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I went a bit ott with mine but I got a good airtest the other day. Every gap and joint squirted with some form of sealant and then painted over with an airtight paint.

It’s been a while since my last blog post and over the last 5 weeks the basement contractors have been busy and have finished the basement. Well, the external walls at least as we still need to build the internal walls and put the block and beam on top. It’s looking really good although it is a bit reminiscent of a prison with all the concrete and 3m high walls (not that I’ve been in many/any prisons that is, it’s just from watching movies). The groundworkers are back on-site tomorrow to carry on with fitting the external EPS insulation, backfill and the rest of the foundations for the above ground arms of our property. Here’s a sped up time-lapse video of the entire basement build. 3:40s long so it shouldn’t be too onerous to watch. We had one hiccup with the basement construction when the digger driver decided to turn the cab a bit too close to our existing house and crunch into the wall causing a massive horizontal and vertical crack. Luckily it was a room we use as a larder that is attached to the main building of our existing house but I still wasn’t happy especially when the main response I got was “well, you’re going to knock it down anyway” and “it’s only cosmetic”. Like that’s ok then ?. Anyway, they resined helibars in place to sure up the walls and, even though it doesn’t look great, I am at least happy that it won’t fall down before we knock it down. Apart from that, all is well and we’re happy with the basement and the progress so far and are looking forward to next week to see some more progress. Here are a few photos of the finished basement (although it's a lot cleaner now they've finished, I just don't have any photos since that happened! ?‍♂️). the sunken courtyard: During the basement build we had a road closure of our single track road to allow UK Power Networks and Southern Water to install our new 3-phase electricity connection and water. A road closure is a very expensive thing as the local council want their pound of flesh to pay for administration and notification of the road closure. So we had to pay for this twice. But, I managed to persuade both utility companies (actually Clancy Docwra for the water) to work under one road closure at the same time. Unbelievable and anyone I’ve ever spoken to has said “yeah, good luck with that!”. So, if anyone ever doubts that you can get utilities to work together I am proof that it’s possible. I will be getting a refund for the other road closure (that's about £2k saved thank you very much) which is a very nice bonus. UKPN came and dug the trench across the road, Clancy then put in their water main, backfilled a little and then UKPN put in their cable and then Clancy backfilled ready for Clancy to come along the next day and tarmac it. All done and dusted in 1 1/2 days. Very organised and efficient. I was suitably impressed. Here are some photos. ? water main being laid: now the electricity (in ducting): multiple utility companies working happily together (who'd have thought it?): our connected 3-phase head: Both water and electrics won't be connected until a long way down the line but at least they're in and that's another potential headache out of the way. Thanks again for reading and, until the next instalment, it’s goodbye from me.

? Only boiled a saucepan of water with it so far . It’s in a temporary kitchen in the unfinished house . Be a few months before we move in and really use it .

We quote 200mm as standard to be honest, rare we use the smaller or larger tape. Check what that includes, give them a call and ask them.

Hello All, Thanks for letting me join to ask endless stupid questions. We've bought a 1800s cottage that was greatly extended in the late 1980s and not touched since. Previous owners lived here 35years and the owners before that moved in in 1929. It has a stunning 'old person' garden (steep learning curve!) and plenty that needs updating inside the house and a good size detached garage/workshop that will also be converted one day to a 1-bed annex. Plenty to be getting on with. TIA for your patience. CDIU

Example, window size of 1000x1000 is 4 linear metres. So that’s 4m length of ME508. It comes in 25m rolls (direct from Illbruck), so one window at 4lm still requires one roll. m2 doesn’t help in this instance, you need linear metres. I did a quick calc based on 75 windows at 1000x1000 windows, which is 75m2, based on what I do and would expect that to be around 300lm. However, that’s a lot for just ME508, I’d expect it to include TP600 and FM330 but that’s still more than double the price I’d expect to charge a client (I would charge £2.4k for 300lm for all 3 - which includes markup and application). They may be charging per linear metre as well, it certainly appears to be the case.

Anyone wanting replacement Stanley knives, Screwfix are selling their two pack with blades for less than the price of a standard knife - £4.99 for two knives plus blades. https://www.screwfix.com/p/stanley-classic-retractable-utility-knife-fixed-utility-knife-2-pack/464hg

Hit the bottle and you may be chanting that every week. Wonder if Alice in the Archer's will be joining them.

we have a suspended timber ground floor with 200mm insulation between joists and another 50mm below them (the whole ground floor is lifted off ground on steel posts). 18mm plywood is structural floor and I have 50mm to play with to final floor level. Tiles will be 15mm. So had quote from wunda at 3.5K for pipe, manifold, pump, associated bits and bobs and their 400 grade (high compressive strength) grooved insulation panels. I wouldn't tile directly onto these and want to fit tile nacker board (and then decoupling mat). I need to do something else, its too expensive. I cant get pumped screed, access really bad. One idea is to use cheaper grooved insulation with timber battons onto which I would fix tile backer board. or I could clip pipe direct to plywood, batton and use biscuit mix but lots of work as would have to buy bags of sand / cement and barrow it in (cant get a dumpy bag on site). Also of course theirs the extra weight and the biscuit mix would only be 25mm thick, cant go anymore or would exceed 50mm to final floor finish. Any bright ideas guys?

How are you getting on with it ? swimbo has her eyes on one and i like the idea as its going in an island unit with a high ceiling and will remove the need to find a solution for the extractor hood.

We are black and white. Downpipes generally tucked into corners.

@kxi and @Dreadnaught I have bought the Illbruck Compriband TP600 external sealing tape on ebay in the past at a very competitive rate. Keep it in the fridge before you apply it. I found it easiest to do after the windows were in. I have never used the internal stuff, just TP600 as external seal, squirty foam inside and polythene VCL to lap. I guess the inside stuff is to stick to the frame and VCL?

That's what I found too with IdealCombi, so I am going to install myself (with a bit of friendly help) and use the Illbruck system. I only have six windows.

Interesting. Our BCO did not want to see electrical or heating layouts, just the structural frame details + calcs. I left the electrical & plumbing plan to the respective trades, BCO just wanted to see the completion certificates where applicable.

I was referring to there MF in general Quite flimsy compared to BG But does the same job once boarded We never stand studs up and leave them un boarded Where as BG we often stand a couple of hundred metres of studs up before we board You get what you pay for

Well I could keep on worrying but realise that is not healthy ! In case anyone following or find thread by google I spoke to couple of firms today about dealing with the rest of it in a safe way and both times got a really experienced person who asked about my potential risk. Both said given distance from the jig saw (ground level 10m away from cut on roof) and then subsequent throwing into dumper and breakage (5m away) that the chances of any particles landing on my clothing very unlikely given the distance and outdoors and that was cement bonded white asbestos. If it were indoors or brown/blue then would be a bit more concerned, added to that I then was outside quite a bit after and walking around/getting kids from school so every opportunity to shed any fibres - do appreciate they tend to cling to clothing. Also both said even if some landed on me then at that level of exposure the kids could easily be exposed to the same at school over their lifetime and also walking passed other building sites/weathered garage roofs. I did quite a bit of reading on the cancer side. There does seem to be conflicting info on the amount needed but one thing seemed fairly consistent in that genetics seem to play a part as does being a smoker on top of that. The type of asbestos seemed also to consistently say the brown or blue are thinner sharper and tend to lend themselves to cancer more than the white. This side seems very inclusive and guess the most tragic as there are stories of children/wives getting it from partners clothing who work in asbestos environments but also seems to be some outliers that get it after a very small exposure. Thanks to everyone who has taken time to reply especially as mine seems a small/non existent exposure compared to what others have encountered and the outcomes some people have had. I am going to try and move on from it based on the above info and as a few people said not a lot I can do about it and worrying isn't going to be any good, I do tend to worry about stuff that never happens. Also during my reading now aware can exist in other places in house/products so going to be very careful checking well ahead of rest of renovation work where as before was unaware. Thanks all again, Lawrence

Been looking at self building for 20 odd years, finally it looks like I will have the money & time to be able to do it, not a lot of money and later in life than I wanted but I am hoping somehow I shall find somewhere and be able to build my home. I come from a building background as a qualified shop fitter (like carpentry but includes other materials) , but had to quit full time building because of a disability with my right arm, despite this I have completed 3 houses as diy projects including roofs, loft extension, central heating, electrical and anything wood. Can’t do plastering & dislike floor laying (no knees left). Looking forward to learning more..any advice extremely appreciated.

Bottom wide than top. IN the early years keep pruning back to pairs of buds to encourage branching. Trim back to less than desired final envelope, so that the many-branched hedge with leaves will reach that point.

So minimal exposure can do it but yours sounds small enough to be relatively safe. It is also a sunk cost, so not a lot you can do apart be sire to take care in future.

I considered Olof at ADF (great service from him) but ended up using East-Anglian firms for (i) supply, (ii) engineering, and (iii) installation of my 26x screw piles (3x companies who regularly work together). One of the easiest parts of my build so far. Happy to provide an intro if of interest.

On paper it's the other way round. TradeLine claim 0.5mm gauge and BG claim 0.45mm. Probably the joys of tolerances at play though which means the TradeLine is the thinner as you say. <rant>'Tolerances' is one of the great deceptions of the construction sector as far as I am concerned. Most other lines of work the nominal is what the manufacturer tries to achieve so sits in the middle of the distribution (mean) and the tolerance sets the width of the tails either side. In construction supplies, many seem to treat it that as long as X% are within nominal +/- the tolerance, they can reduce the mean to save money. Hence 100mm blocks actually being 96mm etc. It's a con in my eyes.</rant> British Gypsum: TradeLine:

We like Red Robin. Yet to plant ourselves but plan for a mature clear stem tree variant for the back garden to hide a neighbour, then have them as hedges around the perimeter of the front. I have seen examples where the foliage is satisfying dense, and others where it looks bare. My guess is that it is dependant on your pruning frequency and technique in the younger years of the hedge, ensuring it has sufficient growth at low level. I might invest in a gardener once every few months who knows the optimal cut strategy to get a dense hedge. Really like the combination green and red new growth and relatively small leaves compared to standard laurel, also red robin looks less waxy to my eye. Has a bit of a japanese vibe to my eye.

No idea I paid someone to do it. I thought they would use a sprayer but I guess not. Thanks. I guess a light sand down it is.

Nope, walls should not shed any dust. Your floor may though as it's just tamped flat vs cast so you may need to seal that.

To be honest, if you're bolting stuff to the walls the PB would just get in the way!

You don’t need a wall plate for and they will sit directly on the inner leaf of the block work You don’t want any of the joist lapping into the cavity

Yep All the time Some of our jobs spec BG The ones that don’t We use tradeline Or Gtec About a third cheaper

65 days unless he’s using a modified cement product to mix it with.

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your property purchase, deep renovations are very fiddly and time consuming and established gardens can be a full time job in themselves…. But if you make sure to enjoy the process it will not feel like an unpaid job but rather a challenging hobby ! your in the right place to get started, read some blogs and cherry pick threads that are going to be relevant to you as a starting point. best of luck cpd

Hi Everyone, Well I have googled and googled and ended up here, which seems to have a wealth of knowledge that goodness, I am looking for advice, 10 years ago we converted our detached double garage into an annexe 1 bed, living room, shower room and kitchen. We obtained change of use from the LPA to habitable room. I now want to split the plot and have the annexe as a separate dwelling. I want to extend the annex under permitted development with a side and rear extension. Then sell the original house and move into the annex. We have rented the annex for longer than four years so I think I can get it classified as a separate dwelling under the 4-year rule with a lawful development certificate. Sound like a plan? what are the pitfalls? Bound to be something to stop me. Any help or advice for a novice much appreciated

And finally the slabs were lined up correctly (long story) and I was able to seal them up just this week. I first applied the foam to the open ends. Maybe could have used a little less in places, though not much less as it tended to slump over if applied to thinly. Expanded out quite a bit and I found it necessary, or at least neater, to apply it at least 50mm into the hollows. Plan had been to use the blower proof paint to seal the parged walls to the slabs, but with some gaps I found it easier to just use the foam. Probably cheaper too. You can see in the photo a bit of the dark blue blowerproof. In all I used 4 cans of FM330. There's 13m of slabs, so 26m of slab ends.

I got all my services in with one road opening, Scottish water did the road opening (actually their appointed contractor) and were happy for me to lay in ducts for electricity and telephone before they filled it and closed it.

No. SWMBO bought the land (then an orchard) for £1000. Took Gorgeous George to change one sentence in Planning Law ... in favour of sustainable development.... to make us believe we might have a chance. Honestly.

I might be wrong but I think minimum U-value for domestic is 0.16. For non domestic it is 0.22. These figures are for new build, not renovation but I believe a barn conversion is effectively a new build - but I could be wrong. can you not just go for 100mm external insulation? No need for internal insulation then. Then either render straight onto the wall or vcl/ battens for service void / plasterboard.

Yes. All the sand from the same quarry, and white cement.

Use ready mix mortar.

High levels over time is what causes problems like asbestosis. I would not worry about what you've described at all and it sounds like you are generally being careful anyway.

That’s just 10%, wait until you start ordering insulation and stuff.

Unfortunately It’s a worldwide problem An American friend of ours put this up on FB yesterday

We used a suspended timber ground floor because of the site levels and amount we had to excavate to strip the top soil etc, we would have needed to build up the ground level about 900mm at the lowest point. As it was we had to import quite a lot of inert infill just to get high enough to pour the no structural oversite under the timber floor. So for us it was cost, not any "act", Our builder did try his best to persuade us to build up and pour a solid slab which suggests there would have been no reason not to do so.

In case anyone out there is interested - we managed to reclaim our PD rights successfully. A real result. Much teeth-gnashing among the neighbours but hey, the rules are the rules, right? We found the council lob this remove PD rights clause almost as a default setting, which is extraordinary. There's a total pattern to it. It's like preying on the naivety of home owners. Anyway, this is the man we have to think for a formidable application > http://just-planning.co.uk/

The Victorians used up the last of the decent land with a bit of natural drainage in the east of England, we 21st century builders in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire have to contend with more ground moisture.

How does Concrete slab compare to Beam and Block on cost, weight and insulation. We have a ground floor area 12 metres by 6 metres, it needs to be on piles with a steel ringbeam as water has to be able to flow through in a flood situation. The gap from soil level to ground floor level will be approximately 500 mm, so looking for best solution Thanks Colin

You can use a purple “paint” that guarantees air tightness. https://www.ecomerchant.co.uk/liquid-blowerproof-brush-paint-on-airtight-sealing-membrane-5kg.html

I think I am definitely a member, ask @SteamyTea what our ground is like!, 10inches of suspect soil on solid yellow clay, either very boggy or hard as nails and cracked in dry weather. Despite being like this we never flood as there are no rivers near us.