epsilonGreedy

I might end up agreeing with you on that. My plan is to practice corners & window frames in a local agricultural shed which has a smooth concrete floor just like they do at brickie school on YouTube videos. Just need to source some budget practice bricks. If that goes well I will progress to a practice cavity wall with insulation batts.

I want to build my house in the wrong order and I am concerned this will make a later roofing job problematic. The part of the house I want to complete first is a single story utility block measuring 4m x 3m across, this will contain a toilet and utility area where the LPG boiler and electrical consumer unit will be hosted. The single story utility block extends from a larger 2 story block 4m x 4.5m. When the roofing the 2 story main portion of the house commences I assume the roofers will need a continuous working platform around the whole perimeter of the 2 story house as there are no gable ends (it is all hipped roof ends). When the scaffolders arrive for the final roofing lift would they be able to bridge across the finished single story section with its finished pitched roof? The length of the bridged span with will 3m.

Pinch yourself Lizzie and say "how lucky am I to be asking this latest batch of questions".

It's a bit rural out here, there are 4000 tons of chipping potatoes in store 200m down the road from me if you would like a bulk deal. The closest Breedon mixing plant is 15 miles from the newbuild site but the web site does not mention mortar being available from that location.

This is persuasive, reckon I am won over to the idea of copious amounts of readymix souffle being delivered onsite. To mitigate the risk of brickie no-show I will build up say three courses of inner wall block a couple of days prior to readymix delivery then I could solo lay and consume the readymix delivery on the mortar hungry facing bricks. Was £50 per delivery a special price?

The brick design is a bit arty-farty so I doubt many seconds will be laying around, I will ask when I visit the manufacturer. Thanks for the tip.

Thanks guys, this wet readymix delivery concept has been an eye opener. The Breedon web site says a standard 1/3 m3 delivery is enough for 500 to 600 bricks. For most of this thread I thought you were talking about bagged readymix e.g. 20kg Blue Circle examples on sale at TP. As I digest the significance of this product it does not feel like a win-win option even putting aside the £££'s. It must create scheduling problems, e.g. weather, no-shows by the brickie team or construction gotchas that need an adhoc meeting with an architect or conservation officer. The nearest Breedon mortar mixing site is 26 miles away. Consistent mortar colouring is an attractive attribute of wet readymix, I guess when I review the prescriptive demands of the conservation officer in my detailed planning permission I will find something about matching mortar colour to the period style buff handcut bricks.

Are you saying that readymix is supplied to site wetter than the constituent ingredients would be? I'd have thought that supplying pre-moistened readymix would be inefficient in terms of transport costs. Can anyone point me towards an introduction on mortar and readymix?

My brickwork should happen over the summer months so overnight frost is not a concern right now. The reference to frost was in relation to suitable mix for longterm frost protection of below DPC brick courses. Since starting this thread I have been reading about trade standards for mortar mixes M2, 4, 6, and 12. I need to research further but it looks for M4 (iii) for regular above DPC brick/block laying and M6 below the DPC? One manufacturer site indicates 2 hours before a mortar mix goes off, that feel right for pedestrian brick laying rates in June.

I might follow this advice, would I be correct in thinking that with ready mix you apply water to the readymix on a board and so dispense with the mechanical mixer entirely? Is it possible to buy readymix suitable for below DPC use? I ask because I understand that for frost protection mortar below the DPC should have a higher cement ratio.

Good to know this is more than a theoretical problem. I suppose that in mid summer weather it would be difficult to oversoak blocks, whereas in the case of facing bricks too much wetting could lead to mortar sticking to the face and a poor cosmetic finish.

Ok feeling stupid now, I think what they are saying is this. When bricks are very dry too much water can be sucked out of the newly laid mortar into the brick leaving the mortar/brick bond interface dry and thus lacking in long term adhesion. I suppose this problem is more prevalent as a mortar mix drys before use and/or the brickie delays leveling taps as these could break the bond if it is drying too quickly.

The following advice from http://www.source4me.co.uk/calculate_brick_block_mortar.php says... I assume that adhesion is a good thing, so why is it bad above the stated threshold? Furthermore in dry weather I would have thought that the stickyness between newly laid brick & mortar would reduce and that lowered adhesion could be counteracted through moistening of bricks. I am thoroughly confused by all of this as the advice contradicts my intuition.

I gave up reading A Brief History of Time because I found the anti religious sniping a little puerile and a disappointment coming from such a great mind. Even though I hold no religious beliefs I do comprehend a smidgen about the enduring function of religion over the past 10,000 years of human history.

I saw one of these featured in a British YouTube video about building an extension. The one you linked to is a bit overspeced with a 400kg capacity, I will look for something cheaper and with a remote handle.

This was my initial thought and yes 4 people lifting a 100kg beam and walking it 30m across a level site would be a doddle e.g. just a medium heavy suitcase each. The problem will be lifting it out over the footings which will involve each team member dismounting down into the void, then times that by 40? beams.

An interesting point because he was to be featured in a remake of the Hitchhikers Guide. I thought Intel provided his voice using the best available technology 30 years ago.

It will be June by the time is happens and access to half the site should have hard core down. The site is level. I will need to think about ground stability in the one meter up to the footings because even if the foundation trench is backfilled up to 3 bricks below DPC once the footings blockwork is complete, I do not want a monster telehandler compressing the ground as it reaches out and thus causing lateral stress on the footings block work.

A local agricultural machinery guy has hinted at this possibility, he described it as a giant forklift because he is aware of my lack of building background. The message I am getting is to adopt a hybrid workflow. Rather than expecting my team of 4 to walk these beams across the site, use machinery to swing the beams over the footings and position them in temporary groups on the footing blockwork. Then another day when my volunteer team of 4 is available, shuffle/walk the beams to their final position. Ropes and rolling hitches are my specialty so I can picture how the beams could be slung below a telehandler fork if the reach is problematic.

The following link and also the House Builders Bible refer to crane hire when discussing foundation cost planning. £300 to £425 is the daily rate mentioned. https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/comparing-floor-structure-costs Most of my floor beams will be between 3.6 and 4.1 meters long which equals a max weight of 103 kgs. What type of crane should I hire and will this include a driver? Alternatively would 4 friends be a cost effective alternative?

If I undertake the construction of my double garage ahead of the main house build I will need a relocatable working platform of say 3m in length to finish off the top 1m of the walls. Getting in proper scaffolding for the 25m perimeter seems like costly overkill. What type of platform/staging should I think of buying that can be used for the garage build and then later for main house build stages such as fitting posijoists, ceiling plasterboarding, coving and painting.

This is the route to take, large organizations like to invent rules and they assume the little people will obey. The only rules that apply at the the end of the day are laws that can be applied in a court. If the opening post contains a literal transcript of the dialogue with the local council then the official has undermined the council's case. He/she has effectively admitted the Council is knowingly misusing the law. Anyone remember the case of Bournemouth Council using a new anti terrorist surveillance law to catch parents cheating school catchment areas.

The reliability of these is location specific, they work for some. I gave up on mine when trying to lay on an internet connection to a garage office 20 ft away from the main house, the up time for the link was nearly as bad as a one bar wifi connection from the same main house. The link would work for 20 minutes then sulk until I reset one end of the link.

Looking at the distant hill topology we might end up as neighbours if the plot purchase goes through. My current garden in the flattest region of the Fens (next stop Holland) floods each winter after heavy rain and even under water it still looks green. That green stuff is quite resilient, do as the locals do and keep off it for 3 months unless you intend to host a Christmas croquet championship.

The narrative at that forum discussion I linked to needs a diagram, my interpretation is that the return of the re-circulating loop feeds back into the cold water input of the combi. A one way valve would be required prevent cold mains water being drawn up the wrong side of the loop.