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Bereft I was, to find that ebuild was no more. But here we all are once more. So glad you are all here and I'm looking forward to catching up on everyone's projects. As for ours, well, meh. Plans are gathering dust, and PP just about to expire. Shoot. Are we allowed to swear on here? I do hope so :-)

AFAIK, it is standard for the soleplate to be at slab level. If you want a polished slab then the soleplate will be at FFL. In our case, we are having slate on the GFL so the FFL will actually be 10+6 mm (slate + adhesive) or 16mm above the soleplate. Though in our case we have an MBC passive slab and timber frame so the soleplate is part the frame truss.

My palm sander has a hole punch plate so I can punch my own in cut sheets.

I'm new, but we have just finished installing 2mm aluminium fascia over the existing timber, and Marley Alutec extruded aluminium guttering. All powder coated in black. The job has turned out really well. The thicker aluminium makes such a difference to the look and feel of the whole deal. It was expensive, but should be a long term/rest of life solution. The site is not exposed, and there's no salt about - we have powder coated aluminium windows installed in the early 80s the finish on which is still spot on. (other than a slight matting in places) One to be careful of is the quality of the powder coating. The BS standard for architectural aluminium (or the Qualicoat process) requires the normal multi step degrease/wash/acid etch/wash/passivate/wash/powwer coat/bake process - and a decently thick >60 micron powder coating. There's been a rash of problems here (Ireland) where budget suppliers have been buying mill finish aluminium from suppliers and having it powder coated locally. They throw the powder on without the prep steps, and it often falls off a couple of years later leaving the customer high and dry...

Hi all from Ireland. (south of Dublin) We're struggling to bottom some issues in respect of a replacement window purchase, and will post a few questions on that topic under the windows heading. We're in self build terms at the other end of the project compared to most here. We went with a fairly large 2,000+ sq ft contemporary style brick brick bungalow on its own site back in the early 1980s, and only got finished about 17 years ago. (the main living room functioned as a store for years and years, the bathroom was jury rigged) Which seems to be about par for the course. (the lottery win never materialised) We're now into a 34 yrs later round of refurbishment - gutters, windows, better quality paving, landscaping etc. Luckily we got finished just before the bubble got going - building with direct labour was hard enough when guys were hungry for business, but must be doubly difficult now. It's turned out very well, but been a long road. The single most basic lessons it feels worth communicating are: (1) Don't borrow heavily/get into debt unless there's a clear and highly reliable way out before very long. It's tempting, and hard to wait for the money to come in - but it feels good (despite problems with illness and inability to work for long periods - we wouldn't have made it if we had taken on heavy borrowings) to have it all paid off. (just figure out how much you pay back versus the sum borrowed on a mortgage over 20 years) (2) What you do do right - wait/save until you can. Craft and broader contruction industry standards have slipped badly here (the bubble brought many untrained into construction focused only on easy money), and corner cutting on material and other specs by suppliers and trades is the norm. Training is minimal. It's really important to gain an understanding of the underlying technical issues, and to then apply these in speccing work and selecting materials hardware. Then to doubly and triply vet labour for the required skills - and the right attitude. keep on asking questions and looks at sample work/references. We went for good spec stuff, and systems which sounded way out here back in the 80s - but it's really paid off. Stuff like high levels of insulation, a zoned dual fuel heating system, masonry internal walls (the high heat storage capacity stabilises room temperatures), good quality roofing materials, tanking the bathrooms, good timber floors and tiles etc. We had hassle in one or two places where we cheap skated (like using concrete paving slabs and cheaper guttering) - but luckily nothing not relatively easily replaced. Good luck with all of your projects...

That's correct - this probably helps a bit more with the make up of the roof. The VCL provides the air tight layer in this model [from http://www.greenspec.co.uk/building-design/unventilated-roof-insulation ]

You can get a pre-insulated rigid sarking board which has PUR insulation already bonded to it - its designed for the situation you describe. What's unclear is why you would do it that way, and not go with sarking > rockwool > PIR insulation from outside to inside as that removes the thermal bridge and also puts the least permeable insulation on the inside as the vapour control membrane.

Ran out! Ecologist and LPA have them all

Downed tools a little over a week ago and got my boat back in commission- she had languished on the mooring all winter growing a good crop of barnacles and weed. Had a fantastic sail up the Minch to Stornoway, were followed by a pilot whale at one point, so close you could almost have touched it. Masses of sea birds as well, as our passage took us through the Shiants which are a huge breeding ground for puffins etc. It was our 4mo son's first trip and he seemed to enjoy it, slept like the proverbial baby afterwards anyway. Spent several days in Stornoway catching up with old friends, then SWMBO+baby bailed out by ferry leaving me to spend two days slogging to windward to get the boat home again. It's been great to not think about the build for a while, although not quite as relaxing as I had hoped!

Try this company (I'm getting my window cills from them); http://www.mspcladding.co.uk/ I've been dealing with Derek in sales, and he has been very helpful. Their paint shop can finish to any RAL colour, and they are happy to supply any type of folded aluminium profile - fascias, soffit, general cladding etc They are keenly priced and can fabricate to your requirements. I'm getting my cills made to my requirements for around 1/2 the price the window company wanted for their cills (which only came in a limited range of sizes). They recently priced up bespoke aluminium guttering for me, again a lot better priced (1/2) than anything I've seen online, but sadly out of my price range. Derek is aware that he may be getting enquiries from forum members, and is happy to quote for small orders, so be sure to mention the forum by name. I don't have my cills yet, but I have seen examples of the paintwork their paintshop produces, which all looked first class.