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Showing content with the highest reputation on 06/03/20 in all areas

  1. I posted a couple of weeks ago John remarked that the repair was quite noticeable The homeowner has sent me a photo today While you can still faintly see the repair I don’t think you would notice if you didn’t know it was there Especially once we have had a bit of rain
    4 points
  2. I thought I would put a post together for those that are looking for windows, replacement or new build. As someone who deals with final order placing / final quote discussions. One of the things that crosses my desk on regular basis, is that the "other supplier" is more cost effective. Which leads me to ask myself "more cost effective against what" are you comparing apples for apples? When I ask people to compare, what we generally explain is to look at the following (see below) if they are not willing to supply a copy of the quote without prices. Product - is the product similar. For example are you comparing a Timber Aluminium cladded window with a Timber Aluminium cladded window? Glazing - Is the glazing on offer from both suppliers comparable? Is it double glazed v's triple glazed for example or is it float glass v's toughened or laminate? Check that doors have toughened/laminated glazing Check that windows within 300mm of a door have toughened/laminated glazing Check that windows below 800mm from the finish floor have toughened/laminated glazing Check that windows that are 1400mm in height or above for toughened/laminated glazing. Most suppliers will start to consider toughened / laminated from 1400mm onwards, some will still be float glass. Check triple glazed glass units. Some suppliers will only toughen the inner and outer panes and leave the middle pane as float glass, others will toughen all 3 panes (I recommend all 3 panes as toughened) when required. Why? quick example is from experience, a customer in the north west of Scotland had the middle pane as float glass in french doors, the doors are recessed with wall on either side. It effectively became a wind tunnel. What happened is during high winds, the door sashes had that much wind pressure constantnly, that the door sash was pushed away from the frame slightly and a rattle effect occurred (only thing I could think would cause this to happen). As a result the middle pane (float glass) shattered. This required the whole sash to be replaced, as the glass was glued into the frame on that particular product. Timber - Is the timber comparable, are both using spruce/larch/oak/pine etc.? Are any of the products finger jointed as standard (which is more cost effective versus fixed timber, but not as aesphetically pleasing). Is the timber cut from from one section of wood or is it individually glue laminated timber? Ug values - A 0.5Ug can be quoted by suppliers but the costs vary dramatically. One of the reasons for this can be the glass make up and the gas that is being used. Some quotes won't tell the gas being used but it's safe to assume that if it's 48mm glazing it is Argon. Pay attention to the spacer distance also, not for cost but if the spacer is above 18mm, convection can occur of the gas filling (gas moves around in the unit). Hinging - Are the hinges concealed or are they exposed? Door Hinging - Pay close attention as suppliers will have quoted standard framing on doors, others may have increased the widths of the jambs to increase the space available at the hinging for plastering behind. RAL Colours externally - are the quoted RAL colours the same? Internal colours - have they quoted the same? Some will offer the standard colours such as a clear lacquer, others will have them painted - does this have any impact on price comparison. Sizes - have any of the units been split, due to not being able to achieve the size required? Some suppliers will not be able to do large sizes, others will be. Look out for compromises. Don't always look at the end figure and immediately reject a quote as being to high, compared to the others. Most suppliers will have the supply price first, then additional items such as window cills, compriband, membrane, installation etc. which are optional to the quote and not necessarily required but may be included in the total cost at the end. Most self builders like to take on the mantra of doing the whole build, others would like to leave this to the supplier or builder and or source their own materials if supply only. What is being offered with the installation service, are the installation options / costs comparible to each other? Who takes responsibility for the windows upon arrival? Generally speaking most suppliers who are installing, should be taken responsibility from the moment the windows leave the factory, to the moment the windows/doors have been installed, sign off. If supply only, the responsibilitygenerally passes to the client once the offload commences. So it is important to document the windows before offload, during offload and once offloaded. The manufacturer will normally have documentation / pictures before departing the factory, it makes life easier on whether a claim with the haulage company or whether a claim with the supplier is required (both should go to the supplier who should deal with it). Warranty - how long is the warranty, what does it cover? Last but not least, is the quote comparible? Have the suppliers referenced things the same way or are have the drawings been scaled and then referenced by the supplier (this happens a lot when no window schedule exists)? A lot of architects don't create window schedules for some reason (one the major parts of a build and most costly aspects) and problems of missing windows can be encountered, due to the elevations not always showing "hidden" windows which can be seen on floor plans. Some suppliers can miss this, which then impacts that quote. Hopefully some people find this useful, of not apologies for the long read
    1 point
  3. Yes, I was saying this to my good lady. My confidence at a height on the ladder would probably be helped by a small ratchet strap to attach the ladder to the tree. Thanks.
    1 point
  4. Not a recommendation fir a particular type of ladder but having worked at height most of my life the best thing is to always tie it off at the top. I always have a short length of rope fixed to the top rung so when you get up there it’s simple to wrap it around the tree etc and tie it off on the ladder. When I started work with BT many moons ago we also tied the bottom of the ladder to the pole to stop it sliding away as well.
    1 point
  5. I,m not a sparky , but to me more earthing is good so why would you not run 3 core SWA to van and then fit and earthing rod and connect it to the earth wire in the SWA please explain why
    1 point
  6. Here are a few photos of the refurbished bathroom when done, including the 'ease of use' items such a shower seat, except for a few finishing touches. (There are a couple of 'before aids added' photos which I have left in.) There is one more post to follow in this series, which will talk about a couple of final touches, and detail the costs of the project. [Edit: Added bonus video from the "Recommendations for Bathrooms for Elderly / Disabled" forum thread created for this project]
    1 point
  7. I got mine from these guys and they were simply brilliant!! https://www.scaffoldingsupplies.co.uk/ They worked out what I needed but I ended up doing my own plan and it's worked out well. Members on here helped me understand the system as I'd never seen it before. As ProDave said, you might be easier to buy a package. Where abouts are you cos if you can visit a site using the stuff, makes it so easy to understand the system once you physically see it. Vijay
    1 point
  8. Just use 2 core SWA for the caravan. For the treatment plant take it's own SWA straight from the garage CU
    1 point
  9. I'd make the pipe exiting the warmer area to the outside much bigger than 21.5mm - prob adapt it up to 40mm. Just in case it freezes as it hits the outside, I wouldn't want it backing up ....
    1 point
  10. Thanks to you ALL for taking time and effort to help me out here, I understand more now than I did - exactly what a forum is for. ?
    1 point
  11. Yes. Running to a gutter or just outside is better than an internal foul drain as you do not need to rely on a water trap to stop smells getting in. It is only the condensate from indoor air, so not corrosive.
    1 point
  12. Oh I did all that and even gave him the opportunity to remove it as I owed him some money for some work done. He didn;t deny it was potentially harmful and said there was more waste in there than he had thought his mate was bringing down. As I owed him about £800 for work done I am not too much out of pocket but yes that stuff can be harmful especially in roads built before 1980s .. Thank goodness for the internet ☺️
    1 point
  13. I had my lad 3D print some Makita to Einhell (their Power X Change range, same as Ozito Power X Change) battery adapters. As detailed in the 3D printing thread on here, page 14 details the printing and making of the copper battery tabs: https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/topic/8350-anyone-used-online-3d-printing-services/page/14/ Or skip reading it and just watch these two videos! Batteries were low both times but when charged it cuts a treat. https://flic.kr/p/2iTgFqZ https://flic.kr/p/2iUaaRe
    1 point
  14. Get planning first, drawing a basement sized box on your plans will not cost anything. However, you will need to specify any basement elements that connect with the outside street scene such as light wells, exits etc. You should understand from your architect how the basement will meet regs on fire etc - if you do not have an independent exit to street from the basement then you'll need to budget for suppression (i.e. sprinklers) and also plan ventilation in there. Also be clear what it it being used for - or more importantly what it's not being used for (bedroom). Storage is usually a good label I commissioned our SE work after planning but we had a gap while we waited for our old house to sell so it's really up to you. Google, Yellow pages, etc. Groundworkers vary from one man and a machine to large operations and many will take on smaller jobs just to keep plant and staff utilised while the rest are off on bigger jobs. If you're going to be self building a house you'll need to practice this still at finding trades and getting them to want to take your work ? They will take you more seriously when you have drawings and specs they can price off but no harm in understanding basic availability and rough cost (with a million assumptions). Sounds decent enough. Why is your basement so small if your house footprint is so large? That is quite a compact space and you're going to pay a significant premium for it. An equivalent 'garden room' would be a fraction of the cost and not require PP. What is the plan for the rest of the floor and foundation structure? You don't want an isolated box floating around in the ground under your house and not have it tied to anything else structurally. This is why basements usually occupy a significant portion of the house footprint. Also economies of scale. Get your plasn out and work out the party wall calcs - all about intersecting lines at 45 degrees. SE will help you understand what that means structurally - never to early to start talking to a few, should give you a bit of time for free to understand the project and if you can both work together - you also need to know if they have any experience in this area. Remember they never need to come to site so can be at the other end of the country if needs be. That's fine but see other comments above on how useful that will be and how it works with the rest of the in ground structure.
    1 point
  15. A bit late to this but we have a dressing room as a corridor to the ensuite and it works well, good use of space, I did plan doors to the wardrobes either side (ers is walk in) but never got round to it and it looks fine without.
    1 point
  16. To work out your views you need to set up a gauge rod go and buy a length of roof batten 4.8m long. Mark on it your finished floor height( roughly) then mark on it your ground floor ceiling height, then how high your floor joists will be roughly 300mm this will give you first floor height. If one of you holds it up it will give you an idea of how high you feet will be off the ground when stood upstairs go and get a big stepladder or hire a small scaffolding tower and set it up, both get up there with a cup of tea and have a good look and think. Spending £200 now could be the best decision you make. I will tell you a story about mine, we have stunning views, the sort of views you would pay hundreds of thousands for. we Have a BIG picture window in our bedroom, I showed my mate around the house a few months back, as we have known each other 30 years he speaks his mind with me which is cool, the conversation goes like this. Him. You cocked up here, you should have a patio door there me. Why him. So you can walk out of your bedroom and look at the view me. Who would want a patio door in the bedroom him. Well I have one in mine, it’s excellent me. Really, oh, how often do you use it?? him. Ooh I don’t know, haven’t been out of it for————— a few years I reckon, tbh I think we lost the key to it. So have a really good think of how YOU will use the house. Because of our views every designer we talked to wanted to put in 6-7m wide bi folding doors, we used to live in Australia so out there it would be the thing to do, but over here, really, how many days of the year will they be wide open, we went for a large sliding door and a big picture window so we can enjoy the view from the comfort of indoors.
    1 point
  17. You'd be better off using ICF. Easy to form to curves. If you've a lot of curved / awkward sections, ICF could be more cost effective
    1 point
  18. It's tricky, not all ICF is the same. On our build we had intended to use MBC, but got cold feet and decided that ICF was a lower risk. When I looked at ICF for our build most of the systems required the builder to cut apertures for windows, doors, gable angles etc. We found that JUB did and ICF where they produced a factory cut kit, so no cutting on site. Less flexible but zero waste on site and a very accurate build. It's difficult to be entirely objective as you always suffer some confirmation bias for a product you've selected. Yes, it seemed a little more expensive at first sight but they did a lot of up front work and the blocks are very well made with tough nylon skeleton which makes fixing stuff like plasterboard or battens a breeze. Ours was their first UK build, there is a thread on the buildhub which goes into a little more depth:
    1 point
  19. Heres a site search for which icf A lot of tripe is talked about in ICF comparisons. Each has strengths and weaknesses. And your situation is unique. So go and look at a range of methods being built. Come back with a shortlist and ask us again. In the meantime use the site search facility for each type. There's a week's reading waiting for you. The question you ask is well rehearsed here. Ours? Durisol. Yes. Because it suited us.
    1 point
  20. If he used beco He must be a saint. Imho it’s probably one of the worst icf products available. Has been around for years and has not moved forward. Im using NUDURA do a lot of looking around locally you might be surprised how many builds are around, there are 3 icf builds within 15mins of me and a good few more within an hours drive.
    1 point
  21. Not a green wall but it’s my take on raised beds.... fish box garden. Mostly designed keep chickens out but lots of other advantages with it being raised of the ground to waist height.
    1 point
  22. You WILL need to earth both SWA's at the origin. At the CARAVAN you do NOT use the earth. Use an insulated gland so the SWA does not terminate to anything, and the caravan will need it's own TT earth (earth rod) Agreed do not use the 2 tier henley blocks.
    1 point
  23. Yes, that's the murky water I was paddling in. It seems that my local authority are happy to clarify that we would not be penalised for work done to comply with planning permission where the CIL does not apply, even if we later need to apply for full planning permission and need to submit an application to waive the CIL.
    1 point
  24. Best using a Henley per tail so one live and one neutral as the stacked ones are crap and if they break then the bus bars become a very big welder... Think you will also have to earth your SWA but one of the sparks will be along shortly...
    1 point
  25. Just a thing we used to do if you are not very successful and need to have a go at covering it up, we used to do this when we couldn’t find an exact brick match. Get two spare brickes and rub and rub the faces together vigorously, catching the grit and dust in a clean bucket paint a thin layer of waterproof pva onto the offending stain, chuck the dust at the pva and pat it gently with a soft sponge. You should be able to hide any marks and glue. Remember to stand a few m back when inspecting,as when it is all finished you will never go around inspecting it that closely again.
    1 point
  26. One year on from first install, I set about servicing my MVHR today. Aside from cleaning and replacing the filters, this is the first action I've undertaken with the MVHR. First off, the front cover is secured in place by a series of screws with a mortorq head. Quite why they have used these rather than the Philips head used elsewhere, I'm not quite sure. Fortunately, I had the appropriate bit, but unfortunately, the screw heads are that soft that one of them stripped. Gravity came, in a way, to the rescue. Whilst I was considering how to proceed, the cover fell forward and broke the flimsy plastic fixing through which the screw secures the cover to the body. So, with front cover now off, I pulled out the heat exchange core ( its a very snug fit so needs a firm pull). I anticipated that there would be some residual water / condensation in the core as it wasn't long after morning shower time. Best advice is therefore to keep the core level until you are somewhere safe to drain any water out. I washed out the core using the shower, and there was a bit of dust / gunk etc that came out of it. To dry, I left it outside and the wind did the rest. Aside from the water / condensation in the core, there was some black mould growth where any water would normally drain out of the core into the condensate drain. Bleach and a toothbrush dealt with that particular issue. Having dealt with the core, I wiped down all of the internal MVHR core housing and duct outlet surfaces. Generally speaking they were pretty clean. The summer bypass, which consists of plastic louvered fins, required a bit more cleaning, as the fins all had a coating of dust that had stuck on. Likewise, the extract fan impeller blades were covered in a coating of dust that had stuck on. I'm guessing that in both cases, the moisture present in the extracted air made the fins and impeller blades damp enough for the dust to stick such that it wouldn't simply brush off. The dust deposit did however, wipe off fairly easily. Finally, I checked the condensate drain, making sure it was free of blockages. After cleaning the two general filters, I slotted the heat exchange core back in, replaced the filters then refitted the front panel. Fortunately, despite the damage described earlier, there were sufficient screws left to secure the front panel and seal the heat exchange area. In summary, easy enough to self service, just be wary of the screws securing the front panel.
    1 point
  27. Apologies for the delay. When I did speak to them, they said it was just one of those things that can happen. The cold loft location may have been a factor, but equally, it may not given my unit was housed in an insulated box.
    1 point
  28. yes I am accused of being anal about detail but as my Dad always said “it’s either right or it’s wrong” and I don’t like wrong. People were always surprised when I did DIY projects and commented on the high standard. ( I think people assume DIY means a bodge) When I went self employed as a builder I called myself “D.I.P. builder”, and when people asked me if they were my initials I told them it stood for “do it properly” (and I never got a complaint ?).
    1 point
  29. How practical are you? It only took me an hour to learn how to abuse a mini digger. I'm thinking something like.... 1) Prepare an area about 0.5 to 1m bigger all around. 2) Excavate out say 250mm 3) Use Wacker plate to compact the ground. 4) Spread out the rough hardcore you have. Perhaps omitting any massive lumps or breaking them first. 5) Compact it. 6) Add clean hardcore. 7) Compact it again. ? Spread 25mm sand blind to prevent punctures to membrane in 11). Compact again. 9) Construct shuttering from 175mm wide boards on edge. Drawings say 150mm minimum thickness of concrete even below steps in sections B-B and C-C. I would use enough hardcore in step 6 to arrange for the top edge of the shuttering/concrete to be say 100mm above surrounding ground level. Hammer in rebar pegs to stop the wet concrete bending/pushing out the shuttering. 10) Double check dimensions because section A-A suggests walls must sit in right place so the drip bead hangs over the edge of the finished concrete all around. 11) Lay membrane to stop water in concrete draining out before it sets. I'm not 100% sure how best to form the notches/steps shown in sections B-B and C-C. Perhaps prepare blocks of wood to be pressed/vibrated into the wet concrete and fixed to the shuttering while it sets? Plan ahead for how this will be done! Thin boards may warp when wetted by the concrete? Sheets of WBP or wrap timber in plastic might work? 12) Calculate volume of concrete required and add a bit just in case. Order concrete with reinforcing fibres. 13) If readymix lorry won't be able to reverse right up to the shuttering consider hiring a dumper for transporting the concrete across site. 14) bribe at least four friends to be there to help spread out and level the concrete using spades, rakes and long boards across the top of the shuttering. Important it's level in step 9. 15) Crack open beer. If ground really wet dig French drains around outside?
    1 point
  30. How about this example.. £39,000 plus legal costs for sending email instead of the commencement form.. https://www.burges-salmon.com/news-and-insight/legal-updates/failure-to-serve-a-cil-notice-recent-lessons-learned-from-the-high-court/ He went to appeal and lost..
    0 points
  31. That's it, avoid the unpalatable & wait for an answer that zoots the way you want to go that involves less work. ?
    0 points
  32. Welcome. East Ayr - that's where the Jock side of my family comes from (half Jock, half Bosch) Precisely our motivation too. Still building after 4 years and I'm 67 ... and its still worth it, provided I dont pop me clogs soon. It took 35 years for the Planning framework to be right for us : a bit of a wait.
    0 points
  33. Things are looking on the ups...
    0 points
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