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They ended up doing it brick by brick with a bolster, just... gingerly. Left me with a nice pile of bricks. I cleaned them off by hand, and today started building back up. Got 39 laid with the mortar that was in stock (I'm lazy and didn't fancy mixing my own, so went for those 20kg sand/cement dry mix bags): 4 more bags of mortar coming Tuesday, I should be able to get it finished then. It's not perfect, but I'm feeling quite pleased with it. The insurers offered a cash settlement of £550, minus £200 excess so £350. I saved ~£100 by re-using the old bricks, the mortar is coming to about £120, so I should have some cash left over afterwards. Maybe a celebratory BBQ once I'm done.

Translated: Your proposal is for a separate dwelling. But you describe that dwelling as an annexe. It isn't.

Yep As I say you won’t see any of that it will finish simalar to this

Finally made a start in earnest. The original plan was to stick build on site, but the cabin builds opened my eyes to the winds up here, and established concern for getting the house airtight. I priced ICF, and although the costs are higher in the begining I think, I can self build for similar money, but get a far superior product. This is a budget build, most of the nice to haves have been dropped. The only redline is we want to ensure this is future proof, so all on the ground floor. Around 12 months ago the area where the house is going was stripped down to bedrock. The initial plan was a DIY insulated raft, but the move to ICF opened up a more traditional strip footing using the ICF. Back in February we hired a 360 with a pecker to break out some of the rock to lower the NE corner, as the bed rock slopes to the SW. Bed rock exposed looking East NE corner We broke out and removed around 400mm of rock along the W and N elevations, the break out got shallower towards the SW corner. The main aim here was to reduce the height of the house on the SW corner, we will be bringing the ground level up to minimise the impact. We also need to strip some rock of the slab area to allow for the 300mm insulation. This week, thanks to an understanding BC officer, ( still waiting for the revised certificate of design to change the building warrant, but he's happy for me to proceed with the old warrant for the time being👍❤️). We made a start preparing. The plan is to shutter the strip foundation. First step was to level the strip with layers of compacted 40mm to dust stone, and also level the bedrock for the slab. Ready for stone looking W Starting on the North trench we barrow in the stone and compact. Adding more stone in layers and compacting, the backhoe loader was doing some of the grunt, but the leveling was all by hand, 100mm layers at time. looking NE Took the decision to build the sub slab to what will be the same level as the strip footing, this allows for the Radon barrier to be put under the strip up the side and then on top of this sub slab, then all services will be above the radon barrier and below the insulation in another layer of compacted hardcore. The main reason for, what will be a fiddly taks of having the radon barrier under the strip, is that the strip footing has 288 starter rebars and sealing these penetrations would be worse. Once the strip is poured we will finish of the back filling and install the radon barrier. More stone looking East So 5 days in me and Mandy have moved levelled and compacted 70T on 40mm to dust. And around 5 ton of quarry dust, this is used up here as an alternative to grit sand for blinding and pipe bedding. The shuttering is 150*50 timber that will be leveled then the radon barrier folded to form a tray, later to be joined to the slab. I'm going to use 6mm threaded rods to link the two shutters together, preventing any spread when the concrete is poured. Hopefully next week the ICF arrives, in I've got a 10 hour round trip to collect rebar. For a tank of fuel and a days driving I can save around £500 collecting from Central rebar in Aloa. For info, £930+ / ton direct Inverness suppliers (100miles away) we're after between 1250 & 1500/ton plus delivery charges ranging from £200 / £350 plus vat.

Standard core drill is about £35 a day and they have up to 250mm cores and they charge by the mm wear on the teeth normally. Pilot drill it and then cut outside in, finish from the inside and it’s a 30 min job.

I would have a 3 kW immersion rather than a 10kW boiler….. solar diverter for a start 2 immersions giving back up.

An update and a milestone. Each week I log all my meter readings, import usage, PV generation, ASHP consumption etc. Today, entering the figures into my spreadsheet revealed that I have self used £1499.79 worth of electricity since installing the PV. That has taken 4 years and 16 weeks to achieve that. It's all free now baring equipment breakdowns, That is shorter than the initial estimate of 6 years, due to the higher cost of electricity now. If electricity had been as high as it is now right from the start, payback would have been just 2 1/2 years. Starting to think of an addition to the system now.........

Ahh….right. In that case the battened walls are external so not relevant. So I can GL12 close to the external wall and use 600mm centres for them and should be rock solid?

Don’t worry I’ll speak with the SE. I don’t trust HH about anything so have gone direct to several of the people they use. They’ve told me off for this in the past as my contract is with them 😂 It’s not stopped me of course.

It's not going to end up supported by screed when the screed goes in? Having GL1's and brackets near the perimeter walls looks sensible, but just check if there are deflection heads

It will be the inverter capacity that limits how much of your stored energy can be used. Will your proposed PV and battery system be able to supply 14kW? If not it will never all be provided by "free" electricity.

Are the battens running vertically or horizontally and what is holding them in place? I think you would normally treat normally have the brackets a fair distance from the GL8, but if you have them close by the GL8 won't be carrying much load. Look out for deflection heads etc though as the closer you have the first bracket to the GL8, the greater the effect of any differential movement.

Think it was this. I had this set to 27 Deg from Combi boiler.

Enjoying flux 35p ( ish ) for 52kwh = £ 18.20 When you factor in the ‘earnings ‘ , the fact it’s powering your house , charging an EV ( only 4000 miles per yr ) . ROI ( as some of you are obsessed with that ) gets considerably better .

this post is an absolute gem. thank you @MortarThePoint. i've read quite a bit about MF ceiling systems in the past and your post seems to make the most sense to me. i was previously getting very lost with all the GL numbers but your simple 'use this, this and this' description was brilliant. so thanks again. i've looked in to the Gypliner system and watched a few videos and it seems really easy. so, once i've confirmed my posi-joists will take the load i'm going to be looking at using GL1 tracks, GL8 wall channels and GL12s for the brackets with the GL3 connectors. using the GL12s gives us up to 175mm drop potential and after discussions with SWMBO we're thinking to drop the ceiling down to allow us a full sheet of plasterboard on the walls. so that'll be approx 160mm drop and will give us 2.4m ceiling heights. does anyone know if screwing the GL8 wall channels in to 25mm battens will be strong enough btw? or should i be looking at going through the 105mm make-up of the external walls and in to the TF? i have 180mm screws left over from attaching the PIR. and any comments/concerns about this solution? and sorry @pocster to not use your suggested grid system. 😉

If you want to keep the trenches open for a while I would get some cheap but thick shuttering ply, cut it in strips to match the trench depth, line both sides of the trench with it and then lots of timbers side to side cut to be a tight fit, to brace it and keep the sides under pressure. But surely all you want is a bit of paper from BC to say you have "started the development" So ask them for that. If you get that then does it matter if the trenches get filled in?

I left a 10mm gap at the end of the beams to stuff a bit of foam down but I doubt it will do much good! I wish I was insulating externally but I'm not. To be honest, on my next project I'm knocking whatever it is down and starting again otherwise everything is a compromise!

My sound simple but draw a line round the stain with a sharpie [other pens are available] and take a photo see if its growing or reducing.

Seriously . With correct lighting ( not office style ) it looks ok . You get use to it and tend not to look at the ceiling anymore than you would in any house . Lots of positives; visuals no , not the best .

the joys of a shed build!

It certainly stopped me in my tracks. I am following with great interest as I was 80% there on going with HH. I'm extremely grateful to you for sharing your experience!!! Best of luck in getting it sorted.

Suspended ceiling benefits : Lightweight Easy to install No plastering No painting Access to pipes/cables Easy to add sound proofing Easy to add and move lighting Easy to add ceiling speakers etc. Probably cheaper than ‘traditional’ ceiling What’s your problem ?

Metal all the way

I'd recommend the Gyplyner system. It would be very easy to install. You could use the GL6 brackets to create up to 120mm void link. Longer brackets are available too. PB screws to GL1 track, lengthened using GL3 connectors. GL8 around the perimeter. GL12 is another option for the brackets. Also worth Googling "Gyplyner ceiling" for more info and videos. I compared suppliers and BG are more expensive but their dimpled finish makes it much easier. I'm using this system with AH185 (GL2) brackets. Travis Perkins carry all the BG bits but brackets were expensive so I got those ones from Minster. I'm screwing to concrete soffit (HCF). Plasterer wasn't familiar with this system so was a little nervous of whether it would be level. I've screwed (TechFast) each bracket in place on a 3mm packer to allow adjustment, but only a couple of brackets need tweaking thanks to using a laser level during installation. I've gone a bit OTT with GL1 @ 400mm centres and brackets around 900mm centres. I think the limit is 600mm X 1200mm, so I've made a lot of extra work for myself.

I do a bit of claims work and see this often where the domestic home owner gets the run a round. Also noted that you are not over the moon about the garage, I am disappointed to see that after singing their praises. Nine times out of ten when faced with this attitude I say.. yes matey.. you can argue about the quaility of work in terms of serviceability and delivery and I know that you know that the average domestic home owner / self builder does not have either the experience or access to the design codes, such as BS 8000 series and/ or knows how to construct an argument to justify why you are wrong and treating me badly. My approach to this is to look for where the structural integrity of the building has been compromised. Play them at their own game and force them to get an SE involved, their safety consultants etc, you start to run their clock up. I can do a half day inspection, write an email knowing that it may take them a huge amount of hours and cost to respond. Once I weave in CDM, material compliance and conformity and allude to "other concerns" I may have their pants start to fill up. All you need to do at my end is know where to look from experience at where you might find a couple of structural non conformities. That is enough to get the ball rolling as you say.. hey.. I looked in two places just on the off chance and it does not conform. What else am I going to find if the Client instructs a full investigation? You have I think done this under an SER.. one word to the SER Engineer will make them run a mile and now you have them under breach of contract? It's easy for me to call up the SER Engineer and have an informal chat. If the Contractor knows I have already talked to the SER Engineer then that will definitely concentrate their minds. I have won many claims on structural safety, brought a lot of builders, LABC and NHBC to their senses really quickly by focusing on the safety side. The secret is that to fix the structural safety side they need to fix the serviceability side also which is the thing that seems to be the issue to you. Now once you get them over a barrel and they can see they are stuffed.. then you negotiate... on your terms.

Mf is quick and easy to use Lightweight and very strong The acoustics are far better than wood

Or are they over a barrel? Are they ahead or behind on payment? I won't go into contract law. If they are threatening to abandon your project because their standards are so low that they cant improve, then there is an issue. As you said earlier, you seem to display your emotions: angry then apologetic. Can someone else speak to them? It is easy to say, but I have had this situation many times. It was hard after I had sacked them, and there were some delays, but I don't regret ever having sent them packing for being rubbish. If they try to sue they will find I have lots of evidence and will counter -sue. The thing is, they expect clients to buckle.....it is up to you.

Almost inevitable when you post a photo on these forums I'm afraid - but you probably already knew that 😊 If you have no drawings and the builder isn't able to confirm, I'd say it's important enough to warrant carefully cutting out a little section to reveal the junction with the inner leaf. If its another layer of rigid insulation, then you should be able to lift the insulation up off the block and with the end of a tape measure 'probe' for the end of the sheet. Hopefully it extends more than 100mm (to get over the block) and possibly some way past (to cap the cavity) or maybe butt up to the cavity insulation. Either way, if the fitter used foam to make a continuous envelope I'd be amazed and delighted - although it might make the investigation a little bit harder. To the top right of your photo the insulation (50mm?) appears to sail over the top of the concrete blocks so the insulation above might follow it but you need to be sure it meets the cavity insulation. Speaking of which - what is in the cavity?

I do 🙂

I hate this attitude. I deal with it on a weekly basis professionally and often enough when I dare let someone do work for one of my projects which is rare because even the "good ones" are never that good and usually fall foul of my high, but reasonable standards at some point, I think my plasterer might be the only one I think scores a high 90%, oh and my brickie 98%. When contractors are tendering projects they often hit us with TQ's/RFI's to help them with their laziness (often because they don't read notes, look at details or schedules or read the spec) and I have become so used to reading, "Normally..." or "The way we do it..." - I quite often respond with, just because it has been done that way in the past doesn't make it right. The "normal" or "usual" way for them is always the cheapest or easiest route, it's all driven through being lazy and cheap. They often just see something that looks like it will cost a bit more than usual and try and remove it, what they don't take into account is all the time and effort that goes into designing things, I have come to the conclusion that they are all ignorant or lazy/cheap. So back to your insulation, maybe 100mm is the norm, but your situation is not normal, you are a owner/builder who wants your house better than what you can buy off the shelf, hence the more onerous standards, why they treat these improvements with contempt is the bit that really grinds my gears. Most contractors would think most of us are mad they way we do some of the detailing and additional steps in our builds.

That's three phase, hence the 220/380 and the three brown wires issue. Stick it on a VFD and use that for the controls.

4%.

It's a single Greenlinux 3.2kWh attached to an LXP hybrid inverter. I don't have battery temperatures exposed AFAIK, just inverter temps. Probably not what you're after. I assume that if it were conservatively specced, you wouldn't see the same voltage peak at 90%+ nominal SOC (since that would actually be 80%+ real SOC), but don't actually know ^^. They do claim "100% usable capacity", i.e., they're happy for you to take it to 0%, so maybe 100% is the real 100%, and 0% is really 10% or something 🤷‍♂️

£60 gets you a external shower fitting designed for camper vans with a hinged cover and removable hose that adjusts temp. a couple of double check valves, isolation valves, drain valves later and you have a dog shower. got all the bits just waiting for the motivation.

Today I changed the plan to make it into a swimming pool 🙄

The guys have just told me they are doing another job on Monday so won’t be here. No problem. I asked about the job. A HH customer has run out of money so can’t afford the MVHR system. The house achieved an ACH score of 1. The solution from HH, cut breather slots around the windows. They are just cowboys. This isn’t the subbie incidentally as they think it’s a stupid idea.

The French.

Extra benefit

@Thorfun you know what I’m going to say ….

It was only valid to 01/01/1800. So you're 223 years late to the party.😀

Cracking offer through from B&Q Tradepoint today. Wtf? 🤣