LA3222

I would say you are better paying yourself to get this sorted. If you start discussions with the neighbour about who is going to pay it will probably lead to a deadlock and animosity on both sides. You may see it as not your responsibility, the neighbour will see it as his pipe has been there since the dawn of time, he may see you as the interloper and why should he pay. - not my view, just how the neighbour may perceive it. It sounds like it will be relatively easy to sort and less hassle to just do it rather than quibble over it - just my take on things?‍♂️

I think I found them on ebay but then just went through their website to order as they had different sizes available. A lot on here will say make your own, which is perfectly doable - it all come down to how you want to utilise your time vs trying to save money. For me, paying and moving onto the next task quicker made more sense - I've got a lot to do, making temporary stairs didn't need adding to the list!!

I paid just under £200 for some temporary stairs and butchered them to suit my needs. They will be there for a couple of years so I consider it to be value for money - sod using a ladder for that long and trying to wrestle materials upstairs, it's a false economy. I had enough timber to make my own but why bother. It's not a lot of cash wheras it would take me a fair bit of time to do - time which could be better spent elsewhere. Just shy of 2.9m floor to floor. The timber framers installed a crash deck for their safety, I cut a hole through it and then knocked a hand rail up.

@Jvh2012 your situation sounds exactly the same as my own was. My plot is half of what was the garden of the neighbouring property and it is at the end of a 100m section of unadopted lane. The neighbouring property used to be a working garden nursery and all the plot plus loads around it was covered in greenhouses and poly tunnels, it was originally the only property accessed down this lane and although the land registry shows a part of the lane at the end as belonging to the proporty, the first 100m show no owner. Although we suspect it is the adjacent property it couldn't be proven, nor could an owner be found. This caused two problems: 1. Right of access. 2. Right to lay services. The first issue was solved in two ways, the solicitor said a load of technical/legal stuff gave us a right of access and that an indemnity policy was not required. I took one out anyway as belts and braces protection - they are not expensive. The second issue caused problems and delayed the purchase due to the electricity DNO. More on that in a second. Water - they didn't care about lane ownership etc, didnt even ask or check. I paid for a new connection and they came out and put one in. There were issues trying to find the main in the lane but the point is that they dug up bits all over the lane and not once queried ownership. Sewerage - the pipe conveniently ran perpendicular to the entrance way to the shared driveway. I got a company y in to put a connection in, it was in the lane but not enough to disrupt anyone. No questions of ownership or right to dig were raised. BT - Again, no questions asked. There is a pole in the lane about 10m from the entrance to the driveway. I told BT Openreach that I wanted an underground connection, they supplied the pipe a d I got a cheap in with a mini digger to do the trench and laid it all myself. When BT installed the line, they ran it overhead down the line to that pole where I had put my duct and then pulled it through the rest of the way. No issues at all. Electricity - these were the problem children mainly because they wouldn't confirm I could have an electric connection installed in the lane until I'd paid for one. I didnt want to pay for one without owning the plot and I didnt want to own a plot that might not be able to get an electric connection. So, I paid a deposit on the proviso if no connection then the sale collapsed. I then paid the DNO for a connection, their way leaves department looked at it and confirmed they didnt have any idea who owned it. So they turned around and said we'll crack on and if someone turns up claiming g ownership we will deal with that then! They used the job as an excuse to upgrade the line in the lane and reconnected 3 other properties onto it. In the end they had to dig 80 odd metres so my bill was about £6000 for that but at least I got a connection! For a bit of context, the lane branches off from an adopted road. There are four properties including my own which use it for access. Two of those only started to do so about 20yrs ago as they changed their layout. There is a horse paddock at one end also accessed by the lane. The lane is also a PROW with a lot of walkers using it. The neighbours are sound and I just kept them I formed throughout, in particular the paddock owner as they dont live local. The walkers and locals just 2walked around whatever we were doing. Hope this helps?

I think for outside I'd be using treated timber - I don't have a technical reason for why, just that like you, my instincts say outside should be treated.

I'm just building my SIP house now, if it only lasts 60 yrs then there is a real danger of it falling down whilst I am still living in it?

It may just be me but I don't agree with this comment at all. I know that when you google you will see figures of 60yrs etc lifespan for a timber frame but lets be honest here, if they were only going to last for 60yrs then: 1. Who the hell would want to build with it. 2. Why would you build with it. 3. How the hell are you going to mortgage it. I just don't buy it, I expect they will last a far greater time than that quoted - provided that they are constructed correctly.

Neighbour has messaged me about wanting to plant a load of new trees in the middle of shared driveway on part owned by them. This happens to be slap bang next to where my newly laid foul run goes through and within a couple of metres of my new IC. Am I being unreasonable in being concerned about potential damage caused by roots years down the line? The IC is a standard plastic jobby, fit for purpose but tree resistant? so I am concerned that a big old tree with hefty roots is not the best thing to be sticking next to it? Just after a sanity check. TIA

For the minimal cost of their estimate it gives a great starting point. I used it then downloaded an excel copy and bastardised it to fit my build - helped massively.

We are building a detached double garage with an attached storeroom. The garage will be for parking only - the only other item that will live in the garage is a genny which I intend to wire up the house so in the event of a power cut I can flick a switch and fire it up. I intend to have enough storage elsewhere so that the garage is clutter free. I suspect I'm in a small group here though as a detached garage just becomes a storeroom whilst an attached garage will just get converted into another room for the house ?‍♂️

@Russell griffiths the soleplate dpc and the slab dpm both lap down and out. @Oz07This photo probably explains the wall a bit better. There is a 50mm cavity/75mm blockwork/102mm face brick. The plinth bricks then go up and back so that the rest of the wall can be done in 100mm block ready for render. Not so bothered about a bit of snot on the back of blocks, it's the line at the bottom which I keep looking at. I think the issue is that 100mm dpc was used for the 75mm blocks so the extra 25mm goes into the cavity. The consequence seems to be that this is acting like a tray and catching crud rather than let it fall all the way down into the bottom of the cavity and below the DPC height. I'm thinking that I should knock any crap down and then tape a Stanley blade to a bit of lath and try and shave that excess off so it stops catching stuff. @Declan52 ordinarily that would be a great solution. The brick/block combo in the plinth make this solution probably too awkward to implement.

@PeterW yep it's in the cavity I'm looking at. Imas you say, TF then 50mm cavity then block. Space is tight - having never seen this kind of work I wasnt sure how it should look, that you suggest it looks ok sets my mind at ease ?

Been looking at what the brickies have been up to and to my untrained eye all is not as it should be. The face of their work looks good, no complaints, upon inspection of the cavity it looks like sloppy work to me so I'm hoping to get a more informed opinion from my fellow members:

The dormers took some getting used to when we first started with the design - a county/village look we had to work with. I have grown to like them - they are far less in your face than I thought based on drawings. The house is full height, 8.6m ish iirc, but the dormers also helped the house look more like a 1.5storey and so less 'overbearing' on neighbouring properties. This sounds all good and dandy on a planning app, the reality though is that it is still massive compared to the neighbouring dormer bungalows - a good job the nearest house is 40m away. There will be rendered blockwork on the plinth and some brick detail at the eaves and on the gable verges. Unfortunately, as I wanted blockwork there had to be a couple of steel beams to carry the blockwork over the extensions. One is 7.4m wide, the other 4.4m. A pita but we wanted blockwork outer - it gets very windy here and we wanted a more substantial outer. I'm doing all I can to insulate them and reduce thermal bridging through a combination of aerogel insulation and marmox thermoblocks.

Finished shell:

No fascia - rise and fall brackets into brickwork dentil detail. Missus is saying grey gutters. Trying to decide if the cost is worth it or not.

Trying to decide what type of gutter to go for and hoping some feedback from other self builders will help to give us a steer. There is a significant price difference from PVC to aluminium etc but not sure if the cost increase can be justified. Does it make a material difference visually if you go for PVC over metal? What have other members gone for? Any regrets/issues? If the powder coated metal is the mutts nuts then so be it, but I dont want to throw money at this is a cheaper option is just as good. TIA

Just realised I have no pictures of the finished frame so I will take some tomorrow. The roof has now been felt/latted and loaded out. The brickwork is well on it's way too.

As requested @SuperJohnG, 1 x SIP build photos:

In the end they just hoiked them up. The boss left three lads to do it, with a fair bit of mincing about they did it in less than a day - not sure what all the drama was with his whinging?‍♂️ On another note, it's amazing how many tiles went into the skip...c'est la vie!

Just sorting through some bits and realised I have yet to work out how to close the cavity around an arched window that is due to be installed. The rest of the windows have 50mm timber battens, offset slightly so I can stick some insulation in. Has anyone here installed an arched window in a TF? If so how did you close the cavity over the arched part and also how did you go about installing a cavity tray? I have a lintel on order but the rest I'm not to sure yet. TIA

That's interesting, however I suspect the cost of hiring a bumpa would potentially outweigh the time/money spent on this even though it does look like a good effort.

Tried this option - all I got was 'busy on farm' - not been about enough to get pally with people yet ?‍♂️ Just winds me up when people come at me with problems rather than solutions/options. This is his bread and butter, it's not his first time at the rodeo so I expect options rather than teeth sucking - all that does is get my back up!

Fixed price, no mention of bumpa. I agree that a bumpa would be the easier option, be around £150 incl delivery/collection. He was chirping on about how they normally stack pallets two high next to the scaff then chain gang them up. I cant see that happening without breaking the bundles down as they are 90kg a bundle. So if they break the packs open to chain them up, what difference does 8m walk make from where they are stacked to the scaff. Will see what monday brings!

Random question, how are they normally carted up to the roof? Reason I ask - I have no loading bay on the scaff, no forks etc so it seems to me that a day of humping and dumping is in store for the roofers. I was chatting about this to one of the lads and although not often, sometime they just have to 'strongarm' them up there. The head guy is now dripping to me about having to work out another way of getting them up there - he wasnt there the day I was discussing this with the lads, they seemed fine with it so what's his problem? This is the sort of thing that winds me up, I can't wait till all contractors are gone and I can just crack on under my own steam indoors. He was dripping about asking the Jewsons manager if the driver dropping my block off on monday can move them for him ? If it weren't for the fact I have other stuff to do at the minute I'd have bloody done it myself.