I need some help please. Is builder doing it right?

[JohnHuson]

I am having a large, (adjoined to my house) garage, made in to a ground level living space with an access door from the Dining room and rear yard.
The house main floor is suspended to a height of 400mm so the new space (old concrete floor) requires to be increased in height by 200 to allow for a step down from the Dining room of 200.
Question: He has covered the garage floor in 100 insulation blocks twice over and laid floor sheets on top glued together. Is this correct?
There are no supporting frames, floor joists, or cells to take weight such as a washing machine in the utility area, just foam insulation slabs and nothing else.

To lay a soil pipe to the mini shower room in there he is planning to knock out part of a single brick wall brick strengthening double brick pillar to eliminate 90 degrees connections around that pillar to the pipework to the main sewer pipe.

I would appreciate your view if you are qualified to make one. I appreciate all help but guesses at the moment is not what I need.
My thanks.

 

[noseall]

Question: He has covered the garage floor in 100 insulation blocks twice over and laid floor sheets on top glued together. Is this correct?

Glued T&G sheets straight onto Celotex is an accepted (low-end) spec', yes. However, it depends how you want to cover the floor (tiles etc) and any conversations you had prior to him quoting. We'd tend to go for 100mm Celotex plus 120mm screed, affording the customer freedom to cover the floor anyway they wish.

What is the (suspended) construction of the existing floor?

To lay a soil pipe to the mini shower room in there he is planning to knock out part of a single brick wall brick strengthening double brick pillar to eliminate 90 degrees connections around that pillar to the pipework to the main sewer pipe.

No, not acceptable. Not even sure why he needs to pass so close to the wall that he needs to knock through the pillar?

I would appreciate your view if you are qualified to make one. I appreciate all help but guesses at the moment is not what I need

A wee bit arrogant for a public forum. We don't get paid all that much.

 

[endecotp]

Question: He has covered the garage floor in 100 insulation blocks twice over and laid floor sheets on top glued together. Is this correct?

Celotex and/or kingspan have documents describing how to use their products in this way; find them and check for yourself.

Edit: I am not “qualified” in any way to discuss this, perhaps I should delete the above? If you need “qualified” advice, pay a professional.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Why not give your Building Control Officer a call and check with them (not today, obviously, but on Monday). Your builder (or you) have submitted a Building Notice for this (usually) notifiable work haven't you?

 

[oldbutnotdead]

By the way, the floor as described shouldn't sag under the weight of the washing machine but it will make the machine incredibly noisy (undamped vibration from your floating floor).

 

[23vc]

I would appreciate your view if you are qualified to make one. I appreciate all help but guesses at the moment is not what I need.
My thanks.

lol. What qualifies “qualified to make one”, someone like your builder?

 

[JohnHuson]

My apologies if I caused offence, it was not intended.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Sweet. So, Building Notice in or not? I'm suspecting not, and you (not the builder) are responsible for this omission.
Given that you are unhappy with what he has done & what he's proposing to do, your best bet is going to be to:
Pause the building work- the floor sketch is salvagable, chopping through a buttress is a bit more serious
Get in touch with your local council building control section, explain whats happened so far and be ready with your cheque book for notiication and regularisation fees.
Ideally you want a BCO on site as soon as possible to look at whats been done so far and to comment on your builders proposals for the rest of the job. BCO is your friend- yes the job may get more expensive but it'll be safe, legal and won't come back to bite you if you decide to sell in the future

 

[^woody^]

I have a Spirit Level in bricklaying. Am I qualified to comment?

 

[JohnHuson]

I apologise once more for being offensive if that was the case, it was never intended. I have spent many years being part of forums helping people
with vehicles and engineering problems and I have contributed many times.
I find that contributors can post a load of crap and in doing so cause serious problems; expense, injury, wasted time, and dangerous liability issues
they will not be answerable for.
I would rather those who do offer their views are based on experience and accountability to reply rather than those who guess
and do not have a clue on the subject but feel entitled to place others in the ****.
As an old Fart I do not think we are far away from being accountable for our advice and opinions and how they pan out out in reality.
Its easy to comment but not to be responsible for the advice we give and the outcome that produces without recourse to you.
That is the reason for my comment that 'If you are qualified'.
We are here to help each other and exchange helpful information. If that is not acceptable we are done.
I have benefited from so much information that has helped me over the years on the internet (from 1998) I look forward to seeing
how this pans out.
'If you are qualified' is not an insult, but a statement of your ability to offer a reasonable experienced opinion.

 

[JohnHuson]

Thanks oldbutnotdead, I appreciated your comment. It hit the spot and was was the information I needed.

 

[frutbunn]

Sweet. So, Building Notice in or not? I'm suspecting not, and you (not the builder) are responsible for this omission.
Given that you are unhappy with what he has done & what he's proposing to do, your best bet is going to be to:
Pause the building work- the floor sketch is salvagable, chopping through a buttress is a bit more serious
Get in touch with your local council building control section, explain whats happened so far and be ready with your cheque book for notiication and regularisation fees.
Ideally you want a BCO on site as soon as possible to look at whats been done so far and to comment on your builders proposals for the rest of the job. BCO is your friend- yes the job may get more expensive but it'll be safe, legal and won't come back to bite you if you decide to sell in the future

"BCO is your friend" I have a huge amount of friends then!

Flooring system is OK and in fact was very common on new housing when B Regs introduced this requirement, but seems to have fallen out of favour. Personally I don't like it, but as long as it has BBA certification etc I keep my mouth shut.

Difficult to comment on drainage/brickwork issue without more info.

 

[dontbelieveawordofit]

I apologise once more for being offensive if that was the case, it was never intended. I have spent many years being part of forums helping people
with vehicles and engineering problems and I have contributed many times.
I find that contributors can post a load of crap and in doing so cause serious problems; expense, injury, wasted time, and dangerous liability issues
they will not be answerable for.
I would rather those who do offer their views are based on experience and accountability to reply rather than those who guess
and do not have a clue on the subject but feel entitled to place others in the ****.
As an old Fart I do not think we are far away from being accountable for our advice and opinions and how they pan out out in reality.
Its easy to comment but not to be responsible for the advice we give and the outcome that produces without recourse to you.
That is the reason for my comment that 'If you are qualified'.
We are here to help each other and exchange helpful information. If that is not acceptable we are done.
I have benefited from so much information that has helped me over the years on the internet (from 1998) I look forward to seeing
how this pans out.
'If you are qualified' is not an insult, but a statement of your ability to offer a reasonable experienced opinion.

stop apologising . you’ll hear more nonsense on here than you can wave a stick at. better to alienate the clowns at the outset.