epsilonGreedy

A book called the Self Builder's Bible would be a good starting point, a large portion of the book covers build costs and the cost of basic or deluxe options at each stage of a build. People also account costs differently in their claimed build costs e.g. some exclude professional fees and utility/service installation costs. Some pay a professional builder to build a whole house and think choosing paint colours qualifies them as self builders, others dig their own trenches and personally lay each roofing tile. You need to tell us more about your build plans before people can point you in the right direction. Plot gradient, rubbish soft ground, trees, distances to mains services and energy performance expectations for the completed house are hugely influential on cost and the schedule of spending.

I can report both items above worked out very well raking nice clean 25mm slots for the stepped flashing. Some of the slots look a bit fat, I might try the smaller 4mm raking disk for the next phase of the job. The spiky bit shown above was very useful for squaring up the slot ends and for creating a uniform depth which was achieved by running the spiky bit up and down the slot. One tip I can pass on is ink the drill bit above 25mm to provide a visual depth guide.

That VAT refund must have been large, anyhow I thought you had finished.

My collection is growing, 100% Makita here: 18 volt: Torch Pulse Driver Wood planer Drill Circular saw Multitool 240 volt 4 1/4 inch Angle Grinder Trim Router Plus my mains Erbuaer compound mitre saw.

I got two 5AH batteries in that recent £150 drill package deal plus another 10% off with that time limited all purchases discount. I picked up another 10% voucher today when spending £50 but cannot think what to buy to save 10%. I have noticed Screwfix tend to pair lower capacity batteries with brushless tools which is logical given their better power efficiency.

I heard they refuse to start unless the operator is wearing colour coordinated branded Dewalt work trousers. Seriously I could not buy into a tool brand that sells awful trousers.

Sounds like a no brainer regardless of a government scheme. However this will only nudge your annual kWh figure down by 3% if that, so the underlying question is can an ASHP work effectively and economically in a band D home? One assessment trick mentioned here before is to lower your central heating boiler temp to the typical output temperature of an ASHP and see if the existing radiators can keep the house warm during a cold snap.

I blame those pesky heavy oxygen atoms for those 12 tons. What is your current EPC band or number?

Not sure if the correct term is "mortar raking", "mortar routing" or "mortar chasing"? Anyhow yesterday I started raking out multiple one brick long slots in my facing brickwork to accommodate the 25mm inserts in stepped lead flashing. Because the roof pitch is 30 degrees the length of each slot is longer than a typical higher pitch roof. The mortar is just one year old and the white cement creates a surprisingly strong/hard mortar for a 5:1 mix so chiseling out the mortar is not an option. I started using a proper masonry cutter disk in my 4" angle grinder but soon realised I need to buy a thicker mortar raking disk like one of these: https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-masonry-stone-diamond-mortar-rake-115-x-22-23mm/85668 That screwfix example is 6.4mm thick which should help create cleaner cuts I hope. And so onto my question. Given the radius of a cutting disk each slot has a long shallow tail which will be awkward to fill with mortar once the stepped flashing is fitted. I would like a cleaner end stop at each end of a raked slot and I am wondering if something like this angle grinder bit will help? My idea is to rake out 80% of each slot with a conventional raking disk and then tidy up the ends with a bit like this: https://www.screwfix.com/p/mortar-rake-8-x-40mm/31307

I noticed this uplift issue after making a couple of code-4 soakers. Think I will reassign the existing 210mm code-4 roll to the stepped flashing, buy a roll of code-3 and start again with the soakers. There was me thinking more expensive code-4 = better soakers. Fascia to ridge is just 2m which means my sections should be about 1.2 allowing for an overlap and some over reach behind the gutter end. When I switched to mortar raking this afternoon I had make a cardboard stepped flashing template to visualize where mortar had to be removed. Prior to any slating this required some numeric juggling to allow for the extra height of two slates plus a soaker.

It seems that before I can lay any slates I need to rout out the mortar for the 25mm inserts of the lead stepped flashing. All examples state this should be 65mm above the slate height before the steps are cut out and following on from this a 150mm wide roll of code-4 lead will suffice. However I cannot picture whether a more shallow roof pitch from the average 40 degree pitch will need wider or thinner lead roll. As a follow-on consequence of this I am unsure how high I should start griding out the mortar in the brickwork to accommodate stepped flashing inserts. Think I will have to mock up a 2m run of stepped flashing with cardboard.

I started making soakers yesterday and have watched that video many times. Even though the video appears comprehensive he still leaves open questions: Head-nail the soaker in place through the slate holes or rely on the "nibbed return" over the top edge of a roofing batten. Most examples I find online rely on simple hook of the nibbed return to keep a soaker in place and on my 30 degree roof I cannot see how the code-4 soakers would wiggle out of place. Mr FixMyRoof says he prefers head nailing but does explain expand on why. The detail of the first soaker is a bit vague, his diagram shows an extra piece of lead under the first soaker, presumably this directs run-off into the end of the gutter. I shaped a piece of lead for this yesterday and intend to mortar this in place into the brickwork otherwise runoff could get into the brickwork at the end of the at the gutter end or even into the wooden boxed eave below. He does not illustrate how to finish off the soakers at the ridge, just the step flashing won't provide much cover. I intend to buy one of these custom made saddles to form a continuous junction of the step flashing and lead roll ridge. https://www.leadworx.co.uk/shop/chimney-flashings/lead-ridge-abutment-saddle/

After studying some more videos on how to fit a step flashing I now think it would be best to route out the mortar for the step flashing before fitting any slates because otherwise the soaker upstands will interfere run of the 4" grinder. Was that your experience?

My eave course slates are the thicker ones out of my grading process. Even so I have realized that the nail holes have a counter sunk profile which means the nail heads sits within the tile thickness. With my roof the eave course batten pinches down on the plastic eave support tray which is a couple of mm thick but I would still like avoid any chance of a nail poking through. I wonder of a sharp pair of pliers could snip 3mm off a copper nail?

I have never met one. On YouTube 50% of those publishing advice on lead flashing did not wear gloves.

Now you tell me. After @ToughButterCup's warning I spent the afternoon walking around as though I had Plutonium fallout on my hands. The number of things touched is surprising, ladder, Stanley knife, ruler, tin snips, pen, multitool, static door handle searching fir multitool battery, laptop keyboard, kettle, teabag box... Tomorrow I will shift my lead cutting table to the drive because I don't like the idea of lead detritus settling in the soil of the future orchard.

Swmbo will not like that answer, she is expecting to see at least 50 slates fitted by end of day. It is a small roof just 2m from fascia to ridge so it should be possible to fit the stepped flashing on one side by standing on the staging and then reaching from the ridge kneeling on the untiled side. Think I might push ahead and get one pitch slated and then switch to your suggestion before fully slating the other half of the roof.

A champion and timely post, thank you. Does your roofer do FaceTime video consultations?

I think I have two options: A - Slate the whole roof then rake out the mortar and fit the lead stepped flashing at the abutment using some foam or PIR sheet as a platform to avoid point loads on the newly laid slate. B - Fit a strip slates up the abutment 2 slates wide and then fit the stepped flashing while I can still support my weight on the roof battens. What would a roofing pro do? I am 6ft tall with a BMI around 25 or 26 = not fat.

That is the type of phrase I was looking for.

Yup already done the grading, but any confirmation is welcome at this point. The following confession will probably trigger some hilarity but I actually used Swmbo's kitchen scales to grade the slates but after the first 50 I could grade them by eye and hand weight. The following in grams for 10x20 slates: 1850 to +2000 = Thick. 1700 to 1850 = Medium < 1700 = Thin (not many of these). The more difficult aspect of slate grading is deciding when to reject a slate due to a bend across the slate. A pro restoration slater from a nearby site visited and double checked my grading. He said I was rejecting too many on the bend criteria and he would use some of those. With all my hips and eave slates I should be able to use some of the bent slates where the bend can be cut off.

My local roofing merchant sells the same size for fixing roofing battens. The Timco band in their case. This is what the NHBC says, it is strange how industry practice on this point completely deviates from the written advice. a minimum of 3.35mm x 65mm long (10 gauge) and a minimum of 30mm longer than the batten thickness https://nhbc-standards.co.uk/7-roofs/7-2-pitched-roofs/7-2-17-battens/

That is interesting, I can now visualise the point you are making. I had not considered the counter argument to blunting nails. With my rafters doubled up at 300mm centres I am less concerned about the pull out risk. I guess only a seasoned roof repairer can comment on the most common mode of roof failure, i.e. is it battens lifting off the rafters or battens splitting?

When nailing new natural slates how tight should the slates be nailed to a batten? I understand the nailing should not induce any bend to the slate which defines the upper boundary to my question. So maybe the question is how loose is acceptable? I am nailing with copper nails on 2x1 battens with the rafters below at 300mm centres. The slates are 20x10 of average thickness (guess 4mm to 5mm thick). It is a 30 degree roof which might be more prone to wind uplift and hence rattling tiles. The batten centres are 202mm which translates into a mid range head lap and I am building in a sheltered location. My natural inclination when approaching this task is that before any further slates are layered on a newly nailed slate there might be a hint movement at the nail two holes when lateral force is applied to the slate and this might translate into a mm or two of lateral articulation at the bottom of the slate when high finger force is applied sideways. However is the slate rattles to a finger tap then it is too loose.

Given the toxicity of lead should I wear gloves when handling new lead roll to cut & shape lead soakers and other flashing?