Builder starting small extension, will I regret it

[RogerS]

This explains my concern..but most likely it's just the way things look in your pictures.

I suggest that when dealing with the BCO that you raise all your concerns with him. They won't always pick up on things as they have aheavy workload.

 

[Oldman]

Thanks Roger, I will see what he says...

 

[Cowboy _Builder]

Don't worry the reason they left it like that is , when they remove the exsisting walls they will remove the first two courses of bricks below the exsisting DPC and there will be enough of the new DPC to fold down over the brickwork to form a new barrier .
Looks to me like they know what they are doing ...

 

[RogerS]

Don't worry the reason they left it like that is , when they remove the exsisting walls they will remove the first two courses of bricks below the exsisting DPC and there will be enough of the new DPC to fold down over the brickwork to form a new barrier .
Looks to me like they know what they are doing ...

Agreed and that was my initial thought but in the picture - out of the two existing walls, I can't see any DPC left above the concrete plinth to fold over.

 

[Oldman]

There is no dpc left above the concrete so nothing to fold over on the 2 old house walls. I see exactly what Roger is getting at now.
Had I been doing it I (now I know) would have raised the membrain up the walls 6" and battoned them there so they didnt fall back in the concrete while laying and that would have been job sorted but as the builder hasnt shown except to drop off a few pallets of bricks and blocks on Thursday and wont be on site till Monday there isnt much I can do or say.
My guess would be hes going to pitch paint and lay membrain up from where he finished to the dpc line before final screeding to get round this problem, if indeed he considers it a problem.

We will find out in a later instalment :wink:

 

[Oldman]

Well the bricky and labourer were busy today, they got on quite well.

Lots of temporary cutting and shuffling of rainwater downpipes and hoppers to clear them out of the brickies way and be ready for the rain we are due soon.
The upstairs toilet has become a casualty as it seems the outlet may be in the way for the flat roof flashing so its been disconnected from the old soil stack which will be gone tomorrow.
I had intended to move the toilet to another wall of the bathroom after they had gone but seems my plans may have to be brought forward some.
I also need to run wastes from both the bath and basin out through another wall tomorrow into what I hope will be a new soil stack by then.

desperately trying to keep the builder just doing whats in the fixed price so I dont get any surprises at the end of the job.

 

[trousers]

In my neck of the woods the BCO would expect to see a vertical slot cut through the existing external skin of brickwork, between where the new external and internal skins will be tied to the existing (ie where the new cavity is). Then a dpc into the slot.

Are they short of sand?

 

[Oldman]

Are they short of sand?

You are going to have to elaborate a bit more, trick question? :wink:

Does it look like the mortar is a very strong mix to you?

As to the vertical dpc slot, I have absolutely no idea if our local bco would expect one, but as he's not due to visit next until wall plate level he will be too late to see one anyway.
I have to assume that with "trusted builders" they must forgo some of the usual site inspections as the Council web site says they will inspect at Oversite hardcore & Damp proof course and they sure missed those now.

Cheers

 

[RogerS]

Oldman

Suggest you continue to take copious pictures and keep them. Keep a log of all your concerns and missed meetings/inspections by the BCO. So that if in the future it all goes t*ts-up then you have evidence to hammer the builder and the BCO.

re BCO - there seems to be a wide variation between councils as far as workload, inspections, interpretations, personal hobby-horses are concerned which, when you stop to consider that much of Building Regs are precisely that - regs - and enshrined in law, is rather surprising.

What's the news on the DPC ?

Roger

 

[Oldman]

Yes Roger, I had no clue that the BCO's just did as they pleased. I did think that paying all that money to the local Council got me some sort of guarantee that at least what got inspected by the BCO was likely to be up to standard and that they would insist on inspections at the points of the build they list on their web site as a minimum.
When instructing a builder you really have no idea if he's going to do the work to regs or just short cut it for profit or in error, so I was relying some on the BCO for guidance/interpritation of the regs into reasonable workmanship.

The builder suggested the gap in the dpc was no problem at all and he would sort it when the screed went down, I got the impression that had I not asked then nothing would have been the result. I didnt get a clear answer when I asked why the membrain wasnt just cut larger in the first place.
I dont have a good feeling about all these dpc gaps and cold junctions (vertical dpc) so as usual I will keep taking lots of pictures just in case.

Still with the amount of views this thread is getting i'm hoping members here will spot any glaring errors if there are any and help me out as needed.

Cheers

 

[RogerS]

I feel for you. My philosophy has always been to try and nip problems in the bud before they occur. Better to get things fixed now then try and sort things out at a later date. That sort of thing.

One thought although it will cost, but on the plus side give you piece of mind, would be to get an independent surveyor to inspect at this stage. If you do decide to do that then get one out of the area/county...so avoiding vested interests, cliques and cabals, that sort of thing.

 

[trousers]

Oldman

No, not a trick question about the sand. Just an observation regarding the amount (lack) of mortar in most of the beds and perps (on the inside face of the wall).

I agree with Rog - keep a good stack of photos for every stage.

If the BCO has missed a stage it's p##s poor really. Having said that, the onus is on the builder to inform him when to come looking, and not carry on until he has.

I've seen an instance where the job has been finished without all the necessary inspections (builder just crashed on with it), and Building Control has refused to issue a completion certificate when the job was finished. Big wrangle then over getting work uncovered to prove it was done correctly.

 

[RogerS]

I agree. Here's my take on BCO (but based on one instance of personal experience on a two year project).

BCO's are understaffed. They have targets to meet. They may be spread very thinly over the area. Mine in Herefordshire have a huge area to cover. So they have to be pragmatic. Over a period of time they will get to know many of the regular builders on their patch. They will develop a working relationship with them. If the builder is deemed 'trustworthy' then for a run-of-the-mill project the BCO is, like as not, going to let it go by with only a nod in the direction of proper inspections. And builders being builders, eventually they will cut corners because they know the chances of it being picked up are slim. So they won't necessarily call in the BCO as they know 'they'll get away with it' as they are trustees. For example, bet you won't get the BCO coming along and monitoring the pressure test on your soil pipes.

Equally, BCO's have their own 'pet' hotspots. One of my BCO's (you are getting different BCO's aren't you?) is keen on fire prevention etc and twice I caught him out trying to get me to do something that I didn't need to. When I challenged him, he backed down.

Thinking this through a bit more I really think that you ought to consider some pre-emptive action. After all, you don't want builder and BCO to disappear and then two years later start getting damp through? If it was me then I would be writing to Building Control outlining your concerns, their missed inspections being contrary to their website etc. But then I am confident that I can argue the toss with them if they tried to bullshit me - as they have done - since I used to take the Building Regs book to bed with me (yup..saddo). In your case I do suggest that you investigate the cost of getting an independent view from a chartered surveyor (from out of area as suggested earlier).

 

[Oldman]

Thanks for the detailed replies chaps, one thing the bco wont be able to do is pressure test the drains, they have around 8mtr of french drain connected to them and its all since been backfilled. He did see the drains before the fill though.
As the other other concerns, I am going to have to think very carefully before taking any action at all. I am doing this on a shoestring as it is.

Why me Lord, must have been real wicked somewhere in my past...

 

[RogerS]

Thanks for the detailed replies chaps, one thing the bco wont be able to do is pressure test the drains, ....

Not talking about the storm water drains and soakaways but the soil pipes from your WC's. If you're putting in new soilpipes etc then they usually like to test them for leakage before they are covered/concreted in. If your soilpipes are emptying into a French drain then you're really in trouble!

 

[jasonB]

I think oldman said he had a combined system so both run together. The french drian will be flowing into the foul water drain not the other way round. You are mixing up a leaching field with french drains, the former spreads the water out into the surrounding ground the latter collects water from the surrounding area

You should still be able to put a bung in the end of the french drains and test the rest.

With regard to the sand or lack of it, perps are rarely fully filled and it look slike the bed joints were OK until the last few where they were probably stretching out the last mix of the day. I hope he's not working to that string line in the second picture though :wink: Mix looks alright to me as its still very green, should dry out Ok. A lot of the colour will be goverened by the colour of the sand being used.

Jason

 

[Dibs-h]

I hope he's not working to that string line in the second picture though :wink:
Jason

That does look way off. What's the upright that has been placed on the external corner (in the same picture as above)? I can see it's purpose - has it got a name?

 

[jasonB]

Its a gauge rod but probably has a propriatory name.

Jason

 

[Dibs-h]

Its a gauge rod but probably has a propriatory name.

Jason

Thanks Jason - bit of googling got me,

Gauge Rod:
Used to control the level of each course of a wall as the corners are built. Made from 50mm x 25mm wooden batten and long enough to reach one storey high of the building; the top of each course is marked, with saw kerfs, to the specified brickwork gauge. Used from a level datum set at external, and internal, corners the rod controls both the vertical rise of the work and its level from corner to corner. The levels of window and door heads can be included.

So will have to make one for my workshop build.

 

[RogerS]

That's what a gauge rod is, true. But that ain't a gauge rod as I can't see any correlation between the holes and the courses. I think it's called 'a gash bit of angle iron wot we fix to the corner so we can tie our string'.

At least they haven't (hopefully) done what one builder our way did...used a flagpole as his vertical reference line. Or not, since the flagpole made the Leaning Tower of Pisa look very upright.