iMCaan

Thanks all, I thought I'll give an update on this issue that we experienced. I had building control officer to inspect the water seeping from ground but he said it's nothing of concern. He thought the water was gushing from the ground. I told him that even though the water is trickling out we had to pump it out twice and sometimes three times a day and showed him photos/videos. He said he's been on another site and the water was gushing out and they put a French drain in. He advised to leave it as is or put a French drain in. So I planned to put the French drain in. I also called out Yorkshire water but they couldn't find anything. Last week, before we could start the work (strangely, the contractors digger broke down) we noticed the water seeping from the ground has stopped but there was still some standing water. Today, there's no standing water in the area/room at all. The soil is almost completely dry. We have had some rain since last week. No work has been done to stop the water yet. There is some standing water in other rooms but its clearly rain water. I still plan to put the French drains in. Thanks all

Unfortunately, the site slopes quite a lot from the road towards the back of the house. We purposely raised the FGFL because the driveway was too steep, from front wall to road. We probably don't have much choice but to backfill. We're not using Aerated trench blocks. These are just concrete blocks . Yes, mobility ramps are planning condition. Hopefully, putting a French drain around the outside of the house will capture the rain water and redirect it. Thus, stop charging the water table beneath the house (thanks YouTube content creators). Therefore, no water to come up from the ground. There was no ground water since excavating the footings in October. We had heavy rain a week ago and some snow which I think has charged the water table. Hopefully, putting the French drain will resolve the issue.

Thank you. I reckon the water seepage location is about half a meter below block and beam floor. French drains is a good idea (only idea so far ). The water seepage is in the middle of the house so running French drains outside of the house would have to go trough trench blocks. Could this create issues later on? Thanks

Good advise but 3 months late

I have water seepage on site. I have create another post to keep it separate.

Oh boy. We have placed some hardcore so that a lorry could get to the back. Delivery lorries and hiab have gone to almost back of the site.

Hi We are just in the process of building a house and are currently working on substructure. I have found the location of the water seepage. It's right in the centre of the house. It's small amount of seepage but it builds up and we have to pump it out every couple of hours. We have not had rain for a few days. The site slopes from the road towards the back of the house. There are no drains on higher end (front of the house). The bay window trenches, on the higher end of the slope, are dry. Any advise how this water seepage could be stopped? Thanks iMCaan

I'm novice and I welcome constructive input. Never know what will be beneficial.

At one stage he almost did but was very hard worker. The site had houses on there but they were demolished, years before I purchased it. The whole street has houses, and there are houses either side of the build site. Also, new builds further down the street, but it still took me over 8 years to get the planning approved. All thanks to the architect (lazy) and damn councillors. The architect was a nightmare.

The site slopes from the footpath towards the back. If I remember correctly, the site engineer said there's about 1.5meter difference.

No, I didn't retain any subsoil as the sub contractor said it was no good. It had too many roots. Big relief smile on my face. Great. I told them to use as much mortar as they like. I want to foundations to be as solid as possible.

Site marking out and finished ground floor level rod/marker.

Some photos taken today.

The site engineer did all the markings and placed pins (on top of foundation) at each corner for the bricklayers. He also, placed a metal rod in the ground with finished GF level. The bricklayers are working from these levels. We're going to have even number of courses of blocks. The site slopes from front to back so will backfill to raise ground level.

No, one man lift.

Thanks They are using a laser level. The bricklayer I dealt with, who's not been on site yet due to covid, initially said he was going to do the corners first. When I told him that they have layed first course all around, he said this is common to get out of mud and water. Since, I have seen a YouTube video of a large development where they did blocks all around. Their site was similar to ours, flooded and muddy. The blocklayer can clearly be heard saying that they have to lay first course all around to get out of water. Is there a way to check the substructure quality? Perhaps an inspection company or to call out the building control officer? Thanks

Firstly, I REALLY APPRECIATE EVERYBODIES REPLIES. Had a lot of grey hair since I purchased the land back in 2011. So THANK YOU. I apologise for late reply, family members including myself are unwell. > ToughButterCup - I get what you're saying and camera is on order. However, the purpose of the camera was to record video for YouTube. I've learnt a lot from YouTube and Internet. Hopefully, some of the videos will help someone out there. > Chanmenie, markc - yes, I did consider that. As well as all that they also have mud to contend. It's a traditional build, block and Yorkshire stone. >Declan52 - complete course round the whole building. >Adrian Walker probably from "three blind mice" The bricklayer that I vetted is busy with another job. He recommended these guys for the substructure. I've not seen their previous work. I easily trust people and took their word that they have worked for big developers. Paying them day rate. >Mr Punter, Gordo ? 100 blocks x £2 = £200 per day (Leeds) is the rate I'm paying them each. Any suggestions how to supervise quality and output if I'm not on site (I have a day job)? I'm not experienced in building trade so I won't be able to supervise quality even if I'm onsite. > saveasteading - sorry only have yesterday's photo, attached. Hopefully, it shows the conditions. I know I'm novice but I reckon the concrete is very level. The site does slope but there are no concrete steps. >ProDave - I had a few quotes including turnkey. The turnkey builder made a £100k mistake ? and kept quite for 2 months. Other quotes were for a shell with and without material but the builders let me down, took on other jobs. >Brickie - Foundations are level, no steps. I sub contracted the groundwork to a company that mostly do work for local council and schools. They had hired a site engineer to mark out the house. They also used laser level throughout the groundwork to level concrete. The site engineer visited the site again once the foundation concrete settled to place the pins for the bricklayers. I'm not sure what you mean by islands scraped out before starting. They just sweeped the mud off as much as they could before they started laying the blocks. Thank you

Hi I have three experienced lads working on a substructure of a new detached house on a day rate. They have been working for three days now but it appears to me that they're slow, very slow, laying trench blocks 300x250x140mm. Three days now and they have only manage to lay just one course. Does this seem right? What is the average number of trench concrete blocks 300x250x140mm that one (experienced) bricklayer can lay? Ready-mix substructure mortar is supplied. Thanks

Thank you all.

Gus Potter you are right. Will try to get some advise from SE. Thanks.

Thank you nod. Thank you Gus potter for a very detailed reply. I don't have a SE. I thought 10N blocks would be better up to first floor. Just for a piece of mind, Above first floor would be 7.3N blocks.

Hi all I ordered 10N concrete blocks. However, it's stated 7.3N on the delivered concrete blocks. I contacted the building merchant and their supplier states, "our 100mm 7n concrete paintgrade are manufactured to 10.5n strength". I'm going with ground and first floor block and beam floor. Would 7.3n concrete blocks be sufficient to take weight of the block and beam floors? Any advise highly appreciated. iMCaan

I'm in the process of building a detached house. Just started on the substructure and it just took 6 years to get it to this stage . The architect hardly communicated. I used to contact him via phone and emails many times before I could get a reply back. These signs were noticeable almost from the beginning but I stuck with him. I wish I moved to another architect a lot sooner. We eventually got the plans approved and started the build last year. However, the site engineer realised the driveway was too steep as the architect didn't consider the site levels. I contacted planning department to ask if I could raise the ground floor level. However, they wanted us to submit revised plans. The work stopped. The architect wanted more money to correct/add the site levels, however, I wasn't prepared to pay him extra for his mistake. It didn't feel right to me. However, I did agree to pay the planning fees. We didn't come to an agreement so I finally decided to go with another architect and pay him the full fees. Anyway, past is behind me. Looking to move on. iMCaan

Hello All Building a new detached house in Yorkshire. Project managing and sub contracting. Foundations are complete and the work on the substructure has started Hopefully, my experience will/may help someone out there. I know I will definitely learn from others. Note, there are cowboy architects too. iMCaan