rabudde
2016-12-15 08:30:36
- #1
Hello,
Brief overview: we are building a single-family house (bungalow on a slab) with underfloor heating, all through a contractor. This week the screed was poured, as far as I can tell: floating cement screed. The edges were all fitted with edge insulation strips, without any additional expansion joints.
Otherwise, it seems that a trowel cut was made in each door frame. As I understand it, these are so-called predetermined breaking points, which are intended to prevent the surface from cracking unintentionally during screed drying. I cannot judge whether any dowels were also inserted in these transitions to prevent vertical displacement in case this point actually breaks through, but: once the screed has dried, can these trowel cuts be sealed with resin or similar and tiled over without concern? Would that mean that the entire screed surface in the house - since it contains no further expansion joints - can be covered with flooring in one piece?
In the large living room, an extra trowel cut (which does not appear to be an expansion joint) seems to have been made due to the large area. I was also able to see earlier that the heating pipes at the doors were fitted with protective sleeves. However, at the point with the additional trowel cut in the living room, no protective sleeves were pulled over the heating pipes (all run 90° to the cut). What could happen here?
The guest bathroom could not be screeded because the shower drain was installed incorrectly. Now, three dowels protrude at the door in the poured screed (I cannot say what material), probably as preparation to connect the screed in the guest bathroom later. The contractor told me that when the screed is poured, it will be about 5mm lower than the other screed in the house; the difference will be compensated with some kind of mat, which can then be tiled over:
a) How can such a later applied screed still dry properly if it is tiled immediately afterwards and the rest of the house is already finished?
b) Wouldn’t the screed crack immediately because the underfloor heating does not warm up slowly but is already at operating temperature?
To complicate matters, we changed the guest bathroom door from inward-opening to outward-opening. The already poured screed therefore has no trowel cut under the door leaf and the door threshold consists of existing screed. Since the threshold and guest bathroom are to be tiled in one piece, what needs to be considered here:
a) Is an additional trowel cut under the door leaf necessary because the threshold is tiled, but the corridor to the bathroom is covered with vinyl?
b) Does the threshold have to be tiled and grouted separately because there is then a transition to the still missing screed on the inside, or can this dowelled connection be tiled over without problem?
Many thanks
Brief overview: we are building a single-family house (bungalow on a slab) with underfloor heating, all through a contractor. This week the screed was poured, as far as I can tell: floating cement screed. The edges were all fitted with edge insulation strips, without any additional expansion joints.
Otherwise, it seems that a trowel cut was made in each door frame. As I understand it, these are so-called predetermined breaking points, which are intended to prevent the surface from cracking unintentionally during screed drying. I cannot judge whether any dowels were also inserted in these transitions to prevent vertical displacement in case this point actually breaks through, but: once the screed has dried, can these trowel cuts be sealed with resin or similar and tiled over without concern? Would that mean that the entire screed surface in the house - since it contains no further expansion joints - can be covered with flooring in one piece?
In the large living room, an extra trowel cut (which does not appear to be an expansion joint) seems to have been made due to the large area. I was also able to see earlier that the heating pipes at the doors were fitted with protective sleeves. However, at the point with the additional trowel cut in the living room, no protective sleeves were pulled over the heating pipes (all run 90° to the cut). What could happen here?
The guest bathroom could not be screeded because the shower drain was installed incorrectly. Now, three dowels protrude at the door in the poured screed (I cannot say what material), probably as preparation to connect the screed in the guest bathroom later. The contractor told me that when the screed is poured, it will be about 5mm lower than the other screed in the house; the difference will be compensated with some kind of mat, which can then be tiled over:
a) How can such a later applied screed still dry properly if it is tiled immediately afterwards and the rest of the house is already finished?
b) Wouldn’t the screed crack immediately because the underfloor heating does not warm up slowly but is already at operating temperature?
To complicate matters, we changed the guest bathroom door from inward-opening to outward-opening. The already poured screed therefore has no trowel cut under the door leaf and the door threshold consists of existing screed. Since the threshold and guest bathroom are to be tiled in one piece, what needs to be considered here:
a) Is an additional trowel cut under the door leaf necessary because the threshold is tiled, but the corridor to the bathroom is covered with vinyl?
b) Does the threshold have to be tiled and grouted separately because there is then a transition to the still missing screed on the inside, or can this dowelled connection be tiled over without problem?
Many thanks