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Showing content with the highest reputation on 05/18/17 in all areas

  1. Well I've finally started putting the Marley Cedral Click cladding up and thought I'd post a shot of progress. Really pleased with how it looks and seems very easy to use.
    2 points
  2. With spectacular timing, our window order went in too late to beat the summer factory close down, resulting in a 4 week delay on top of the normal 6 - 8 week delivery time. Better late than never, our windows arrived a fortnight ago, all the way from Poland. Having a passionate hatred of UPVC windows, we specified 3G aluminium clad timber windows. I obtained a few quotes from different manufacturers / suppliers, but in the end, after pushing hard on price, we went with Rationel, (supplied in Scotland via ADW Ltd). Without seeing them in person, it is difficult to appreciate the quality of the windows, but we are absolutely delighted. They appear very well made, so much so that all of the joiners working on our build have so commented, and my builder has switched to Rationel as his supplier of choice. Performance wise, we have a combination of 4-20-4-20-4 and 4-20-4-18-6 triple glazed windows, with U values ranging between 0.7 and 0.9 depending on the size of window and an overall project U value of 0.8. Price wise, including the extra delivery costs relating to our location, we've paid £290 per sq metre for our windows and doors. Fitting the windows took a couple of days. Whilst the majority of the openings in the ICF blockwork had remained true, one or two were slightly out which meant the odd packer here and there to ensure the windows were level and plumb. The windows have all been positioned such that they protrude 20mm beyond the outer face of the ICF block: : and are secured in place internally be metal straps fixed to the window frame and the timber openings: The standard Rationel installation detail is a little odd (as has been experienced by ProDave) in that they want a gap left between the edge of the alu cladding and the window reveal / ingo, so as not to block the drainage channel that forms part of the alu cladding. We deviated from this detail, primarily because neither I nor my builder had any confidence in it. We were both of the view that if left exposed, such a seal was bound to fail within a relatively short period. In fairness, Rationel do say that it is up to the installer to fit the window to suit local conditions. http://www.rationel.co.uk/media/1614084/Installation-Drawings-ALDUS.pdf Rather than using expanding mastic tape (compriband) we are using a Soudal sealant to seal the timber window frame to the timber opening. External insulation is then brought hard up to to the aluminium window cladding. This keeps the drainage channel on the alu cladding open but completely conceals the main line of sealant behind. The window reveals / ingos will be finished with render or timber clad hard up to the alu cladding. In the case of render, a stop bead will be used at the alu cladding junction to ensure a good finish and an effective seal. The window cill which you can see pictured above was sourced independently of Rationel / ADW Ltd. For reasons I cannot quite fathom, Rationel do not supply cills. This is the responsibility of their agents who in the case of ADW Ltd source them and have them painted to match the windows here in the UK. Unfortunately, they were unable to supply me with cills deep enough for me needs, so I had them fabricated and painted by a company in Glasgow - MSP Scotland Ltd. I paid just under £250 for all my cills. Again, we are delighted with the quality - 2mm folded cills, which fit snugly into the preformed cill groove on the underside of the Rationel windows. Two depths of wall insulation have been fitted to our house, 100mm to the section to be timber clad, and 140mm to the section to be rendered. The main reason for restricting extra insulation on the timber clad section to 100mm, was to facilitate the subsequent fixing of battens to carry the timber cladding. To facilitate precision cutting of insulation, a hot wire cutter was used: The external insulation was fixed using a combination of expanding foam and mechanical fixings. Foam was applied to the back of the insulation sheets which were then positioned on the wall. Mechanical fixings (pictured below) were then used to firmly secure the sheets, in the case of the timber clad section (100mm insulation), the long screw and black washer which fixes into the plastic ICF block formers in the core of the block, and in the case of the rendered section (140mm insulation) a plastic type plug drilled into the concrete core of the block. The insulation itself came in different sizes. The 100mm insulation was supplied in interlocking 1200 x 600 mm sheets. The 140mm insulation came in 2400 x 1200mm sheets. Opinion on site was split between the pros and cons of each size with advantages and disadvantages to both. Fewer joins when using bigger sheets, but smaller interlocking sheets were easier to work with. A couple of pictures of how it now looks: All being well, the scaffolding should be removed shortly, ready for the render system to be applied. The joiners have started fitting battens to the section to be timber clad so it's all systems go.
    1 point
  3. It is definitely an art that looks way to easy till you try it and realise 5 mins into it your shoulders are going to fall off and your back is squealing please stop, please stop.
    1 point
  4. They won't usually pass a ramp that is portable or temporary in appearance, according to the friend mentioned above who made a weak concrete ramp. He was going to just fabricate a steel ramp (he ran a steel fabrication company at the time) but his building inspector refused to accept it, hence the use of concrete.
    1 point
  5. I can't help, but am interested in how you get on. My plan is to just build a temporary ramp (possibly even just out of wood), on the basis that building regs don't specify how they're constructed. The private building control guy is unlikely to care much, but there's always a risk that he'll think I'm taking the mickey.
    1 point
  6. I did as suggested above, and built a gentle ramp up from the drive, around the side of the house to the back door. As there was then a 90 degree turn to get into the back door, I also had to add a flat wheelchair turning space right outside the door. The door also had to be Part M compliant, and the internal access route from it to the entrance level WC also had to comply with Part M. Doing this allowed me to have stone steps up to the front door from the drive, which look a lot better than a ramp. An alternative (not one I'd do, as I have a friend who's a wheelchair user) is to do as a friend in Yorkshire did with his self-build. He had York stone steps up to the main entrance, that were not Part M compliant. To get around this he covered them with polythene and then made a weak concrete mix ramp over the top. It looked pretty grim, but complied with building regs. As soon as the house had a completion certificate he just broke up the concrete ramp, revealing his unmarked stone steps...................
    1 point
  7. Make your level access to a sisde or back door? Build the ramp ot the front door from type1 and slabs laid on sand, get it approved by BC then rip it out and build your preferred steps?
    1 point
  8. So just bought 4 clean IBCs for £18 each on eBay, delivery was expensive though but it still worked out cheaper than the specialist sites. Now off acquiring all the other bits and will update on progress!
    1 point
  9. This is the one we used - Lusso Stone 25mm, 1700x800 I think but they do then in all different dimensions. https://www.lussostone.com/showers-c6/shower-trays-c13/modern-low-profile-polished-stone-resin-rectangle-shower-tray-all-sizes-p851 We created a walk in style shower with glass along the long edge and entry on the narrow side. I sealed the shower screen glass direct to the tray itself, to do this we cut the side alu profile 2mm proud and sat the glass on spacers when fitting, sealed up to each spacer and when the SikaFlex had gone off, removed the spacers and filled the gaps. Used Nick's bombproof instructions for seating the shower tray also. Used an 8mm alu profile on the vertical side sikaflexed to the wall and a steel bar to opposite wall for stability and then just grouted the tiles as normal - its not a wet room but looks like one.
    1 point
  10. lol considering I was up at 6 this morning thinking about tomorrow, you're probably right!!!
    1 point
  11. It sounds like that's exactly what they are saying! They are using the fact that PD doesn't apply until after all the planning conditions have been signed off (or, possibly, after completion) as a loophole. I'd just cease communicating with them for now, as if there's further correspondence they will only feel the need to reply. How far away are you from completion? If it's only 6 months or so then I doubt very much if they will take any serious action, as they know full well that you could remove the fence now and replace it under PD the day after the house is signed off.
    1 point
  12. The planning officers views aren't really worth a thing in terms of enforcement, and neither are the views of the ecologist. If it were me I'd just say that I'm going to plant the hedge in front of the fence, in accordance with the planning approval, then sit back and see if they take enforcement action. Frankly I doubt they will have the appetite to do anything, other than a bit of bluff and bluster. Even if they did decide it was worth trying to take enforcement action over that might well take a year or two, and would involve them in some expenditure, by which time you'd have most probably got a hedge that would pass muster and get the enforcement action knocked on the head.
    1 point
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