New Home Developer, which one?!

[jock mcsporran]

blueg33 said:

jock mcsporran said:

A question for the builders/developers on the thread.

Should laitance be buffed off a ground floor slab before final inspection? Nhbc guidance seems a bit ambiguous.

I’ll ask my TD on monday

Ta

[Grumps.]

blueg33 said:

For the record. Most old houses were built by developers just with fewer regulations and less scrutiny

And many of those old houses that are many decades old, are still very much standing strong.

[blueg33]

Grumps. said:

blueg33 said:

For the record. Most old houses were built by developers just with fewer regulations and less scrutiny

And many of those old houses that are many decades old, are still very much standing strong.

Many aren’t.

There is no reason new houses won’t last as long.

[jock mcsporran]

jock mcsporran said:

blueg33 said:

jock mcsporran said:

A question for the builders/developers on the thread.

Should laitance be buffed off a ground floor slab before final inspection? Nhbc guidance seems a bit ambiguous.

I’ll ask my TD on monday

Ta

Any chance to check with your TD?

[blueg33]

jock mcsporran said:

Any chance to check with your TD?

I haven't - forgot its easter and he is away

NHBC 9.3.5 seems clear if you are putting a tiled or concrete surface finish on it.

[jock mcsporran]

blueg33 said:

jock mcsporran said:

Any chance to check with your TD?

I haven't - forgot its easter and he is away

NHBC 9.3.5 seems clear if you are putting a tiled or concrete surface finish on it.

That’s what I was reading. There’s tiles in the downstairs bathroom and I read it that they should prepare the floor if it’s meant to have a surface fitted to it. They have (expensive) options for flooring but I would have expected the laitance to be cleaned up as it’s expected to have a final finish fitted to it in some way or other.

[blueg33]

jock mcsporran said:

blueg33 said:

jock mcsporran said:

Any chance to check with your TD?

I haven't - forgot its easter and he is away

NHBC 9.3.5 seems clear if you are putting a tiled or concrete surface finish on it.

That’s what I was reading. There’s tiles in the downstairs bathroom and I read it that they should prepare the floor if it’s meant to have a surface fitted to it. They have (expensive) options for flooring but I would have expected the laitance to be cleaned up as it’s expected to have a final finish fitted to it in some way or other.

I would agree with you, pretty sure NHBC would too

[T1547]

blueg33 said:

jock mcsporran said:

blueg33 said:

jock mcsporran said:

Any chance to check with your TD?

I haven't - forgot its easter and he is away

NHBC 9.3.5 seems clear if you are putting a tiled or concrete surface finish on it.

That’s what I was reading. There’s tiles in the downstairs bathroom and I read it that they should prepare the floor if it’s meant to have a surface fitted to it. They have (expensive) options for flooring but I would have expected the laitance to be cleaned up as it’s expected to have a final finish fitted to it in some way or other.

I would agree with you, pretty sure NHBC would too

If it helps, as someone who works for a very well known adhesive manufacturer, we would also agree - laitance removal is going to be important if you are bonding something (a screed, a levelling compound or a finish such as tiles) to it. Laitance can essentially be weak and friable so not going to be much cop if something has been stuck to it. BS 5385 and any adhesive manufacturer’s data sheets would recommend the substrate is mechanically sound/laitance free.

[jock mcsporran]

Thanks for the replies

This is what the builder has said

‘BTW laitence is not removed but a curing agent is applied to the surface plus traffic over the slab generally removes a lot of it.’

When I asked about the issues with laitance and adhesion for screeds or adhesives they said -

‘The curing agent negates this problem. It bonds the latence to the surface.‘

Doesn’t seem right to me. They claim that a number of fitters have screeded over it and it’s been fine but I doubt anyone has been in long enough to really find out and seems to go against any technical guidance I can find for laying of any flooring products.

[T1547]

jock mcsporran said:

Thanks for the replies

This is what the builder has said

‘BTW laitence is not removed but a curing agent is applied to the surface plus traffic over the slab generally removes a lot of it.’

When I asked about the issues with laitance and adhesion for screeds or adhesives they said -

‘The curing agent negates this problem. It bonds the latence to the surface.‘

Doesn’t seem right to me. They claim that a number of fitters have screeded over it and it’s been fine but I doubt anyone has been in long enough to really find out and seems to go against any technical guidance I can find for laying of any flooring products.

It sounds like BS in all honesty. Curing agent, depending on type used, can also interfere with the bond between applied products and the slab. Have you seen the surface of the slab to see how it was finished and whether there is visible laitance on the surface?

Is there a screed being applied on the slab before the finishes?

[jock mcsporran]

T1547 said:

jock mcsporran said:

Thanks for the replies

This is what the builder has said

‘BTW laitence is not removed but a curing agent is applied to the surface plus traffic over the slab generally removes a lot of it.’

When I asked about the issues with laitance and adhesion for screeds or adhesives they said -

‘The curing agent negates this problem. It bonds the latence to the surface.‘

Doesn’t seem right to me. They claim that a number of fitters have screeded over it and it’s been fine but I doubt anyone has been in long enough to really find out and seems to go against any technical guidance I can find for laying of any flooring products.

It sounds like BS in all honesty. Curing agent, depending on type used, can also interfere with the bond between applied products and the slab. Have you seen the surface of the slab to see how it was finished and whether there is visible laitance on the surface?

Is there a screed being applied on the slab before the finishes?

Sounds like BS to me too. I haven't got a picture of the floor but I could definitely scrape a line in it with my key when I last got a chance to go in.
Builder is tiling the downstairs bathroom and, going by the texts I had, not planning on removing any laitance beforehand. My flooring fitter was going to put a levelling screed down before LVT is fitted but now it looks like we'll need to get the machines out to scrape the floor and clean it off first.

Nothing seems straightforward with this builder (a major 5 star builder apparently)

[soupdragon1]

Anyone buying a new build these days needs their head examined.

Better off buying something Victorian, then drop £300k fixing up the old dog (using the same half assed builders that do homers for Wimpy) spend 2 years living in the 3rd bedroom eating microwave dinners, catch the flu after sitting outside too long with constipation while trying to st in a bucket in the garden shed, get 6 months off work due to stress and finally, polish off with a lengthy divorce, forcing you to sell your pride and joy.

Its a no brainer really.

[T1547]

jock mcsporran said:

T1547 said:

jock mcsporran said:

Thanks for the replies

This is what the builder has said

‘BTW laitence is not removed but a curing agent is applied to the surface plus traffic over the slab generally removes a lot of it.’

When I asked about the issues with laitance and adhesion for screeds or adhesives they said -

‘The curing agent negates this problem. It bonds the latence to the surface.‘

Doesn’t seem right to me. They claim that a number of fitters have screeded over it and it’s been fine but I doubt anyone has been in long enough to really find out and seems to go against any technical guidance I can find for laying of any flooring products.

It sounds like BS in all honesty. Curing agent, depending on type used, can also interfere with the bond between applied products and the slab. Have you seen the surface of the slab to see how it was finished and whether there is visible laitance on the surface?

Is there a screed being applied on the slab before the finishes?

Sounds like BS to me too. I haven't got a picture of the floor but I could definitely scrape a line in it with my key when I last got a chance to go in.
Builder is tiling the downstairs bathroom and, going by the texts I had, not planning on removing any laitance beforehand. My flooring fitter was going to put a levelling screed down before LVT is fitted but now it looks like we'll need to get the machines out to scrape the floor and clean it off first.

Nothing seems straightforward with this builder (a major 5 star builder apparently)

Conscious of not going too off-topic but trust the below extract is of help:



From the tiling BS. That combined with the NHBC extract blueg posted above are pretty unequivocal about need to prep so hopefully help fight your corner.

[z4RRSchris]

soupdragon1 said:

Anyone buying a new build these days needs their head examined.

Better off buying something Victorian, then drop £300k fixing up the old dog (using the same half assed builders that do homers for Wimpy) spend 2 years living in the 3rd bedroom eating microwave dinners, catch the flu after sitting outside too long with constipation while trying to st in a bucket in the garden shed, get 6 months off work due to stress and finally, polish off with a lengthy divorce, forcing you to sell your pride and joy.

Its a no brainer really.

this is why i bought an edwardian one instead.