daiking Posted March 2, 2021 Author Share Posted March 2, 2021 On 28/02/2021 at 20:27, Onoff said: The laser is the constant. It takes a big man to admit he is wrong. And I am not a big man. (It helped) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted March 2, 2021 Share Posted March 2, 2021 1 minute ago, daiking said: (It helped) Admitting it or the laser? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daiking Posted March 2, 2021 Author Share Posted March 2, 2021 1 hour ago, Onoff said: Admitting it or the laser? The laser of course. (And there’s a meme of the day https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/instead-of-going-to-therapy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daiking Posted March 3, 2021 Author Share Posted March 3, 2021 Footings are poured. I was too busy fannying about to get any pictures. The wench has some though. Overnight temps of 2 degrees C ? should be ok... -1 forecast tomorrow night... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daiking Posted March 3, 2021 Author Share Posted March 3, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daiking Posted March 4, 2021 Author Share Posted March 4, 2021 Forgot to say it was £130 for upto 1m3 of concrete and I had to pretend to poke and level it for free. He said I’m looking at about £200 for the slab when he comes back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daiking Posted March 4, 2021 Author Share Posted March 4, 2021 It was 3 degrees last night which I’ll get away with. Forecast is -1 tonight so I’ve covered it with polythene, Christmas tree branches and old blankets. Why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daiking Posted March 4, 2021 Author Share Posted March 4, 2021 So foundation... To go round my 4.15m x 3.3m foundation, I’ve calculated I need 32 standard concrete blocks. Mortar wise, my research tells me that I want a 4:1 mix. I won’t need much 1 bag of cement should be plenty (+4 sand obvs). Other option is that a 20kg bag of ready mix mortar should be enough for 20 blocks so I could just buy 2 bags of that. Have never mixed mortar before. Apparently some lime or additive would be helpful as I’m below ground but for 32 blocks and a Wendy house it’s probably not needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daiking Posted March 14, 2021 Author Share Posted March 14, 2021 I could have done with getting this done this weekend but my footings are a muddy brown moat, my bag of cement burst and I’ve got a rat in the shed. The flooding has shown where my amateur concrete finishing was not great and there are high and low areas to work with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 Might be worth adding some of this to your mortar mix? I use it all the time: https://www.toolstation.com/everbuild-202-integral-liquid-waterproofer/p80460 Think I add something like 1L to a builders bucket of water. Instructions: 202-Integral-Liquid-Waterproofer-V1.1.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 Below ground I would go 4:1 with nothing else - you won’t need it. Just make sure your DPM goes up and over the blocks when you do that. Laying blocks, get a straight bit of timber and see how much out of level corner to corner round the foundations you are, and see what the gaps are you’re making up. Much more than 30mm won’t muck up so you’ll need to cut blocks down to the “highest” point if that makes sense ..?? 20 blocks from 20kg of mortar is pushing it - it’s based on a 10mm bed and perps, so you’ll probably end up needing 50kg or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 Benefits of that waterproofer outweigh the costs. Makes the mix much easier to work with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 The only reason it’s making it easier is that it works as a plasticiser - any admix does that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 Just now, PeterW said: any admix does that. So does fairy liquid ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 1 hour ago, PeterW said: The only reason it’s making it easier is that it works as a plasticiser - any admix does that. I'm simply saying to use an admix, not necessarily that one though it's just cheap and works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daiking Posted March 14, 2021 Author Share Posted March 14, 2021 (edited) 12 hours ago, PeterW said: Below ground I would go 4:1 with nothing else - you won’t need it. Just make sure your DPM goes up and over the blocks when you do that. Laying blocks, get a straight bit of timber and see how much out of level corner to corner round the foundations you are, and see what the gaps are you’re making up. Much more than 30mm won’t muck up so you’ll need to cut blocks down to the “highest” point if that makes sense ..?? 20 blocks from 20kg of mortar is pushing it - it’s based on a 10mm bed and perps, so you’ll probably end up needing 50kg or so. It’s p*ssed down today so the whole thing is under inches of muddy water now ? I think it’s within 30mm. I did go round trying to level it when it was poured but I ended up with more converter than the level of my markers. hoping it’s not more than +/-10mm. Noted the high corners so planning on starting from there. Was going to use 4:1 from the research I’d done. Got 1 Cement and 4 sand. Just that the cement bag opened and spat out a load of cement dust when I put it in the barrow to wheel it down the garden. Should still have more than enough, looking at nearly 100kgs when mixed up? Assume the concrete will need to be relatively clean and dry to lay on, no ‘primer’ or anything on it before putting the mortar down? Edited March 14, 2021 by daiking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daiking Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 Weather is better so digging out the base whilst I pluck up the courage to mark out the wall with some string. just how clean does the top of the footing need to be to start laying blocks on it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 Quick brush and crack on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daiking Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 41 minutes ago, PeterW said: Quick brush and crack on. steady on, these things take time. I didn’t think I’d get the ground level as I was digging out but tramping round on it seemed to do the job. Still masses of roots in the ground. Hadn’t thought about a ground fabric/dpm under the EPS but might put something in. You said just blind it with the thin EPS. No sand no hard core. Would you put something under it? obvs the main DPM will be above the EPS with the concrete poured on top (like my house was) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 Hardcore first then 25mm EPS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daiking Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 (edited) 9 minutes ago, PeterW said: Hardcore first then 25mm EPS. where? I’ve got a hole down to the concrete footing, 225mm deep and planning to put 125mm of EPS and 100mm concrete into it. ? Edited March 17, 2021 by daiking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 Need to take some more out and get a hardcore base in or it will settle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daiking Posted March 18, 2021 Author Share Posted March 18, 2021 7 hours ago, PeterW said: Need to take some more out and get a hardcore base in or it will settle. Yay, more digging. This will expose most of the footings. It’s just over 12 sq m so approx 3bags / 2.5t of mot1 will give me around 100mm compacted sub base to the top of the footings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 50mm would do in this case - just get it down to solid ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 If you’re worried about settlement just bung some steel mesh in your slab, won’t go anywhere!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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