Almost Concrete!

No concrete today as we had to wait for the building inspector to check the drains, DPC etc. A slight confusion about the DPC - this is the plastic sheet within the outer brick wall. It must have three courses below it, which ours does, but there was a bit of confusion. A bigger issue was the cavity. Our regs drawings show block, 100mm cavity containing 50mm Kingspan insulation, then the outer brick leaf. Geoff has used Airtex blocks (which are more thermally efficient than concrete breeze blocks) and has left a 75mm gap he plans to fill with Rockwool. Once the inspector had checked the specs of the blocks this was okay, but there was a slight panic when we thought the bricks might have to be moved....

Anyway - this is the drain outside the back door. A bit awkward and likely to remain so as 2 pipes run into it - one from the kitchen sink, and one from a shared rainwater pipe which is also the outlet for our downstairs loo and the sink in the utility... And this is in the extended rear hall so chances are it will have to all come out and new pipes laid to the other manhole which will still be outside the house.



And today they 'whacked' the sand and hardcore and laid the DPC Viscreen. They've also laid out the new bay at the front and built a few courses of outer brick with wallties in there. These are butterfly ties made of stainless steel so they shouldn't rust, and any condensation should drip into the cavity, not run against the wall.


Concrete tomorrow. The existing covered soil pipe needs water testing to check for leas, but fingers crossed we'll have a slab by lunchtime! Then they can really get going