Spinny

OK thanks. Yes, I think they call it SR1 and google AI seems to be saying max 3mm over 2m stright edge...see below. He has said several times - we may not achieve SR1, and of course made reference to this would be because of our 'bad' floor. This makes no sense to me, because it is/was just a concrete floor requiring levelling, fully dried and heated for 2 years, no cracks, kept clean using covers, and any odd bits of plaster wire brushed off and vacuumed by yours truly. I cannot see how you can blame the floor for not being able to level. Anyway will have to check over myself. It is likely SR1 or thereabouts. SR1 would seem to allow say an 8m floor to fall say 6mm from edge to centre, then rise again by 6mm from centre to far edge - that don't seem too great to me. The guy doing it has obviously done a lot of floors over many years. However when you don't have a professional spirit level, spirit level is just 1.8m, don't use a laser level, don't use more than two large mixing/pouring tubs, spread by hand trowel, block my drain, run out or rob other orders to have enough leveller, seem reluctant to use more than the minimum number of soldiers, can see a few soldiers sticking up by 1mm ish - it is difficult to believe that is top of the flooring pro league. I guess most domestic floors are more like 16-20sqm rather than my 40sqm and you can get away with limited precisian. Building standards are often not defined to be all that high, seeming on the basis they are what even below average trades people should be able to easily achieve. Experienced and conscientious pros will be capable of much better than the standard - brick laying and plastering being two examples. Looking at levelling compound specs does make me think they might be more designed to appeal to busy trades wanting to get on, rather than end customers wanting the best possible result. Emphasis seems to be on relatively rapid curing, walk on, and floor-over/tile-over times. I'd personally be happy to use a compound that was runny as water and took 2 days or 3 days to go off if it gave an outstanding result. But nobody is going to make it, because that is not what the trades will ever buy - they want to pour it, come back in a few hours and carry on working.

Guy from flooring company did come this morning with a measuring device (fold out metal straight edge and a metal wedge to measure gaps). Placed it around the floor and took some photos. Declared the floor to be very good (are they ever likely to say otherwise, unless it is obviously awful). I haven't had a chance to go all around the floor with the 8ft stabila level that the plasterer has kindly lent me as yet. Currently I would say it is good for height and good overall plumbness. There are certainly some places you can put the level and it will rock a bit when you press one end down, or show a gap under where there is a dip - maybe 2mm ish, maybe 3. (There was one place the guy put his instrument down across which looked a bit worse. I noticed he didn't push the wedge in then, but slid it further across the floor to where the fluctuation was less. so I need to have a closer look at that area.) We are having Amtico spacia from front door, down hallway, and down to the bifolds at the back - so 15m without any threshold. Open the front door and look through the house. So don't want the look to be one of obviously unflat flooring. Also wouldn't want to be putting dining table and furniture in to find the legs are wobbly - but maybe I am unrealistic. I am thinking seems good enough to deliver and fit the kitchen. Kitchen company have said they can leave off end panels and plinths and cut them later when the floor covering is down. (I think they trim the tops, but presumably don't scribe the bottom ?) Soldiers were put in at about 2.3m intervals using my borrowed stabila, and I asked for 2/3 extra as they were doing it. I'd say it took 60-90 minutes to put down using a two bucket approach. It took more than expected - 38 bags - and this time they robbed another order to have enough. Mainly because they didn't take full account of the target level for the flooring at the bifold end where we have a, not flush but low threshold and want to avoid a trip hazard. We will now be having 6/7mm on the suspended floor.

Good News... Looks like I probably have a decently level floor at the right level after they came at the 11th hour yesterday. (see pics) Can anyone advise on how precisely level I should be going for to get a good LVT result ? I believe there are feathering compounds which might be used on small variations ? Bad News... Electrician just called in tears unable to come on monday for kitchen fit - his partner has just been diagnosed with cancer and needs to go for urgent attention. An intrusion of what really matters that has upset me. ''he goes incommunicado...'' cancel that stuff, now I know why. I wasn't expecting that.

Well they are coming tomorrow. Gems from their latest attempt at further angering an angry customer with lies and nonsense and prior excuses include... ''Because the subfloor was so bad It may be that it is unrealistic to be able to get the surface to SR1/ 3mm under a 2m straight edge.'' Utterly Stupid. The concrete had a maximum discrepency of 28mm from small areas in a high corner and low corner over 8m with 90% of the floor within 12mm of flat. And of course, isn't the whole point of levelling compound to level an unlevel floor. I note the pejorative word 'bad' used to try and make it sound like a ploughed field and make excuses for bad work even before their work is done. But I see the light now, how very foolish of me to think that floor levelling actually involved levelling the floor. ''This may not be the final coat, it may need further work'' They are on their 4th visit. They are supposed to be laying the final top coat, and it is one working day before my kitchen fit. On Tuesday I was told it would be finished and definitely wouldn't need any post remediation. ''We did talk about the possibility of putting LVT in the fridge bay, but I do not believe you and I confirmed this.'' You proposed doing that and I agreed, the whole point being to support kitchen fit without laying the whole room with LVT. Now at the eleventh hour you are lying and ****ing up my kitchen fit. ''Because your floor levels were so bad I did not provide a quotation'' So bad, I mean it was like Hiroshima out there before you started. I asked you repeatedly to update your quote, and spelled out what needed changing, but you have done nothing weeks later. ''I advised you that we were booked up into June , but... that we would prepare the floor in the kitchen area , between other jobs working towards the 18th'' No. You said you were busy through April but could do my job in parallel with a hotel job through April and I documented the timescale you gave me by email. I am so so so angry now.

SWMBO and I have just about had enough now. 6 months ago the kitchen fit was cancelled because the plasterer didn't turn up. When we eventually got the plastering finished in the kitchen, the painter did the dirty on us so we have been painting it ourselves. Was trying to get the sparky to prep some things for the kitchen - he goes incommunicado, then tells me he has a wedding to go to all this week, then says he can come to see what he will need yesterday 08:30 (before the ''all week wedding''), then hasn't showed by 09:30 so chase him, then turns up after 10 saying he forgot. As far as I can see 50% of tradespeople hold their customers in contempt and treat them as victims. Turning up, answering the phone or replying to a text or email is entirely optional, fulfilling an agreed contract entirely optional, timescales entirely flexible. If they fancy a fourth holiday of the year next week, they will go and just fob off a customer. I have had tradies ****ing off at no notice to Las Vegas, New York, turning up in Lotus Sports Cars. Seen a roofer tossing his open stanley knife around on my roof. I have spent 40 years working long hours in stressful business environments surrounded by other professionals - people communicate, people solve and workaround problems, people show personal commitment, work weekends as necessary, burn midnight oil. They don't arrive at 10:00 and disappear to collect their kid at 2:30, attend every school matinee, leave for a 3:30 weekday tee time with the job unfinished, not turn up because the weather is glorious, falsely claim the concrete lorry has crashed and the driver is in hospital etc. Life can be shit, don't spread more, help clean it up. With sincere apologies to all those good trades people also out there making the world a better place.

I spent yesterday giving them merry hell because after 2 months they still couldn't tell me when they were going to finish levelling the kitchen even though I have told them from the start it has to be done before W/B 18th May as that is when the kitchen is being delivered and fitted. 12 days ago they told me they couldn't do the utility, only the kitchen, 9 days ago they told me they couldn't come last week and hadn't scheduled this week yet. I told them very clearly once again that I have a kitchen fit on 18th, if it is missed, it will be months before another slot is possible. The kitchen floor needs final prep, top coat, hardening time, checking for level and flatness, time to do any final remediation. Therefore must be done early this week. Their 'scheduler' then failed to schedule my job in, went on leave, then took another day off because his kid was sick. Then was told it was 'likely' they would come on Thursday i.e. at 5 to midnight. They are supposed to have a good local reputation and are an Amtico premier partner (doubtless just sales volume based). Not suprisingly I have lost all confidence in them, but with tens of thousands of kitchen stuff arriving next week I have no choice to sack them now. Pray for me.

I can only presume so as I didin't see it occur. There were two people, the older experienced guy was in the kitchen pouring and spreading the leveller, and then a monosyllabic youngster preparing tubs outside with water from the outside tap. Work was done at the start of an extended dry spell. Some 7-10 days later we had heavy rain and SWMBO went to empty some waste water down the drain. Noticed the water level was very high near the top of the drain. Opened the main chamber shared with the neighbour but on our property and u-bend water was also high with stick test showing there was something in the bottom of the u-bend there too. Week later plumber finished fitting our water softener and so we investigated further with the help of his water vaccuum. Found leveller blocking the rainwater drain and stuck to bottom of main drain pipe run and in bottom of main drain u-bend. Plumber explained and demonstrated how old clay type drain risers above the u-bend are actually permeable to water. So the drain doesn't necessarily completely overflow, water leaks out into the surrounding soil/ground through the sides. If you suck the water out of it, it refills as water from the adjacent soil/ground drains back into the riser again. I called the manufacturer Bostik in search of some kind of solvent/acid that might attack the leveller but not the clay - he hasn't called back.

If in doubt, suck it. (Never say that to SWMBO) Available from NASA - makes a good conversation piece when entertaining dinner guests.

Here is a piece the plumber drilled out of the pipe vertical - see photo. You can see the reinforcing fibres in the leveller, and you can see some sticking out in the middle photo above. I doubt the 15mm hep 2 pipe is going to do anything TBH. The plumber was having to drill bits out. That said I did get some bits out of the main drain pipe by ramming some 32mm MDPE up and down the pipe - but that was straight pipe and only congealed pieces stuck to the bottom of the pipe. Plumber was of the opinion the drain would have to be replaced - but once you start on clay pipe that is 90 years old you are likely to end up replacing the lot. I have just about had enough now. The last 'customer' of my original builder was having him do a barn conversion - 'customer' died of a heart attack during the build. If I stop posting you'll know I've gone the same way. https://www.tiktok.com/@iammarkmanson/video/7277481945515216174?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0BXJM3Y1Z/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_plhdr=t&aaxitk=4bbf97448edaad246ce5f10fb9104ab2&hsa_cr_id=0&qid=1778590372&sr=1-1-1ee1b2e4-01d1-4cd0-b737-4c27ebfc8105&aref=F6sC0M6spk&ref_=sbx__sbtcd2_asin_0_title&pd_rd_w=BgdJE&content-id=amzn1.sym.ea5688b2-3646-4432-bc05-fbb4b7714d51%3Aamzn1.sym.ea5688b2-3646-4432-bc05-fbb4b7714d51&pf_rd_p=ea5688b2-3646-4432-bc05-fbb4b7714d51&pf_rd_r=13CRVWDF4AJDX72SD0PA&pd_rd_wg=UBGNn&pd_rd_r=e9779b4d-e3e8-49aa-bcbc-84d7404a8f6b&th=1 https://www.relays-store.uk/

I am temporarily using a couple of these at the moment, but not to bear any load, simply as proxy devices to communicate smart device status across different ecosystem constraints between Sonoff and SmartThings... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BG54BX9D?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1 Plan to get rid when I move onto Home Assistant.

Not sure exactly what you are trying to achieve ? Why would it need to be a single multichanel relay ? Surely better and more resilient and flexible to use multiple 1/2/3 channel relays mounted on a single DIN rail Why can't you just use a common protocal for communicating with the relay - wifi, zigbee etc Plenty of DIN mounted relays and dimmers around, notably from Shelly for example... https://www.shelly.com/search?q=din+relay&options[prefix]=last

Here is what was done on my extension - see pics. The Radon barrier - which also functions as a DPM was run wide as a continuous piece. So it runs across underneath the insulation and heated concrete slab above, through the inner leaf of the wall, then vertically up the outside of the inner leaf, then horizontally across the insulated cavity and the outer leaf. A seperate DPM is installed across the inner and outer leaf so sits immediately on top of the radon barrier on the outer leaf. Cavity insulation below the radon barrier was XPS as this was considered more robust should any moisture get into this part of the wall, then PIR above the cavity tray formed from the DPM. I am not sure why your architect seems to be specifying so many different membranes and joining them in the way shown in your drawings, when I would have thought one continuous piece could be used. I would encourage consideration for the practicalities of what builders are going to actually achieve on site. I think it is going to take a very - perhaps uniquely - diligent and conscientious groundworker/brickie to continuously join two membranes all around the perimeter of a build ?

Well I am putting network stuff in a cupboard from about 1.8m upwards. Not a new build though. Most existing houses are too small, so needs must. I wouldn't have thought words like 'should typically' are really worth the paper they are written on. Designing buildings on the basis of the occaisional needs of a small minority of the population is not always possible or sensible. Thinking about whether to get a swing gate network rack like this... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tecmojo-Network-Computer-Equipment-Mounting/dp/B0DBRBKRS6/ref=sr_1_3?crid=QIGN7P0D9QQU&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.UQTMW0pCAUkMMyTWRDqLYSZVAAHxOZSB0NEpnpVG6j4GuVnaO47peoo6JwxBOdPiAZgJ8jIDTt9vbcV3U-K-3QQXGMQl2E0FiDyG8rDh_F6ba2sMZgZOKcPzmU1kz4C6-VPQGv-eyMNNCD0vv2FqQhXaCPaLLUmAhEIvkHVQ-f6OwqzbkzwGBtgfoyZYSwGpOyl6YB6-SHDzrqm1z848DAnW5kietHJB3wEhJLzsNrE.JXx9IdVn5dpraQR2flo5NcFZUIruGvVv5EKVZ7_QZl4&dib_tag=se&keywords=swing%2Bgate%2Bnetwork%2Brack&qid=1778536216&sprefix=swing%2Bgate%2Bnetwork%2Brack%2Caps%2C123&sr=8-3&th=1

Looks a bit like the levelling compound now blocking my drain - see my topic also. How do you drill out a u-bend ?