Moggaman

Hi. Looking for advice. Sorry for long post. 13 years ago I built an icf house. At the time I put on a Weber material with mesh worked into it, then more Weber material, a primer and then an acrylic finish. I wasn’t around much when it was being applied. It was meant to be about 10mm thick . I have had many issues over the years with this render. The ICF has plastic webs, beams running through the wall from one face to the other and the render on the south and west side Is cracking vertically and horizontally along these . I investigated many times and it appear that there is only 5mm of render in total on some of these walls. I would say that the polystyrene bulged a little when the walls were being poured and that the walls were not rasped back before applying the render. Anyway , that’s the background. The result is that I have a fair amount of water infiltration in bad weather. I am planning to sell the house as I am moving to another (non ICF) house. I want to deal with this problem . I need to sort the west and south elevations. I had some plasterers and a contractor look at it and the solution we came up with was - leave existing render in place -fix galvanised metal mesh to the walls using the plastic webs as anchors. - scud , scratch and finish wall with sand , cement render …. I know that people say that sand cement render is not suitable for ICF.. I assume that is mainly because it is too heavy to bond to the polystyrene. if I have the metal mesh in place , that would guard against that issue? thanks for reading and looking forward to your response .

Hi. I got my upstairs flowable screed done 2 days ago. I had to put plastic down on insulation and turn it up the walls. However , the plastic in some places fell down into the screed.. it was never taped up in some places. So when I cut back my expansion rolls and plastic today some of edge of the flowable screed is very rough. I’m only 2 days into the curing process so I am wondering can I deal with it now with a grinder with a specific attachment to level it.that’s not plastic u see in the photo , it’s just the shapes left by the plastic. Appreciate your input as always. Thanks

Hi. I am ready to lay UFH . Wondering where it should not go… under where built in wardrobes are goin?, under the stairs which is a storage room, under kitchen units , utility units? thanks

Hi. I am getting ready to pour my upstairs floor. It will be a self levelling screed about 60mm think. I will be placing an 8mm expansion/insulation piece at every wall external and internal prior to pouring . The plumber asked that I run a sheet of plastic on the insulation and up the wall prior to him fitting his UFH pipes . What is the best way to do this…stick the insulation to wall first? and let the plastic run up outside that? I have walls plastered already . thanks

Thanks, this is a self employed individual, small company with good name so I expect he will want to do it right

Hi. I am gettting a polished concrete contractor to pour and polish my downstairs floor. It will be poured manually - no pump. I have underfloor pipes going on also. Plumber will have pipes pressurised before pouring . Is it risky not using a pump ? thanks

Grabfix metal Insulaton fasteners

Hi. I think I have done the Airtightness tape well every where but I may have missed something. I have 3 I beams on the inner leaf above doors and windows. I have not put any Airtightness tape in these . Is that bad? The vertical walls are a sand cement render finish and the reveals of each are plasterboard and skim. attsched shows the way the beams were set up prior to plasterer arrived but he has his beads on now. thanks

Thanks, how long before plaster drys out roughly ?…3 weeks

Hi . In my self build I am wondering when is best to paint… I have block walls upstairs and down.skimmed upstairs , a mix downstairs… Should I paint before kitchen goes in or when is best? Before 2nd fix electric? thanks

Looks like not too far Into a 7x2 rafter. It’s a 4x3 wall plate

Hi. U would like some advice please. I have a canopy section on the front of my house. It overhangs but about 1.2m. See photo. It is not supported at the moment because in all likelihood it doesn’t need it. It is a 7m long 7x2 rafter supported at wall plate level and further up by steel beams. So I am looking at putting in a column for the look and to prevent any possible sagging in that area over time . I am looking at bringing up a 4x4 galvanised box iron(3mm thinkness) and across that a 4x2 box iron birds mouthed into the rafter, mortared into the wall on on side and bolted to the Column on the other. The span will be around 3.7m. I am wondering will a box irons section 3mm wall thinkness sag over 3.7m ? And are the wall thickness of both ok. Like I said , the roof is build, these will slot in under it.. thanks

Also, I see the electricians use this metal banding to tie things down. I can’t find it online ..what is it called, and how do they fix it the concrete…. Rawl plug? thanks

Hi. The guy fixing my plasterboard has put plasterboard over the locations where the spots are but where pendants are , he has dropped those cables thru the plasterboard??? Is it up to the electrican to know where to drill for these spots when 2nd fixing? thanks

Love the stir fry’s!

Even the Downdraft extractor?

Why???

Do they all have a carbon filter coming as standard?

Hi. We are at kitchen stage with our block built self build. I am keen to get yer opinions. Here is where I’m at. we have an peninsula type kitchen. Induction hob going on the peninsula in the middle of the room. I have worked hard on Airtightness so I presumed we would go with a recirculating extractor hob. I don’t want a hole in the wall..Some questions - are these hobs effective against smells…if I am frying onions and the extractor is on … it will suck the moist air and all into the extractor ..through a filter and blow it our at the bottom … will there be a smell of onions being blown out at kickboard level…..!!??..are they effective?? what so passive homes do in relation to extraction.. must say also I have a whole house MVHR system where the extract is placed very near the hob location Any comments welcome .. I note IKEA have one for 1500, B&Q on for 1300 and then there are the 3k ones.. any tips on buying these things…! thanks very much

Hi. In my new build, my missus wants no bell cast plinth at the bottom just the plaster running all the way down. Is there any reason I cannot do this? thanks

Hi, on this topic , we also want no architrave at doorways . Our doorways are 100mm block. The walls on the outside of each door/ the hall side will be mortar finish whilst the internals of the rooms will have mortar plus skim. how do I achieve this look. I see plasterboard mentioned here but there will be no plasterboard in mine. the only thing I can think of is … set door frames.., mortar to door frames…Then run the skim over the mortar door frame joint to a stop bead at the end..??? Any help appreciated .

Hi. I will have a concrete screed upstairs with either carpet or timber flooring on that. I will be putting in built in wardrobes in all bedrooms and hoped to do it in my own time. Is the carpet normally put in first and the wardrobes built on the carpet or the other way around?.

Geberit are the best I think?.. there are other options but not sure about them

Thanks all.. I’ll look at the panels… are they very obviously a plastic panel on the wall tho?. on another note, I will be wall hanging 2 toilets onto block walls… should the frame be fixed to the wall first and the stud wall built around it or the other way around?. thanks