Croatia - Structural engineer requires 23cm casting against existing interior wall

[mvs]

I think it's good to read up thoroughly in this situation. It's tricky with cold basements and warm, humid outside air. The right amount of ventilation combined with suitable dehumidification is probably the solution, but it doesn't always seem easy to find a good approach.

You are right; my experience is also that it's tricky. However, I'm not too worried since our basement is already significantly better than many others, but it would of course be nice to use it for storage without worrying about things rusting or molding. As mentioned, we are planning a ventilation system (Aereco V4A) for the whole house, including the basement. If we then notice it's not enough, we will have a ready connection to easily install a/c in the basement, which can then be turned on when needed and dehumidify.

 

[mvs]

Inlägg #80

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Fick ett tråkigt besked från arkitekten idag. Byggnadsingenjören har räknat på vårt förslag om träbjälklag enligt ovan, men är inte villig att godkänna en sådan lösning. Han vill ha "ett hus innanför huset", dvs 23cm gjutning mot befintlig innervägg. Jag har själv mycket svårt att förstå varför detta skulle vara nödvändigt.

Förslaget som vi arbetade fram efter en massa bra idéer och input från er var ju tre stål-/betongstolpar (rött och lila nedan) jämt fördelade längs vardera långsida. Sedan längsgående bjälkar (gult nedan) ovanpå dessa tre stål-/betongstolpar och därefter träbjälklag (blått nedan). Så här:



Man har ju sett hur många hus som helst som byggts på detta vis.

Sedan vet vi ju också att västra källarväggen har problem med fukt från yttertrappan och det känns viktigt att hålla koll på det efter saneringen. Att då gjuta ytterligare en innervägg kloss på en problemvägg känns ju onekligen väldigt riskabelt.

Sorry, känner mig allmänt grinig och uppgiven idag. Behöver nog några dagar att smälta allt detta 😞

 

[Åke Lindgren]

Received some disappointing news from the architect today. The structural engineer has evaluated our proposal for a wooden beam structure as mentioned above but is not willing to approve such a solution. He wants "a house within the house," i.e., 23cm casting against the existing inner wall. I have a hard time understanding why this would be necessary.

The proposal that we worked out after a lot of great ideas and input from you was three steel/concrete pillars (red and purple below) evenly distributed along each long side. Then longitudinal beams (yellow below) on top of these three steel/concrete pillars and thereafter wooden beams (blue below). Like this:

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You've seen countless houses built in this way.

We also know that the western cellar wall has moisture problems from the exterior stairs, and it feels important to keep an eye on that after the sanitation. Pouring another inner wall directly onto a problematic wall indeed feels very risky.

Sorry, feeling generally grumpy and resigned today. I probably need a few days to digest all this 😞

My previous post on experiences from 4 years of building projects in Croatia about the extensive corruption that occurs, I recognize the maneuvers.
If you want to reach the goal, you have to swallow side costs with cash stuffed in a chocolate box and pleasant restaurant visits.
Best regards Åke

 

[mvs]

My previous post about experiences from 4 years of building projects in Croatia on the extensive corruption that occurs, I recognize the maneuvers.
If you want to reach the goal, you must swallow side costs with cash slipped into a chocolate box and pleasant restaurant visits
regards Åke

That is not the feeling we get at all. The process has indeed been slow, but everything has felt correct along the way. No indications at all that they want bribes or anything like that. According to the architect, it is a matter of pure conviction with the structural engineer in this case and when I read between the lines, also very much an attitude of "we've always done it this way, so that's why we do it this way."

Here, the architect pays the structural engineer and then charges us for the entire project (fixed price agreed upon beforehand). I'll suggest that we hire our own structural engineer whom I can speak with directly, and then he/she can contact the architect when we have a better solution. I hope to find someone who is a bit more solution-oriented and open to different ideas.

And should it by any chance not work, I have an idea of how we can do an interesting project without needing to make new floors/joists. But that will be a later question...

 

[mvs]

After much back and forth, it has resulted in the decision that we must cast new inner walls inside the existing inner walls (i.e., a house within a house) if we decide to make new floor structures. It is a mandatory law, and we cannot get around it. With new inner walls, we would lose about 15% of floor space, which we are not interested in, so we will keep the existing floor structures to avoid casting new inner walls. More information about this in post #40 here: https://www.byggahus.se/forum/threa...renoveringsprojekt.509243/page-3#post-5678636