Del-inquent

There is a structural division wall perpendicular to the ridge that goes all the way up to the collars, 3.8m away from the external wall, top of which is about 750mm below the ridge board to the top of the block, though has a collar resting atop it as well. There are other structural walls downstairs, but transmitting the load from ceiling of upstairs to top of wall downstairs would be problematic. Unless you wanted to sleep with a post through the middle of the bed lol.

That's what one of the SE's suggested. The other wanted two steel purlins. None of the neighbours I've spoken to have either, but they were done a long time ago. If one has to go in, it has to go in, but I cannot work out how it could be done without taking the entire roof off. The SE's just say that "the builder will be able to do it" when I ask how. When I speak to roofers for quotes, they ask me to ask the SE's how it's supposed to be done 😅 I have had an issue with a SE in the past on a renovation / extension. They wanted about £6k worth of steels put in. Another looked at it, took all the steel out and put in two 8 inch wooden posts instead. Which is what the roofer had suggested when he saw the plans. I guess I've become a little wary of SE's since.

At the moment there are two dormer windows on the front, one full room dormer on the back which covers just over 1/3rd of the length of the roof. I want to extend the rear dormer on either side so that I can move the current bedroom along a bit and get a bathroom in beside it.

They have been to the site, I paid for it, it was FAR from the cheapest quote. That’s why i asked on it here about. I don’t want to waste more money. I’ve also supplied a full 3D CAD file in advance so they can see the entire structure, and there are no ceilings or floors in the property so they can see every last detail. I've had two tell me I need steels, but for different reasons and in different positions. Both were aware of the issue with getting a steel in.

That’s what I want to know! One SE said to support roof from wind load. One said to support weight of roof. Neither seemed to have put any effort into doing any design or calculations, just using a steel to avoid having to.

The beam could be supported on an internal wall at 3.8m point. There are 2 futher internal walls downstairs that it could also be split onto. Just. But you still couldn't get any of them in without taking the roof off, at which point you'd just redesign the whole roof. It's not for a major benefit in terms of the house - it's not adding huge amounts of space, it's just allowing us to fit an additional bathroom to help make my life a bit more comfortable due to health issues. The point is, there is no 'attic', there never has been, they were all built as Chalet bungalows with the roof space as rooms, it's just that the neighbours have extended the existing dormers to fit an extra room in what was a useless eaves space. No bouncy floors, no reason for their to be bouncy floors, the joists are more than adequate for the spans.

There are no ceilings anywhere. To slip steels up into the eaves they would have to be about 1m long sections, you wouldn't be able to manoeuvre anything longer (if that, even) in. At least not in any way that I can tell. I can *just* pass a 1m length of 8x2 from downstair into the eaves, but a steel wouldn't be needed there anyway, it would be needed between the collars and ridge board, which is even tighter to get anything into.

Last one I got a site visit from. He saw all the problems, whilst here he agreed that it wasn't viable to add steels. Then when he came back to me, it was to tell me to add steels. One of which was supported by a steel post. Which dissected the lounge doorway in half and was supported on thin air.

I’ve asked but unfortunately they were converted before current owners and they don’t hold any plans. it’s proving to be rather frustrating! by my calcs I’d need to remove 5 collars minimum to have even a chance of getting a split beam in there, which would also mean taking out the front dormer roof on one side as the roof joists continue alongside the collars…

I'm trying to get an extension to our dormer sorted. 2 SE's I've spoken to so far have said it can only be done by inserting a steel. This is despite several neighbours having done the same thing with no steels involved. One SE has said we'll have to put all new joists in because we're converting a bungalow to living space in the roof. He couldn't seem to grasp that as a chalet the house was built to have living space up there and it already has joists large enough for the span. Question is - how would steels totalling 9m long be fitted inside a chalet bunglaow roof, without taking the entire roof off? Can't put in in from the sides outside as we have neighbours either side, and I don't think either would be too happy about me punching a hole through their house so I could stick a steel in mine... Both SE's have just said "your builder will know how to do it". Well I was planning on doing the whole thing myself when I thought it could be done in timber. Now I've been told it has to have a steel I've asked a couple of roofers. Both have said "how does the SE propose we get a steel in without taking the roof off". With an explanation that they can't take out the collars and ties because they are linked to the existing dormers, so they can't "angle it up in there". Am I just talking to the wrong people? Is there a way to do it?

A mate has just told me that I have to seal / prime the easifill we've used to patch up chases. I've never once done this, I have had a few issues painting over it if being impatient though. So, do I really have to seal / prime it, if so, what with?

Apparently due to Wind Load. I wouldn't mind so much but the whole point of the site visit he did was to discuss the fact that steels aren't really viable due to access without taking the whole roof off and starting again. Waiting 8 weeks for a reply that states the one thing that our initial conversations showed were not viable... and to add the fact that the main supporting steel post for those steels would be hanging in mid air, and to fit would mean removing the staircase, a major supporting joist and once finished would mean the lounge doorway would have a post obstructing it, when neighbours have had the same basic thing done with no steels at all... Not a happy bunny.

Not a million miles away, if they're good I don't mind paying a bit for them to travel down if that's needed. I am just desperate now for someone that will actually listen and look at what I'm saying, rather than just "slap steels in". One of the people who came highly recommended couldn't even grasp that as it was built as a chalet bungalow the current "roof space" is already built as living accommodation - they wanted to add steels on top of the joists and run 200mm joists in... on top of the 200mm joists that have been there the last 80 years!

I've been waiting 8 weeks (after being quoted 4-6) for a structural engineer to come back to me with the calculations and thoughts on our dormer extension. Finally get a response to a chase up and clearly he's not even started working on it, drawn a few red lines on top of my plans and suggested a combination of 4 steels be installed which during the site inspection we'd already covered the fact that they can't be fitted, and to top it all off the steels indicated transmit the load down onto... thin air. Because there is nothing below the steel post. More than one neighbour has achieved exactly what I want to do with zero steels being used, but unfortunately their places have since sold and the new owners don't know the SE used. So I'm in search of recommendations for a structural engineer preferably in the South of Hampshire that is reliable and doesn't just answer every question with "stick steels in there". Especially not steels that hang in mid air to transmit load...

My wife could find opportunity to do planting in the middle of a concrete car park, so quite probably yes! Me, I could kill a plant before I got it back from the shop.

I need to find a few dozen bricks to match our existing. I've taken one out the wall and it's marked "Marston". Every supplier I've asked locally has said they're a perfect match for LBC Heather, but having got a few samples they're really nothing like! LBC heather are nowhere near as textured, nor the right colour. We want to block up a doorway so really, needs to be a pretty damn good match or it's going to stick out like a sore thumb. Alternatively if anyone has any great ideas on how to block it up and have it look half decent without matching bricks, I'm all ears. Whilst we're here - the house had full fill insulation pumped in some years back, before we bought it. What would be the best way to insulate the cavity on the door I'm blocking in? It's only a 60mm cavity. Debating if it's worth opening up the cavity either side of the doorway before blocking up or not as well

Probably the most accurate description of our property going 🤣 Whoever designed the place should have their pencils and rulers taken away. If I had the funds I'd bulldoze it and start again. The current header tank is tiny and has actually had the sides cut to get it to fit in the tiny eaves, and the overflow tank is screwed to the wall of the bedroom, which is obviously a delight in itself. A combi really would solve a whole lot of problems, even if it introduced other, hopefully less frustrating ones.

How far from the boiler can the super flow be? Boiler position in a corner of the kitchen (less than ideal but making best use of space available and it’s where the current one is)

When I say it’s small… already looked at them, the only place one will fit will be permanently inaccessible once the works are finished.

Compared to the system in place, a candle with a saucepan of water held over it would be an upgrade... We currently bathe using a bucket and a yoghurt pot as a ladle (not joking) 😅 It's a small chalet bungalow, effectively has a head height of 18 inches, we need to move the bathroom upstairs which will mean not possible to have header tank (no access to the tiny loft space) and there is no space to put an unvented cylinder without losing one of the habitable rooms. At the moment there is a tiny HWC in a cupboard. It needs replacing, the pipework goes through the kitchen because of the design of the place... overall a combi solves so many problems and after months with a bucket and yoghurt pot... I don't mind paying for a decent combi. I looked into the superflow, got many mixed reviews on them. I'm all ears on recommendations for a decent combi.

No decisions made yet on which one, that's another question I was going to pose a little later down the line!

Are there any requirements on where the filling loop is fitted? I'm looking at having our standard boiler replaced with a combi. The current pipe layout has the pipes exit the top of the boiler. Water inlet is immediately below the boiler, Ideally I'd like the loop to be fitted from immediately below, going up the left hand side of the boiler and going into the pipes above. Are there any other peripheral elements I need to consider that will have to be fitted in the change from standard to combi? I'll be getting it fitted by a gas certified plumber but need to plan the layout of the kitchen in the meantime and no plumber seems to want to come and discuss it, been bad enough trying to get quotes!

Cheers for all the advice, especially the tip about Facebook market place. Managed to find a bloke a few miles down the road with "a little bit" left over for £20... went to pick it up, 45 odd meters left over in fact, so I'll cut my bits off and then sell the rest!

They don't list it cut to size on their website, I'm going there tomorrow for a few other bits so will ask, cheers

Problem I'm having is finding anything that I don't have to spend a fortune on massive lengths of - I only need 5m of the stuff! The conduit I have is twin wall and apparently waterproof. Given the SWA provides the mechanical protection needed (and I've already got sand / pea shingle / tape to to bed it in) is it really necessary to use such ducting just to prevent it sitting in water?