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Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2014 9:35 am
by confused73
Hi
I've just had a patio laid by a builder and it looks like he's not allowed the 150mm between the slabs and DPM. It's at approx 120-130mm. Is this something I should be concerned about?
Thanks in advance.
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2014 4:57 pm
by lutonlagerlout
does the patio fall away from the building?
if it does, its not ideal but no need to panic
in certain instance we have patios higher than that but as i cannot see your site I dont know
a pic would be handy
LLL
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2014 5:16 pm
by confused73
lutonlagerlout wrote:does the patio fall away from the building?
if it does, its not ideal but no need to panic
in certain instance we have patios higher than that but as i cannot see your site I dont know
a pic would be handy
LLL
Hi
Thanks for the speedy response. I believe there is a slight fall away from the house towards the grass. My concern is that if I sell the house, a surveyor will pick up on this and the buyer will barter me down. Also, if I do have problems, my insurance won't way out as most insurance policies now exclude dodgy workmanship.
Cheers
PS How do I attach phioto? Can't see an attach button.
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2014 5:22 pm
by lutonlagerlout
i feel that at 120-130mm a surveyor would be unlikely to pick it up
are you happy with the patio?
if for whatever reason we have to breach this rule we inform the clients before doing so
there are workarounds on this site
cheers LLL
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2014 5:26 pm
by confused73
lutonlagerlout wrote:i feel that at 120-130mm a surveyor would be unlikely to pick it up
are you happy with the patio?
if for whatever reason we have to breach this rule we inform the clients before doing so
there are workarounds on this site
cheers LLL
On balance it looks ok. He didn't appear to use hardcore until the entire patio. he said it didn't need it. There is a step down to the side of the house. The rise on one is 19cm and the rise on the second is 26cm. Does this breach any regs? Also, where the slabs meet the grass, the "edging", I'm not convinced has been pushed in deep enough into the griound to hold back the sand/hardcore. I suspect they've just stuck it on the front as an after thought.
Just to add, they never asked me to breach the 150mm rule.
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2014 6:44 pm
by r896neo
Doesn't sound great to be honest. No sub base is not a good start although if your on very good ground it maybe wasn't necessary but most contractors on here would install a sub base of some sort even if the ground seemed very firm.
As for the edging it doesn't sound good but in fairness you don't sound sure on how its constructed? A pic would be useful.
What type of paving is it? Also is it laid on just sand? if so and it has no sub base it's a total bodge.
26cm is far to high for a step in my opinion and having such a big difference between the step heights is a school-boy error.
As luton says i wouldn't be terribly concerned about the dpc issue.
If there is no sub base then maybe you'll be alright and it'll sink 20mm to get your 150mm below :p
Just to be clear that is a joke i'm not saying its going to sink.
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2014 8:33 pm
by lutonlagerlout
The rise on one is 19cm and the rise on the second is 26cm
schoolboy error should both be 22.5cm riser
hardcore is a type of subbase we used 25 years ago
TBh it sounds crap
where did you find this paver?
LLL
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2014 8:50 pm
by confused73
lutonlagerlout wrote:The rise on one is 19cm and the rise on the second is 26cm
schoolboy error should both be 22.5cm riser
hardcore is a type of subbase we used 25 years ago
TBh it sounds crap
where did you find this paver?
LLL
Where did i find him? Get ready for this.....FMB and Trustmark. What a joke.
Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 10:56 am
by Tony McC
The 120-130mm below DPC is no major concern. Surveyors only tend to poick up on this issue if it's less than 100mm, although there are always a few whol will gleefully point out that it's only 145mm and therefore in breach of Building regs.
The steps are more of a concern. There should be equal risers and, in most circs, having differing heights is a breach of Building Regs.
And as for the 'assurance' of FMB and Trustmark - we are back to what makes a trustworthy trade association. Neither of those two organisation have any real depth-of-knowledge when it comes to paving, but somehow they don't seem to mention this when promoting their members. "Builders" may be all well and good at putting up an extension at the abck of a semi, but it does not make them paving specialists.