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How to raise the level of a floor?

LizB88
Finding My Feet

How to raise the level of a floor?

Hello,

My partner and I have just bought a fixer-upper and are looking to transform this laundry/toilet area at the back of the house. We are going to plaster these walls and put down some sort of flooring- perhaps vinyl floorboard tiles or regular tiles. Are there any simple ways to raise the floor to meet the floor in the kitchen, that we could do ourselves? The difference between the lower floor and the other (raised) floors is 120mm.  

 

Thanks!

 

 

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EricL
Bunnings Team Member
Bunnings Team Member

Re: How to raise the level of a floor?

Hello @LizB88 

 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about raising the level of your floor.

 

A relatively easy way to increase the level of your floor is to build a timber frame and installing a timber panel above it such as yellow tounge or plywood. The tricky part is getting the height correct in regards to the thickness of the panels. For example, if you used 90x45 timber framing plus two plywood panels one in 19mm and one in 12mm you would have a total of 121mm. 

 

Now if you are putting flooring above this, you'll need to change thickness of the panels, but this will depend on the type of flooring you'll be putting in. I've placed a sample image below to give you an idea of how it can be done. Please note that the measurements are for reference only

 

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

 

Eric

 

 

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Re: How to raise the level of a floor?

Thanks Eric, that is really helpful.

 

In the case that we decide not to raise the floor (and leave as is), and instead cover the floor of the lower area, as well as the two concrete floor rooms in fake floorboards- something like this HanWood 7mm 2.41m² Elk Brown Laminate - Bunnings Australia.... 

 

1. will we be able to do this over the steps/raised parts?

2. We obviously wont be able to get laminate/vinyl floor boards that match the current floorboard in the kitchen (see photo) and therefore what would you recommend doing to that concrete step area that connects the real floor boards to the fake floor boards to make it a smooth transition?

 

Any other ideas you have for the flooring would be great. We were also considering tiling the whole area but it is already a really cold area of the house and therefore think tiles might be too cold. NB: This is the only toilet in the house and this area is a pretty flimsy addition, so we want to try and make it feel less like an 'outhouse/mudroom' and more like part of the rest of the house.

 

Thanks!

 

 

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JacobZ
Bunnings Team Member
Bunnings Team Member

Re: How to raise the level of a floor?

Hi @LizB88,

 

There's certainly a multitude of ways you can add flooring and make the area more homely, but it's a bit of a tough area where I don't think there is a perfect solution.

 

The HanWood laminate flooring looks like a good option to mimic the existing floorboards, but as you said, it will not match up to the existing ones perfectly.

 

You could run the laminate flooring up and over the steps, but it might look a bit clunky.

 

My suggestion would be to use the laminate in the lower area and simply repaint the concrete step to a new colour that better suits. 

 

Allow me to tag some of our helpful members to see if they have any thoughts, @Herrenovacation, @Nailbag, @RenoRach, @ProjectPete, @Dave-1.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Jacob

 

Dave-1
Community Megastar

Re: How to raise the level of a floor?

Good Evening @LizB88 

Now that is a doozy of a question....

I was going for @EricL 's raised floor idea and leave the slight concrete rise as is... But now mmmmmm

 

Going to the bathroom through a colder room would be a skippity skip skip back and fourth on those cold nights. The fake floorboards would insulate a little but how about some thick solid carpet or carpet tiles? I bought a bunch of second hand carpet tiles via a carpet place and love how they have insulated my concrete floor in the garage. No moisture issues and it really feels warm in there throughout winter.

 

I actally like the difference between the "thresh hold" and the timber floor, I dont think you will be able to put laminate floorboards down over it tho 😕 If you are set on it maybe a painted timber effect? It may be hard but could work. Id practice on some old surface first tho :smile:

 

Just had a thought about raising the floor.Is the back door at the same level as the concrete floor we can see? If it is and you raise the floor then that first step will be high and I mean high! Somethingto facor in just in case.

 

Looking forward to seeing the project unfold :smile: Love fixer uppers for this reason!

 

Dave

Nailbag
Amassing an Audience

Re: How to raise the level of a floor?

Hi @LizB88 I also agree with @EricL solution and would be exactly what I would be doing and highly recommend. It delivers very a simple and cost effective way to level the 3 rooms. You mentioned this is a fixer-upper house so, resolving this poorly designed room will make a good investment in your return. By having this floor level with the other rooms, will enable you to then consider timber flooring options over tiles and bring continuity between spaces.

 

Regards, Nailbag

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