Q. We are living in an underground domestic and wish your recommendation. We purchased this domestic six years in the past and bravely undertook a intestine renovation, out to the concrete partitions and right down to the sand. We had been too ignorant (and romantic) to suppose we couldn’t pull this renovation off, so we did. We’re more than pleased with the consequences, with the exception of for one factor: sound keep watch over. When the ground used to be laid, we put in radiant warmth after which poured a polished-concrete ground. The good room is 28 by way of 28 ft, capped by way of a concrete dome with a big central oculus skylight. We now have drywall over the concrete partitions. We expect the concrete flooring underneath the dome are at the back of the noise downside. The sound of our grandchildren taking part in or other folks speaking fills the gap. We would possibly upload new floor, however we completely wish to maintain the radiant warmth. Would bamboo floor be a sensible choice? Or cork? Ants have discovered their approach into the home the place the growth joints within the ground have failed. How impermeable can we wish to make the underfloor prior to including new floor? Is there a selected more or less knowledgeable who offers with those fabrics?
A.S. & C.N.
A. This feels like an overly fascinating area with very distinctive demanding situations. First, I’d be focused on the ants. As soon as they have got established a foothold underneath the slab, it may well be a subject eliminating them. I’d use a urethane caulk made for growth joints to seal issues up, after which name an exterminator. A just right program is also to have the fringe of the home sprayed annually.
Referring to noise keep watch over, the rest to take in the sound generated as an alternative of it reverberating again will lend a hand. Rugs in make a choice spaces that duvet sufficient of the ground would do higher than any form of wooden ground. In case you do choose to hide the ground totally to mitigate sound, cork or vinyl-plank flooring are higher than cast wooden, which is thicker and can save you the warmth from radiating thru. You would need to take into account to stay the ground round 80 levels, however no upper. Radiant warmth isn’t set that top, so it must no longer be a subject.
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Mark Philben is the undertaking construction supervisor at Charlie Allen Renovations in Cambridge. Ship your inquiries to [email protected]. Questions are matter to modifying. Subscribe to the Globe’s loose actual property publication — our weekly digest on purchasing, promoting, and design — at pages.e-mail.bostonglobe.com/AddressSignUp. Observe us on Fb, Instagram, and Twitter @globehomes.
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