Leaderboard

Wait till it fills up from the leaky roof lights then lob whatever in and it'll slowly sink!

So, progress has continued and after months of walking round looking at drawings I can actually see proper rooms which is all very exciting. My necessity of carrying lip gloss everywhere has been replaced with a tape measure which is now a handbag essential! I've become almost obsessive checking sizes of rooms, window openings and that potential bathroom purchases will fit. My tape measure had that much use it finally broke! One stand out moment was the steels for the 5.5 metre Internorm doors (modelled by the wife) and the corner window. This will be the kitchen dining room and look out up to the canal so will be one of my favourite places. The inside of the bungalow looks like a group of lads have had the worst house party ever and the chimney, naff red fireplace (see previous forum post), 70s bathroom and bedroom have all gone along with some of the windows, though neither of quite made it out of the house yet so it's just piles of rubble. In the absence of a chimney we have gained an impromptu skylight with view of the wasps nest. Internorm did their technical survey earlier this week and we just need to iron out the measurements of the 'triangle bits' above the huge sliders and hopefully will have our window order placed on Tuesday. The lead times mean potentially the windows will pretty much be the last things to go in which to be isn't a bad thing, less chance they will get damaged. Here is some pics. We are spending a rainy Saturday afternoon arguing about knobs.

I have made numerous a frames out of wood and metal for lifting everything from engines out of cars to cows out of swamps..... costs next to nothing and many that I Have built can lift in excess of 1000kg - this poor bloody cow was stuck in a swamp for days and had lost The use of its legs Due to lost circulation, a few hours of massage got it back on its feet and it lived for a good few more years. Scaffolding is the quick fix for lighter stuff, the ones in the photo are purpose built but not sure of there origin as a mate left them here 6 years ago......

We recently had a bench made in birch ply. I like the look of the lamination.

9Kw will heat a 400 litre UVC to 47c in a couple of hours at E7 rates, boost it to 65c for 90 mins in the last bit of the E7 period and you’ve got all your hot water for a day for pennies. ASHP kicks in at say 4am, warms the slab so the house is toasty through the day. Boost in the late afternoon if needed. A 9Kw will also not be stressed at that sort of load - could probably drop to a 5Kw but the price difference is buttons.

I do know and have told you as has Peter. As long as it grips by just enough the no nails will do the rest once it goes off. The round area gets filled by the filler (odd that, eh?) you're going to smear over it once the no nails has set.

He's being honest by telling you he wouldn't be able to do your job till the end of August instead of saying he will be there in the morning and not turning up.

The builder is just being honest with you. The job that he is on has by the sounds of it had extra work added on which then impacted you. It happens. The joys of being self employed.

No but.. If you get no joy then think about doing the base yourself? I have seen some fantastic bases / column pads done by first timers who have taken a bit of time to understand what is required, set it all out carefully, made a good finish and cured the slab properly, also seen some horrific ones done by the "professionals" in a rush.

No, just put on some dark overalls so folk can't see you glowing in the dark.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/hilka-pro-craft-250kg-electric-hoist/49927?tc=MT8&ds_kid=92700046638549236&ds_rl=1243318&ds_rl=1241687&ds_rl=1245250&ds_rl=1245250&gclid=CjwKCAjwx9_4BRAHEiwApAt0zmiYhGkryHs6GUYHjZoU9BYpvOnVSZZQWLSoE0dtcI2WdEHl1XMm9xoCLmwQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds and https://www.screwfix.com/p/hilka-pro-craft-hoist-support-arm-600kg/2240r depends what weight you want to lift, I think the above is rated at 250kg. that other one in the picture is about £1400 ?

From @joe90 's pic it appears to have a couple of clamps on the top. Good price for a unit like that, might just buy myself one for the workshop.

sorry, no but I just bought one of those I posted and put a couple of scaffold poles sticking out the side to winch stuff up..

Hep is available in 6m lengths too. Quite handy for small projects where you don' want to buy a big coil but want to traverse a room / space without intermediate joints. eg

£4.29...https://www.bes.co.uk/aladdin-autovent-hv30c-1-ufh-23156/

Range of cylinder stores.. https://www.smartfabcovers.co.uk/shop/gas-bottle-pods/gas-bottle-pods/

With a further design enhancement I think it has potential as a weapon to resolve neighbourly disputes. Some days I feel the need to nuke local trouble makers with a ballistic LPG missile.

You'll eventually have one of these kits fitted for filling and expansion + PRV;; So you get the pressure reading for the whole heating system from here, typically.

Yup. I'd buy two and ditch the pressure gauge so you have air release ( automatic ) on both rails.

https://www.bes.co.uk/hep2or-barrier-pipe-coil-white-28mm-x-50m-v2-20764/ It is about 1/2 the price of using copper for the same diameter.

Now we're cooking. Any photo's of your creation? How do you bolt/connect the scaffold to the A frame part?. I will need some guidance on what to buy /how to connect it - also would like to bolt the whole structure to the concrete wall. Just had a brilliant thought! - the LIFT COULD HAVE A GLASS FLOOR!!! ?

It does now! It's a bungalow so where we were intially going to go up all that space went out instead! That said the extension is mainly where there was a derelict single garage and wooden outbuildings so useless space really and very little impact on the garden/views. There is planning for our double garage close to our drive entrance but that will be a while into the future due to funds.

You want 32mm barrier pipe, like this: https://ingoodnic.uk/25-25-90mm-21.html or https://www.underfloorheatingtradesupplies.co.uk/32mm-rifeng-wras-approved-pert-al-pert-multilayer-composite-pipe-x-25m.html with flexible pipes, you can reduce the number of bends as well.

He can build an A frame and use @joe90 's electric hoist

Very nice, bet you can’t wait to sit in it admiring the view.

One of these and an a frame made of scaffold pole. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200-1000KG-Electric-Hoist-Scaffold-Winch-Lifting-Crane-Scaffolding-Garage-Gantry/333657926630?hash=item4daf8febe6:g:eT4AAOSwVbVfEbeb I used to use one of these fir bringing stuff up scaffold.

I would have thought a genie lift would do the job? They go up to 4m and 180kg. We used one to get two heavy (150kg) stone baths up to the first floor as, like you, I did not trust the mdf temp stairs to take the weight of that plus two blokes given there were 4 screws holding it in.

Well this is more of a therapy session post or cautionary tale for anyone else. I spent a long time bonding the house out at the design stage, including the periscope vent positions etc and it was all based on 215 mm stretcher and 102.5 mm header. The packs have 215 and 102 marked on them so fine there, checked. Reality is the bricks are all 210mm and many less, very few more and don't think I have come across a 215 mm one yet. Headers more like 98mm. They are stated as size tolerance T1, and that allows a range of 209 - 221 mm. Some are a tad under the 209 mm, but certainly the average isn't 215 mm. I'd say the average is likely 210 mm. To keep as bonded out in theory would make for 15 mm perps which would look bad. The brickies are bonding out now and there are lots of double header and double stretchers being deployed to fix this discrepancy. This has caught out the Architect as well as he set loads of dimensions based on theoretically working for bond. Thank goodness I haven't ordered the windows yet. Learning: check your bricks for real size distribution before finalising dimensions.

It looks huge.

Developers never seem to have this issue which is galling!

Joists sat on top of the steel or within the webs..?? Sat on top is fine - easier if you fit a wall plate to the steel using bolts or a shot fire gun and then fix timber to timber.

This is my motivation for thinking about building a low rise wall to screen the ASHP and LPG bottles. I need to screen them from public view and due to the plot orientation the side of the house can be seen from a public road until a hedge becomes established.

You mentioned that you want the edges of the ply to be visible. I like that style a lot. I follow Scott Brown on YooChube - he uses a good deal of ply. Here's a list of all the videos he's made about using ply. He goes into detail about how to line up the edges of the boards. As usual, the Devil ( or God) is in the detail. There's some nice stuff. I really like the edge highlight - SWMBO doesn't . Sum ya win, sum ya lose.

Yes weedkiller, then level ground and rake top 15mm so turf roots can get going and lay turf and water regularly unless you get significant rain. We haven't had a decent amount of rain in months. Don't worry about a small amount of sand just rake it in with the soil.

Why is everyone moving these cylinders. Our supplier turns up swaps the empty one over and hands over the invoice. I haven’t touched one in years.

Ok, cool it is nice stuff.

Has it got a spotty stem a bit like a snakes skin?

Purple Toadflax? If it is I can't take any credit; just testing a friends plant ID app before I download one myself ?

Not sure what it is, at first I thought it was nepeta but on closer inspection the leaves are wrong

Hello everyone, My partner, my son and I have left the flatness of the Essex coast and have bought a little piece of heaven in the West Highlands of Scotland. Basically a 7 acre field, no house, just a ruinous and ancient stone barn. We have planning permission for a new dwelling and for renovation of the barn. We are bounded by the River Aray and have a large pond fed by a mountain burn. There is mains electric on site and a fully filtered ready to go private water supply. The plot was once part of a much larger farm called Ladyfield which features in a few novels by the Scottish author Neil Munro who spent much of his childhood there with his maternal grandmother in the second half of the 1800s. The earliest record we have found so far is of a tenant present in 1812! The house they would have occupied was demolished just a year or so ago but sadly the materials were removed from the site including all the slate which would have been exactly what we needed for renovation of the barn roof. I have spent my life earning money from carpentry/building and from my music. I write and perform my own songs and have toured the UK, parts of Europe and Canada. My partner is an advanced nurse practitioner and walked straight into a job at the nearby doctors surgery. So we are all set to go, well as I actually sit and type we are still waiting our final entry date which is expected to be in the next 48 hours. The plan is to get our static caravan on site and hooked up and get comfy. Then first move will be to get a new roof on the barn and rescue the structure which is all in all pretty sound but with the current state of the roof it is only a matter of time before it deteriorates. Then it will be time to work on the Scottish building warrant and hope to start our build when the weather breaks n the new year. Looking forward to keeping in touch with like minded folks on here and enjoying the ride...

you personal opinion is noted certainly not the case with my system -each zone has its own 7 day programmer+thermostat in room I doubt new house will be as complicated with MVHR and gaps under doors etc -zones will be much simpler -so heat source is only turned on and pumps only run when that zone calls for heat which activates both pump+heat source as for being an expensive option --not as expensive as you suggest considering the high spec and efiecent plate heat exchange +2 bronze pumps +all control circuitry+high class plumbing +filters+expansion vessel +pressure gauge which it comes complete with all you have to supply is one electric supply +one cold feed then just connect to your DHW+heating circuit and i doubt any plumber /electrician would ever get all the bits in as compact a unit and so that you can get at everything for service plus if you have problems then same man to repair all the ASHP system + its associated bits all you have is a simple wifi or hard wired panel for you to control everything about it new house when built I will be looking at same thing again and comparing with other units on the market at that time -that has a proper service network backup -I will not be wanting to guddle about with heating systems in my 80,s cheap basic ASHP + cheapest tank and pumps etc etc will not be on my list this is my personal view on the subject "the quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten"

Yes been building for 5 years now. Not the intended plan as a house sale did not happen when we needed it, so we had to lay off the builder as soon as the shell was up and do a LOT more ourselves with a drip drip feed of funds. A "build as you earn" project. Realistically still another year from completion.

Possibly it's a Viper's Bugloss which we have in our wild flower patch. If it is, then it could be called a weed but we call them wild flowers. If it's covered in bees then I'm probably right as they are a bee magnet.

If it looks nice, leave it in

If you're a complete bricky newbie, consider buy the bricky tool - makes getting the mortar beds so so easy

The worst thing you can do is check each brick. If your profiles at each end are plumb them the string will be plumb. Just lift the brick and when you set it down it will only need a single tap or 2 to get it down to the line. And then lift another and so on and so on. Just don't build till it's fouling the line or you will be moving the bricks further and further out each time. Only check with your level on your 3rdand last course. You will still have the line at the top edge so just go along every 4th brick, if your using a 900mm level, and plumb up then use your level across the brick run to straighten it if you need to. Same applies when you start the blocks. Don't plumb every block. Depending on how fast you are you might be quick enough to do every 2 course high. Plumb up every 2nd block then used the level across. Don't fret to much they will never be sheets of glass. Bricks and blocks aren't perfectly square .

i take it that as you know it's clay with sand, you know how deep to put the hardcore in to? the pile of recycled material will be fine for bottoming, compacted well with type 1 on top. as @Declan52 says, you can build up in block and fill with concrete, alternatively you can build up in well compacted type 1 and then shutter the slab on top.

Looks more like uncrushed stuff as-dugout.. As Declan said, tell us where you are. There certainly isn't any shortage of trades round these parts.