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My better half unrecognisable as her day job a hospital theatre manager

Hi all ive not been on the forum for a while As you know we broke ground in November The two double garages went up pretty quick the help of a labourer I soon had them roofed in Somewhere dry for storage at last Christmas so us up to chamber Myself and my wife spent most of Christmas putting the I joists in and the 8x2 joists for the orangery We just managed to get floored out in time for the brickys return from holiday The brickys offered to help us man handle the twelve mtr trusses up The following day a friend and I and the brickys labourer set the roof out I went in the following day to make the valleys up and finish the gable restraints Next my wife and I spent two days felting and battening Then the 4000 slates We had intended getting someone in But the quotes were ridiculous All wanted me to get the slates up there prior to there arrival So we decided to do the slating a lead work ourselves All went well apart from rain virtually every day Myself and my son made fast work of fitting most of the windows Then last weekend the scaffold was dropped and rebuilt on Monday The forecast was good for last week So my son and myself made a start on the K rend Three days so us complete one side and all of the front Ive prepped the chimney and remaining gable and should get them complete tomorrow and rubbed up on Tuesday Well that's about were we are up to Ive lots of photos Perhaps should have posted as we went along But with working full time and working on the at nights and weekends I tend to nod off when I eventually arrive home regards Gary

Wendy has helped me with every aspect of the build including felting the roof, which she really didn't like doing, in the strong wind!

Or, purely for my entertainment only, go into SF with a tree branch and thrash them all with it, Basil Faulty style. .

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your bathroom will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily thread update, and forgive us our threats, as we also have given up it being better. And lead us not into Toolstation, but deliver us from evilbay." My Methodist lay preaching mother may see me flogged for that Pass the wine.

Can I ask who everyone is using as their Principal Designer for their project under CDM 2015? As we are using MBC and sub-trades for our build, the Principal Contractor role comes to us, but it's my understanding that normally an architect fulfils the PD role. I've already asked MBC, and they won't do it, as obviously they don't have control over the rest of the build when they're not on site. Our SE all doesn't provide this service. @Sensus, I'm sure that I've seen you mention using an independent company/individual for this role - could you share some details? Am I correct in my interpretation of the CDM 2015 HSE rules that a self builder is classified as a "domestic client", and therefore has the responsibility of appointing a PC and PD for the project? If not, does the project have to have a PD at all? Thanks, dj

Came across this today, wacky and wonderful. http://www.treehugger.com/tiny-houses/passivdom-passive-tiny-3d-printed-carbon-fiber-autonomous-solar-powered-marvel.html probably a portend of things to come.

Thank you I can relate to what Peter says My wife didn't like heights but helped me felt the garages Then volunteered to felt the house and was itching to have a go at the slating I did all the cuts for the valleys and Deborah fixed the slates in place

Earth tubes are a way of being able to feed an MVHR with pre-warmed air in winter, or cool air in summer, but they are not easy to get to work well. The pipe has a special silver anti-bacterial, anti-fungal coating and is very expensive. I looked at it briefly, as I'd thought of fitting the pipes behind our big retaining wall, as it holds a fair bit of heat. Once I saw the price, and read about the horrors of not using the special pipe (see here: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/belgian-passivhaus-rendered-uninhabitable-bad-indoor-air ) I decided not to bother. They may work well in a dry climate, but it seems that they aren't that easy to make safe in the sort of climate we have, as there will often be condensation in the tubes. Stopping stuff growing in them seems to be a significant problem, and I'm not 100% convinced that even the special silver coating will have a long enough working life.

Looks great and the stonework on the house is lovely. Well done to the missus - it does annoy me when we watch the self build programmes and the man does all the work while the woman looks on. She can push a wheel barrow at least, even if she isnt very handy at DIY. We may not be able to do as much as the chaps but we can have a go and help out. So well done Mrs Nod. Its great to see that we can hold our own on these builds. The OH has even acknowledged that I may come in useful occassionally in the last couple of weeks when I have pointed out the error in his plans! Like reminding him that we still had to add noggins to a stud wall, just before he was about to run cables up and into the ceiling...... He siad he was just testing to see if I spotted his deliberate error

Depends how nice a bathroom you'd like!

Before you speak to the planners make sure you are aware of the grounds under which you can appeal a condition. If they know you are serious about appealing the condition then they may back down and remove it without you having to appeal. Not sure if this is up to date but see... https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-of-planning-conditions

In this case @jamiehamy is well within his rights to take them back. The comment about taking the last strip back though made me laugh. When I was at university I worked in a supermarket. We had one customer who was constantly at it, the management used to hide when he came in. He would buy a big pack of something and then bring the last one back looking for a "refund and replace". I remember him getting 24 oranges to replace the last 1 of a 12 pack. A few stores in the area had banned him. This is the kind of idiot who ruins good customer service for reasonable people.

A wee bit off building a house topic but has anybody used kee klamp fittings and galvanised pipe to build any furniture? I like the idea of using this with either scaffolding boards or railway sleepers sanded down for a outside table. All opinons/ideas welcome.

My experience was that the county archaeologist was very helpful on the phone, and gave me a really good steer as to what might be involved. The problem with that plot was that the owners had gone OTT in the planning application requirement for an archaeological survey, and had had two 5m long trenches, 1m wide and 1m deep dug across the site by the archaeologist they hired. This found a cobbled floor, some wall foundations and a millstone, which then meant that when PP was granted it was public knowledge that there was a lot of archaeology under the site. When I spoke to our county archaeologist, on behalf of another forum member here who was looking at a plot near to where we live, all she wanted was an archaeologist to watch over the top surface being scraped away, as there was a known neolithic settlement in the adjacent field. Worth calling and asking, as if the site has already been disturbed a lot then the chances of there being major archaeological finds may well be pretty low, especially if your not digging down far.

You have to provide ventilation at a specific rate set out by whatever version of the building regs you are covered by. So depending on how airtight your build is you will have to provide some sort of ventilation , trickle vents , stack , purge mhrv, to get your house passed. The choice is up to you but it makes more sense to me do pick the option than recovers some heat as well.

Not furniture per se but it's a doddle. I cut it on an Evolution chop saw and spray the cut ends with zinc spray. Also grease the grub screws. I use Tubeclamp btw which is compatible with the Kee stuff. Last used some offcuts and leftovers on the tree house balustrade and spiral stairs: http://www.tubeclamps.co.uk

You don't need poems! Arguably the odd verse from a few hymns or the odd prayer could help as frankly only the Lord himself might help get that bathroom finished.

Baaaaaaa! Crapple. 'Nuff said.

Hmmm.....having a quantity of empty (biodegradable) hydraulic oil containers..... A couple of minutes works on each with the multitool: one for hammers and bolsters, another for saws. One for clamps, one for the resin kit etc. Even one to keep all the Geberit cistern bits together. Dead easy to move 'cos of the handle and stack: Going to make one a bit different maybe for silicon guns & tubes, another for "cleaners".

I still think that the MVHR should be run like a heating system, the thermostat tells the heating when it's needed, I.e.sensors ( co and RH) switch the MVHR on when it's needed, or manually over ride it when you decide. I think I have been told the co sensor is expensive. ( I too like having windows open in summer and can't see the reason for using electricity ( even if a small amount) when it's not required. Also the whole unit will last longer, not need servicing as much if used less.

Going to throw it in the mix as it may suit both of us....I have some left over tiles from my project that look a pretty similar grey. They re 900 x 900 made by Living Ceramics in Spain, and I ve had 300m2 of them laid and no issues with being unlevel. They retail at around £60m2 and I was looking for £20 to get some of my money back. Can send pics if required - will be putting them in the sales part of this forum and then eBay shortly.