Concrete foundations

[Gary Walsh]

First post so I will introduce myself ,I am a tiler who is currently having an extension built by my neighbour who is a general builder/ brick layer
We are very early in the build and have just had the foundations dug out the builder had to go deeper than usual as we had a sewer main running parralel with the outside edge of the footing and building control asked us to ensure that the footing was deeper than the sewer as so not to put any stress on the pipe
While digging out the footing the builder discovered our water main cuts across the trench in 2 places , I asked him how he would deal with this and he told me he would shutter around it prior to concreting
Yesterday was the day of the pour and I was surprised to see he had decided to mix the concrete on site he didn't seem to have any where near enough ballast but reassured me that it was being delivered through out the day ,
I called building control to ask for an inspection and the surveyor came out , she knocked on my door and told me she had several issues with what the guy was doing he had thrown several,large lumps of concrete which had previously been our patio , into the trench and she demanded to speak with him as she wanted them removed .
After she left he seemed upset that she was interfering and told me there was nothing wrong with what he was doing , he continued to add some broken pieces of concrete to the trench and when I returned from a hospital appointment I asked him why he had not finished ? He told me that they had been let down by the delivery of the ballast but not to worry that he would finish pouring the concrete the following day ,
I was concerned as he hadn't shuttered around the water main and just stuffed a couple of broken slabs around it on one side of the trench and told be he would put a lintel over it to protect it when he the concrete tomorrow
I then asked he not to put any more broken pieces of concrete on the second pour and if was a question of money I would cover any costs involved for extra materials
Sorry for the long essay but I can't sleep as I am worrying about the stae of my foundations and worried about this water main

 

[r1flyguy]

Hmmmmmm...

Not a good situation to be in personally especially with the builder being your neighbour!!!

Did you have quotes for the build and how did he compare.

Personally his actions seem like cost cutting and I wouldn't let him continue if that's how he's started. You should know how much concrete you need and have used a reputable supplier and paid by the meter depending on exactly how much you need. If it's not much then ok he could very well mix it himself.
Is it a single or two story extension?

Have you spoken to the owner of the water main and checked their requirements in regards to building over the pipes. IIRC you need a minimum 150mm clearance all around it so expect concrete lintels over the top too.

The broken concrete he's throwing in is better used as backfill/hardcore but others may have a different opinion

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Oh crap! Jeez what a cowboy. The old saying never work with friends/relatives could not be more appropriate. Better off asking in Building anyway.

 

[r896neo]

I would be less worried about the lumps of old concrete and much more worried about the lack of continuity between one days concrete and the next. A footing really should be laid in one hit unless designed otherwise.

 

[Will..]

Sounds horrendous.

Putting anything other than wet concrete mix into a foundation is a no go. Not rocket science.
Why is he mixing on site? Where the foundations meet there will now be a weak spot which will have to be strengthened with rebar/resin. Very poor practice.

 

[chappers]

yep adding non contiguous stuff into a foundation is a no go, you can end up with voids or un even settlement due to the mixed media, and as has been mentioned pouring foundations in separate pours is usually a designed process. Other than for a very small foundation I wouldn't consider hand mixing due to inconsistency in mix and setting.

 

[^woody^]

He's not a builder.

Any normal builder would do a mass strip in one pour, and with no lumps of crap thrown in.

A builder would have sleeved the water main in foam and plastic pipe. Not a lintel.

He's a fraud. A chancer. A tightwad. He's not a builder.

If he does that in the foundations, God help you when he is let loose above ground. I'd be worried.