Kitchen flooring...please help!

Hello,

Firstly sorry for the long start to the thread; I want to help provide the correct details and I am hoping for some guidance on my kitchen floor.

The kitchen was extended by the previous owner creating a kitchen/ breakfast room across the rear of the property. Thanks to a leak I had to take up the laminate flooring in the kitchen/breakfast room extension to reveal concrete and part of the old kitchen to reveal thermoplastic tiles and bitumen beneath. The latter also runs under the kitchen units.

The ideal case scenario would be to have a flat concrete surface throughout and have the option of putting down solid wood, if not now some time in the future, BUT!I don't think this is possible as it would mean taking up the tiles and bitumen. Therein lies my first problem:

1) What do people do about taking up thermoplastic (presumably asbestos containing) tiles and bitumen?(possibly containing asbestos)
I have 3 different surfaces to work with (concrete, bitumen, and tiles), the levels don't vary greatly in height but nevertheless do vary a little.

2) If the tiles and bitumen are not taken up, what difference in level is acceptable?
3) What solution is there to create one level?

The concrete in the extension is not level but I don't think I can do anything about this because altering will mean a big job. Perhaps the solution in #3 can help with this?

Finally, I have yet to take up the rest of the laminate in the old kitchen. God knows what I will find but there is definitely some kind of bulge underneath so will have to try and sort this too. I imagine the cowboy builder laid some piping in the floor and didn't lay it deep enough.

Here is a pic of the extension to old kitchen to help get an idea.


All your posts will be answered and any help much appreciated as it needs sorting! If you need any more details just ask.

Cheers for now, Andy.

 

Hi Bluejacket,

So people do take these tiles up as standard practice then? I am somewhat confused as to what is ok on this?

Re: the levels, yes quite possibly; I've read posts by audio-evo and mudster talk about Ardex P82/ P51 and then K13/K15. I could use them over the concrete part to bring it up to the level of the tiles (probably about 1 - 2mm different from the tiles).

I've never used anything like that. I wonder how easy it is to get a good level?
Alternatively could I use a thicker underlay on the concrete and bitumen part and then thinner on the tile section?
Does anyone know of a really good underlay capable of making the best of troublesome floors with different levels to get around an issue such as this?

Cheers,

Andy