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The builder's are coming - floorboard laying

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Re: The builder's are coming - dry stone walling

Postby RogerS » 21 Feb 2018, 19:06

So, so glad I booted Stuart - the alleged expert tiler from Carlisle - off the job. I'd had a sense that something wasn't quite right with some of the tiles in the bathroom and on closer inspection found several that were cracked. On further investigation, discovered a paucity of adhesive underneath.

Today I discovered that I have around ten that rattle when tapped. I easily lifted this one and when you look at the adhesive bed you can see why. The only point of contact between tile and adhesive is in that little bit in that bottom LH corner

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and this is the tile that came up.

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The adjacent tile is a little better but not by much.

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My question is this. That tile adhesive is bloody hard and a right PITA to get up. If I was to squirt a large amount of Gripfill on top, would that work ? I can't see why not.
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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby RogerS » 22 Feb 2018, 13:41

So seven tiles all lifted by hand. Damn all adhesive underneath. It might look a lot but it's several mm below tile height. You can just make out the odd spots where the tile touched.

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I realise now what the idiot has done. Put down adhesive but then used those levellers which effectively pulled up the tiles away from the adhesive.

So I've ground down all high spots where the tiles actually managed to touch the adhesive. Currently tiling primer is drying off. Then I will get some self-levelling compound to run into all the gaps and grooves and also run under adjacent tiles to try and fill voids there. Let that dry. Prime again. Let that dry. Clean the backs of the tiles. Then lay with gripfill.

The prat is saying it's the sub-floor. Idiot. The adhesive is stuck real good to that. In the general way f things it would be ask him to come back and redo. Which, naturally, he wouldn't (In any event I don't want him back). So get someone else in, ask idiot for the money. Small claims court etc etc. But I need to press on and so will just keep the photos and show them around locally to a few builders.
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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby MJ80 » 22 Feb 2018, 14:05

Not being funny but it also looks like he as used a massive notch for that thickness tile. I hope the others are actually properly stuck :eusa-pray: , if it were me and I hate to say it I would be pulling the lot up and doing it properly. :cry:
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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby old » 22 Feb 2018, 14:38

tile adhesive sticks very well to its self so i would use that and also back butter the tiles not to thick to bed on properly notched bed or level existing then thicker butter and notch as required .
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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby RogerS » 22 Feb 2018, 14:49

MJ80 wrote:.... if it were me and I hate to say it I would be pulling the lot up and doing it properly. :cry:


I know what you mean and you're probably right but there's too much else to do in the house.

Chris .. I take your point but the adhesive is pretty stiff when mixed and I can't really see it squeezing out enough which would leave the tiles proud. There's not that much room to play in some areas and I don't want to grind down anymore.
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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby Mark A » 22 Feb 2018, 20:49

Evening Roger,

I recently came across an adhesive called "Fix-a-Floor" on Amazon which would fit the bill, if the marketing is to be believed.

I don't like Gripfill as it takes days to fully cure, and even then it still feels a bit soft - I'd be concerned about the Gripfill giving slightly and potentially leading to cracks in the grout. If the tiles only need fixing in place and the existing tile adhesive will do the supporting then out of all the construction adhesives I've used which are readily available I found Soudal Fix-All and Siroflex Mighty the stiffest.


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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby RogerS » 23 Feb 2018, 05:55

Thanks, Mark..that's really helpful.

My subfloor is a suspended timber floor ...would you say that in this instance it would be better to go with Gripfill as the subfloor may flex ever so slightly ?

Soudall seem to have changed the product as it's now marked as Flexi and the details say ..

Remains permanently elastic after curing
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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby Mark A » 23 Feb 2018, 12:42

Roger - I've yet to find a construction adhesive which doesn't have a degree of elasticity when cured; some more than others. The two adhesives I've come across which set the "hardest" are Siroflex Mighty Strength and Soudal Fix-All High Tack, and they still only have a Shore hardness of around 60, going by the data sheets (equivalent to a rubber tyre apparently). If you were to try these types of stiffer adhesive then don't squirt loads of big blobs out and expect them to flatten nicely when hammered down - they do to an extent... then when one side is perfect and the opposite only needs to go down another couple of mil the adhesive WILL refuse to squish any further. Hammering with more force either leads to a cracked tile or the perfect side mysteriously sinking lower, and by that point the adhesive's started to cure and no amount of prising will fix it!


Regarding the stuff I found on Amazon, Fix-a-Floor https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fix-Floor-Stre ... B00Q5I40YS

I have no idea what it's like to use, but the reviews are positive. I've only glanced over the details, but I'm guessing it must have quite a low viscosity since the instructions say to drill holes in the grout around the dodgy tiles and inject the adhesive through one hole until it starts to come up through neighbouring holes.

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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby 9fingers » 23 Feb 2018, 12:50

Interesting. That Fix-a-floor might sort out a problem I have too.
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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby RogerS » 23 Feb 2018, 13:02

I see that Soudal claims an extremely strong initial grab within one second. Knowing how slow I work that scares me !
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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby RogerS » 27 Mar 2018, 21:41

Gosh..it is really over a month ?

Bathroom tiling finished..I used Gripfill in the end. Half of it is grouted to enable the bath to be fitted..so bathroom now has bath, bog and washbasin. Pictures to follow. Still a fair bit to go.

That's the trouble...too many contingencies.

Central heating now on a non-vented system but as predicted there is a leak somewhere as I have to keep topping up the system a little every few days. Low priority.

Had a lovely lass in to paint three rooms upstairs...took her just two days. Feels like we might be getting somewhere. Thanks to Lons from UKW I've got a good lead man lined up for the orangerie..which will be a separate thread.

Getting the garage/workshop sorted as per t'other thread. And then....

And then yesterday the oak floorboards arrived. 220 sq m. 2.3 tons. Shifted off the lorry by me and the driver..I gave him a good tip...took us two hours. This is what 220 sq m of oak flooring looks like...

The photos don't do the volume justice.

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It doesn't look much but, believe me, it does in the flesh.
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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby Andyp » 28 Mar 2018, 07:17

Another 5 minute job to lay that lot. ;)
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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby RogerS » 28 Mar 2018, 08:07

Andyp wrote:Another 5 minute job to lay that lot. ;)


That's what my wife says.
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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby Pinch » 28 Mar 2018, 08:12

I trust you served your decorator with plenty of coffee and biscuits dear fellow?? ;)
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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby RogerS » 01 Apr 2018, 19:02

Pinch wrote:I trust you served your decorator with plenty of coffee and biscuits dear fellow?? ;)


Absolutely. I also offered to let her hold my stirring stick but she demurred.
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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby RogerS » 03 May 2018, 08:23

Long time and not posted any photos so here's a few before and after photos taken last year. The surveyor highlighted the mal-use of cement to fill in some cracks in the stonework. Also a lot of missing pointing. The pediment above the door was pretty dire as well.

Enter Bryan - our master stonemason - who introduced me to a great product called Lithomex (although rather stupidly the manufacturers/owners of the product (St Aubain) rebranded it St One). Lithomex is lime based and you can get it from a number of suppliers. We used Mason's Mortar near Edinburgh. Lithomex comes in a wide range of standard colours so you can try and get reasonably close to the colour of the existing stone using these off-the-shelf colours. If that fails then you send them some small stone samples, they knock up a prototype match and send it back to you for a colour match. Repeat until happy.

Bryan's done a bloody good job in my eyes and the repairs should weather in over time.

Image

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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby 9fingers » 03 May 2018, 08:35

Looks like that growth coming out of the joints below the bay window needs nuking with glyphosate or similar?

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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby Malc2098 » 03 May 2018, 09:38

Nice job, Roger.
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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby TrimTheKing » 03 May 2018, 10:02

Looks good, and the sun's shining. Methinks you moan about the weather for a bit of attention... :eusa-whistle:
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Re: The builder's are coming - tiling question

Postby RogerS » 03 May 2018, 10:56

9fingers wrote:Looks like that growth coming out of the joints below the bay window needs nuking with glyphosate or similar?

Bob



That was an old photo and all growth cleared out last year
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Re: The builder's are coming - cellar work

Postby RogerS » 23 May 2018, 16:50

Apologies for not posting much recently...too many things going on all at the same time.

The builders are back to work in the cellar. Some manky cement render, a lot of water. The previous owners ran a non-perforated pipe in a channel down both sides. Too small and over the years filled up with silt. I hoiked them out and cleaned out the gulleys. Originally we were planning to tank it although that would detract from being able to see the original and rather aesthetically pleasing stonework. So my builder suggested hacking all the cement off, his two guys pressure-washed the rest to take off as much as they could prior to it being sandblasted ...the house is now full of dust...it came up and from whence I know not where.

The floor will be DPM's and concreted over....drainage channels (plastic type with removable lids) down the sides. The plan then is to repoint where needed with lime and then either leave bare or maybe paint with a lime wash or something that will let the walls breath. I'm wondering though. The bottom metre of the walls are damp as it is well below the water table. So I guess tanking the bottom metre is always a possibility but Id prefer not to.

It's the damp smell that will be the killer in the end but at the moment the floor is awash and so confusing things. I was planning to enclose the window at one end and put a door in at the other but I think I need to ensure good ventilation.

Any ideas welcome.
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Re: The builder's are coming - cellar work

Postby RogerS » 23 May 2018, 19:21

Couple of photos

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Image
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Re: The builder's are coming - cellar work

Postby Rod » 23 May 2018, 20:22

The crypt at Winchester Cathedral floods regularly and has survived 1000yrs.
I’d be tempted to leave in a natural, breathable state but well ventilated.

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Re: The builder's are coming - cellar work

Postby RogerS » 07 Jun 2018, 08:44

Cellar work on hold as waiting for drainage channels. Received seventeen and thirteen on back order. What's the betting that they come from a different manufacturer and so won't join up with the existing ones ?

Meanwhile on the electrickery front, have emailed TLC- Direct to tell them that I want to replace all the Pure sockets as being unreliable. To date, out of around 11-12 sockets fitted, we are now on our third USB charger socket, three of the slimline sockets cracked, one over-heated and one seared the tip of my fingertip when I turned it off...great blast of electrical energy out of the side of the switch, MCB dropped, and seared fingertip. There is now an internal embargo on using the switches on the remaining sockets unless wearing eye-protectors and gloves.
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Re: The builder's are coming - cellar work

Postby 9fingers » 07 Jun 2018, 10:27

Oh Dear Roger, I hope it is not another case of form over function? :lol:

I must admit to being an MK or Crabtree fan when buying lx fittings.

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