epsilonGreedy

Looking at builder merchant web sites both widths of underlay are mainstream hence my confusion. I assume the fewer overlaps from using 1.5m rolls on a new roof is preferable. In the case of my hipped, L-shaped 30 degree pitch roof should I consider using 1.0m rolls? The felt might have to cope with a couple of months of exposure. Background Info: Cold attic space, 600mm truss centers and the felt will be drapped without sarking support.

Larger slates make a roof look more commercial. If 200 x 400 slates were mainstream I would select these for my roof as they give more of a heritage look, if this is the objective. One reason I have not confirmed an order for Nu-lok is because the system's reduced lap gives a roof a different look.

My trusses sit on the inner block wall so in theory the wall plate seat should be dry. Boxed eaves should help as well.

Treated/Untreated C16 or C24 Rough sawn so it grips the mortar bedding or just normal smooth wood I am also getting mixed messages on the thickness. Local trades assume 50mm is fine whereas technical resources indicate it should be 75mm thick. My wall plate is supporting trusses as 600mm centers, the inner wall blocks are fibolites (heavy end of light) and the roof cover is natural slate.

Although @ToughButterCupwas asking about rim wallplate I found an answer about minimum lengths for regular wall plates on the NHBC technical site. The minimum run should be 3 meters or supporting 3 trusses as already mentioned above. https://nhbc-standards.co.uk/7-roofs/7-2-pitched-roofs/7-2-6-wall-plates/ The same page also mentions a minimum thickness of 38mm timber whereas my technical drawings say 75mm and also above @PeterWsays 4x3 is becoming the norm.

According to the booked titled "Housebuilder's Bible" project management would be around 12% of total build cost. I don't think many Buildhubber's opt for a project manager. From reading posts here for 2.5 years I reckon the breakdown might be: 10% Stoic go it alone, hands-on, within minimal professional help. 20% Light-touch professional guidance such as staged quality inspections done by an architect, material selection & quantities drawn up by an expert and/or having an expert builder on-call for adhoc problem solving. 30% Appoint a main contractor who will get a timber/kit house to a weather tight stage after which the self builder takes control of managing trades for the internal stuff. 35% Appoint a main contractor for the whole build. 5% Tick multi-choice options lists on the Potton Homes kit house order form, wait 9 months and then pick up the keys.

Six bedrooms is an odd aspiration. When splashing out on extra space most self builders opt for a walk-in pantry, home cinema room, a home office, sauna, gym, a garage workshop, a big statement hallway with a galleried landing or a snug. Family unit size is on a long term downward trend in the UK, the number of house hunters looking for 6 bedrooms squeezed into under 3000 sq ft and packaged a modernist shell is small. I suggest you first decide what you need, then comprehend what buyers seek in your location/project price bracket and then review what other self builders splash out on as internal square footage increases from a not half bad 2000 sq ft to a deluxe 3000 sq ft.

Anglian Water? This is what they say: Pipe position All underground pipework (except for pipes laid under a building) should be at a depth of no less than 750mm. Pipes must be at least 2m away from street furniture such as street lamps and utility poles and at least 350mm away from other utilities in the ground. This is to prevent pipework being penetrated by fluids or natural gases and allows for easier access if maintenance is required in the future https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/siteassets/developers/water-services/step-4.pdf I manually dug my short water trench to 750mm so tell that lazy mole if a self building computer programmer can reach 750 then so can a burrowing rodent.

Thanks, does the 3mm gap allow moisture to pass the sarking and then up through a breathable underlay?

My truss carpenter was surprised they were delivered as separates and are 32kg each. They were delivered last week on a flatbed with no crane and the first thing the driver said was "I had a double heart by-pass in February, didn't the head office tell you to have a second bloke to unload?". We lifted the load off manually in an hour.

Thanks I will investigate this option. A farmer was happy to visit and lift 1.3 ton brick packs upto 2nd lift, just not sure how much further the telehandler jib can go.

A two story house and the ground is low at the best position for a manual lift hence a 6.2m lift to clear the top guard rail of the scaffolding.

The carpenter persuaded me with this logic yesterday and I agreed to the crane hire. His estimate of £250 for a half day hire from an outfit based 30 minutes away was actually £350 plus VAT, then as the crane hire company discussed site access from a country lane and the requirement for a solid base formed from 6m x 6m of hardcore I concluded I was being offered a monster crane capable of swinging a 1 ton load right over my house. I need something smaller that can lift a 0.056 ton truss just over the 3rd lift scaffolding. There are no internal walls at the moment. In the diagram below the smallest rectangle is the single story utility wing and the heavy attic trusses are just 8 in total labelled A1 supporting the main 5m ridge. Most of the other full span trusses weigh between 23kg and 35kg.

Or this? The trusses are 6.5m wide and 1.9m high. Ground to top rail of the scaffolding is 6m.

Maybe something like this?

I ask because my roof truss carpenter has now decided the 54kg attic trusses are too heavy to lift up to wall plate height. He recommended a local crane hire outfit but their crane sounds like a monster that requires a 6m x 6m hardcore platform and the outriggers create 35 tons of ground pressure which sounds doubtful to me to swing a 54kg load.

I am nearly convinced the only problem I have is with the final aesthetics. I remember observing, while touring around Brittany, that the exposed hooks are noticeable. I wonder if hooks would upset my local conservation area officer. I think NUlok's hooks protrude less because the main fixing for each tile is groove in each of the special metal inserts. Or in the case of @ToughButterCup's roof, a scaffolding board is scooped up by the wind and thrown onto the freshly laid slate roof.

Hmm now there is a radical thought for England. Something to consider if there is likely to be a long delay before the slates can be fitted. A sarked roof with felt over is good for a few months I assume? Trouble is I guess extra measures are required to make up for the loss of moisture egress via a breathable membrane? My roof has a cold attic space BTW.

My slater has clocked up 30 years in the building trade. I think he just wanted me to adopt some of the standards he has applied to his on recent self build with its slate roof. He is circumspect about most modern building techniques e.g. he is not happy about being persuaded to accept 50mm of flow screed thickness for his UFH ground floor slab. He reckons many dry ridges will fail before the life expectancy of the rest of the roof and he does not think breathable membranes are as breathable as claimed "the nice thing about old tar based felts is that the nail holes self sealed compared to these flimsy modern underlays where the nail holes open up as the wind tugs the membrane". He went on to state that he encounters many newish modern attic spaces with mould on the timbers because of insufficient ventilation. He recommended eave vents that reach up 600mm i.e. well over the insulation.

My building moto is "when in doubt copy Joe90's build". Do you remember the name of your slate hook system? While chatting about Nulok with my guy he conceded hook slate fixing is the norm in Brittany, it should be a robust option given the wild weather in Finistère and their > 45 degree roof pitches.

The truss manufacturer knew I was having a slate roof cover and did not raise the option of 450mm centres. The boss visited onsite to confirm measurements and we had a long chat about self building hence there was time to discuss the 600mm / 450mm option, hence it must be a specialized choice.

My roof trusses arrived last week and are ready to be fitted. Now a potential slater for the natural slate roof cover has commented that slates are a pain to fit when the gap between trusses is more than 450mm. The slater says the extra flex in the "lats" at 600mm centers causes bounce when nailing the slates into position and this bounce causes extra breakage. Is the slater making a valid point? I am no looking at four remedies: Buy an extra 10% of slates to cover the additional wastage. Not a preferred solution because apparently some cracked slates won't become apparent for a few months. Fit stronger lats, 50mm x 50mm has been suggested to reduce bounce across the 600mm centres. Buy a few extra trusses to get say 70% of the truss spacing down to 450mm. However because I have a hipped roof there is no simple way to reduce the centres where the prefab intermediate hip end trusses are sized to fit at 600mm centres. Go back to Plan A and fit Nulok to sidestep this whole issue with Nulok's its nailless design. Hmm! This good weather won't last much longer.

Are workshop vacuums subject to the newish eco regs that limit power of domestic models to a feeble 900 Watts?

Does your £180k budget include purchase of the plot? Most plots come with physical constraints i.e. awkward narrow shape, difficult road access, neighbours whose privacy must be respected to obtain planning permission, a steep gradient, trees with wicked root systems or dodgy ground. Given your budget you would be lucky to find a plot onto which you can plonk an off the shelf design.

The first time I purchased something from TP the store manager was very keen for me to open a self builders account. I responded saying your prices alway look way above the prevailing industry prices, he responded by telling me their advertised prices bare no resemblance to actual selling prices. That TP store has now closed, how does TP expect to remain in business. I sense a business in terminal decline with a price list designed to deter customers and IT incompetence leading to a £111 million write off.