Concrete pour in heavy rain.

[zoothorn]

3 minutes ago, joe90 said:

Relax man, concrete will go off under water, chemical action. Why do you think the floor is 9” too low?, they have not built it yet! Just confirm with your builder that it’s level with your existing floor. If not why not?

 

 

Ok this gives me a bit of stress relief. But loo, you see the two batons sticking up, in the 1st pic, twds the top RHS of photo in the trench. The left baton's top has a grey stone & wee white dot above it. Ok.. the white spot is exactly 350mm from internal existing floor (sitroom adjacent). This is where the new floor should be. Its not a dot/ mark I put on for him, its just coincidentally/ usefully there.

 

But I'm told its 2x blocks, to be built on the concrete = scree/ floor height. So I measured it: I can see where the water's clearing on the concrete the top (2" of water about right). From here + 18" up, so Im told, is the scree/ floor level. It is not 9" below of the white dot.. its in fact 11.5" below.

[zoothorn]

12 minutes ago, joe90 said:

 

Time to put up a flagpole and a  Union Jack ?.

 

Oh, no never. Look there's nationism here, I don't feel welcome by many entrenched locals... but christ go into town & watch the parade of tattood brummies everywhere (sorry if your a brum!).. christ man, I hate the english more!! {edit: I am english}.

 

I want to be declared nationless I've decided, like those independent MP's & occasional athlete who runs under the olympic flag: I mean its just unquestionbly kudos/ respect/ total sense/ progressive fwd mentality/ etc there isn't it. anyway a debate for another time. Concrete here.

Edited October 11, 2019 by zoothorn

[Onoff]

Email your builder now on the lines of:

 

"Hello,

 

Typical, rain stops after the concrete pour! ?

 

The concrete pour look a little low. Can you confirm the new room floor levels will match the existing and there won't be some big step down.

 

Regards"

 

Put concerns in writing. Don't rely on him being a good bloke and a handshake.

 

 

[zoothorn]

18 minutes ago, joe90 said:

 

Why?

 

 

 

Cos I'm just stressed I guess Joe. Thing is as much as I say I trust my builder(s).. with my experience here (nash xyz & bullying) its left me totally devoid of trust for anyone welsh its sad to say, but, only natural. So when my 2nd in command (one of the nicest people Ive met -tho f's & blinds like the wind- so there are exceptions thank goodness of course) says 'all fine/ will be rock hard/ see you monday' I just don't trust its true.

[nod]

32 minutes ago, zoothorn said:

 

Some truth to that (yes some is indeed mental frailty, Ive seen it) but, most is sheer rage-jealousy for the audacity of turning my back on her/ their ridiculous, desperate attempts to befriend me.. full of countless snidy remarks & childishness no less (wow! great way to make me wanna be friends). Near all of the trouble I've had is this 1 very dominant & extremely manipulative woman's bullying me (& simple nationalism at me) leading to call after call to xyz depts > visits, aggressive driving at me walking on lanes, aggressive dog set onto my property/ at me, nasty aggressive hand gestures right in my face, 1 clamp tool stolen (minor- but I know she's responsible), & the worst.. the dogmuck incidents.

 Try not to let it take over your live 

Deep breaths 

[zoothorn]

10 minutes ago, Onoff said:

Email your builder now on the lines of:

 

"Hello,

 

Typical, rain stops after the concrete pour! ?

 

The concrete pour look a little low. Can you confirm the new room floor levels will match the existing and there won't be some big step down.

 

Regards"

 

Put concerns in writing. Don't rely on him being a good bloke and a handshake.

 

 

 

Very sensible idea Onoff. Thing is, I actually innitially thought of having such a BIG call it 2-step down, but, considered it a bit 'risky' to do. Now its done I'm between this mindset (& the possible/ probable extra expense of steps, retaining wall too (?) and sticking to my guns & piping up as you suggest. Maybe it gives me some thinking time how to proceed/ a barganing chip as it were: I mean I don't think its right I should pay out an extra £750 on xyz because the floor level's not what I specified, but, if I gain 5" height in -each- room...

[Onoff]

 

 

It's not all bad there mind:

 

 

[Onoff]

6 minutes ago, zoothorn said:

 

Very sensible idea Onoff. Thing is, I actually innitially thought of having such a BIG call it 2-step down, but, considered it a bit 'risky' to do. Now its done I'm between this mindset (& the possible/ probable extra expense of steps, retaining wall too (?) and sticking to my guns & piping up as you suggest. Maybe it gives me some thinking time how to proceed/ a barganing chip as it were: I mean I don't think its right I should pay out an extra £750 on xyz because the floor level's not what I specified, but, if I gain 5" height in -each- room...

 

What is agreed and shown on the drawings he's working to?

 

Tbh I liked the idea of a step down into an attached workshop. Very Gibbs/NCIS! 

[zoothorn]

3 minutes ago, nod said:

 Try not to let it take over your live 

Deep breaths 

 

Thanks nod. Actually I don't 90% of the time, I win time after time ad nauseum.. but upping the anti to dogmuck, its very hard not to get you down: especially 'vulnerable' as I am being just me/ an easy target for this behaviour IE very visible when I'm out, or done overnight, & from more than one 'source' I can tell too means 2-4 couples responsible as 3 or 4 dogs' leavings Ive witnessed having cleared up yet again, for 2 years now).

[zoothorn]

1 minute ago, Onoff said:

 

What is agreed and shown on the drawings he's working to?

 

Tbh I liked the idea of a step down into an attached workshop. Very Gibbs/NCIS! 

 

Yup. 2nd in command seen my drawings (scanned so look pretty damn pro tbh) & looked as confident as can be skipping about measuring xyz. He has this pretty dominant good natured welsh "I fkn know best he don't know fkn sh*t!" (he says of the BCO no less, in good humour.. but, he is taking the reins you can tell, not the nice calm BCO) fairly strong character. A tricky one. As soon as I question something, he's often squaring up at me "look, I'm..." usually ending in grins.. I hope to heck this continues & he doesn't see red with me tho. Firey welsh. In a good way. So far.

[ProDave]

16 minutes ago, Onoff said:

Tbh I liked the idea of a step down into an attached workshop. Very Gibbs/NCIS! 

Just how is he going to get that boat out of his basement. IF he ever finishes it?

[Onoff]

4 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Just how is he going to get that boat out of his basement. IF he ever finishes it?

 

He must ingest quite a few metal fragments the way he keeps drinking bourbon from those jam jars... 

 

I believe it's filmed in Mark Harmon's own basement.

[zoothorn]

Whodafk is Mark Harmon, & why is he on my concrete thread?

 

Another thing of concern, especially digging a ft lower than specified.. is the exposed foundation area below existing wall. I'm alarmed at the shallow D of the original footings, & now its all exposed/ nothing pushing against it, & open to the elements (it gets hammered being west facing & also facing down our wee valley/ village). Its going to be a week before the ground block 18" is done, & weather forcast poor.

[Onoff]

 

Old houses often have v.shallow footings if at all in some cases.

 

My place for instance, original circa 1930 footings on the right. Later (early 50s I think) footings on the left.

 

 

Edited October 11, 2019 by Onoff

[Construction Channel]

23 minutes ago, zoothorn said:

Whodafk is Mark Harmon, & why is he on my concrete thread?

 

Another thing of concern, especially digging a ft lower than specified.. is the exposed foundation area below existing wall. I'm alarmed at the shallow D of the original footings, & now its all exposed/ nothing pushing against it, & open to the elements (it gets hammered being west facing & also facing down our wee valley/ village). Its going to be a week before the ground block 18" is done, & weather forcast poor.

Those footings have been there for a long time and probably arnt planning anything drastic in the next few weeks. A lot of these questions could easily be solved by just asking the guy doing it. 

 

I wouldn't worry yourself about the concrete. It's not exactly holding up much. It's also common practice to add a lot more water than you've had if you need to mix to flow anywhere. 

[zoothorn]

@Onoff but what do you think of the 3/4m of exposed clay -below- the footings? if a week of heavy rain directly on it, as is exactly the likely case, is there any concern of erosion? & what happens to this exposed area of clay which will be, in my new room, from floor to knee level now.. just get rendered?

[Onoff]

6 minutes ago, zoothorn said:

@Onoff but what do you think of the 3/4m of exposed clay -below- the footings? if a week of heavy rain directly on it, as is exactly the likely case, is there any concern of erosion? & what happens to this exposed area of clay which will be, in my new room, from floor to knee level now.. just get rendered?

 

Steady on now, you don't yet know what the score is floor height wise until you email your builder and he comes back to you. 

 

You wouldn't/couldn't just render clay btw. 

[Thedreamer]

Hi @zoothorn I've been following this thread for the last few days. It's pretty stressful self building!

 

Before I started I read the home builder bible, gives a good basic understanding of the build process.

 

Not to worry on the concrete this will now be set. Your foundation are probably going to be more substantial than the rest of your house.

 

Are you using the same the builder through out?

[Onoff]

Man up you English tart! ? Keep calm and carry on.

 

Drink more / worry less. 

[zoothorn]

1 hour ago, Onoff said:

 

Steady on now, you don't yet know what the score is floor height wise until you email your builder and he comes back to you. 

 

You wouldn't/couldn't just render clay btw. 

 

Thing is my builder.. hasn't done anything bar oversee a drop-off of block, & come for 1/2 hr with red mist on, get his chainsaw out & attack my beech hedge! I allowed him, reluctantly tho. You see he subs out the various stages to the best (this is likely true) chap at it.. groundwork & bricks/ block to 2nd in command here, plastering duties to a VG father-son team, elecs to another guy very skilled etc etc. So its a bit tricky for me you see.

[Onoff]

3 minutes ago, zoothorn said:

 

Thing is my builder.. hasn't done anything bar oversee a drop-off of block, & come for 1/2 hr with red mist on, get his chainsaw out & attack my beech hedge! I allowed him, reluctantly tho. You see he subs out the various stages to the best (this is likely true) chap at it.. groundwork & bricks/ block to 2nd in command here, plastering duties to a VG father-son team, elecs to another guy very skilled etc etc. So its a bit tricky for me you see.

 

Not tricky at all. Email the man you're paying the money to and ask the questions you're worried about.

[zoothorn]

3 minutes ago, Onoff said:

Man up you English tart! ? Keep calm and carry on.

 

Drink more / worry less. 

 

Who are you tarting to? me most likely. I am becoming all of 1/2 a man from being on this site!

 

I  have a vague notion my builder (main) might have told 2ndIC to go a step extra down for me.. as I was so often faffing with an inch here n there in height, I think it might have driven him to distraction, & he's kindly given me 10" extra by just telling 2ndIC to go down more.

 

I can't see any other reason, my plan was as clear as day/ meticuously done.

[joe90]

1 minute ago, zoothorn said:

I can't see any other reason, my plan was as clear as day/ meticuously done.

 

And if he does not do what you want you don’t pay him, your the customer, man up, ask him the questions and if the answer is not what you require remind him who the customer is and you are paying him to do what you want.

[Onoff]

6 minutes ago, zoothorn said:

 

Who are you tarting to? me most likely. I am becoming all of 1/2 a man from being on this site!

 

I  have a vague notion my builder (main) might have told 2ndIC to go a step extra down for me.. as I was so often faffing with an inch here n there in height, I think it might have driven him to distraction, & he's kindly given me 10" extra by just telling 2ndIC to go down more.

 

I can't see any other reason, my plan was as clear as day/ meticuously done.

 

Can't stress the importance of written communication in case things go wrong.

 

Need to grow a thick skin as it won't be the first hurdle.

 

Don't let the project control you. You control the project.

 

Maybe he was going deep so they never found YOUR body! ?

[zoothorn]

4 minutes ago, Onoff said:

 

Not tricky at all. Email the man you're paying the money to and ask the questions you're worried about.

 

Yes point taken. He doesn't do email, its smoke signals with him 2nd-in-C said. I'll get onto him tmrw tho.

 

There's gonna be a 100mm dia drainage tube inserted too, so the BCO said, I think as one consequence of this extra depth: this means digging right across my front lawn to a D of 4ft or so.. which I'm both not happy about, & do not understand (I mean from where?) although Ive tried to comprehend by asking 2nd-inC & got verbals for daring to quizz it "I fkn know, the BCO knows fk all!" etc, so I'm none the wiser. I will take a pic tmrw to explain where/ get folks thoughts on it here as to WTF it could be all about.

 

The main thing that worries me is how this extra ft down will affect BRegs, if it'll mean 2 extra steps down = rain now can enter = X has to be put in place to account for this, & Y, & Z too.. meaning an extra £750 I'm lumped with at the end, unless I fight back (but I'll be exhausted/ no will to).