What is best for a barn floor?

[flower]

Hi all,

We are renovating our barn and are having some difficulty in deciding what is the best option for the ground floor. Thermal values are important to us so we have been toying with various ideas. Polysterene sheets between concrete layers is one, underfloor heating another, though part of the ground floor will be carpeted so it wouldn't be suitable for those areas. A wooden floating floor perhaps. There seem to be lots of options and different builders suggest different options so what we'd really like to ask is can anyone give us their personal experiences of what they have used and whether they feel it works or not. (We will have a damp proof membrane too).

Many thanks in advance for your info.

 

 

[gerry]

Hi my particular perference would be a traditional timber floor allowing air circulation ,which would keep the area dry and free of damp and or dry rot which needs 20 percent moisture content to take place.The Barn would be treated as a normal living area so timber would be suitable but then I love Bois so am very biased  thanks Gerry

[Chris Head]

What do you both actually want? What will be the theme/style of the rest of the barn? Will it be Oak framed or plasterboarded inside? Is this a long term project? For every question you both have there will always be a load of differing answers and opinions.

Don't forget though that you'll have to live with the results and look at them every day!

PM if I can help, you're not far from me.

[zeb]

I think you also have to think about your lifestyle.

Tiles are dead easy to hoover and mop.

Wooden floors look great but are high maintenance if you have animals/children or MOH!

Carpets are impossible for the same reasons and also the summer heat (tiles are cool).

If I had the choice of heating I'd certainly go for geothermic/or air/heat exchange underfloor (environmentally friendly and you can get tax credits on that if you are tax resident).

[flower]

Thanks for the replies so far. It will be a very contemporary interior predominantly and for the hallway, kitchen and dining area we are not sure whether to have wood flooring or tiles. I think I prefer the look of wood but feel that tiles will be harder wearing over a longer period of time. We have tiles in our house now and they're indestructible! However if we choose tiles will this impact on the type of floor we lay? Obviously concrete is fine but not sure about movement on a floating / chipboard floor or such like. I know you can use flexible adhesive but don't know how well this works in practice.

Thanks Chris, it will be timber stud work and plasterboard inside. It won't be a long term project - it will be completed this year, but it will be our long term home.

Any more ideas and info greatly appreciated. Thank you. [:)]