Spinny

Well walls are largely plastered already - some hardwall, one wall boarded - see pics. They put mesh in at the junction when they plastered the walls. Too late to change plasterers, I already changed once. They have been plastering for 12 years. All I can say is they are better than the original one the builder had. Not perfect, but not as bad. It actually seems quite difficult to judge plastering as the walls tend to look perfect when freshly plastered, only when dry does the odd flaw show up.

So we will have no coving in our open plan room. Are there any techniques, tips, advice etc for getting the plasterers to produce good straight lines at the junction between walls and ceiling ? (Almost seems surprising there isn't some kind of bead to assist with this) PS We currently plan to paint the ceiling white and the walls a different off white light shade - not 'elephant's breath', but you know what I mean)

Have we been here before ? If we all turn a blind eye to people breaking the law, then we are all the same as the law breaker are we not ? Policing depends upon consent. We can't expect the police or regulator to implement the law if none of us can be arsed to. That weird guy waving a machete out on the road - concerned yes - affect you no - not until they murder your relative or friend. This is on my land remember - what happens when it collapses and a builder ends up badly injured ? (They are building a wall 4m high, so a 2.5m platform on tressels ?) I think I'll remind them of their duty to comply with all H&SE requirements. (Presumably their liability insurance will be invalid if they don't?)

Neighbour's builder proposing to build wall by standing on tressels used to create a platform. Should I be concerned by this ? Does it comply with H&SE regulations ?

Excellent point. You also see it with the slimmer, perhaps 10mm deep circular plates on the inside of the handrails against the wall. Their shadows extend perhaps 200mm down the wall.

It is the only way to be. I actually thought the plasterer was ok this time, but I have naff all experience of plasterers. All I can say is in other light, including the ceiling downlights it looks fine. I can run my fingertips over it and it feels fine.

I have been overwhelmed for so long now it has become a way of life. Even the dog passed away. Welcome to the forum. You must be as mad as the rest of us.

Not sure what that means - only in hot climates ? Yes house is roughly East facing at the back, so we get the morning sun pouring in. Rather nice to see it when you come down in the morning. And one of the nice things about rooflights is having sun beams moving around the room. I also have a rooflight flush with the top of a wall for the lighting effect. Guess I may somehow need a level 5 finish there. The spouse is going to have a lot of sanding to do, and I am going to have a lot of cold suppers. Now googling level 5 and seems debateable whether it is done by a third plaster coat or as part of decorating. Seems difficult to tell how much is down to the thin mist coat crudely applied and the paint texture, and how much is down to flaws. If I could just find an artificial sun I could try experimenting.

So what type and standard of decorating is needed to deal with shafts of sunlight onto walls ? This is just mist coated at present and looks and feels to the touch perfectly fine in ordinary light. However once the sunlight shines across it flaws and almost vertical striations show up. Will this disappear when painted ? Is something particular required to get a good finish ?

Looks like you have the standard layout there pocster, sofa facing TV, two speakers at the front, two speakers at the back/overhead when you want surround sound. However when the sofa is at right angles to the TV (TV will be on an arm) things seem more tricky. Our furniture layout might well end up as the sofa facing out through the bifolds, and then two chairs in front of the bifolds and opposite the sofa. So now if you want to sit on the sofa and listen to some stereo music, you need 2 speakers left and right side somewhere in front of the sofa. But if you were watching TV then the speaker nearest the TV would be the nearest to 'front' and the other speaker the nearest to 'rear' wrt the TV position. In effect you are kind of facing one way to listen to stereo, and a different way to watch TV. See sketches.

ETC has taken out the kitchen bifolds to make the kitchen bigger ok but I'm not so sure. Removes the 'look right through the house' thing. I was wondering why you had the curved wall in your original plan. As you have a large plot, maybe think a lot about how you want the inside/outside thing to work. Looks like you will get afternoon and evening sun from the west into the L shape which seems an obvious place for a patio. Will you be happy going through the diner and sitting room to get from the kitchen to the outside and the patio though ? Do you want a morning space somewhere the other side for breakfast.

Any AV bods here ? I am just wondering whether I could use two of these ceiling speakers in my extension... https://www.richersounds.com/monitor-audio-c2m-t2x/ As one speaker has two tweeters, one speaker alone is capable of some degree of stereo and takes two speaker cables = one for each channel. I am therefore wondering whether by feeding one speaker(A) with say left channel down both wires i.e. to both tweeters - and then feeding another separate physical speaker(B) with say right channel down both wires - you could thereby run two speakers as a stereo pair. Then if suitably switched you could alternatively send say a front left & right stereo input to speaker (A), and a rear left and right stereo input to speaker (B) giving an element of surround sound. Tend to think 4 ceiling speakers in the sitting area in my floorplan would clutter up the ceiling and much of the time only see simple stereo use. Also the seating layout with a sofa at right angles to the TV is less conducive to a traditional 4 speaker grid anyway. (PS 2 speakers in the kitchen will be mini ones for radio etc while cooking) room length 7.6m and width 5.4m

I think the plasterer had the view that cutting the holes afterwards could then lead to a poorer finish with some making good around the holes and may also be concerned that everything in the ceiling ought to be fully located and indeed connected up before he skims. Then if there is an issue or problem the relevant ceiling board can be taken down again to sort it. Whereas if he has already skimmed it becomes a whole bigger problem. It is a valid thing I guess - we had to get him to take one board back down because they had missed pulling through a wire. But then I was measuring and cutting holes out at 10pm so he could skim the following day.

Thanks Nod & Mr Punter. I am getting very worried now. I have a kitchen fit booked for 6 weeks time and mutiple issues: My plumber has cancelled. I am waiting on delivery of blind boxes before studwork and boarding can be done around bifold and window upstand. And the carpenter guy seems too busy with his own renovation to ever turn up to do anything. Extra kitchen cabinet has to be ordered due to enforced design change - no surety of delivery in time yet. Plasterer has proposed boarding and skimming the ceiling to within 12-18'' of the bifold & window, then coming back to skim the edge and downstands after the kitchen and floor are fitted. Claims he can do this and protect the floor. (Plastering is unbelievably messy though) Plasterer wants every light hole cut before he skims (is this really necessary ?) - we still have some lights to finalise and buy. Plasterer wants ceiling speaker holes cut before he skims - but speakers not chosen and position still debatable. Decorator not fully committed. Flooring - suspended floor areas not ready yet - still covered to protect from plaster and damage. Can you partly skim plaster a ceiling, then come back and skim what remains ?

Well I just experimented on a spare block. Multitool with a semi-circular grit blade (that came with it) will slowly cut into the block. Once you have 2 cut lines a stone chisel will remove the middle section. Likely to take a bit of time and perhaps unknown number of blades but possible and next to no airborne dust.

Just out of interest when peeps talk cost of building a house - are you talking raw build cost, or totally complete decorated, fitted and finished cost ? you can spend anything on kitchen, bathrooms, lighting, curtains, flooring yada yada contingency ?

If highest side, could it be ponding on the roof covering, then if membrane piece on top and up the upstand, capillary action between the two pieces of membrane ? Have you got a drainage gap between the decking and the rooflight edge ? I guess if people walk on the glass it might be the seal between the glass units and the frame ?

I think the flooring company want to be last in so the flooring doesn't get damaged by other trades. The plan is currently to put levelling compound over the concrete, then fit the kitchen, then come back to latex the LVT down. I guess they may come back to fit the floor while we wait for the worktops to be templated - but not sure how the waterfall end should work. Plank LVT, so there is also the issue of trying to get reasonable lines between the planks, the walls in the hall & kitchen, and the line of the island and kitchen units ? Never ever had a new kitchen before, and not in a new extension. Glass splashback presumably has to be templated after worktops are fitted. Presumably sinks can't be fitted until the worktop comes ? Seems like maybe floorstanding appliances need to be stored in another room and only fitted into the recesses after the LVT has gone down - although you would think fitting them is going to be dangerous for damaging the LVT. Fridge-freezer is integrated - but obviously might have to be removed for any maintenance need - so should that go in before the flooring like a cabinet. Then there is sparky and plumber to come in and out - potentially like windy miller ? I also have plasterer saying he can plaster the ceiling but come back later to fill in strips near the bifolds after the upstand is finished. Anyone got a full order of works as it seems quite tricky ?

Is the answer different for LVT flooring ? I am being told by flooring company, kitchen first then they will lay LVT under the edge of the units up to the legs (and in under the floor standing appliance recesses) , then plinths go onto units ? And sorry to hijack a bit. We are having a 'waterfall' end on kitchen island quartz worktop. So waterfall end on to top of flooring, or flooring (LVT) laid around waterfall end ? (A complication for templating)

Is it the highest or lowest edge of the rooflight that is leaking (or one side) ? Might it be some form of capillary action ?

Is it straight forward to chase out into 7N concrete blockwork using a multitool ? What blade should I use, and will I be able to cut out the chase with a blade too, or have to chisel it out ? Need to do about 2m down a wall.

See my post above.

Not clear to me what this third party company is you refer to. Building Control can be done by the Local Authority, OR you can pay a private BC company to do this (or I think possibly a licenced individual ?). You choose. I think generally the view is the LA is thorough, but can perhaps sometimes be jobsworth over some aspects, and might take days to turn up on site to inspect things, inconveniencing or delaying build. Private BC typically turn up quickly within 24 hours or so, and can be more pragmatic and less pedantic - many seem to be ex builders. However, it can feel cursory, and they may not look under the rug at all the details. I have the impression builders prefer private BC - Builders are the poachers, BC is the game keeper - so that maybe says something. Architects process is - PP Drawings, then detailed Design & Construction Drawings, then Statement of Work, tender and contract award, then contract administration and oversight/support. You can choose to stop with them at any stage. We went through the full process except contract admin and oversight/support. Architect recommended a structural engineer. Structural engineer specified all the structural things - lintels, joists, beams, foundations, concrete slab spec and calcs in a report to accompany the detailed architect plans as input to BC for plans approval. All quite costly for us. But you get a lot defined clearly. Some builders barely read the SoW, but it becomes part of the contract with the drawings, and SE report. We paid the architect by the hour for support during build, unless it was drawing errors. An awful lot depends on (a) your budget, and (b) your knowledge, time, desire, and abilities both technically and managerially and (c) how much you care about how close the build is to your spec. and (d) how much you are doing yourself, (e) your ability to deal with problems. Tight change management and change management records is ESSENTIAL. Regular meetings and communications is ESSENTIAL. Remember the builder's/contractor's objectives are DIFFERENT, from your objectives. Builder/contractor wants no change, and can charge you what he likes for change. He is trying to make money, get the job done, and get the cash in. He will buy whatever is on the shelf at his favoured local merchant. He likes cheap, light stuff, hates special heavy stuff. Someone has to be gamekeeper. When it goes wrong - as it did for us - it is horrendous and expensive. Once a builder starts smashing up your house, or gets well into the build he has you by the ghoolies. Other builders don't like taking on part built jobs. Other builders will take probably a year to find and start any work. It can take 6-12months to terminate a contract. Your builder knows this. You need a detailed quote - don't accept estimates for electrics and plumbing - builders estimates can be half the actual quote. Keep a written paper daily diary. Who will project manage ? Who will be on site ? Project management is demanding. I have had to do a lot of it because builders may not do any more than the basics. You want some item not in stock at the favoured merchant - you may have to source it and order it. The builder/contractor may potentially, ignore the spec, challenge the spec, change the spec, buy the wrong materials, use out of date materials, not turn up. Best to know and choose what builders or contractors you are going to use before you start. If it doesn't go well, you WILL need support. The builder/contractor may essentially ignore you questioning work - you need someone with all the letters after their name to tell them the same thing you said before they will do it. Be able to call in the SE or the Architect or even a QS - someone authoratative and suitably politely assertive. BC only do BC, they don't care what you specified, only whether it meets minimum regs. Sorry if this sounds bad - our single experience bad. Many good people out there no doubt, and on this forum. In general they are busy and challenging to find. Not trying to tar all with the same brush at all.

Front of the extension is at the very bottom of the pic, and as the lateral drain is more than 0.5m away from the extension, they have self certified to avoid paying for a build over agreement. However they are building forward of the extension by 2m to create a raised platform and steps with a planter on top. Something of a grey area perhaps. (I plan to do work in the area around the public manhole on my property in the coming year or two - replace old concrete and/or put slabs down. Presumably I don't need a build over agreement for that either as I am not 'building' over by replacing the surface ?)

The lateral drain is the water company responsibility. If it leaks or blocks they have to come and fix it. As I understand it, they will dig up anything in the way as necessary to fix it in those circumstances, which would include the neighbours finished work. Water company have already told me that if there are any problems with the manhole on my property to call them and they will have to come and fix it. (Never realised this in the past and have paid for drain blockages to be cleared there myself). It just seems daft to me not to replace the pipe crossing the boundary now - in everyone's best interest - the neighbour, the water company, and me.