linoleum ?

all floors need maintenance

Victorians used it some of which is still there and it is making a rightful comeback.

Cob floor tiles - well compacted into a mould 12"sq x 2" thick, the mould sides demountable, carefully turned out to air-dry, not strong to handle but fine and durable once laid well bedded in clay 'mortar'. Soaked in linseed oil when dry, before laying, come up lovely, nice and irregular. Get different coloured clays and use your imagination - every tile a work of art, incorporating different streaks of colour, maybe encaustic/swiss roll/seaside rock-style.

Any way to seal cork so it's still reasonably vapour open?

Posted By: stevethefarmFrom enquiring to a company about bamboo floorings compatibility with a limecrete floor I received the following response "it does not have a DPM, the screed would have to be dry as the flooring is not waterproof and if any moisture gets under the flooring it will warp the flooring." Seeming ruling that option out.

Hmm, I put bamboo flooring in our last bathroom precisely because it was guaranteed to stand up to humidity and even water on top. Maybe the backing layers are less water friendly? Or maybe different suppliers have different products?

Posted By: stevethefarmHow did your bamboo cope in bathroom conditions?

The bamboo was fine. The only criticism was my wife's that it could be slippery, but that's true of many floor types. I've no idea how breathable it was - I think they're mostly made with resins of one kind or another.

Posted By: stevethefarmHave just been suggested brick flooring, anyone know how breathable brick is

Most bricks allow both water and air through. Engineering bricks are impermeable.

I'm pondering the same issue - I've laid a hempcrete slab sub-floor, and plan to put underfloor heating on it. My original idea was a 50mm lime screed topped with 25mm clay pammets, laid at the same time (ie. a one-pass job, where the clay tiles are bedded on the screed at the time of screed installation).

I'm now at the point of needing to buy the materials and wondering if there is a cheaper, possibly temporary (as in 2-3 years) alternative I could consider.

I've been warned off polishing the lime screed as it cuts down the breathability to a degree that isn't great for the hempcrete, so I'm pondering a simple earth floor, or lime screed with rugs on for now (& maybe take them up and hang them at night, when I go to sleep).

I am drawn to the idea of homemade clay pammets, as suggested by fostertom, but reckon the cost of the clay would work out more than buying the pammets from Norfolk (I'm in inner city Bristol, with tiny yards and no locals digging out huge footings etc). It's a shame I can't find any pammets more locally, as the clay here is great & traditionally they were made here (although called something else - pammets / pamments is an East Anglian term, I understand) but that's the way of things for now I guess.

So, earth floor with a light wax / oil seal or a lime screed with rugs for now are looking favoured for now. Any encouragement / cautions / ideas?

Is this the sort of thing?
http://www.yorkhandmade.co.uk/products-floor-tiles.aspx

Posted By: slowbuildingI've been warned off polishing the lime screed as it cuts down the breathability

I'm intrigued by that as it isn't something I've come across. Do you have any details?

So, earth floor with a light wax / oil seal or a lime screed

I don't understand what benefit you would look for from putting earth over a lime screed?

What's under the hempcrete by the way?