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Weeks 75 to 90 The plasters have finished the open plan vaulted area and it’s given us the boost to get going again in other areas. At the opposite end of the building is the plant room, this was the first room we started work on to enable the solar to be installed. I’m back in here to tile the floor and since it’s the first floor I have ever tiled I am very happy with it. I have left the service penetrations until all the services are in, we currently have temporary supplies from our existing home. We have a provisional date in August to close our village single track road (that goes to the school so can only be closed in school holidays) and will then have our own services coming into the building I will then seal up any air gaps and finish the tiling. Whilst the plaster was drying in the open plan lounge and kitchen we started on the MVHR installation. We made it as light as we could but it’s size was still too much for me to help with so we had to think of alternate methods of lifting it luckily our business had tools we could improvise with. I’ll let the photos show how this went. In the loft it all looks nice and neat. We could have floor mounted it but it would have taken up a lot of room and the pipes coming down would have needed boxing in. We could have put it in the loft but changing the filters would not have been so easy. This is a good compromise, once the pantry kitchen units are in you won't be looking up as much and we will be able to access it easily with our step ladders for filters and servicing etc. Once the MVHR was hung we moved on to fitting the plasterboard up in the pantry then I taped and jointed it all and painted the lounge and the pantry. Tape and Joint I had the opportunity of using a different corner tape around the velux, since this was not an area like a doorway that was going to possibly get knocked. I have previously used the corner paper tape with the metal reinforced edges. I have found you need to be careful on the corner you don’t rip or sand the paper. Traditional metal corner bead for tape and joiners is too thick and it can be hard getting plastic corner bead for tape and joiners. I do know of few places but they don’t deliver it due to its length and fragility. The tape I used was, SIME edge protection very similar to Strait Flex Tuff Tape both are on Amazon, it’s described as plastic coated and although on a roll when cut and folded for the corner it is not floppy like paper tape, and more like the metal reinforced paper tape but with a stronger corner. After using it around the Velux I decided to use it on the pantry doorway where I was matching up to the wet plasterers metal bead. I am happy with the outcome and will probably use it a lot more. When I first used it I bed it in and wiped out as usual but later found out they recommend to do the first finish coat straight away. The instructions on the tape are in Polish I think but the copy below is from an America website for Strait Flex Fold Original in half at the center crease, with the print-sides facing themselves. For outside corners, fold more than the desired angle with the print-side facing the wall. For inside corners, fold less than the desired angle with the print-side facing out. Apply all-purpose compound to the corner. Press Original into the wet compound and adjust, if necessary, to create a straight line. Wipe down tight and smooth with a taping knife. The first finishing coat of compound can be applied immediately. Let this dry completely, for several hours or overnight. This last step saves a day compared to paper tape that is covered the following day. Second fix electrics has started in the lounge and the light fittings have been put up and testing started for the electrical certification. The kitchen has been delivered and that went very smoothly all placed neatly in the middle of the room then a few days later we have spread it all out into appliances, pantry units and main kitchen units, the island was placed in its approximate location and immediately became a huge flat surface that we could fill. Whilst David is installing the kitchen we are also both test fitting and plumbing in the bathroom and putting the plasterboard up. We need to keep moving on with the bathroom as this will be mainly me painting and tiling whilst David will continue the kitchen installation on his own and second fix electrics. Going room by room works for us well as we can both work to our own strengths without waiting for other trades this will hopefully mean we get to move in later this year but with some rooms completely not started. Thanks for getting to the end of this update, if you have read my other blog entries please note that the posting date today does not match the week numbers as I am a little behind updating the blog. We have been working on the bathroom since May, lots more in the next blog and I have the build costs to update.

Traditional lead flashing would look good with brick and oak.

You get almost no suction on the marmox type boards. The foam core is XPS and completely waterproof.

I would say the biggest risk to colour variation is what sand and cement you use so having all the sand in one load is good. Make sure the cement is the same make and supplier throughout. I have used some that was very inconsistent in colour. Shovelling lime into a gauging bucket before chucking it into the mixer is a horrible job, but they should have paid more attention at school.

Bucket gauge is good. Normally have 1 bucket and count them bur I can see your thinking minimise the risk. Normally a cement bag cut in half is 1 mix so then get 6 buckets. Are you making the brickie mix up or has he got a joey?

Why I think we should just have two taxes. One on individual income, and the other a 'sin' tax. Though there would be huge disagreement on what is considered a sin.

We have got the bricklayer to include a slate course in the past where we needed to work the coursing in with a steel on one wall. The could have gone for a cut block but the slate was simpler. For your 26mm you could have 6mm slate and 2 x 10mm joints.

If the ground investigation is decent they should be able to get a good idea. Also access and proximity to adjacent structures can have an impact that the piling contractor can factor in.

We can have a simple regime. Every single tax starts simple - then it becomes complicated over time as loop holes are closed and unfair effects are mitigated. VAT is a conceptually simple tax 20% for everything would be simple. But what about food? Kids clothes, books, tampons etc. Do we charge vat on every single business, even someone selling half a dozen bobble hats the knitted as a hobby , or do we have a threshold where you don't have to bother? You end up with high court decisions on whether a Jaffa cake is a biscuit or a cake and small businesses turning down work to avoid a step change in tax as the become vat liable.

But you are not going to get a fixed price for piles I suspect! Until they start inserting piles they wont really know depths so any quote would be an estimate I suspect.

https://www.carryduffbuildingsupplies.com/small-chimney-coping-27-x-60-686mmx1524mm.html

Absolutely agree with this but....... having had solid wood floors before, in this house we wanted a 'maintenance free' finish for throughout upstairs that would last for the foreseeable and was suited to bathrooms as well. We went with Amtico, but chose a small tile laying pattern, which helps solve some of the repeat pattern issues of a figured design on its own, and our fitter then dry laid large sections and moved and rotated tiles as necessary. Yes if you hunt hard you can find repeats.....it isn't wood...but it ticks our other needs. Just for info. for those that follow, our fitters also laid 6mm flooring grade ply (over a very flat caber deck new build floor) and applied levelling compound before laying and required that the tiles were here in advance of laying to acclimatise......circa £100 m2 laid exc. So the upshot, 'you pays your money and you takes your choice', but do your research!

If you already have fat joints below then even more reason to take them down, make the joints thinner and finish on an extra course.

Bottom line? If you want a natural wood finish then it needs to be natural wood. On the surface as a veneer at least. Even then , there may be some extreme knots that should havd been discarded or have been replaced with epoxy. But a good engineered timber costs about £60/m2.

Cappings are usually custom made or cut from tile etc.

might get a chimney cap the size you're looking?

Thanks all - much appreciated

Unfortunately, I can't knock the 3 courses below down as they already have fat joints. I'll speak with the new brickie on Wednesday to see what options I have.

You said it was hidden behind the acco drain i personally wouldn’t accept it at all. so get 3 courses knocked off and get it built properly. I think you are setting yourself up to fail. if this was my job i would have banged a stake in on each corner that would have 3-4 crucial measurements on them. checking it after it is built is a bit late.

I would not have thought the colour would change that much, but iam no expert, i guess just try it out for yourself, i recon 7 buckets would be annoying,

If you throw sand and cement in a mixer using a shovel, isn't there a risk that each batch will differ slightly, simply because no two shovel loads will contain the same volume of material?

A slight thread hijack if thats ok, how do you prep the marmox board( mine isnt marmox brand but simmilar, ie cement mesh outer layer with foam inner). Ready for gypsum skim, ?? I already did a small patch and i just gave it a coat of pva the night before to help control exessive suction, it seemed to skim up ok.... is it all gona fall off next week? Lol. Thanks carl

Interesting (bit of an issue with the website, but hopefully fine tomorrow). I don't need failsafe operation really since it's a bit of a bonus system. I quite like the ideal of a retrofit approach, but those bolt on ones look a bit weak. There are some stronger looking ones, but still not very satisfactory. I might see if I can 3D print a large cog and pinion arrangement, but that starts to look like a long term project.

If flow doesn't stop for a time within a period then there is a leak. How short the evaluation period is needs tuning. The limitation is that if your evaluation period needs to be multiple hours to avoid false alarms then a large scale leak could do a lot of damage in that time.

Hi folks We have a nasty galvanised pole supporting our porch roof. Our plan is to create a brick pillar around the bottom of the pillar and the top half oak cladding. I am trying to find the best option to transition between the brickwork and the oak, and at the moment it seems to be a split pillar cap on top of the brick pillar, and then leave a small gap between the cap and the oak to stop the water tracking up. The sort of thing in the picture. What do you think? Will this work, where could I get a split cap, any other ideas etc. Thanks