epsilonGreedy

Building up from the edge of a concrete foundation would transgress regs, 75mm from the edge is allowed.

I ordered an extra joist that could be positioned directly under the partition wall of the ensuite. This wall runs in the same direction as the joists. In this section of the floor the joist chords are 97mm and spaced on 400mm centres with 22m decking. I am thinking of positioning the spare joist under the second half of the extra wide stud wall that will contain the hidden geberit frame and cistern. What is the recommended depth of partition wall for accommodating the concealed frame and cistern?

Thanks, we only have a few wall joist hangers where the landing joists sit over the front door fan light, I will pay close attention to how these are fixed.

Ok, this must explain why my carpenter used the names interchangeably. According to Screwfix this is a clout nail. And below is a plasterboard nail.

The trouble with 40-year timeserved experts is they have their own language for everyday things. I have to pick up two bags of nails for the z-clips that will be used for the perimeter noggins between my posi joists. The carpenter saids "clout" in one sentence and then "plasterboard" nails in the next sentence. Looking at the z-clips I reckon the pan heads would be better hence I should buy the clout nails on the Screwfix site, the "plasterboard" nails at Screwfix have tapered heads with the same profile as a counter sunk screw head. Which is preferred?

I think the title says it all. I am heading off to my local BM to purchase 8 litres of D4 glue and looking at adverts for this stuff online it appears to be supplied in basic squeezable bottles. I had previously assumed pro's only work with cartridges that fit into a decorators gun. This YouTube video demonstrates Caberdeck being fitted with the glue applied from a large plastic bottle. Is this the norm?

With 42 hours to go to floor fitting I am having doubts about some details. I am aware that bathrooms need a special water resistant chipboard and so far in my planning I have assumed a 60 day exposure rated floor board, already ordered for the rest of the floor, meets this bathroom requirement. Is that so or should I also buy some of that green bathroom chipboard?

This is reassuring to read, reckon I am looking at 2 to 3 months of summer weather exposure. As it happens I ordered Norboard Caberdeck+ which has a harder light grey plastic laminate finish with an anti slip pattern embossed. The other stuff I have seen (probably Eggar) has a matt grey finish in what looks like a viscous paint.

No not heard of that before, I will look at the video later. With a big tub priced around £100 I think the sealant would be best used for treatment of specific areas such as service penetrations or joist ends. I think I have 200 m2 of internal block wall.

You mentioned the gypsum parge solution to air tightness last year and at the time I ignored this because I am unfamiliar with the material. Would I be correct in thinking such a parge coat that will be hidden behind plasterboard, does not require great skill to apply? By contrast sand/cement slurry applied with a broom does seem more diy friendly.

Would you believe it, since your first post my carpenter sent a txt asking if I have any "roof lathing". He must be thinking along the same lines as you. Now where to source that in a hurry in a country in lock down! Though hang on, the joist manufacturer is supplying a load of wood for the perimeter noggins, would that not provide mid job joist stability?

Sure, the water permeation experiment was just to illustrate how air permeable a block wall is. The only inner wall I am trying to keep dry the one done in facing brick because when the mortar gets wet it changes colour once dried out. Seems to be a hazard relating to the white cement. @prodave's multiple posts on the fallacy of the airtight plasterboard tent have lodged in my head so I intend to put some effort into creating a half decent air tight inner wall shell.

Just been to the visqueen site after reading your message, would I be correct in thinking this is recommended over some ordinary DPM block sheeting because it lets some water vapor escape and so reduces condensation? Having spent two weekend laying on the ground cleaning up 3 courses of engineering blue bricks below DPC I am now all in favour of keeping things clean. Does the visqueen create a slip hazard when the brickies are bringing up the inner brick wall to wall plate height?

Coming back after. My main brickie lives in the village but we have not discussed the finer points of masonry around the joist ends, have I overlooked something? I read that blog while buying my plot and much of it went over my head at the time. I recall your response to my question over a year ago about how air permeable is a masonry block and you suggested observing how quickly water can wriggle through a block. My plan for making the inner block wall airtight was to brush a runny cement/sand screed over the inner face of block wall once at wall plate height. We will probably move into the part complete house before much of the ceiling is up hence I was hoping the heating will expose any joist wood shrinkage before I run some flexible foam sealant at the joist ends prior to closing up the ceiling. This is just my idea and not the result of any research.

He gave me the roof quote when he was idle at home, this week he was back on site as things opened up here. My favourite BM started site deliveries today. The roof quote excluded fascias/soffits.

Interesting. We have two chimney breasts, one stairwell and it is an L-shape floor plan. Two days includes lifting the metal web joists into place and fitting the floor sheets down. The pro carpenter probably adjusted the estimate for the poor fussy labourer i.e. me. He has also quoted two days to get the roof trusses fitted and that is for 1 valley, 3 chimneys and 5 hips. However he reckons we will need an extra body to help hoik the trusses up manually.

Good point, I will give Eggar a call tomorrow. In my experience of phoning large organizations is working pretty well in the middle of Covid epidemic because staff are no longer distracted by meetings, appraisals and all the other distractions of office life. The minimal nail approach you describe sounds like my carpener's plan. I wonder if that low-noise plan works best with a glue that does not set as hard as the foaming D4 stuff. One concern I have about retro fitting extra screws months after the floor is down is the possibility that the clamping actions of the additional screws might crack the glue bond.

51 sheets of Eggar Protect (60 day exposure) arrived today and my first floor posi joists are due on Wednesday. I have a pro carpenter lined up for Thursday/Friday and he reckons the two of us will have the 60m2 job done by EOD friday. The pro carpenter says glue + plus a few nails per sheets from his nail gun + 400mm centers + 22mm board + my overspecced joist chord dimensions will equate to a rock solid floor. He says fixing the boards with screws is an unnecessary complication. I am inclined to agree with his plan because I will likely use up the full 60 day exposure limit before the roof is felted and the worst of the weather is kept off the first floor. My concern is that additional screw holes will create water ingress points. The Question If I fit the floor with glue + nails would it create problems if I then later doubled up the nails with additional screws once the roof is on?

Some generously proportioned outbuildings there! Do you have a business function in mind for the office studio?

I was thinking about weep hole plastic thingies seen on modern builds round window and door lintels and also long the lower dpc where a cavity tray is fitted. Sometimes I ask dumb questions to tease out a bit more detail. Knowing the age of the house might help others picture your situation.

How old is the house? Are these ground floor or first floor joists?

I was concerned the BCO might expect to see a p-gravel gully around the whole house. Swmbo will be planting things the minute after the scaffolder's waggon leaves the site and way before final BCO sign off. We already have an interim potted plant garden arranged around the scaffolding feet on the south wall and suspect her planned wisteria climber will be 10ft high before the VAT claim is in. Last weekend in preparation I started cleaning the blue bricks with brick acid and back filling the remainder of the original foundation trench with best topsoil I had kept on site. Before going too far with this operation I wanted to check I was not wasting my time in view of the p-gravel gully question.

I am familiar with the standard big builder finish around the perimeter of a house at ground level, typically a 100mm to 150mm wide gully of p-gravel and often a path created using commodity concrete flagstones. Swmbo and I want something different which is to take a cottage garden style cultivated border right up to the brickwork as it emerges above ground level. Will we get a black mark from the building control inspector for doing this? Background: Our new build is in the centre of a village on a small plot with a wrap around garden. Due to a flash flood risk the dpc is two bricks higher than standard at about 4 1/2 courses above soil level. The first two and a half courses are engineering blues and the next two courses are F2 standard facing bricks.

Not necessarily, my brickie team overlooked this at their first two corners as they were so heads down. I noticed the error after a couple of hours but did not have the heart to order them to take down the first 300 bricks laid. The error only affects a single story utility wing and the other 4 main 2-story corners are correct, so the error will just be a talking point in the future and I will challenge technically minded visitors to spot the error. When my self build neighbour saw the change of course at a corner on his own house (i.e. his brickie team got it right from the outset) he thought they had made a mistake and was annoyed for a coupled of minutes until I put him right.

One extra aesthetic tip which applies to English Bond but not sure about Flemish. At the corners of English ( + Garden Wall ) the pseudo headers should step up or down a course as would happen in a genuine double brick wall.