Spinny

Am I doing the wrong thing 'letting them get away' with it here ? It is always hard to know.

The flooring guy that did my levelling used small self adhesive sticks (see photo). Snapped them off to height and then stuck them onto the concrete surface, they then stayed there embedded in the levelling compound aftwerwards. These were his levelling guide. However... When setting out he used a spirit level and seemed happy as long as the bubble was 'somewhere between the lines' rather than dead centre. He didn't actually put that many level indicators in - may be one every 1.5-2m (I had to explicitly ask him to put one next to my floor length window). Using a level end over end across 8m is not that accurate tbh. I had taken quite some time using my water level to put reference marks around the room at skirting board level - but there was no interest in these and they were ignored. The pour was done straight from a mixing tub without a tipping frame or spout. The mixes were made up by the junior outside. They only had 2 mixing tubs. So it was gradually work across the floor pouring one while the other was mixed. The actual level was generally a little below the marker sticks (obviously if the pour went higher they disappeared and became useless as guides). For some reason the levelling compound dried to somewhat different tone/darkness on some pours - makes me wonder how consistent the water mix was. Though the second layer used a different compound with the liquid mix supplied with it - no water to add. A lot comes down to how patient, hard working, diligent and conscientious people are. From photos on their facebook page it looks like most of the time they are doing small rooms around 8-15 sqm, rather than my 38 sqm. The problem is most people have someone that gives a good sales speel, and a bunch of good online reviews, and photographs. Getting references out of most tradies always seems to be a challenge - 'I don't like to bother my customers with that', 'people don't want to be disturbed', it is on the website, all my mates haves posted 5* onto my facebook page, or just no response etc. If you are going to take every single trade, then contact 5 and get them come, look, get a quote out of them, get references out of them, follow up references including visits and impertinent questioning - well it is bloody hard work. One customer might be blissfully happy in their ignorance that their levelled floor isnt actually that level. No housewife uses a spirit level.

Yes they have 'feathering compound' which they used in a few places. I think the youngster laying mine should probably have used some feathering compound on the grinding marks but didn't. I didn't see the grinder/sander being used but the machine was substantial and with vacuum extraction; I get tired of all the bullshit, salesmanship and and attempts at asserting authority over customers because - 'I have measured floors for 25 years and I can tell you this one is excellent'. I still think someone should make something like a robot vacuum that could crawl around a floor measuring and marking contour lines.

Looks excellent. Did you put a spirit level across it checking it yourself ? How flat do you reckon it is ?

So flooring man came today. As expected he said my levelled floor was excellent (and he had congratulated the leveller) especially given what they started with (why would that make any difference TBH). And recommends leaving it as it is (no surprise). Although I don't swallow it, I am going to go with leaving the 'hill' now because at least it should be smooth and I don't want the sanding/grinding marks showing through like in the other spot. Where it is positioned it might put a 3mm fall on my dining table, but hopefully not a wobbly leg. LVT does truly show every flaw. Experience is the mother of wisdom - I'll know to be an insistent stickler next time, though there probably never will be a next time for me. The reality is likely that most customers never measure or consider the flatness of their floor - and thus standards are not always brilliantly high.

Yes, my electrician was working with another mate that did most of my first fix. They tend to write on the end of the cable with a sharpie, which can be tricky to read sometimes months later and gets cut off at second fix. I have been sticking coloured labels on speaker and network cables. (Maybe scope for someone inventing a clever labelling gizmo.)

Well here is another pic. The strip is in a shallow recessed alu profile with a press in diffuser cover. I haven't pushed the cover on properly at one end in case I needed to remove it again - which I will - as I havn't taken the self adhesive backing off yet to adhere it to the inside of the profile. (I am pondering whether to use this COB CCT strip, or whether to use an addressable COB CCT strip (for say spot light or twinkling effects), or indeed an addressable COB RGBCCT dual IC strip (for truly vomit inducing xmas light shows - all these strips give out light across 180deg). I guess the light spread will be narrower by virtue of the profile depth restricting it when I stick it down. Did notice the light spreads down onto the floor below leaving a shadow of the shelf. You do also get the sort of hot spot light effect at either end of the strip onto the side panel. If I cut the strip shorter or used addressable strip and turned off the end 'pixels' I guess I could do away with this. Obviously not put my Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Shakespeare etc on the shelf yet 🤪

Good points. The two strip lights is interesting. The fitter had somehow dissassembled the shelf unit when he routed the existing profile recess. So maybe I could persuade him to disassemble again (if he hasn't glued it up) and rout a second channel further forward and have 2 strip lights. That is if he doesn't rout me a new ****hole for being such a PITA.

Valid point. I am not a fan of the rear shelf lighting often installed as I always feel it silhouettes whatever is on the shelf rather than illuminating it. You always light a picture from above but in front. The front book cover is illuminated but the spines are in shadow. The dotted thing is lit at the top but not on the front face. The other annoyance is now well lit - the three holes top right and left. The 'shelf unit' is only a wall unit without doors so it comes with holes for wall mounting predrilled in the back panel - nobody tells you in the showroom discussions of course. There are some grommets but I have kept some waste offcuts in the hope of drilling my own matching plugs.

Just testing first LED strip - see photo. Just annoyed that the kitchen fitter cut the profile slot in the centre of the shelf depth without asking. Really wanted the strip not far from the front of the shelf so it actually illuminates what is on the shelf from the front. Is it remotely possible to rout a shelf panel from underneath while it is insitu ?

You know you can buy a simple water pressure meter quite cheaply to measure your pressure at different points yourself, and flow rates can be measured by running into a bucket of known capacity (you can measure the bucket capacity with a measuring jug). If you want to get sophisticated with controls then smart home systems allow this - would you be connecting your shelly to a hub ? You may not want the extra complication though.

I have the contractor coming tomorrow to take a look and give me the benefit of their experience. Very likely the inevitable advice will be to do nothing and just floor over it of course. But any more thoughts on this appreciated. When the builders poured the original underlying concrete slab they said it would be level within 6mm - they achieved about 30mm variation and 10mm higher than target. When the flooring people levelled it the standard for thin-layer flooring is SR1 or <3mm over 2m but haven't fully achieved it. Maybe it is best left as is ? I can perhaps find a carpenter to cut one table leg shorter if it proves a problem 🙃 I get the comment about floors generally, but when new they ought to be very close to level and this should be achievable with the otherwise somewhat euphemistically named 'levelling compound'. What have others achieved on their build with hard floors ? Anyone else that sees subfloor flaws showing through LVT ? The guy laying it uses a very thin layer of adhesive and rolls it down hard - I had imagined that rather like ceramic tile laying that the adhesive bed could be somewhat varied to counter subfloor flaws ?

Has anyone ever had an electrician or a plumber that did drawings or sketches of what they proposed to install, or indeed did any drawings or sketches of what had actually been installed (which can differ from any original design) ? Has anyone ever known a house builder that provided as installed electrical or plumbing drawings ?

So I have most of my LVT down now only another 15 sqm to do. However as I feared there is another undulation/raised area within the floor leveller applied on the remaining floor area. The bulk of the floor area is between 0mm and +3mm of target. However there is a ridge/raised area where part of the floor rises to +5mm or +5.5mm and then back down again. Rising from say an acceptable +2-3mm to the peak of +5.5mm and back down to +2mm again over about a 1.4m distance. 500mm rising from +2mm to +5mm, then flatish for 400mm, thenback down to +2mm over 500mm. You can rock a spirit level on the ridge and measure up to a 3-5mm gap under the end of a 1.8m spirit level. There was 1 other smaller area on the floor now laid that had a 'hill' and I asked for it to be reduced as thet said it could be sanded down. However the sanding/grinding process did leave some fine ridges in the floor surface - basically like marks from a sanding/grinding disc. And now the LVT has been layed over that area, these marking suprisingly show through. When viewed into the light at the right angle you can see the markings in the LVT itself, which seems to have conformed itself to any lack of total smoothness in the floor surface. So should I not have my other 'hill' sanded down, as 'messing with it' may reduce the hill/ridge, but end up with the floor perhaps looking worse because the working marks will show through in the LVT surface ? Should I live with a lack of levelness in a decently smooth surface - or risk having a flatter but unsmooth surface by having the flooring contractor work on it ? See photos... The hill is where the darker pour area is on the floor - now with levels marked on tape by me. The closer photo of the other LVT laid floor area shows how you can see small arcs in the LVT in glancing light from the open door way. This is where the other high spot was sanded/ground down.

PS Being a nice fellow with lots of build photos I plan to create a folder of photos and drawings to help any future owner with maintenance needs understand how cables and pipes have been run and where conduit runs have been put in through floor and ceiling voids. Also creating a floor hatch. Hopefully will help someone avoid drilling into underfloor heating pipes etc after I am dead and gone. Interestingly my architects SOW specified M&E design and install documentation was to be provided. But maybe doubtful whether some plumbers & sparkies can even write tbh. Has anyone ever obtained such documentation from a builder or tradesperson ?