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To get back on topic😁. I didn't have 16k to erect, so erected in an more agricultural way. (Ropes, pulleys, harness and caribeners🫣). Wind was the only issue that stopped progress of sheeting on several occasions. Just finishing the electrics, and still have a hard standing to concrete at the front. Apart from some help erecting the rafters, and some help on the last few roof sheets and gutters all this was done by Mandy and I. Not going to blog this due to the methods employed, however, at no point do I think what we were doing was dangerous. Time consuming yes, tedious yes, but primarily safe. For those interested in costs / figures. 218 tonnes of type 1 and type 2 hardcore. 32 cube of concrete. Project cost so far £27k with about 8 cube more concrete needed.

Triton TT gas and water liquid membrane.

Agreed, although in his defence, it used to have a boiler tank there. When we moved in we had it all ripped out and swapped for a combi, which freed up that space. I feel like an idiot, because it's so obviously a problem, and for some reason, I didn't even twig that it'd be losing heat. It's right at the top fo the bloody stairs, too, so it's probably sucking everything outof the house as it rises. No wonder the loft bedroom is absolutely freezing in the winter! I was putting up a partition wall elsewhere in the house last week and have enough material left over to fix all this up, and had a stroke of luck by finding an unused roll of rockwool in the other eaves space, so hopefully this'll cost me nothing - here's hoping!

Ok it's not worked out that well. If you are embarking on a big TF stick build project then you need a saw bench made from timber with a good top quality chop saw. You fix solidly the saw bench to any floor and at night you take the chop saw home so it does not get nicked. Expect to pay around £700 - £900 for a good saw and blade. On a big kit you need a saw with a 300mm blade that does compound cuts. Don't mince about. This way you can fabricate a TF frame to the same tolerances as a TF fabricator. OK so you are not 21 years old any more. Making Tf panels if working on you own.. on site and lifting them up. You square the panels with the odd OSB board. Then lift them and sheet after. To stop the sheets dropping you use a temporary ledger at the bottom and then tilt them into place. Now I'm an old codger I've figured out how to stick build a TF for the folk that are 60 plus.. and have done it myself.

Hi all, I have recently started a project to new build 4 eco friendly homes in Braunton. This site has cropped up during several of my searches for guidance and detail which is inevitably needed when setting out on a new endeavour. Hopefully I will be able to contribute in some way. However I expect I will be leaning on the wealth of experience of the members for quite some time.

Ah, those were the days - red oxide Bondaprimer that really worked. I think Hammerite could be the answer. I once painted a woodworking machine feeder table that tolerated daily abrasion and the lack of wear was astonishing.

Just came across this thread and found it interesting. For the record, I retrained as an Architectural Technologist from 2009 to 2012 at UWE having spent a long time in IT. I had always had an interest in Architecture (having wanted to be an Architect from a young age only to be dissuaded by the careers teacher in the 70's) and we had always worked to varying degrees on our own houses. I stopped working in IT in 2005 and spent the next 4 years renovating a couple of houses (until the recession hit). When I say renovating I did nearly all the work, only the dark art of plastering and large scale brickwork was left to someone else. It was at that point I decided to scratch the itch that had been with me since I was about 8 and went back to Uni to study AT. I really enjoyed the course, and being in my 50's meant that I didn't have the callowness of youth and was happy to take full part in my course. I then spent 10 years or so working as an AT, working on relatively small scale extensions in our locality in Wiltshire. I had been self employed in most of my IT years and so the thought of going to work for someone else didn't appeal. So to the question in hand! I am of the view that you just cannot generalise in this arena. Titles play a part, education is not the same for AT as for Architectural courses, and as in any profession there are good and bad. What I would say is that my experience at UWE taught me that once the basics were taught in the first year (where the AT and Architectural degree students were taught together) that the courses diverged somewhat. There was a degree of pragmatism and practicality that was taught to us as AT students that gradually began to fall away in the Architecture courses, to the point that when looking at the Part II and III degree shows at the end of the course I was actually angry at what I saw. I suppose that there is no right or wrong in this discussion, its buyer beware in reality. Take your time in assessing the professional that you are going to use, look for and ask for examples of their work. The actual relationship with the designer is very important and like someone further up the thread said, one of the first things I said to anyone that took me on is that we wont necessarily agree on designs, it is an iterative process and as much as anything else I was there to guide people through the minefield of design to reach something that was as close to their desires as possible but was also possible both from a financial and technical standpoint. Some would come with plenty of ideas and others had no idea and simply left it up to me. One other thing to add is regarding titles! I spent so much time trying to disabuse clients that I was an architect, I was always very upfront about what I was qualified to do. On a scale of importance titles rank low, and as long as someone is not trying to pull the wool over their eyes with regard their qualifications then I think is low down the priority list of things to look for.

Dave, you're a star, thanks so much, just brilliant. That's all work I can do myself, too, which is a relief. The funny thing is that the heating bills in this house are so high you'll think I'm lying: 66 quid a day if we leave the intelligent thermostat on 20c for 24 hours a day as it would be intended to run. It's simply impossible to keep the heat in the house, so the boiler just runs continuously trying to top up the heat. With the heating on, and an 8kw wood fire raging, we might be lucky to hit 21c after a couple of hours. Suffice to say that we never run the heating unless absolutely neccessary, and have spent the last two years keeping the heating off until mid-december, and then opening up for two hours a day, which still ends up costing over a fiver, alongside however much wood we end up using in the burner. I'll be over the moon is this ends up fixing two problems at the same time Thanks again mate, and to Joe, too - much appreciated!

Finally just about finished the work benches in the garage, just need to make some plinths up around the bottom and paint them matte black! Was trying to sort some benches/ storage at not silly money just for extra storage and light work etc They are 2.46m wide so decent size All in both benches have been done for £700 Units are not the best and were a pain to build!

I would frame and board over that hatch. Then insulate that new ceiling from the eaves loft access. At the moment warm air from the house can get up that great big hole, meet the cold air in the loft and it is no surprise condensation can drip down the old chimneys. In the short term stuff some rockwool down the old chimneys from above and lay a sheet of it over the top of them. You will find your house warmer and heating bills lower when you do that.

It might be vented into a cold loft space.

I concur with old chimneys, perhaps “damp” is condensation from cold air 🤷‍♂️

@saveasteading I haven't diarised the times, but we poured the pads end of June, and started the frame July 1st. The frame was complete, purlins and 3 bays of concrete plus the plinth at the rear were complete by the end of July (we did the concrete on consecutive days, 1 bay at a time). I had to work away for a week in July, plus the local agricultural show needed setting up and stripping down plus the cabins were non stop June/July/ Aug, so mostly half days when both of us were available, plus any noisy activity was only done when our customers left so this was quite restrictive, when we had a clear window the wind would have other ideas. 1st side of cladding started 31st July We finished cladding, doors, trims and roof by the end of August. Just some lights and downpipes to finish. plus setting up my workshop, sheep pens - Oh forgot we had to cut, turn and square bail 8 acres of Hay as well. that's all sat in the field waiting for some dry weather to bring it into the barn.

Feeling stressed, walked round the site this evening. Plastering has started, probably will move in end of November. I don't know what made me think we could do this, till it's signed off I guess we haven't. It's been way harder and more expensive than I thought. What about you, if it wasn't plain sailing, at what point did you feel it was worth it?

Why. don’t do it crazy idea the correct thin coat system will be cheaper, by the time you factor in the stainless mesh and the screws, then the labour to fix it, then you need a good team to render it flat. the thin coat systems are really flat and accurate and have been purposely designed for eps. sorry silliest idea I’ve heard this week.

I’ve been doing this one 6 years, it’s just like a full time job without any wages. 😂😂

The other happy stressless moment was getting the animal runs built for the chickens and lamb lawn mowers which allowed me to move them from the farm. The lambs are very friendly and just yesterday I was sitting against the fence looking back at the house with one of the lambs standing on me nibbling my hair. That was a nice feeling.

Possibly you’re thinking of Tuck Pointed brickwork-a fairly common practice at one time to give the illusion of very accurate,thin jointed work.

We moved in on 7 July almost 3 years to the day we first stepped onto the gorse covered sloping field. Weirdly I felt very underwhelmed by it. That lasted a few weeks and now I love it and it feels like home. I’ve also started on my long list of stuff to finish which included moving 3 tonnes of gravel in the pissing rain yesterday. We’ve had loads of friends and family stay and their reaction is all the same which is wow it looks incredible or they are just being polite. 😂

As soon as planning passed and my plot of land previously was worth 5k instantly was worth 500k . I was jamming like a mofo that day

The difference between DIY and professional towers is like chalk and cheese. Don’t get me wrong, I was going to get a DIY one but the trades wouldn’t have worked off it. I think someone on here said they sold their’s for the same as they paid second hand, so I bought a professional tower. Trouble is, I don’t want to sell it …

I have a 7 metre one of this type and its fine - that is if you dont mind that it wobbles and sways a fair bit especially at the top. I have been using it for cladding and it does the job and supports both me and the missus lower down!

Exactly. No need for it to reach the roof or have a ceiling. But if I do put a ceiling on I might leave the gap. I simply decided to let the osb rest on the floor (it's on a concrete plinth) so it was short at the top. Plus the plinth is miles off level.No sole plate as that was another piece of wood..... Obv I could add a top plate if I want. I've learnt that this is tricky. Panels on the ground are very heavy. Leaving off the osb leaves them wobbly. Stick building in the air is very tricky. Def a 2 person job. No building regs. It's an existing pair of wcs in an outbuilding, where the enclosures had been removed for some reason. Goes to a septic tank. Site toilet is quite a bonus.

Id be using concrete pavers tbh. No issues with moisture.

Is there scope to lower the roof for that element so you’ll have a bulkhead below and therefore flush levels at first floor level? The bulkhead could be made out to be a feature too with a coffer for example.

Not correct under PD. Fences (including heras) is limited to 1m high when adjacent to a highway. It isn’t that dis-similar to when people talk about adding a trellis on top of a 1m fence (adjacent to a highway) or 2m elsehwhere. The trellis forms part of the fence and it being see through is irrelevant.

I'm building a gothic inspired, TF tree house for our cats...from lumber mill offcuts, free timber yard packing and pallets... I'll get me coat...

You could also swap the induction hob for a model that has built-in power management (which shares the power between the rings), if you don't have that already. These use 16 or 20 Amps, rather than the 32A of a regular hob. Of course things won't cook so fast if you have all rings running flat-out. Also consider a load-shedder (such as the Hager 60060), to temporarily cut the supply to a number of selected circuits if the total load approaches the maximum. However you need to be able to shed enough load - the immersion heater and washing machines could be cut without inconvenience, but probably not much else, but that may be enough. You'd need one in each consumer unit that has loads that you wish to shed.

The first problem thin joints is that they need a fine sand, rather than regular bricklaying sand. However a fine sand will weaken the mortar, and also take you outside the scope of the British Standards. Traditionally a mix of lime putty & (I think) silver sand would have been used, which would be a better bet than using cement, since it will absorb movement and self-heal, rather than crack. The second problem is a regular mortar bed can cope with deviations in brick size. As the joints become thinner, the bricks need to be more accurate as any deviations will be more apparent. Alternatively, you need to use traditional rubber bricks - which aren't made from rubber, but soft bricks that need to be individually rubbed / ground down to meet the tight tolerances required. I can't see why moisture levels would be a problem. Your best bet would be to ask Wienerberger. I'd guess that they either have a recommended mortar specification, or will sell a special one themselves, and that they will specify a suitable mortar joint thickness that suits the tolerance of their bricks. Through doing it the old way with lime putty would be an option, subject to convincing Building Control.

Go with a warm roof.

The day we moved in, our 2yr old walked in through the front door, cried, turned around and said he wanted to go home. Now, with another wee man in tow, they are always happy and excited to walk in through that same front door. Only took 2 years lol.

Pipes to my 4 year old shower thermostatic shower mixer developed water hammer. Bled the system without success then my plumber nephew suggested replacing the flow cartridges in the mixer. Suggested buying a new unit as was just as cheap and easy as sourcing and buying new cartridges. Unfortunately it has two outlets being an external unit - flexible & rainfall heads- so needed new cartridges. Phoned the manufacturer, Marflow, got straight through to the after sales service dept, based in UK, not some useless overseas call centre. Chap supported the idea of replacing the flow cartridge but recommended replacing flow & temperature at same time. Didn’t have proof of purchase as builder bought the items I selected but I did have the quote which was good enough for them and I was sent two new cartridges for free, arrived within a couple of days. Fitted and problem solved. What ever happened to good customer service like I received.

When we were buying our current house we discovered that the owners had not signed off building work which they had done in 2012. Our solicitor required the owners to get the work signed off for our peace of mind and so that the documentation will be complete whenever we come to sell. So the owners had to go on their knees in penitence to the county council. The planning department said they would need to inspect the work. They came and found that the work that was done not only infringed the terms of the planning permission which was given but it also infringed terms which had been introduced after the owners had applied for the planning permission! So the owners then had the choice of either quickly getting contractors in to modify the work that was done to bring the building up to the planning officer's requirements, or lose us, their buyers, and probably other potential buyers also. They chose to get the modifications done. And went through hell! For example, one of the completely unexpected things they were required to do was fit a fire-extinguishing sprinkler system throughout the whole house, which meant taking up all the carpets on the first floor and making holes in the ceilings above the first floor so that the pipes could be laid to sprinkler points above each floor. They also had to prepare a huge space inside what was a well-shelved lean-to for a huge tank in which to store the standby water-supply for the sprinklers. So, the moral is: keep completely to the planning permission that has been given, or reach a new written agreement with the council.

No planner is going to come down with a tape measure These things usually come to light when a neighbor complains Your pretty safe to do as they have told you Follow your neighbors line

I think we ought to be encouraging larger tanks. They store the same amount of energy at a lower temperature (suits ASHPs) in the colder months, and allow greater usage of diverted PV power when the sun is shining.

I also disagree, taped and filled PB is office style on a good day. You try sanding back on a PB wall and you hit paper. You knock a PB wall and you hit paper. You BREATHE next to a PB wall and..... With skim you get a layer which is infinitely harder wearing, can be filled and sanding without instantly lifting fibres, and can absorb all the undulations that boarding, taping and filling simply cannot ever do. Ive been around both long enough to give an informative perspective. Plaster if you want a home, tape if it's an office. When the sun hits a taped wall you can even spot where the studs are.

Noob . Come and talk to the experienced guy.

That's me and I'm constantly stressed and on edge.....except when I'm drunk.