-rick-
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I think our legs are being pulled
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No! Do not throw a blanket over any of them! 🤦♂️ Battery should have free air circulation space around it. Much safer for the battery to be too cold than too hot.
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Not unlike a petrol car or lawnmower. If your installer was happy to put it where it is then I wouldn't worry about it. Modern home batteries are very safe. Much safer than petrol and safer than the high density lithium ones used in long range cars. (Cheaper cars are increasingly using the safer batteries because they cost less but store less power for the weight). Modern EVs have an awful lot of safeties built in so its ok. You might find some people arguing that you shouldn't do high power charging of EVs inside but you won't have a fast charger at home. (Battery fires usually happen due to either damage, or overheating during charging (either due to pure temperature or because the charger is doing something wrong)
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I think that's broadly right. For me personally though, for the few hundred quid it would cost I'd still favour getting an SE in to look around and see if they can see anything of concern (not just this particular floor given the other issues you've had). Obviously if the SE has concerns a more detailed investigation would cost more but a first visit look around won't be too pricey.
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Support is dropping a bit yes. But last I checked there is still a strong majority in favour of net zero policies. But if you look at the news (even left wing sources) there is increasing noise about how the public have turned against net zero but it's not held up by polling AFAIK.
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My mental maths says this could be even thinner. B&B flooring usually has a small crest in the middle due to the prestress. If laid with blocks then some of that will come out, but with EPS theres not much weight to take it out. So if the crown is 10mm over the room and now the depression is 27mm, you could potentially have a thickness of less than 40mm. @sisturix suggested that self levelling might have been used in the past to correct earlier defects. If so, then the thickness of the slab might be worse, or this is evidence that something moved since it was done. What would be the impact if one of the prestressed beams wasn't bedded at the ends properly and one end failed during the concrete pour? Is the slab with reinforcements sufficient to not care? The skirting board being all over the place and levels around the edge of the room being off doesn't seem great. Having said that if the floor feels solid jumping up and down on it, it probably is.
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Well that's an unpleasant situation to be in. My sympathies. This is the strongest argument for getting a professional in, primarily to look at the floor but also to look at everything else. Deal with everything while you still have a warranty. There were various things wrong with my place that I could have had NHBC deal with but didn't because I was dealing with the property manager of the block (leasehold flat) and initially thought the fixes were easy and now I can't. If you've already found so much wrong, what else is there?
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I think the most likely explanation is as Nick suggests but personally I think I would want someone with professional insurance to put that in writing before accepting 'full and final' settlement. If something has shifted underneath that slab then it'll cost a lot to fix. (I assume a 75mm reinforced slab should really resist bending, but if it's sloppy work how do we know it's actually 75mm?)
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If I was in your situation, I'd want to get that independent SE opinion now both because it will provide some protection against getting fobbed off but also if there is a real problem, a professionally written claim with specific demands will almost certainly speed things up.
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Yes it's a good question and unfortunately there isn't much around (at least not in terms of 'here is a publication that fully meets these standards'). Even sources that often have good journalistic content often depart from those standards when covering some topics. Pretty much most high quality journalism is now behind paywalls which makes it worse. It's much easier to rule out some publications as unreliable than it is to rule them in as reliable. So for me now I tend to look at news less. I have a highly curated set of social media follows and tend to use those as a starting point when they link to articles. Then you have to think through each article on it's own merits. No easy answers though and I'm sure it's why society as a whole is spending so much time arguing about things rather than moving forward and making things better.
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To add, if you do just decide to DIY something and there is an underlying structural issue that then reappears later, you may be invalidating the NHBC insurance (or at least giving them a lot of ammunition for an argument) and exposing yourself to much higher costs down the line.
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You are well within the warranty period and this has the potential to be an expensive repair (could also be relatively cheap). Get a structural engineer who is used to dealing with warranty issues to have a look and give an opinion. If they think it's a big/expensive issue then they can write a detailed claim to NHBC and get the ball rolling. If it's not a major issue then can propose the fix. @Oz07 is right that these floor usually start with a crest rather than a hollow. Though they are expecting to move a bit when weight is applied. But going from a crest to a hollow seems a bit much to me (an amateur).
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Anyone know of a 50mm thick solid wood fibre board?
-rick- replied to Alan Ambrose's topic in Heat Insulation
Does it have to be wood fibre? Can you get some mineral wool/rockwool boards at the right thickness just for this area? -
I should add, that I think you tend to need a thicker wall section to make blown in cellulose work. Like Mineral Wool cellulose is not as insulating on paper as PIR. It tends to be used in higher performing homes anyway where the thicker walls allow serious insulation values and easy installation (also very very good sound insulation).
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I think that tends to be seen as the gold standard for a timber frame house. Easier to build and install so long as you have the right installer. @Nickfromwaleshas someone he recommends every now and then. But companies selling a 'package' will want to do things they way they usually do them. Anything else will cost more because it will be more complicated and costly for them to accomodate.
