Screed has been laid 20mm too high.

Discussion in 'Builders' Talk' started by Peter11m, Jan 1, 2018.

  1. Peter11m

    Peter11m New Member

    Hi Lee. Fair enough. Mental i may be? But i'm not afraid of the work if it gets a job done right. I am no expert on stairs, how do i redesign the stairs to suit? Thanks
     
  2. Peter11m

    Peter11m New Member

    The bottom step is now too low so taking 20mm would only add to the problem. If i build it up 20mm i just move the problem up a step. thanks
     
  3. fillyboy

    fillyboy Screwfix Select

    This place is my first port of call to be insulted.:)

    What about a concrete planer.
    [​IMG]
     
  4. Peter11m

    Peter11m New Member

    Hi fillyboy. Thanks i needed the smiley face. A concrete planer is the sort of thing i have been considering. Have you used one? Would that be ok on screed with pipework beneath? Thanks
     
  5. KIAB

    KIAB Super Member

    Soft screed, can soon say goodbye to your UFH, will remove it quicker than you can blink.
     
  6. fillyboy

    fillyboy Screwfix Select

    I've never used them or seen them being used. From what I can gather they can remove something like an eighth of an inch per pass, but you would also need a smaller hand held planer to get into edges and corners. You can hire that kit from many places but in view of the pipework I would be tempted to look for a specialist company to do it.
     
  7. leesparkykent

    leesparkykent Well-Known Member

  8. fillyboy

    fillyboy Screwfix Select

    Don't blink.;)
     
    leesparkykent likes this.
  9. KIAB

    KIAB Super Member

    Concrete yes, screed nope.
     
  10. Peter11m

    Peter11m New Member

    Thanks for the ideas guys. What about a grinder/sander rather than a scrabbler surely that would be gentler?
     
  11. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select

    Just to clarify, with your screed being 20mm high, your bottom step is now 20mm less in rise/height to the others, is that correct?
     
  12. Mr Rusty

    Mr Rusty Screwfix Select

    I agree you would probably notice the bottom step being 20mm shorter, but I reckon most people wouldn't notice a discrepancy of 4-5mm between treads, which means you possibly have the option of losing the error in the first 4-5 stairs. It obviously depends on what design your stairs are, but if they are carpeted I reckon you might be able to fiddle it by packing the treads - you might only need to do 3-4. I know I'd be looking for any solution rather than trying to grind off 20mm evenly. It might even be reworking the stairs costs less than grinding off. Load of hassle you don't need I'm sure, but now it has it's a case of looking at all possibilities.
     
    leesparkykent likes this.
  13. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select

    To be perfectly honest I would grit my teeth and leave it as it is. Anything else is major costly work and headaches. You'll notice it at the moment as you know it's there, in a couple months time you'll forget all about it and move on to something else. You may notice a difference as you walk up the first step but that's it, fine after that. You're not going to trip over, if there was a discrepancy in the middle of the stairs THEN you'd trip over, as you're walking a repetitive rhythm, but your brain adjusts your legs after the first step, so you're stepping the same height each tread.

    I would make a bet that millions of homes over the country have a slightly shorter bottom step due to retro-fitted solid wood flooring, thick laminate and underlay, engineered wood floor, etc, etc.
     
  14. stuart44

    stuart44 Screwfix Select

    Our old cottage has a 6.5 inch bottom step and the rest are 9 inch due to a retro timber floor, and as you said nobody apart from me has really noticed.
     
  15. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select

    And being pedantic, in theory your stairs don't comply with the regs due to the maximum rise allowed being 8", or 200mm. But that's my point entirely, you haven't tripped over and broken your neck, fallen down the stairs, etc, so common sense wise, they're no more dangerous than anything else.
     
  16. stuart44

    stuart44 Screwfix Select

    I think that we have learned to deal with them since we moved from a bunalow 15 years ago. One of my wife's friends is a farmers wife, and in her old farmhouse the top floor where the farmhands had their rooms years ago have treads of less than 6 inches and 11 inch risers.
     
  17. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select

    I draw the line at that, mind. ;)
     
  18. Peter11m

    Peter11m New Member

    Hi All. Thanks for all the input. I am getting my head round what has happened slowly. I worked so accurately to achieve my side of things spot on. If the floor was already like it of course i would be living with it.

    stuart44
    you didn't dig 20+ tonnes of concrete and soil out, mix, barrow, tamp, float and laser level in god knows how many tons of concrete to end up with with a 6.5" bottom step in your cottage did you? A 2.5" difference on a step? If that is in some quirky cottage, may be but this is no quirky cottage.

    Jord86 Facts. Going up the stairs is fine, we naturally adjust are step to suit but coming down is a different matter. When people step down they naturally expect to step down the same amount on each step and this is where falls occur. These are the facts but i do appreciate the point you are making. Yes 20mm is not the end of the world but it seems that way when you've put in my effort and accuracy. Add this to the fact that as an engineer who normally work to 100th's of a mm you can see why 20mm is making me proper twitch (i can't help it, as a breed we are made this way). I understand this is building, but 20mm on a new floor.

    You are totally correct new flooring, engineered wood, tiles etc. etc. i get it, really i do. If i put down engineered wood on my old floor i'd live with it of course i would. That is being missed i feel, this is a new floor!

    Mr Rusty Thank you for your efforts. You are right the last thing i want to do is dig up, grind or sand anything. I am trying to let it wash over me and take a more pragmatic approach. I considered your idea of losing it over several treads and then i started twitching violently again but as the time goes by the twitching is lessening so i think this is probably the answer.

    Thanks to everyone who has taken the trouble to try and help, i appreciate it i really do. Cheers
     
  19. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select


    Without causing offence, facts, you are not going to fall down the last step on a stairs unless you are drunk, and whilst a 20mm discrepancy isn't ideal in new work, it really really isn't the end of the world. I fit staircases on a fairly regular basis, majority in New Build houses where they have been made off plan, bricklayers have built the joist level blockwork too high/low (regularly 10-20mm difference) and I've got to nip and tuck things to suit. So I speak from experience with what I've said previously. If you start messing with your stairs by packing treads and the like, you really will start twitching violently. I can understand that it's gutting, meticulously planning things for someone you've paid money to to balls things up, but you're best bet is to leave it and forget about it.
     
    leesparkykent likes this.
  20. Peter11m

    Peter11m New Member

    I understand what you are saying. I know for a fact you are correct in what you say about the way houses are built. Builders work is one bodge up to cover another bodge up and so on. The end result a bodge that some poor member of the public doesn't notice. I will consult my mate who is a chippy and see what he can do with the stairs to a good standard.

    You are right building trade wise, i get what you are saying. I let my standards slip to look at adjusting the stairs

    I came here to ask on the off chance to see if there was a solution i couldn't see. You're telling me there isn't one and if i don't find one the screed and if needs be the pipework will be done again. It's that simple. It will be done again.

    Thanks again
     

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