flanagaj

I'm assuming that as it's construction, the hose pipe ban that's in place does not apply. I like the idea and it saves covering the concrete with polythene sheeting.

I love the sunny weather, but sometimes it really is hard work being out there from 8am to 6pm. Today’s task was supposed to have been finishing the Radon membrane on the garage, laying the XPS 300 insulation and then finishing the remaining slab prep in the house. As always, I over estimate one’s ability. Thankfully, I have a good boss who is ok with me taking days off at very short notice. So I have to get this finished tomorrow. Install vcl on top of insulation, lay mesh and then finish final slab prep in the house.

Thanks. Hopefully, the 1% won't cause me to fail building inspector visit on Friday. Keen to understand the 1% for next time 😂. Block & Beam next time.

Yes. LABC manual stated that it needed to be encased with concrete.

Block and beam? No! Ground bearing slabs. A decision that has given me sleepless nights and resulted in some serious hard graft. We had 60 ton (that’s what we were told 🤔) of Type 1 MOT delivered and had to then proceed to get into the bays and levelled up, before compacting it. The brickie was an arse as he should have stopped building and said “get your hardcore in and laid”. His work was rather shit, so I knocked some of it down to enable me to get a dumper in distribute the piles to make levelling it quicker. Building control were fine with me using grano dust as the top layer. This compacts nicely and gives a much harder surface than sand. Below are a few pictures. Hoping to get everything finished by tomorrow. I’ll breath a sigh of relief that it’s done and dusted.

Thanks @saveasteading that was my exact thought process as well. I can then lap up the DPM on the inside of the inner leaf which can then potentially be placed under the bottom seal rail of the garage door. This will stop damp from being able to make it's way through into the garage. I always that that whilst taking the slab and mesh through the opening gives a solid base for vehicles going into the garage, the top will be exposed to the elements and if you have a garage door that sits behind the inner leaf, you have a visible 350mm slab of concrete that if not finished well when poured will look a bit naff.

I appreciate that you guys have been doing this for a long time and I suspect that you are all very fortunate to have created a 'goto' list of trades for certain jobs. Most of my questions are around using the forum to either get validation on a specific process or where I simply cannot find the detail I require. I shoulder blame partly there by not choosing a decent architect who in theory is the person who should detail every aspect.

It's not that simple @Gus Potter unfortunately, we moved to an area where I have zero connections. Previously, I knew many, but it's too far to travel. The downfall was in thinking that I could find reputable trades who would do a good job. This has been an absolute mare and it's akin to the Wild West. Shysters who are either shit or think they can take you for a ride. Our last bricklayer was exactly that. As soon as I picked him up on his levels being out, I'm convinced he binned us off, but continued for 5 days before walking off site and onto a new house build for a builder. In hindsight, a single contractor for a shell would have been the best option, but I'm here now and I've just got to get slabs done and then the next lot of bricklayers can start mid August. Unlike many on here, we are not blessed with deep pockets and have to watch every penny. This build is being done on the basis of keeping to the Estimators QS and that means me managing trades. The question I have for everyone is what is this site for? I ask questions, because either they are not specified in the LABC manual or the trades person I'm dealing with does not fill me with confidence, that they know what they are doing. Just for the record, the concrete company is a large Southampton based outfit and not some bloke who happened to overhear a conversation in the pub. So by that very nature, I'd expect them to be professional and make sure the slabs are done to industry standard and protected from shrinkage post pour. I also don't know what you mean by 'big boy hat'. Am I to start getting violent with these people when they deliver substandard work? I've already sacked two bricklayers, so it's not as if I cannot have the conversations. It's finding reputable individuals.

I have found a company to come and pour and 'finish' the concrete slabs next week. As always, everything is vague and nothing is done with a formal contract. Just been told the job has been booked in. Should the company be responsible for applying a curing agent as they have already said that they don't provide polythene sheeting to cover it to aid curing.

I don't think I can start cutting sections out, as then it won't be connected to the other sheets. I might ask building control to comment

I purchased 4.8m x 2.4m A242 mesh sheets without flying ends. the way the sheets have to be laid means that there are some areas with 3 sheets overlapping. We are having a 150mm slab and the chairs raise the mesh 40mm off the bottom. I don't suspect that it is an issue, but just wanted to check as I don't want BC failing the inspection on Thursday and then having a mad panic to try and come up with a solution to fix the problem.

One other question. Do I finish the slab at the back of the inner leaf blockwork or should the slab come through the opening and finish level with the exterior leaf. If I do the later, do the bricks that close the cavity just sit on top of the lean cavity fill (left image) or should they sit on the concrete slab (right image) Eg, if you were looking at eye level from the front would it be the left or the right image below

Garage is attached. You are most likely correct that the cold bridging will be negligible and I can close off as per the diagram.

But how do you thermally break with PIR. Do you have a drawing or an image that shows this?

Can someone cast there eye over the image below and tell me whether this is the correct way for building the garage reveal. I want the garage door to sit behind the opening, but unsure how the internal block leaf will tie into the returning brick course and whether the cold bridging will be problematic. My plan was to then use a granite setts between the two reveals and up to the garage slab / DPM upstand.