ᐅ House Photos Discussion Corner – Share Your Home Pictures!

Mellina schrieb:

That’s something different... We didn’t go for a standard design in our guest bathroom either; there’s a black toilet and a matching matte black sink. I’m curious to see how it will turn out.

Once the light lime starts leaving its marks

Alessandro schrieb:

It’s a matter of personal taste everywhere. I wanted something different and to move away from the usual cookie-cutter style. You can never really tell how the final result will look when buying tiles.

Here’s how the tile is displayed at the building center:

I liked it. I think I even hearted it. Because I like it. But honestly, I think it might end up being more of a little horror cabinet. I hope you don’t lose interest in the guest bathroom yourselves. For guests, it will probably be quite an experience.

AxelH. schrieb:

In our case, the ducts for the controlled residential ventilation system are installed on top of the finished precast concrete slab and later integrated into the insulation for the underfloor heating.

Yes, that should also be possible. Why weren’t the ventilation ducts for the controlled residential ventilation system installed on the precast concrete slab before the concrete was poured, like in the Selfio YouTube video (in the screenshot, concrete is being poured from the crane onto the precast slab and the ventilation ducts)? That should actually be simpler, right?

annab377 schrieb:

Your inconsistent terminology and sentence structure actually make it harder to understand what you mean....

I feel the same about your descriptions at least as much.
What exactly haven’t you understood yet? [I'll check in a moment if private messages are working normally again, there was a glitch last week]

AxelH. schrieb:

In our case, the pipes for the mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery are installed on the completed precast concrete floor panels

annab377 schrieb:

The pipes for the mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery are installed on the precast concrete floor panels,

“Saying ‘on the completed precast concrete floor panel’ is actually contradictory, because once it’s completed, it’s no longer precast (filigree). This type of slab is a hybrid consisting of prefabrication (of the lower cover layer and reinforcement) and onsite casting (of the upper cover layer). After this onsite finishing step, it is no thinner than a fully cast-in-place concrete slab.”

annab377 schrieb:

Which then gets poured over with concrete? Do you call it topping concrete or cast-in-place concrete!?

First, the “precast slab” is completed onsite as explained, essentially becoming a normally thick reinforced concrete slab. This is usually done with ready-mix concrete (concrete transported in a flowing mixture). In-situ concrete (mixed onsite in a small drum) has gone out of fashion and, at least for my generation, is probably only known from films. Then, on top of the structurally complete slab comes a leveling compound to create a smoother surface. This is called screed; only in this layer are things like underfloor heating pipes typically installed. Screeds usually come as wet screeds, sometimes using cement but without gravel – this is the essential difference to concrete (simplified for non-experts).

Wintersonne schrieb:

Our precast concrete floor panel is 24 cm (9.5 inches) thick. However, the structural engineer did not want all the empty conduits installed.

annab377 schrieb:

Why weren’t the mechanical ventilation system pipes installed [...] on the precast slab before the concrete topping was poured?

Only cable ducts or protective sleeves (which laypeople often lump together with empty conduits) are installed inside the precast slab—threaded between the reinforcement spacers—but nothing that would effectively reduce the concrete cover thickness.

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annab377 schrieb:

Why weren’t the controlled ventilation ducts installed on the unfinished precast concrete slab like in the Selfio YouTube video?

Well, everyone does it differently. In our case, everything is placed on the precast concrete slab. The advantage is that the ventilation technician, the plumber, and the electrician can complete the unfinished shell all at once. Otherwise, we would have needed trades working on the precast slabs in the basement, ground floor, and upper floor separately.

Kind regards

Axel

AxelH. schrieb:

Well, some do it one way, others another.

I couldn’t have put it better myself—there are many instances in construction where two knowledgeable people can have very different opinions, but a layperson sees only that they’re arguing. So: on one hand, the method shown in the video is not just used by amateurs, but on the other hand (not just) I wouldn’t do it that way. Also, the topic of round versus flat ducts (for mechanical ventilation with heat recovery) is itself a wide field for endless debate.

annab377 schrieb:

But why aren’t the empty conduits for KNX also routed inside the structural floor?

That was one of the confusions you caused earlier: you mentioned controlled mechanical ventilation ducts and then KNX (smart home electrical system) in quick succession, which are unrelated except for both starting with K.

P.S.: Private messages are still not working :-(

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@11ant On one hand, thank you for your detailed responses, but on the other hand, the coronavirus crisis seems to be affecting the patience of some forum members.

When I, as a future homeowner (not a construction worker, architect, or structural engineer), talk about a "finished precast slab," I assume most people here understand that it refers to the precast slab covered with concrete. Everything else, in my opinion, is just quibbling over terminology.

I only switched from discussing controlled ventilation ductwork to KNX conduit because someone happened to post photos of their KNX conduits in the ongoing discussion.

11ant schrieb:

you usually lay only lighting cables or protective conduits

So what now? Is the approach used by Selfio—installing the controlled ventilation ducts on the precast slab that is not yet completed (that is, the lower concrete cover and reinforcement without the upper concrete cover) and then embedding them with concrete (the upper concrete cover)—not acceptable, or is it common practice as long as the structural engineer has no objections?