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Now, the sarking usually has a 3 to 5mm gap on most boards but they are so full of water that they have expanded a bit. I know the images look a wee bit glossy like well treated timber, but that's not the case - they are very wet. Gently pushing your thumb into the timber sends quite a bit of water down your sleeve The rafter framing/trimming for Velux was carried out myself under instruction, the roofer quoted all opening sizes to me as I never had the windows on site. I only realised afterwards that the openings didn't allow for the insulated collars. This is evidenced by dimension details forwarded to me by the roofer. I opted for level top and plumb lower reveals.

lol. Yes, I don’t think the Ming vases were out the day I was there They can do a finished house, but the list for prep is ‘a little longer’, but it can be done. This is great news for anyone doing a retrofit MVHR and who wants the best results possible. Just needs dust-sheets a plenty

OK. When the contractor told me that he could no longer work for me because I criticised the membrane fitment in relation to the dry verge, he stated that he would be on site the next day to collect his tools. He did arrive and took all his tools away the following day. The timbers in the roof are from the early 1970's, the sarking is not so much of a worry, that's 10 a penny and easy to swap but the level of water in them and they're soaking into rafters, that's a different kettle of fish. Not sure what the level or standard of treatment was available almost 60 years ago. Didn't need to over egg any of it, unfortunately. Velux fitment is woeful. He deleted the insulated collars that came with the flashings kits and opted instead for a 10mm trimmer gap and expanding foam. The Velux was also caked around the outer edges with sealant, my opinion is that is unnecessary, Velux kits are expensive and designed to prevent any leaking. The images from inside the roof were taken 9 days after the membrane was installed and expected to be like that until mid January when the correct velux flashings would arrive. The winters in the Highlands beside the West Coast are rough and I feel that a lot of damage could occur.

Have a read though this old manual. TRADA Timber decking The professionals manual 3rd edition.pdf

If that was my first time tiling - I'd look at that and say 1. Well I learnt a lot 2. It's not "trade quality" but it was my first time and I saved a few quid (which I spent on tools) 3. Next tiling I do will be much better I did - next time was much better (because not first time) and I learnt some more and got better tools.......... Then work got busy and I paid a tiler to do a floor - it was only down for 2 years before I pulled it up and re did it - that was the last time I paid a professional (been tiling 20 years etc etc) to tile anything. Think about it the first floor tiling I ever did 29 years ago is actually still there........... The second floor I tiled is also still there......... No pictures

What is a UU?

Hallelujah!! More detail here.

Yes, another sharp practice in the black arts of the tradesman. I thought I was getting a landscaper with 15 years experience - what I actually got was a 20 year old with negligble experience and a mobile phone.

Hope you can get your hand sorted out. That sounds like a bad accident, don't blame yoursefl, it could happen to anyone. To business. I think you likely have enough to evidence against the standards, so not subjective. Unless you have over egged your post. But you have not provided that many photographs. Your sarking boards are treated, so not rotting, so I would not want to hang my hat on that as as a basis. But here is a question. If the roof has a breathable membrane then we need to have gaps between the sarking boards. I specify 100 mm wide boards with a 5.0 mm gap. You don't seem to have this. A competent roofer should know that this is a general requirement and check that the membrane is ok and the sarking gap. As an art of slating the slates at the verges are not tailed to shed the water back towards the roof. But you have plastic verges, just a symptom of decreasing skill level in the slating trade. My gut feeling is that if I and others on BH were to look under the bonnet we would come up with evidence that supports the arguement that you should not pay this contractor the balance. I trust you have photos from the inside of the roof. Lets have a look at the Velux trimming and so on. What nails has the roofer used? Let us know so we can check they have used the right ones. How close are you to the sea? Legally what you might want to ( I'm not a Lawyer so don't come after me!) is confirm if the Contractor intends to return or not. If they say they are going to return then you need to spell out the defects you want addressed, at their expense and when they are going to do that. You might want to say that if you can't agree then you will both agree on an independent arbitor. Now there is a good chance that the Contractor won't come back as they have chucked their toys out the pram. But you have to go through the process so protecting yourself. The contractors wife may be a Lawyer and work pro bono.

Looks good. What wall switches are you using with your smart lighting ? I have still to buy some retractive ones and am interested in what others are using. Are you automating any electric roller blinds ? I will be starting to move to Home Assistant soon as I find different manufacturers are still implementing certain features in incompatible ways. For example I am using some sonoff relays, but they have implemented the detached mode in a way that hides switch presses from non sonoff ecosystems. I have implemented a work around but HA seems like it should be the bees knees and avoid such things. What are you using for presence sensing and do you have eny experience of the extent to which it may be usable through plaster board ?

Yes they do an end cap, still waiting on mine though

Each time you use an abbreviation, use it then in brackets, explain the abbreviation, you only need to do this once. For new folk to BH this is important, as an SE I think it's just poor commuication. If you want to get your point over then follow this format, otherwise folk will lose interest. I agree the English planning system is a mess, the Scottish system is much further developed. It's still not easy, but much easier to navigate as it gives everyone, including devleopers better guidnce. It still has some major pitfalls for self builders. In summary it's about time the English system sorted it's self out. It's going to take time and some horrible things are going to happen.. but any reform of the English planning system is going to be painfull. The chances of delivering enough housing is limited, the best way to control this is to stop the population from rising! While this new document seems encouraging it does not address the elephant in the room which is the supporting infrastructure.. the drains, hospitals ect need to keep up. On a personal note. The strategy seems fundamentally flawed to me. This idea that you have to travel to work is mental. It does not make for social cohesion. I live in East Kilbride which was one of the first new towns, the idea started in 1947. The plan really started to work in about the late sixties when they thought.. lets build some industrial units and offer grants to multinationals to set up shop. The offer was, you come here and we will build the houses that provide the workforce. Motoralla were one of the first, Rolls Royce, the Department for international Development followed. The jobs were well paying, folk built lives and family in East Kilbride, small busdiness units were offered to provide the secondary support mechanisms that we all need. My father in laws dad ran the local shoe shop. Unfortunately this fundaments concept has been lost. Now I know lot's of folk are enthusiastic on BH about this change in the English system.. but what if it later this works against you and you ideal plot gets blighted by someone next door.. be careful what you wish for! In the round there is no point in building your dream home if the surrounding area has no community or just turn into a shit hole.

I still owe all of the Labour which is only due on completion, £11.5k. As far as any trades are concerned it's my scaffolding. I set it up for myself to replace all fascia and soffits after stripping the old out. All the roofing contractor did after I finished that was to lift the scaffold up a level. I would have slated the roof myself but I got a nasty kick back from the rip snorter a month ago (2 fingers barely hanging on) when carrying out Joinery inside the house. My main reason for posting this on here was to see what you guys thought, particularly if I potentially had a reason to be unhappy about the standard of the works carried out going by the images provided, or am I wrong? Sometimes, stuff like this could be quite subjective, other times not

Even @Pocster used one of those! I will definitely be purchasing one, don’t worry.

Joking aside the worst thing I did was not use a tile levelling system.

I showed the photos to swmbo and told her the bar has been set for my upcoming tiling in the utility room. she wasn’t laughing. 😆

A modulating boiler cannot have the cut out at its target value, otherwise the burner will shut down every time the target value is reached, a non modulating boiler like my oil fired one, does cut out at its target value and has a ~ 8C hysteresis so will cut back in at target value - 8C. Also a modulating boiler will fire flat out (or whatever its range rated to) until the target value is reached, it will then ramp down once the target value is reached or slightly higher so its vital to have 4/5C leeway to avoid the burner tripping needlessely, I often see my daughters Vokera Vision 20S firing up and it exceeds the target value by 2/3C before it ramps down sufficiently to match the load, it will then maintain the target value within + or - a degree or two, as you say also useful when antcycling. I think modulating boilers also don't enable refiring until the measured value is at targer value - 5C or so, obviously, since most gas boilers fire up at ~ 65% output then the anti cycle period is timed so that the measured value is well less than this to avoid excessive overshoot on refiring.

Definitely in all directions fall away from house, not falling towards house anywhere. What is the wall? Someone elses house or a boundary wall Plank direction is personal choice, but will affect sub structure design If you are using composit boards you will be at 300-400mm centres on the sub structure. I used flat plates 12mm thick and about 200mm wide galvanised steel, sandwiched between timber and then post created in place. The structure needs to be robust, mine was on a new build and designed by structural engineer, so most the wood is 10x2, light duty stuff is 6x2. The perimeter is doubled up 10x2. I

Makes my tiling look good!

The key qeustion here is do you still own the Contractor money and if so how much? That will drive the rest of the conversation. Make sure you write to the Contractor and confirm that he has confirmed he is walking away form the job. I used to be a building Contractor in my last life, once I had a customer that was basically an out and out chancer and I wanted to leave the job. My QS told me.. on no account Gus chuck your tools in the van and walk off site as you will get absolutely hammered! The law rests firmly on the domestic Client side and they have an Architect who will back them up and they won't want to put themselves in the firing line. Make sure when you write to the Contractor, use the postal method also, don't just rely on email. This is a key step. If he is using wats app / text then say I've sent a letter and email to you, keep a copy. Ah.. best not to mention this anymore, it kind of undermines you taking the high ground. Ah... now the first response from Contractor on the defensive is to say "its my site" and you are not authorised to access the scaffolding and you inspected the work illegally! I have actually had similar from a major warranty provider where they asked me how I got record photographs without accessing the scaffold. I told them I'm an SE so qualified to make an assessment of your scaffold. I consider this a matter of saftey and it turned out I was right also, your ticket was out of date so lets start from here! Your case is a little different, but if the Contractor has previously allowed you to go up the Scaffold without supervision at all times, induction, then they are pretty much stuffed.

I agree. The TVR has been in the garage throughout the build. The Jaguar for half of it. But I just couldn't resist a genuine barn find 15k-mile-from-new Elise!

Yes. The curtain motors have a battery backup that apparently lasts for 3 weeks. Tugging the curtain triggers an open/close response.

+1 with the exception of crazy wall or dodgy tiles. Even then, a good tiler will warn you in advance and give you the option.

Hi all, I’m rebuilding an L-shaped deck and would really appreciate some experienced input on the best structural layout and fall direction before I commit. Key details: • The deck wraps around the corner of the house (L-shape). • Approx sizes: • Section A: ~150 cm deep (from house) × ~380 cm long • Section B: ~370 cm × ~454 cm • The deck is enclosed by walls on all sides (house walls + boundary walls) • Height is ~300 mm above ground. • I’m rebuilding the entire substructure (posts, beams, joists), so layout can be changed. • Sub-soil is soft. What I’m unsure about: 1. Board direction • Should boards run in the same direction across the whole deck, or is it better to change direction between the two legs of the L (e.g. parallel to the house on the larger section and perpendicular on the narrower one, with picture framing)? 2. Fall / drainage • Given the deck is enclosed by walls on multiple sides, what is the correct fall strategy? • Is it better to: • fall toward one outer/open edge only? • fall diagonally? • accept two planes with a subtle transition? 3. Substructure approach • Best practice for posts on soft ground (concrete pads vs posts in concrete vs adjustable supports). • Typical post spacing and beam layout for a deck of this size. My priority is: • a buildable, professional solution • no twisted or planed joists • boards sitting fully flat on joists • avoiding water being trapped against walls I’m less concerned about “perfect symmetry” and more about what experienced deck builders would actually do in this situation. I have attached a drawing of what's currently in place...please ignore the drainage strip as it is doesn't actually exist. Thanks in advance — any advice appreciated.

Quite a good summary here: https://www.samdumitriu.com/p/labour-are-finally-taking-the-housing