bmj1 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 Solid concrete staircase sitting directly onto the beam and block oversite, bypassing our insulation. Is this a cause for concern ? Anything I should do to rectify ? W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMo Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 It is an issue, no ideal of a practical way to fix - your stair will be sucking heat away from the house for ever more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 1 hour ago, JohnMo said: It is an issue, no ideal of a practical way to fix - your stair will be sucking heat away from the house for ever more. Plus 1 Probably not your fault Your Architect needs Shooting 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 1 hour ago, nod said: Your Architect needs Shooting Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmj1 Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 @nod @JohnMo @joe90 - thanks, good to know. The plan was to clad the step with engineered wood. Do I need to worry about moisture coming up through the concrete and damaging the wood ? We're beam and block, and DPC is in place underneath, so I'm hoping should be okay, but figured I would ask the question Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmj1 Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 1 hour ago, nod said: Plus 1 Probably not your fault Your Architect needs Shooting To be fair, architect didn't detail this way, was the builder thinking he knew better... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 (edited) 11 minutes ago, bmj1 said: To be fair, architect didn't detail this way, How did the architect detail it? And why didn’t the builder do what the architect designed. 11 minutes ago, bmj1 said: was the builder thinking he knew better... Well he is not an architect and does not know better. Edited January 25 by joe90 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmj1 Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 32 minutes ago, joe90 said: How did the architect detail it? And why didn’t the builder do what the architect designed. Well he is not an architect and does not know better. Architect detailed screed first with all GF partitions and staircase on top of the screed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 3 minutes ago, bmj1 said: Architect detailed screed first with all GF partitions and staircase on top of the screed Then I would ask the builder why he didn’t follow the drawings (which is what you are paying him to do!) and what is he going to do to rectify the thermal bridge. I would not put up with that fault caused by the builder. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Blobby Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Cancel the screeding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russdl Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 That’s not good, it’s been bugging me ‘what would I do’? I think I’d consider supporting the existing staircase. Chopping off the bottom to or three stairs. Completing the floor as designed and then re forming the bottom steps. How that would work in reality I don’t know but leaving ‘as is’ would be dire I reckon. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andehh Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 (edited) Could you/I would wrap a few layers of Armaflex tape around the form of it to seperate screed from stairs? Few mm will help provide a degree of seperation, will help reduce the problem of it. Use thicker underlay for your flooring. Wood as you plan for, with a carpet runner maybe? (I don't like wood stairs, with the wrong socks on far too slippy) Reality is you're gunna have to suck it up and move on, else face serious serious cost, headache and heartache trying to fix when EVERYONE will roll their eyes and think you're OCD. The £canceled screed alone cost will be worth more then 10 years of that thermal bridging, let alone piss off factor, delays and cost for whatever bodges you try and introduce to fix. You can't win them all! Building houses is not a zero sum game. Just double down efforts elsewhere to try and offset it, move on and forget about it. Edit.. Damp won't come up as the block and beam has dpc and is ventilated to keep it dry anyway. Edited January 27 by Andehh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Laslett Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 That is a real shame. I’m sure many build’s have minor mistakes like this, I’m sure mine does. What gnaws at the back of your mind, is how big a deal is this, as laypeople we have no easy way to quantify. We took the insulated foundation approach which has some advantages if people drop the ball later on in the build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andehh Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 I spent most days obsessed with insulation and checking and monitoring.... But was away with work for the screed pour, and only this winter found we have a thermal bridge from big sliders against our screed floor. The first 6" of the screed is noticable colder... Like I said, you can't win everything! Reality is though... How often do you stand with your toes against the glass, room is still lovely and warm, and overall house is very reasonable ££ to heat...wife thought I was crazy when I be moaned it. No one else will ever notice or care, but it's still taken me months to get over!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 There is a cold bridge but not the end of the world. It may be worth a bit of insulation over the UFH pipes where they run down the corridor if it is not too late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmj1 Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 Thanks all. Thank you for the feedback. As you say, cancelling the screed was never realistic. It's wooden floor anyway on the step. Appreciate all the support and advice. It's amazing how much you learn doing a build... Will do it better next time 😅 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andehh Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 They say the third one you get right... 😆 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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