I have discovered a systematic problem with beam and block

While surveying the ground floor of a beam and block home I noticed some dark staining to the edge of a light coloured carpet (I had seen this before upstairs with wood floors before) this dark staining is not due to poor hoovering but due to wind blowing through the edge of the carpet, leaving some dirty duet staining behind.

For a while I couldn't understand how there could be a draught but the sole plates of the internal walls had been fixed before screeding and in order to save time grouting seemed to have been left to the screeders, not a bad idea except may be they wetted everything and didn't really do the grouting.

Then disastrously and predictably the plate shrank back a little as it dried out, 1/8" each side, just enough to leave a nasty draught in every home built this way, which of the big boys cuts corners like this.

In the kitchen there were draughts coming in under the skirtings, visible on thermal imaging!

Pictures to follow.

Unfortunately it appears to be more of a problem associated with poor workmanship than a particular building method, as is generally the case.

Why not put a membrane under the studs and the first few inches of the screed?

Putting the screed down first would be my choice unless UFH was being put in. But getting the company to come in to do the screed may create delays to the build.

<blockquote><cite>Posted By: Mike George</cite>Best practice is to grout the floors with a cement slurry.. though generally left for the screed layers hence the problem .. If it were done by the beam and black installers then there would be no air infiltration.

I'm surprised that timber studs are built directly on the beam and block though - poor practice to put timber in a zone where it will ultimately be embedded in cement.</blockquote>

On site it is always done by the beam and block installers in my experience