- its his house, if he wants to chance it, let him. Do factor in how many years your parent likely has left on this earth- some jobs now I do in my place are done to a 'it'll see me out' standard.