Guessed it, I am completely innocent there, the paint smudges are the fault of the previous owner. Some of the blue-painted parts are newly built, some are the old structure.pacman42 said:
What should I have stopped? The parts that I am commenting on regarding sealing (floor/walls of the conservatory) were completed on the last day without my supervision. I commented on the construction with the wooden wedges at the initial stage, as previously mentioned, and was met with resistance from the carpenter who seemed confident in his approach. If the reason for hiring a carpenter is my own limited knowledge, then it's quite difficult to argue with a professional before I have a result to criticize. Now the floor is flexing, and I know my gut feeling was right, but I didn't know that then.Violina said:
Furthermore, there are quite a few details that are now not wrong, which have been adjusted during the work after I pointed them out. But I don't break an entered agreement in the middle of the work without concrete problems. Hopefully, he has done a lot right, but obviously not everything.
Furthermore, that is exactly why I'm asking for help here, to know what is the right level to expect.
Electronics enthusiast
· 2 457 posts
This is how I usually do it. The four corners level with tiles with ground insulation underneath. Then the other tiles a few cm below. And then you cut feet from some timber, a piece of ground insulation underneath, and screw them with the beams level.
Saves a lot of time for a lazybones so you don't have to mess with the tiles endlessly. But double wedges would work great if you lock them with a nail. I'm not a carpenter, by the way.
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I usually cast plinths on site when the joists are level. Sure, it takes a night before it can be loaded, but it's steady enough for an elephant once it has cured for a while. It doesn't require as much gravel if you do it that way...
Is the terrace outside the conservatory? What does the foundation for the conservatory look like if the terrace floor looks like it does? Is the conservatory floor insulated?
I appreciate your descriptions, but they actually don't help me at all at the moment...
The big question isn't how to build the deck from scratch, but how this can be remedied afterward without too much damage to the floor and with sufficiently high quality in the result.
The easiest thing would have been to say that he has to redo it from scratch with new wood. But it feels time-consuming and not environmentally justifiable to discard 40 sqm of new decking.
Then it remains to lift X number of decking boards and stabilize the entire deck afterward, and it feels like plastic wedges must be the easiest solution in that case? And can it be a sufficiently good construction? I want a floor that can withstand parties, children's play, and a splash pool.
The question is how much the lifespan of the decking is impaired by the maneuver of lifting and reinstalling the boards, and how to calculate that in actual money. Does anyone have an idea about that? Let's say 20 boards need to be lifted and then put back in place. Normally I might have expected a lifespan of 15-20 years for pressure-treated decking? The lifespan is then shortened by how much for these boards?
The patio is outside the conservatory, and thankfully (at my request) placed on its own separate framework that has support on 2 walls (on the sides). The length of the joists is also much shorter, only 3750mm, so the floor is stable there (as it seems). The conservatory floor is built according to the construction of gravel, concrete slab, wood block, subfloor boards, and 100mm of cellular plastic between the joists. Then there is a chipboard floor for wet rooms. Another floor will be laid on top of the chipboard floor.A Alfons3301 said:
The sketch shows the previously planned roof construction, but it corresponds almost exactly to how the floor joist is constructed. The room is about 13 sqm, 3750 x 3500mm in size.
Electronics enthusiast
· 2 457 posts
You can probably forget about that honestly. Some kind of deduction for lifting the decking once. Either wedges or as I show. If he lifts so he can screw a foot as I've done, it should hold really well.GreenYoda said:
- The biggest risk when loosening the decking boards is when backing out the screw. It is easy for it to push up splinters around the hole. Especially if the screw is screwed in a bit deep. Then when you rescrew it, you can tighten the screw to the same position as before. And in such cases, it should not affect the lifespan of the decking.
It is usually very easy to disassemble/assemble decking even after many years if they have been mounted with stainless screws. Completely without damage, but of course, they need to be reasonably tightened. I have no idea how it would be with so-called "invisible" mounting and angled screws, which are in fashion now, as I have never used them. I will likely never do so either if I can anticipate the need to lift/replace decking within the deck's lifespan.
Regarding the deck/patio, I think the solution he chose is strange. It's practically set up for the wedges to fall out since they have such a small bearing surface, and with the surface being slanted, they'll start to slip outward.
Since the slabs are symmetrical, you don't need to lift all the boards, just enough where the slabs are to access and place something solid underneath. When I built mine, I used offcuts from the decking, 28 mm thick, along with other materials that were 10 and 12 mm thick. Depending on the space between the slab and the joist, you had to puzzle together like 28+10, 12+12+10, and so forth. Then I fastened the "blocks" with a screw so they wouldn't slip outward. There might be better solutions than the one above, but that's what I did, as a happy amateur.
Since the slabs are symmetrical, you don't need to lift all the boards, just enough where the slabs are to access and place something solid underneath. When I built mine, I used offcuts from the decking, 28 mm thick, along with other materials that were 10 and 12 mm thick. Depending on the space between the slab and the joist, you had to puzzle together like 28+10, 12+12+10, and so forth. Then I fastened the "blocks" with a screw so they wouldn't slip outward. There might be better solutions than the one above, but that's what I did, as a happy amateur.
Never good to use wooden beams to support the patio.
After a year, when they dry out, they will shrink by several cm, risking that multiple blocks will be suspended in the air and the patio will sway. Especially if the patio is attached with one side to the house wall and is not freestanding.
I instead bought terrace feet from Biltema that are easy to adjust.
https://www.biltema.se/bygg/byggbeslag/ovriga-monteringsdetaljer/terrassfot-justerbar-2000036566
After a year, when they dry out, they will shrink by several cm, risking that multiple blocks will be suspended in the air and the patio will sway. Especially if the patio is attached with one side to the house wall and is not freestanding.
I instead bought terrace feet from Biltema that are easy to adjust.
https://www.biltema.se/bygg/byggbeslag/ovriga-monteringsdetaljer/terrassfot-justerbar-2000036566