HELP PLEASE - ASAP - BUILDER ISSUE!

SEANYBOY1

I have recently being approved for planning permission for a large extension to a bungalow. My architects plans were very good and the builder quoted me from these plans, that fine.
At this moment in time the front part of the extension is well under way as in the walls are up the roof is on but not tiled, and the internal partioned walls are up. The builder came highly recommended by 3 seperate people.
Now here is the problem. The front wall which is about 5 meters wide is built with 4inch blocks, the white aeroboard insulation, an air gap and then the external brick work. However the side and rear walls are constructed using cavity (breeze) blocks only! I cannot for the life of my understand why he has done this.
Would 80mm Kingspan on the internal walls addrress this issue?
Now I know that I should have commissioned the architect to issue me with a set of constuction drawings so all this would have been done but its too late for that now and I cannot dwell on it too much as its doing my head in as it is.
Am I being taken for a sucker as I had full confidence in this builder in the first place. I need ideas ASAP as I dont want to go on a war path with him and burn bridges as there is still a lot of work to be completed and I am paying him in stages and time is not on my side.

ardara1

60mm KS Foil faced on Timber battens - 70mm on plaster dabs paper faced will achieve the 0.27 U-value of the old regs. Problems however where the two walls meet.
You'll have to dryline the cavity wall - so continue the drylining around the cavity block as well/
DON'T give the b____X any more money - you should be asking him for recompence - he's lost you sq footage inside.

sydthebeat

get him to take it down and do it properly...!!!!

SEANYBOY1

sydthebeat wrote: »

get him to take it down and do it properly...!!!!

With the greatest of respect I dont think thats a runner at this stage.:mad:

sinnerboy

Ask the architect to get involved now . If he is any good he will know how to intervene . And get the best result for you .

RKQ

SEANYBOY1 wrote: »

With the greatest of respect I dont think thats a runner at this stage.:mad:

Why not ??? - if it non-compliant then its not worth having IMO. The extension is part of your home, not a shed. It needs to comply completely with the Building Regulations - thats the law.

I agree with the above post, no point in having a non-compliant extension. Blocks and roof timbers cost money but not as much as windows and doors, plastering, painting and final finishes. Poor construction and insulation will only cost you more money over time. Now is the time to put it right!

Its time to bite the bullet - rebuild the side walls and at the very least get professional "on-site" advice. Ensure the construction to date is structurally sound!

Can you post a photo of the side walls and gable insulation?

SEANYBOY1

sinnerboy wrote: »

Ask the architect to get involved now . If he is any good he will know how to intervene . And get the best result for you .

I was only talking to architect today, and he said that basically his approach was antiquated but with 80mm Kingspan it should go a long way towards 'fixing' it at this late stage. Problem is I have 8 month old twins a 5 year old boy in a 2 bed bungalow. Time is a serious issue for us. Thanks for advice.

SEANYBOY1

ardara1 wrote: »

60mm KS Foil faced on Timber battens - 70mm on plaster dabs paper faced will achieve the 0.27 U-value of the old regs. Problems however where the two walls meet.
You'll have to dryline the cavity wall - so continue the drylining around the cavity block as well/
DON'T give the b____X any more money - you should be asking him for recompence - he's lost you sq footage inside.

OK, sorry but I'm not to sure exactly of your advice.
I have cavity walls, with 45mm battons at 350mm intervals, so I'm not too sure of his final approach. Thanks very much for your advice.

SEANYBOY1

RKQ wrote: »

Why not ??? - if it non-compliant then its not worth having IMO. The extension is part of your home, not a shed. It needs to comply completely with the Building Regulations - thats the law.

I agree with the above post, no point in having a non-compliant extension. Blocks and roof timbers cost money but not as much as windows and doors, plastering, painting and final finishes. Poor construction and insulation will only cost you more money over time. Now is the time to put it right!

Its time to bite the bullet - rebuild the side walls and at the very least get professional "on-site" advice. Ensure the construction to date is structurally sound!

Can you post a photo of the side walls and gable insulation?

I will post a couple of pics up tomorrow. What is IMO? Thanks for your help, I fell stupid for not approaching him before now but dealing with him is like trying to pick up mercury with a fork!

Quazzie

If it was me I would demand he take the wall down and rebuild it to proper spec. You are paying for a service of a competent person, and with that setup he is not really supplying it. You however have your own set of issues and own needs, the need to get it fixed ASAP being prominent from what I read. The 80mm Kingspan might be an adequate substitute but it will never be as good as if it was done properly. So the answers lies with you. Are you willing to take a 2nd rate extension while paying first rate prices for the sake of getting in maybe 2-4 weeks earlier.

Like I said if it was me and it was my hard earned money I'd like to think I was getting the best possible value for it., especially in the current financial climate.

Both these wall construction set ups can work, and have worked before on several occasions, but as stated before the problem is the joining of the two. I cannot for the life of me fathom why he would use two different types in adjoining walls. To me it makes no sense. If I were you I'd be questioning his judgement on other decisions and asking yourself if he went for the easy options on other aspects of the build, especially structural ones.

P.S IMO = in my opinion

SEANYBOY1

Quazzie2002 wrote: »

If it was me I would demand he take the wall down and rebuild it to proper spec. You are paying for a service of a competent person, and with that setup he is not really supplying it. You however have your own set of issues and own needs, the need to get it fixed ASAP being prominent from what I read. The 80mm Kingspan might be an adequate substitute but it will never be as good as if it was done properly. So the answers lies with you. Are you willing to take a 2nd rate extension while paying first rate prices for the sake of getting in maybe 2-4 weeks earlier.

Like I said if it was me and it was my hard earned money I'd like to think I was getting the best possible value for it., especially in the current financial climate.

Both these wall construction set ups can work, and have worked before on several occasions, but as stated before the problem is the joining of the two. I cannot for the life of me fathom why he would use two different types in adjoining walls. To me it makes no sense. If I were you I'd be questioning his judgement on other decisions and asking yourself if he went for the easy options on other aspects of the build, especially structural ones.

P.S IMO = in my opinion

The thing is I never made a written contract of supplied a construction set of drawings. Its being very informal and I only get to talk to him a couple of minutes every morning. I cant nail him down. I have requested a meeting with him next week but as I'm working away from home very early next Tuesday morning I will miss him that morning. There are 45mm battons at 350mm intervals on cavity wall. So maybe he had an 'ingenious' plan mmmmmmmm...
Myself and the wife are just afraid that if we come on too strong he will pack up and split leaving us up sh1t creek as we have already ponied up 31k out of a total of 66k as he has done about half the work already, stress is not my friend. Thanks for your response. Oh yeah the lenght of the cavity wall in question is about 15 meters long and is roofed.
IS HE BREAKING REGULATIONS CONSIDERING THAT THE EXSISTING BUNGALOW IS ABOUT 25 YEARS OLD? DOES THE NEW BIT HAVE TO BE REGED IN ITS OWN RIGHT? PLUS IF HE WAS PLANNING TO PUT 80MM KINSPAN ON THE 45MM BATONS BEFORE I CONFRONT HIM WOULD THAT NOT COVER THE REGS ANYWAY, MEANING THAT I AM GETTING IN A TISSY OVER NOTHING?

Quazzie

I don't wanna start talking about legalities too much as it contravenes the charter, and I wouldn't recommend you quote me on this but I'd imagine that he would have some obligation to finish the build to a satisfactory standard, that meets all current regs and meets standards set out by you. As you never released construction drawings to state what those standards were he might be justified in taking matters into his own hands. But thats all something for you, your builder and possibly your architect to discuss.

As for the building regs I'm sure Sydthebeat, Muffler, RKQ or one of the more technical regulars will be along in the morning, if not sooner and they can advise you on that.




P.S like I said this is not legal advice even in the slightest, thats what solicitors are for.

sydthebeat

SEANYBOY1 wrote: »

With the greatest of respect I dont think thats a runner at this stage.:mad:

will due respect i was being very serious!!!

are you paying this guy or is he doing it for free???

no matter what way he tries to patch this up, you will end up with a huge cold bridge where the two wall types meet...

this will lead to condensation forming on the internal, this WILL lead to mould / fungal growth and the real resultant health risks....
http://www.moldunit.com/health-risks.html

are you prepared to live with this???

http://www.bine.info/pdf/publikation/projekt0707englinternetx.pdf

SEANYBOY1

Here a 5 pics lads. Thanks for all the advice. See what you think of this.

FRONT OF HOUSE = STANDARD


FRONT = STANDARD & SIDE = CAVITY BLOCKS


45MM BATTONS AT 350MM INTERVALS INSIDE EXTENSION


BACK = CAVITY BLOCKS WITH 45MM BATONS ON INTERNAL WALL


NEW CORRIDOR = CAVITY BLOCKS WITH 45 MM BATONS INTERNALLY

smashey

Seanyboy1, your architect will have to give you a cert of compliance with this so tell him you aren't at all happy with it. If that means tearing down what has been done so far then so be it.

There is a problem here and as usual with problems of this nature, there is only one outcome.

Litigation.

While we can give advice out in this forum, we aren't privvy to what has happened between you, your architect and your builder so I'm locking this thread.