How to demolish a suspended slab bathroom floor?

homehack

Looking to renovate my 1940's bathroom & have discovered it has a suspended slab floor, which I gather was quite common in that era. Its approx 6m2 but I have no idea how thick it is as there is no crawlspace to access under this room. It looks like its been renovated at some time in the past as the plumbing for the basin has been chased through the brick wall from the room next door (which has a wooden floor), not a good look!.

I wanted to lower the floor so the finished tiles are the same height as the adjacent hallway, and rejig the plumbing to a more functional design but didn't plan on encountering a concrete slab when the rest of the house is tongue & groove floorboards.

My question is has anybody tried to demolish such a floor, much effort is involved, and are there any tricks or catches?

Thanks in advance.

MitchellMc

Hi @homehack,

Have you been able to confirm it's a suspended slab floor and not compressed fibro or self-leveller over the subfloor? Perhaps drill through it and see if you can tell how thick it is. That might give you an indication of what exactly it is. I think the likelihood of it being a suspended slab is low in a property built in the 1940s. Suspended slabs are normally constructed off-site and bought in. 

If you intend to demolish it entirely, you could have at it with a demolition hammer. I don't think a smaller version will do much if it's a full-thickness slab.

Have you considered all other options, as removing a slab and then re-installing the subfloor would be a fairly involved task to end up with tiles flush to the hallway and re-jigging the plumbing? If it is a suspended slab, then it would be filled with reenforcement bar and an absolute nightmare to break up.

You might like to post some pictures of the rooms as our knowledgeable members could have some great solutions for you.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell