Help, those of you who know building technology and liability insurance

[justusandersson]

With the current regulations, the span is too large for your floor joists. Glue-laminated timber or another construction with more midwalls is required. To improve the deflection conditions, cross-bracing has been used, the crossed joists seen at the far end of the floor. Under these circumstances, cutting into one of the floor joists is indefensible, and something your craftsmen definitely do not have the competence to do. I believe they are liable for damages if it can be proven that they have done so. Reinforcement is best done from the crawl space. It can be done in various ways depending on how much vertical space there is. You can build under the damaged joists with glue-laminated beams running from wall support to wall support, but you can also reinforce over a broader area.

 

[MoveMe]

With today's regulations, the span is too large for your floor joists. It requires glulam or another construction with more mid-walls. To improve the deflection conditions, cross bracing has been done; these are the crisscrossed battens visible at the far end of the floor. Under such circumstances, making notches in one of the floor joists is indefensible, and something your craftsmen certainly do not have the competence to do. I believe they are liable for damages if it can be proven that they have done it. Reinforcement is best done from the crawl space. It can be done in different ways depending on how much space there is in height. You can build under the damaged joists with glulam beams that go from wall support to wall support, but you can also reinforce over a wider stretch.

I told the craftsmen to open up in the subfloor to check how it looks there now, but they didn't do it. They want to come back with a laser level and measure if the walls are straight to prove that our house is settling independently of their bathroom construction. I think that at some point the house has probably had settlements because we have some cracks in the brick, but crooked walls don’t necessarily mean that there are settlements now, right? I know that the craftsmen should have the chance to correct their mistakes, but do we have to let them do the reinforcement if they don’t have full competence? And I’m starting to notice that they don’t want to cover the cost, which is why they constantly want to prove that our house has ongoing settlements. I heard that they wanted to use a jack to raise the floor to the correct level and then place concrete blocks underneath, is that correct?

 

[justusandersson]

I guess the dimension of the floor joists is 45x220 mm. In that case, the construction was just on the verge of meeting the standards that were in place in 1982, without any margins. Since then, the standards have changed, particularly with the addition of a deflection criterion, which is an important comfort requirement. The deflection criterion makes it difficult to build joists with long spans using regular construction timber.

I am hesitant to let the craftsmen themselves handle the reinforcement as they definitely lack the necessary competence. The suggestion to prop up with concrete blocks points to this. You cannot do that without knowing the load-bearing capacity of the ground under the crawl space. I think it's better to let the existing foundation footings (under the exterior walls and the central wall) be the base for reinforcements.

 

[MoveMe]

I guess the dimension of the floor joists is 45x220 mm. In that case, the construction was just on the verge of meeting the building code requirements in 1982, without any margins. Since then, the standards have changed, especially with the addition of a deflection criterion, which is an important comfort requirement. The deflection criterion makes it difficult to construct joists with long spans using regular construction timber.

I'm hesitant to let the workers themselves be responsible for the reinforcement because they definitely lack the necessary competence. The suggestion to support with concrete blocks indicates this. You can't do that without knowing the load-bearing capacity of the ground under the crawl space. I think it's better to let the existing foundation footings (under the outer walls and the central wall) be the base for reinforcements.

Had IF check the moisture today and of course, there was nothing, and I also didn't get any recommendation on who can help me with both the bathroom and construction. Anyone know a building consultant who can check my house near Kungsbacka?

 

[bearmaniac]

Had IF check the moisture today, of course there was nothing, and I didn't get any recommendation on who can help me with both bathrooms and building construction. Anyone know a building consultant who can check my house near Kungsbacka?

I'm not entirely sure you'll find the right person for the task here, but I usually recommend https://sbr.se/sok-besiktningsman/specialister/
Maybe you can find someone under "projektering"?