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Re Tata Steel & Greencoat PLX - can attest to my recent experience of Tata Steel and a massive hike in price. However, my quotation went up over double just for the supply (and then not even with the fascia and guttering included) with Tata telling me I needed lots of special fabrication at what I thought were pretty extortionate rates. I didn't receive much in the way of reciprocal communication when I went back to tell them I confirmed all my details with one of their regional technical managers who confirmed I didn't need any special fabrication way back when.. communication was certainly not their strong point for me. I went with the Lindab Greencoat PLX although you can also buy the SSAB Greencoat PLX (the Greencoat coating and the steel are made by SSAB which is basically Swedish Steel) - same product but strangely seem to be available with slightly different RAL colours depending on which brand you go for. I installed the Greencoat PLX roof myself but first obstained some installation quotations. I received a range of prices between about 33k down to just under 10k for essentially the same job of aout 126sqm - confusing. I got all my materials for the Lindab Greencoat PLX version from The Metal Roof Company who couldn't have been more helpful. They put me in touch with a couple of other companies so I could hire the tools and machinery and get a proper materials estimate. If you're looking for a local installer, then the Metal Roofing company will usually put you in touch with properly qualified installers that they know and work with. Worth a phone call. Re Oil canning - having looked around at a lot of installations and also from the Lindab technical info on this roofing system some oil canning is a natural feature of this product. Having handled it myself I'm not surprise. I had pans that were 8m long that are basically formed from something like 0.7mm mild steel with a width of 600mm. The steel is naturally stressed when it goes through the forming machinery which does create a 'texture' along those bends. You can reduce oil canning and pillowing by reducing the width of the pans and also from careful forming. You then also have the natural tendency of the expansion and contraction of the metal through weather. Having a mat colour definitely helps to reduce its visibility and someone, probably one of the roofing people I spoke to along the way, suggested lighter colours also mask the oil canning effect a bit more, who knows. When I laid my longest pans onto my large curved roof area - approx 76sqm - there was some oil canning visible as the pans self curved. Much of this didn't show when I removed the shiny plastic cover but as we've been through the summer with very hot days, the material has pillowed a little bit and is more visible when the sun hits it at certain angles. Oil canning was was a big worry for me, especially because I've seen to pretty bad examples on roofs, cladding and fascias in our region, but now that I've seen it on my roof I'm okay with it because it adds some texture.

You have probably lost the pre-charge pressure in the heating expansion vessel. When running hot water there is minimal expansion, but when the heating is on for a duration it is problematic, plus you have a very small heating system so minimal adventitious expansion available there. The heating system needs to be drained to zero pressure, then ( a plumber ) will bring a pump ( like a bike tire pump which you stand on and pump ) which will have a long hose. The hose goes onto the Schroeder valve on the top of the expansion vessel and you pump it up to the manufacturers specification ( usually around 1 bar ). The boiler and heating warm up and the system water expands, then the PRV let’s tiny amounts of water escape ( disappears as steam due to the heat in the boiler ) and then the system cools down again. Upon cooling the contraction draws air IN through the air admittance valve of the boiler pump and bye bye to the pressure after prob one or two heating cycles.

Hi, I'm in the process of (hopefully) obtaining planning permission to build a new house. I worked as a builder, mostly, carpentry, although I've also dug plenty of holes, estimated, built scaffold, laid concrete etc. for about 12 years.Trouble is that, that was over 40 years ago - I'm now 67 and getting arthritis in my hands so I fear that my input into the building process might be slightly less than I'd originally hoped. The site was our builders yard and joiner shop plus some more land that I acquired behind that, and is on two levels with maybe a two metre step up to the rear of the site which faces South. Plan is for a two storey, two bedroom passive house with the ground floor built into the bankside with an integral single garage. I'm hoping that people might be able to advise me regarding choice of construction method, materials, heating and ventilation and getting services onto site(especially landline/broadband). The only details on the current plan are for timber cladding(weatherboard) and a steel roof as we feel that would be in keeping with the existing building that we're going to demolish. On the ground floor I intend to have one room as a music room/studio so I'd like to know what construction method would be best for noise insulation between floors. Would the ventilation system be able to cope with a bunch of sweaty musicians with amplifiers and would it transfer sound? What's the best way of providing heat and domestic hot water? Thanks in advance, Al

All sorted. Thanks for all the replies.

Metal stud out performs timber Straighter Wont shrink Acoustically out performs timber Three time quicker to install Can be built 9 mtre high and remain plumb I stud is much stronger than timber You can nog out But most just use flat plate Each year we do groups of between 150 -200 roomed student accommodation Nearly always TF due to time restraints The partitioning would be easy for Tge TF guys to do as they go along But due to sound fire We follow them through with the framing Wiring and plumbing is also much easier with MF Pretty much like Possi v Solid timber joists

I used a mounting bracket for both of mine - even easier than the individual brackets.

Ikea do their custom worktops up to 4m and up to 2m deep. Their laminate worktops are very good quality/value. Like PeterW says £50-60 Per metre but that’s square metre not linear metre. Also they do cut outs etc.

I take it that an installer has told you this as he’s got a “special deal on the Hong Weng Chinese Heat Pump Company” it’s-a-rebadged-Mitsubishi-trust-me-love Heat Pump he thinks you should use ..?? Mitsubishi are definitely not unavailable and are in stock in the U.K. with plenty of suppliers !!

It’s not glycol you need (usually used in a GSHP as a heat transfer media) it is just an antifreeze suitable for a central heating system that you need to use. The percentage is dependent on the capacity of the system but is usually 10-20%

If it's any consolation I had a Protec membrane on my roof from December through to the beginning of May this year. It survived the February Storms including 70mph plus winds. Just make sure it's sufficiently lapped and battened down against uplift and it should be okay if you have a decent roof pitch. (Mine wasn't even battened down but stapled to the OSB and I just had minor leaks at the top of the curved roof where it's almost flat).

The windows I've ordered are the typical slow grown northern European pine. Given that the company are based in north west Norway, I'm hoping it's locally grown and sourced, if not in Norway, then at least over the border in Sweden! It's treated and laminated. They also have an aluminium bottom glazing bead. Future maintenance requirements basically ask for an annual check-up, some cleaning and with any visible issues sorted with paint touch-up - they provide a touch-up paint with the order. Longevity is a good question, but with this kind of maintenance, they should outlast Upvc, and provide a better whole of life cost than aluminium. In theory anyway. ?

And you are not allowed to reuse them as far as I know.

I used the green coat plx but brought it pre folded, I got it from a co called metal solutions in Bolton easy to deal with, like the product glad I had agro with Tata as I wouldn’t have found these. Nicer product in my opinion. Been on a winter and summer, very little distortion.

Good old fashioned railway sleepers make a good shed greenhouse base. I believe they were steeped in vats of proper creosote.

they used REAL wood and did not sit it on the ground probably large lumps of stone where the structure would hit ground with lots of draft space under it

If you seriously intend to sell in 3-5 years I would go. Timberframe on insulated slab, insulation levels higher than building regs, brick or stone skin on the outer, anything unusual will be harder to sell, we are a nation of people who like the idea of all this fancy design stuff, but end up buying a red brick tile roof boring box churned out by mass house builders, they cannot build them quickly enough. Save the fancy stuff for the place you want to stay in.

How many mistakes can you make before you should give up ? Asking for a friend ...

You must be joking Clive, I have trouble remembering what day of the week it is let alone what I had in a box of bits three years ago .

Some "old school stuff" on timber rot / infestation (woodworm etc) theory. It does not thrive in; dark, cold, dry and draughty places. So when designing aim for that, then you can add to it modern theory and treatments. Bear these fundamental principles in mind and you are off to a good start. Design well and you may not need a lot, if any added chemicals... and save money to boot! Ask this.. how did they manage to do it in the past before we had all these added treatments and formulae paints etc? There are timber framed buildings that have stood for hundred's of years! Keep it out the rain splash zone that Onoff mentions and so on.

You've a vote for the Cuprinol Garden Shades above. I've then used Cuprinol non slip deck stain and it really does what it says on the tin. Reckon you'd be safe with the Ducks Back.

Nick's is bang on and I think speaking from experience. If you have a couple of spare tiles and you can still get into the back of the wall then bite the bullet and have another go. I think Nick is trying to guide you. If you don't get these fittings lined up right then you'll end up with a leak in a few months . There is not as much play in the fittings (cranked etc) as you would like to think. It's ok to make a mistake from time to time.

See, this is what happens when the kids are left unsupervised! Surely the olive would tighten onto the pipe to stop it popping apart? Aware it's flat, I'd have countersunk the face anyway to take the olive.

Thank you internetknowhow and for your encouraging comments. To expand on what you say. Here is a thing for folk that are starting out, it is also applicable to "veterans" as sometimes it's worth reflecting on where you started out.. and maybe why you have become a "crusty old git/ gitesse" If you are reading this then you'll know (if you don't then spend a bit more time here as it will save you money and if you get stuck folk will chip in and help you) that this is great knowledge bank. I learn something new here all the time. I have made a few posts where I mention that this is a people business but I don't mean that you should be a soft touch. Do your research and this will serve you well. They say "walk softly.. but carry a big stick!" your stick is your research in some ways. The key for an enjoyable build is not to have to actually have to use the stick. Sefl building can and should be mostly fun not a nightmare.

At least we all know who to call when GRP roofing needs doing in your area. Seems they did it in nice, easy to manage, sections. Idiots try to do too much, too quickly. And your main contractor will hopefully learn from this. There is nothing wrong with GRP when done properly. I should last decades.

On the back of Covid quite a few companies have seen a sudden increase of work after the lull. It's meant in some cases them having to sub out and by contrast not sometimes being able to get their favoured (read good) subbies in the first place.

Here's a couple of better pictures before we leave the site for the day. It's touch dry too (with some flies stuck on it) and thank god it hasn't rained.

Apple's with Apple's? Sticking a guy in a machine and saying dig there is very different from a company doing a package to produce a desired result.

There is about £180 million worth of PPE contracts that have been handed to individuals with some sort of link to the tory party. It seems if your sister is a tory lord or you're a mate of Cummings you can restart a dormant company with no trading record in anything and win millions worth of contracts to make PPE. You don't even have to deliver anything.

I'd best dismantle the kids sandpit then!

Tell him he reached that trigger point a long time ago but like another idiot close to me just won't give up...

If your down there, you could come up here and design my pipe layout, no time like the present. What beer shal shall I get in ? what time shall I expect you ?

I think we’re jumping to conclusions here. It’s highly likely that there’s a perfectly innocent explanation for this. He probably just innocently happened to mention it in idle conversation with Robert Jenryck at a Tory fundraiser.

It was Brokeback Mountain......just brought a tear to my eye when I realised why his back broke........

I'm missing An Officer And A Gentleman for this! So I countersunk the fitting: Olive fits in the chamfered end a treat: A bit of Jet Blue Plus to lube things up. I'd need to take the burr off created by the countersinking so the pipe goes in further: Imho it works. Didn't go OTT with tightening the nut but it definitely squeezes the olive into the pipe. I'd risk it: (No I don't have a life ?)