saveasteading

They were swallows, with nests inside, on ledges and roof frames. The nests are open 'bowl' shape. Not great when the space becomes your kitchen or bedroom, and they won't shut the doors behind them. We certainly won't touch them if nesting, but that would halt the work, , so will have to stop them doing so with a daily (or twice daily) shoo and removal of that shift's pile of straw. It would be nice to give them a replacement space but it seems they only like caves and hence buildings. Perhaps they will find other accommodation nearby.

The worst being machine operators. Over-digging (but they don't pay for muck away or more concrete Filling too thick before compacting. "Look at that, it is perfectly hard" (on top only). Not using the roller because "the tracks do it much better". Got a degree in this/ I'm the Engineer/ don't even do it because they are digger drivers and don't know what they don't know. I'm your boss's client works though. The worry though is that they are clearly doing this as standard and creating very inferior work elsewhere. Next come bricklayers......etc. An 'amateur' has to be even more diplomatic, and judge the balance between sensible control and getting in the way....but it can be done, and is important.

Or from anyone. This can be tricky when you know they are wrong but not prepared to listen. Often they don't know as much as they think, especially about design theory (the science bit). Generally ask questions rather than telling them what to do. eg, how are you planning to course the brickwork between these levels? What do you plan to do so that the wood cladding is all in nice big strips? How will you get the bricks through to the back garden? How many workers will be here on Monday?

There were 6 nests inside the building last year (wide open doorways and skylights), and they are not coming back as a daily sweep will stop nest building. There are no overhanging eaves.

Curling you mentioned. That is a worry as to curl it has to bend up off the underlying surface, so will crack when it drops back to pace when loaded. The If I had done this bad job to my own house I would let it cure completely, then stamp or thump all over it to make it crack, then rub it flat with a stone (a brick even) and fill the cracks cosmetically. It wouldn't be right but I'd be living with a risk of my own creation. BUT I wouldn't accept that from a supposed specialist contractor. Discussion would start as 'break it all out and do it properly'. It would probably end up as 'no more money, just go' on the assumption that thy haven't been paid. As you have UFH pipes in there it is very much more complicated. I winder what stresses are occurring in the pipes as the screed shrinks and curls. The pipes are working as a sort of reinforcement so the cracks may have been much wider (and more numerous) without it. If they are your general builder and you want to keep them, then only you can decide.

I have been looking into exactly this so can help a bit. Thick stone walls turn out to be better insulated than was believed. This is for a few reasons but mostly when the wall is made of 3 skins, as the central core is rubble pus 40% mortar. If the outer rock is of dense rock, well built with large stones and minimal mortar it sheds water quickly and there isn't too much heat-sucking evaporation. However it still isn't great on its own. Do you have/intend to have an inner lining? The floor will be a big heat sink, but do you have enough height to insulate above it, remembering that a higher floor may take you above door lintels. Whatever the heat source, you will lose a lot if the insulation is poor. Damp-course : There is unlikely to be one, but damp doesn't rise much in these walls. More on this later perhaps.

Well done for confirming whose product it isn't. I looked up Longfloor and they state that shrinkage is Drying Shrinkage - <500µm/m pH - ≥10 If I have my figures right that is 1/2mm per m or 1:2000 If your room is 4m long then a crack would be 2mm. Cemfloor are the same, so their statement of No Cracking is incorrect. We are back to: it should have had a crack inducer/former across the doorway.

Is that an intended change of term? cc councillor that is mentioned and your local one if different .

You can get grommets to make a tidy seal, but you should also fill the void. ProDave will know if they are easy to get at merchants.

Tiles for sale, measurements are x by y, as photograph, as seen. Roofers will know.

As I have the attention of like-mindeds I will repeat a question from some weeks ago that went unanswered...any ideas how to rehouse swallows and house martins when they return, as we cannot share?

Why do you need to know? is it for patching or for matching on a bigger area?

Firstly, where is the noise coming from? Air borne, such as voices and radios? The fluffy stuff is best for reducing that. Impact? Footsteps on the floor, doors shutting, This is mostly resounding through hard surfaces and resonating when it reaches you. Does next door's tv hang on the party wall? Draw some sketches, cross sections through your walls, floors & ceilings, and try to work out the likeliest routes for the sounds. The likeliest solution will be to build new stud walls that don't touch the existing wall. This then receives density (plasterboard, perhaps even 2 thicknesses) and an absorbent filling of mineral wool. Any mineral wool will do but the 'acoustic' is obviously better. That will reduce noise directly through the wall because the new wall will not resonate from noise next-door. You might want to strip the plaster first to limit the loss of floor space. You might even find then that there are gaps in the block wall and could fill them. Once you have done the sketches you may establish whether noise is likely to be coming from their floor to yours. Can't suggest much at this stage. It would be good if your first floor joist was close to but not touching the party wall, so have a look at the nail line on the boards. If there is a gap you can fill that with mineral wool .too. Carpets and underlay are a very simple sound deadener. There is a limit though, as your cross-walls are joined to the party wall, and will provide some transfer.

It is doable. I have had to get sound tests for specific buildings such as schools* and nursing homes (pass but worrying: how do you resolve it on a finished building). And once to find a solution to some noise transfer that just wasn't acceptable (flanking noise through a common concrete floor....cut a joint). The fundamental lesson was to not trust the lab reports because they are in ideal conditions, but to examine where noise might leak through, and to use the next level up of construction. ie don't use a 40dB wall for 40dB reduction, but use 60dB and that should work as 40 (rough figures) *woodwork class next to maths needs a very good wall and is best avoided, but is possible.

Agreed, you get quite good at it, and the good BM will respect this, and you can still use them as appropriate.

Agreed. I was trying to make the point though that a small area that cannot be dealt with properly can allow nearly all the noise through. eg a 5% area unimproved can allow 90% of the previous noise through. Flanking sound through walls or floors usually being the problem.

When Estimating was my job, I used 3 year old Spons as about right and only for elements I didn't know enough about. ie if there was an element worth 2% of the project I couldn't get a quote for, then a 20% overprice on 2% was not critical, and better than a guess. On one project, because it wasn't fully designed, we were asked to quote using Spons +/- a percentage. I think we went in on -15% and made a good margin still. Yes, I think many QSs use this, and it normally creates a falsely high price, but perhaps not in times of shortage. Use it as a starting point perhaps. I don't quite agree. I think it is great for research of optional materials and cost levels. However a good relationship with a local merchant is preferable. They will usually match what can be found elsewhere, as long as you know the target price. Even if a little high they will probably include prompt delivery and offloading. They will also respect you as a valued customer, so you can get deliveries when there are shortages, and quick deliveries when you are caught short. Also use Wickes as a price tool. If the merchant won't beat Wickes with their first quote then they are not playing fair and you ditch them. I detest "tell us your best price and we will match it". That is cheating and is their policy, so best use someone else. Where this does not apply is with large quantities of special products. eg timber direct from a mill/importer or insulation by the lorry load.

None of us does. The trick with acoustics is to think of sound moving through the structure. If I bang here is there a physical link from this room to that room? You can experiment in your own house, between rooms, floors and walls. Fancy kit only works if all the other 'leaks' of noise are closed off too. Resilient bars, spring suspended ceilings, rubber mountings etc are only efficient in making clean breaks in the structure if all sound paths are closed.

There was an article in The Guardian last week about the lack of enforcement on fly-tipping and waste sites. The bottom line was that EA are vastly under-resourced and officers have written orders to try to ignore the biggest problems, and that the local officers (planning and EA) are sometimes very scared to act due to the circumstances. I wonder if the planners are ducking this for similar reasons.

That is fine, and the biggest issue may be 'not in my package mate'. ie the areas of work that could be in one package or another. It is easier (at negotiation) to add some more work than to get discounts, so always ask for 'included' rather than 'excluded' where it make sense.

Well done. A few years ago was before the current shortages and price rises, perhaps 20%? you have declared £28,000, so say £31,000 now. If this was your job, it would be interesting to know what do you think you would have charged a customer?

Or in other words, complicated Engineering stuff. Much more encouraging to see this than the standard computer outputs where you put in some numbers and an answer comes out. What is behind your concern?

A bit extreme and better implied than said. It is perfectly possible to make a fireproof door this other way, but it is much easier to convince the BCO of the standard ways. Whether this is careless or a way round an issue I can't say, without seeing it.

yes, so that is good, I think. You have effectively a solid wall between you so if you tap on your plasterboard it echoes out of theirs, and vice versa, so that gives an easy opportunity, with stud, insulation and the resilient bars mentioned above. That also tends to allow an impact on one side to reflect to the other, and even through the wall. It is easier to reduce this by cutting the noisy side, so that doesn't help. But we are getting somewhere.

Picking up some threads in the hope of helping: It sounds here as if you intend to use a single contactor, acting as main contractor. If they are a hands-on, owner 'on the tools' contractor, then they can't possibly know everything about everything, and their time is best spent making rather than buying. We all have different skills, so the great builder is unlikely to be a great researcher and buyer...that is a specialist skill and takes time. As above, they will tend to go to one supplier for everything as the service is good, the prices always reasonable, and they have an account there. You can shop around and get better prices for some major purchases. Insulation, timber, masonry. But then the builder has to handle it, and there can be arguments about wastage and damage. Whose responsibility if it is delayed/ delivered incorrectly? Who prepares the schedule of sizes, details and quantities? If he drops your toilet pan, who pays for a replacement? And who decides the specification? When you see the contractor's rates they are building in wastage and risk as well as a handling charge. (for example a very good and trusting client once asked why our internal doors were £300 when they cost £30 at Wickes. After explanation (as above) and ironmongery , frames etc all was well but it caused short term mistrust.) Therefore your consultants should specify everything. If it is a standard building they may have their lists already, hence mentioning the required glue isn't an over-requirement) (example again: only recently on this site did I learn of floor glue that expands to fill every gap and stop creaking: perhaps your builder knows and would use it, perhaps not). Also, if there is a standard list, all competing contractors are on the same terms. You can also welcome suggestions from them, but do respect their ideas and don't share them out....that really annoys them and they may walk away. Trust and respect are needed 3 ways here: client, consultant, contractor.