flanagaj

With regards to the 100mm ducting. Do you simply just put a bend in it or do you buy a preformed smooth bore bend? If such a thing exists.

25mm2 The cable will be from the meter to the CU in the house.

I have been putting in foul drainage this week and now need to put the conduit in for the 2 * 23 KVa cables that will come under the lintels and into the plant room. I do have a 54mm diameter hockey stick and was wondering whether to just put two of those in, or am I better off using another type of conduit? Thanks

Our plans clearly state that our sink waste was via a back inlet bottle gulley. Exactly as the image from Wavin below shows. The builder ignored my plans and instructions and decided to not put lintels in for the soil pipe to exit through the property. I then had a long argument with him regarding this and he said that you don't do this and a bottle gulley is used in the old school way, with the sink waste exiting through the wall. He's talking complete tosh and I have just sucked it up. The one benefit is that it means one less hole in the Radon membrane to have to worry about the detailing for getting it sealed correctly, the downside is an ugly pipe (albeit on the Northern side) which is just a path at the back that you don't really notice. But it's really niggling me and I am wondering whether coring a hole through the wall is going to cause other issues later on?

I'm going to do this job myself.

Just checked and their spec just states hardcore (looks like a lifted and shifted spec)

Just a general question for those who have been there and done that. I need to order 30m2 of type 1 or crushed concrete for the ground bearing slab. That equates to 72 ton and type 1 is £33.50/ton Recycled crushed will probably save me half that amount, but I wanted to ask what people's thoughts are on type 1 vs recycled. The ground below is flinty as anything and then it goes to chalk, so I don't think there are any concerns about settlement.

I will do that tomorrow morning first thing. And try and be diplomatic so he knows that I want it to that level. It's not bloody rocket science is it. The JCB driver who dug the oversite was within +/-10mm

This is probably why I always seem to rub people up the wrong way. That's a diplomatic approach. Even when I did get my laser level out to prove that it was off, it went down like a lead below and was basically dismissed as my laser level must be off. I even then went to the lengths of checking both his and my laser level (both of which are correct) I was hoping for a "fair point, it's off and I will rectify the problem", but it's basically been left.

I've refrained from posting on here for fear of asking stupid questions, but I have concluded that on this occasion, I really could do with some guidance. As you know, we let our first brickie go as his work was substandard. We waited nearly 8 weeks for the new one to start and he started Monday. He is making good progress and aside from not listening to me or reading drawings where service lintels are supposed to go, it's ok. However, when he started, I was really surprised that he did not build up the corners of the house using a laser level, to ensure that the height of the first course would be correct. Instead, he started at one end and made his way down the 24m length. He is now at dpc level on the internal leaf and he is 22mm out from one end of the house (excluding garage) 17m to the other end. Alarm bells are ringing in my head again and I don't know whether I should raise the issue. It's driving me mad that I have to deal with such incompetent individuals. I also had to explain to him that he had missed out the lintel for a back inlet gulley. His response "you don't run a soil pipe into the back of a bottle gulley. You put the sink waste through the wall and into it." Clearly, he is wrong, but I am just the dumb IT Programmer who knows feck all. Just after some help here, as I really don't want to sack another builder and start again.

The membrane isn't the issue. It's the cavity tray that has to be there. Maybe full fill under compression will happily stay suspended in the cavity. The drawing has a vertical membrane against the inner leaf, so using wall ties will mean breaching said membrane.

I was given the following schematic diagram by St Goblain in relation to their suggested approach for a Radon membrane. Just wondering whether anyone know how you go about suspending insulation in the cavity with using wall ties? Visqueen are also showing a similar detail of insulation just suspended in thin air directly below the cavity tray.

Ok, I'll have a look. Considerably cheaper too.

I have a Topcon laser for exterior groundworks, but am now thinking of getting a 3 * 360 degree green laser level. I was looking at the premium Leica Lino L6G, but wanted to ask whether there are similar offerings that offer the same functionality, but slightly cheaper. Like a lot of my tool purchases, I will sell them on at the end of the build.

After the debacle of the last builder, who just couldn’t admit his work was rough, I decided to get https://www.tmcoatesjcbplanthire.co.uk/ back in to dig down the oversite ready for the next brickie that we have managed to get on board. Tim is an absolute legend and goes above and beyond when it comes to excavation tasks! here is a picture of our site (I’ve demolished the abomination left by the last incumbent)

It was a full plans application and yes we have planning. Nothing has changed in relation to the drawings and the builder who was partially retired bit off more than he could chew. I felt sorry for him, but the drawings clearly showed 7N blocks below DPC. The fact that he struggled to lay them accurately is not down to me. The joys of hiring trades in an area where you know nobody.

He said he was happy to do cavity blockwork. I'll ask the next bricklayer whether he'd prefer trench blocks.

I'd paid them for the days they did and now I still owe him £250 for some engineering bricks, but I'm in two minds whether to tell him that he can take the £250 out of the £550 I paid him. Just undecided whether it's worth the aggravation.

That vertical bubble is only over two courses. Yes, this was the brickie that we were planning on using, but he'll be given his tools tomorrow morning from the lock up. It's very disheartening that a tradie think that work is acceptable. I've just got my laser level out and the corners of the garage are 20mm out on the horizontal. There is also a block that's got no vertical mortar, it's literally directly butted to the adjoining two blocks.

Just had a good look at the foundation masonry done by the brickie last week and it’s rough. he say it doesn’t matter as it’s not seen.

The whole site was dug down by 200mm before footings were pulled. Even the estimators work schedule states digging down the oversite after you've built up to DPC. I'll stop whining as it's done now, but next time I'll dictate the order of works.

I'm getting tired of the comments! My post like many are simply about challenging the 'wisdom' in which construction activities are performed. Digging out the oversize after block work is up to DPC, is the dumbest approach ever. So yes, my advice to anyone embarking on a ground bearing slab, is to dig out once you've poured the footings.

Ground bearing slab requires 525mm to be dug out below FFL. It's currently only dug down 200mm

When we had the footings dug, the JCB guy told me to pour the concrete footings and then dig the over site down, before commencing the foundation masonry. That made complete sense, but unfortunately, the brick layer was committed to starting on a specific date and it didn't get done. Now I'm thinking how blooming tricky it's going to be to manoeuvre the mini excavator around and not catch any of the block work. So unless I am missing something 'basic' here, my advice would be to dig it down first and then commence your foundation masonry.

@JohnMo slightly harsh.