"ook?!": my builder

Saturday, 17 March 2012

my builder

Please note-

you may think you're being helpful, when you lay a concrete floor in a potter's workshop........
and decide, against the request, to put a rough surface on it, "so that you don't slip and fall"......

the floor had to be painted anyway, so it is just as slippery.

I just curse your "helpfulness" a little every time I have to clean the darn thing!!

I just didn't have the time or the heart to get you to put a smooth surface on it!

You're a very good builder and you do try hard to please :-)

8 comments:

Zhoen said...: Can it be polished?; 17 March 2012 at 16:40
English Rider said...: Listening Skills are not always part of the construction Industry norm.; 17 March 2012 at 20:08
Chris said...: I can imagine the dust Gwynneth. Maybe just keep slapping the paint on until it's smooth...?; 17 March 2012 at 20:27
Cro Magnon said...: We are (patiently) waiting for our builder to come and lay a huge concrete floor in our newly acquired Tobacco Drying Barn. It measures 9 by 21 metres, and we are having a polished finish, which I'm reliably informed is produced by a 'helicopter'. If anyone wants lessons in finger twiddling; I've become an expert!; 18 March 2012 at 05:53
gz said...: It is a bit to gnarly to be polished or filled by paint. What needs doing is the whole workshop emptying, surface roughed up and levelling compound used. I'd also insulate the walls and roof..and have stronger doors, and, and.....dream on!!

I have nowhere to put anything for a week, especially anything like this!; 18 March 2012 at 09:51
soubriquet said...: Oh yes.

Fecking floors.
Smooth is good for cleaning, as is painted, but painted is often slippery.

Depending on the thickness of the builder's textured surface, a latex based self-levelling screed would probably fix it, and latex screed sticks, as we in the building trade say, like sh*t to a blanket.

Funny that, scatological builder slang... The opposite version, referring to non-stickingness and speed, is 'like sh*t off a chrome-steel shovel'

Anyway. Latex screed. Sold as 'self levelling compound' sticks well, but 'self levelling'? Not so much. It's a bit of an exaggeration, you need to mix it very well and spread with a steel float, but there'll be bumps left behind. They can be ground down by rubbing with a brick once set.
Then floor paint. From a proper trade paint supplier, not a big d.i.y. shed, ask for non slip floor paint. It's more abrasion resistant than the stuff people like b&q sell, and is fast-drying.
The single pack epoxy based ones cost a bit more, but use moisture in the floor and atmosphere to cure, thus ensuring a perfectly tight bond.

(Any paint can be made non-slip by adding a little sand in the top coat).

The best floor is indeed a helicoptered one. And concrete with a clear-varnished surface can be beautifil.; 18 March 2012 at 13:16
gz said...: Thanks Soub.
Our local garage gets his floor paint from a marine suppliers-apparently it lasts better!; 19 March 2012 at 11:17
Sandy Miller said...: I have a concrete floor and by the end of the day my back and legs fell the floor. Last year I put down square rubber click togethers where I stand the or work the most. The clean up isn't too bad either as I drag them out and hose them down.
Good luck, no easy way ........; 19 March 2012 at 13:48