Sophiae

He decided against any posts as they would be health hazards for my son. unfortunately he is still unable to calculate danger and is at risk of bumping his head into objects. So this was the best he could do within my budget.

Have been up all night working on choice number 2. I’ll send you my sketch if you don’t mind.

This was the original built.

This wall is only 110cms as specified by the Structural engineer who refused to make it any shorter acting within the budget. he said he could take it all away but it would have cost us more than double the cost. Wasn’t and still isn’t feasible, hence the existence of it.

And do what?

I left it with the project manager who had my original drawing. Him and the architect were suppose to translate it to meaningful space with our requirements. i had a few initial meetings and explained all our must haves and the rest was for them to utilise the space to the best of our needs.

I am so sorry Tony. I truly don’t understand what you said. i am more of a Visual person. Would you be able to draw what u mean?

You are right however we are both Autistic and my son has also ADHD. There’s only 2 of us. I needed plenty of open space for him to run around safely instead of going to A&E with broken bones every so often and I can’t stand clutter. we hardly ever have people over and theb3rd bedroom is for those events. no one seemed to care much when I was planning (family/friends) or even the architects. They all said it was ok. Possibly because they have all been introduced to my son and know his needs.

Everything is built except for the dividing wa between the kitchen and utility.

No electrics yet. Electrician hasn’t started on that area yet. No one is going to do a thing till I sort out the final decision regarding the space.

Have a look at my own original drawings. I am feeling very very sad and unable to comprehend the mess I am in. i can’t believe people have lost their integrity this badly. She came very highly recommended.

So this was what I drew and presented to her prior to her working with the project manager and they both approved the plans and cracked on and got all internal remodelling but with apparent faults I am seeing now.

Indeed. I was mortified this morning when the UFH designer pointed it out to me. My head is about to burst from anger. How could they do that to me? My project was on hold for a year because the Planning office put my application in the drawers forever, and all this application was for an extra meter for the utility, only to find out it’s taken away from me!

This is the plan, but I still need more than 25cm to move around. so now what would you say I can make it up to be? the extension walls all up, builders are preparing for the insertion of the steel beams. That wall dividing the space between kitchen and utility is still not there. There is no roof or flooring yet.

A year after we started working on the rear extension I am faced with a hard decision to make. the arrow shows the designated utility room. I remember giving it to the architect saying it needs to be 150cm at least so that I can easily move around it. 2 years on from design we all realised the architect managed to narrow it to 850mm!!! so I am in shock to say the least. my utility room space isn’t functional so now I have to make up my mind before the builders build a wall. what should I truly do? Sacrifice the utility room for a larger space between the open plan kitchen/ living area or sacrifice the space to have a utility room? what is the narrowest I can go with the width of it? It’s about 4m long.

How did u get on?

I will keep you posted. i have an appointment on Monday with a Grounds engineering company who will come round and give me a quote. he already said there is likely 50mm of EPS as insulation from his experience of the year it was all built.

How come? I know you need concrete as part of your flooring as I don’t have anything else for a base for the property.

I am ever so grateful for all your replies. And in conclusion there is a good justification in applying screed as it is almost the only guarantee towards having a level surface for the finished flooring, unless I get a hot shot OCD like myself who aims for nothing short of perfection to have the concrete all level 😂. Understanding the pros and cons it makes me think should I choose screed, I will need to not go more than 100mm for the concrete, then UFH in screed of 65mm as standard. Otherwise I risk raising the floor again which I can’t afford height wise.

Another follow up question if I may. Do I need a screed on top of the Concrete or 150mm of concrete (skipping the whole screed layer) would be enough? PIR insulation boards above or below concrete work better when using UFH?

@Olf Thank you so much. I can see it all clearly now. Yes, I am very much counting on BC to visit ASAP and help me figure out the final verdict on the floor for the original build. I feel excited knowing this is doable, and seeing your pictures makes it all coming true for me soon too. @jayc89 Thank you for the video. The space is massive compared to mine, but I see what you mean. I will definitely try as much as I can to reuse everything I dig out, if not for the base, the for the garden like you suggested. I have a slope which I am not happy about in the front and in the garden so will use to level both if possible.

OMG, you people have absolutely brightened my morning. I nearly haven’t slept thinking about it and now knowing I am not crazy thinking it too could very much work. So here’s my plan, once BC is back to check on the roof, I will ask him to check the floor and we should agree on the make up. I am all in favour of reusing everything we will excavate, so it should all be reused in the base below the insulation. I believe 150mm Celotex will do the job. Then it’s a decision on whether to use UFH the traditional way (in screed) or what @jayc89 suggested. Would it be possible to send me some pictures of your UFH? I am interested in seeing how you fit it in. @Kai casswell thank you so much for the pictures, I can see me doing very much the same, no family though so paying a handyman to help should be ok for a few days. @Olf I shall ask the guys to dig a hole like you recommended in one of the corners and see what we find. Is there any other way to find out what’s underneath the slab?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am about 6 weeks from finishing off a rear extension which would have the open plan living, kitchen/diner area. I’m using 150mm Rigid insulation for the floors and warm roof deck to be as energy efficient as possible within budget. My problem will be the existing building floors as I have upgraded the loft and wall insulation. I absolutely can’t afford any rise in floor level as the ceiling is already below 2.4m. The existing space is about 80-90m2, 3 rooms, one bigger open space and a side bathroom. The question is, assuming the existing solid/concrete floor isn’t insulated, how doable is it to dig the floor for 30cm or more, lay down 100-150mm PIR then follow by UFH and screed?