Moonshine

You think? i would love that to be the case but i don' know!

Yikes! No groundworkers on site this morning, no answer on the mobiles i have for them / owner, blinding ain't going down today then!

Cheers, there wasn't suppose to be such a close follow on with the other trade, because of things not progressing previously it got concertinaed as weds was the only day available this week. I will buffer things out a bit more in future. I have a timelapse camera set up with time stamps, so i can use that to call on if the invoice doesn't match, but ideally want to keep the work progressing ??

I am getting frustrated with my ground workers, they have done the reduced dig for my build and the machine operator was pretty damn good, punctual and overall I'm happy with that part and how it progressed (he has now left site and the company i think). What i am getting frustrated about is the actual construction, and the attitude / being on site, a few key issues Key below ground/slab drainage setting out which penetrates the slab was wrong (one vertical 110mm pipe was 8cm out and if I hadn't have spotted it, it was set to go into a masonry blockwork above). Delays in work getting done and me having to re-arrange other trades, i know this will happen but it keeps on happening. The site supervisor having to be called away for a number of personal reasons. General lack of motivation to get stuff done. Case in point a blinding layer is set to go down on the reduced dig, before a waterproof membrane can be laid on top, wire meshes / reinforcement etc. Discussion on Sunday with the company owner was the plan was to get the under slab drainage sorted Monday (it was partially done) and blinding laid Tuesday (today), for the waterproofer to be able to come in on weds to lay the membrane. Yesterday i get word that the under slab drainage isn't going to get done and knocks the rest of the plans out of the window, the site supervisor has focused on a back drop and run to the sewer, rather than the slab. So i rearrange the waterproofer again who now can't come until Monday (fair enough as I have stuffed him about already). Also the site supervisor now says he can't get any blinding concrete for Tuesday / Wednesday or the rest of the week, which I asked them to have arranged. Cue me phoning a number of local concrete firms getting pricing and availability for blinding, get some sorted for £70 /m3 + VAT for Wednesday afternoon, i let the site supervisor know this that its booked, though i need him to confirm him the quantity needed. I then hear from my wife that they haven't been on site for at ~2 hours this morning (i can check the time lapse cam later), and that the site supervisor has now had to leave site due to a personal matter (again), so no work this afternoon. I bet that when i do get in contact with the GW's that means that the site won't be ready for the blinding tomorrow. I am paying them on day rates and invoiced on a weekly basis (i pay promptly) and basically i am getting to the point where i feel they are taking the pi$$ with it and i don't trust them to progress with the job, my gut / worry is that due to being on daily's they are kicking the progress can down the road. If they have done all they can on my site, and they are going to another job, o.k as long as i know about it and don't get billed for it. I have been trying to get in contact with the company owner today with no luck, tbh it can't continue how its going, especially with the key slab pour coming up. I could start getting in contact with other firms and get them off the job, as my patience is wearing thin, but that would would have delays associated with it. Another thing i was thinking was now that the reduced dig is done a lot of the unknowns are out the way so get off a daily rate and onto a fixed fee for key milestones. I need to figure out, is this just how workers are, my 'high' expectations, or are they actually just being poor, and also the way forward. rant over.

I have appointed a ground worker to do my dropped kerb and new sewer connection to my plot. I have applied and received the crossing license so that seems fine (i have the license printed out to put out on the road), and have applied to the local water authority for the new sewer connection, the contractor has submitted their RAM's to the local water authority and i am awaiting for approval. The will need to be a lane closure for both the dropped kerb and new sewer connection. There are a few things that concern me as it seems that the GW may have omitted, and i want to make sure that everything is o.k before they proceed. I presume i need the formal go ahead from the local water authority before they start the excavation to the sewer (the GW implied they would start without the o.k from the LWA) What other licenses does the contractor need in place before starting work, from reading this https://www.belowgroundsolutions.co.uk/new-sewer-connection-faq/ it seems that they a section 50/171 license as well? i want to make sure they do.

but what?

I am about to make a order for all the blocks for my build, need to getting it in before price increases come in, also for concrete beams.

It's not his site, he is a tradie working on site (not a brickie)

What are people doing about cement at the moment, it seems that the big chains are limiting supply to 10 packs a customer. B&Q seems to be cheaper than local builders merchants at the moment!

I think that it is, as this is a construction note, "Underside of mass concrete foundations to be adequate depth so that retaining wall is not surcharged with within 37 degrees of underside of foundation to rear retaining wall face." this the 37 degree line, so the footings are going to have to go deeper than what are shown on the drawings so it seems that the issue is that area in red when the wall returns

when i spoke to him previously he said that is what it says in the building regs, i presume that the loading on the retaining wall. This is his drawing, note that the mass concrete base isn't connected to the retaining wall, though i would have thought that you would build blockwork / pour concrete onto the mass base, so i presume you have to shutter it to make sure it doesn't touch the retaining wall. it seems crazy to me that this is needed as its a 400mm thick cavity filled wall and in some places has masonry cavity walls on top of it its too late for us, as we are committed to traditional footings at the top.

My structural engineer has specified that there needs to be a stepped foundation from the concrete slab to the strip foundations as shown in blue below (only my rough mark up) https://www.labc.co.uk/news/when-and-how-to-cut-stepped-foundations-on-a-sloping-site is this really the case as i don't really know how they are going to build this on site, given the massive level differences. can't the strip footings just be tied into the retaining wall? what is proposed seems like overkill, is there another way to tie the traditional footings to the retaining wall?

I am putting together a design for a garden room with underfloor heating (dont ask). For ease I want the UFH to be electric, and I want a product I can lay directly onto the pir insulation, then lay the finished floor on top. Does any such product exist?

I asked the question and they said no on timber frame, it would need to be a product like cedral on the timber frame. The reason i want timber frame it to maximise the internal space and have the insulation within cavity. If i use block then i will have to have internal insulation, and lose a bit of space.

I am proposing an outbuilding that is going to be on the boundary of the plots Due to it being on the boundary it need fire protection and BC approval, this would usual be done with block. However i want to build out of timber with insulated walls, speaking to building control i can line the internal with fireboard, and the outside with a product like cedral. Though interestingly the BCO said that i could have this one boundary wall as block and the rest as timber. any ideas?

how many bars would you set out per m2 of mesh?

2.4 x 4.8m lower A1131, upper A393, those mars bars look a much better solution for the reasons you give, how many of those bars would you have per m2 of mesh?

I think I will use these 50mm concrete chairs to get, the mesh off the blinding https://www.steelaccessories.co.uk/collections/concrete-spacers/products/concrete-mesh-spacers-meshmen I will get some 150mm spacers / deck chairs. The wire mesh isn't going to be flying end mesh, will I need to grind off some for the corners?

My 300mm slab has two meshes in it, which need a min 50mm cover. The bottom mesh is to be set on 50mm castles above the blinding. The question I have is what spacer to use to get the 200mm space needed so the top mesh doesn't sag. Any ideas?

I am ordering a load of rods and mesh for retaining walls, and want to get the beams (no. 7) on the order. They are just resting on pad stones, one has a connection (the smallest), which will go to a fabricator to weld on a end plate.

I am about to order my steels, is it common practice to order slightly longer than what is shown on the drawings, or a fair amount over to cut to size on site?

The company that i am probably going to go for is 16 windows and 2 bi-folds, is £394 per m2 + VAT. That is with 6.8mm lam x 18mm Argon Gas x 4mm float.

this is one from a quote i received, for a similar sized window no fitting, these weren't the cheapest company, but the only one that itemised the cost of each.

I am about to pay £207 ex VAT per 20T truck, going to need 25-30 of them.

No, PIR has very limited acoustic properties