Crofter

Funny that- on the actual product page it doesn't say, but one page back it says it is solvent weld.

Not that I'm aware. And I think they work out about the same price so that points strongly towards Sioo.

Hoping @Nickfromwales will be able to answer this one in his sleep! I want to join this (solvent weld) rodding eye to this (push fit socket) branch, via a 135 degree bend. What type of fitting should that joining piece be, i.e. solvent or socket or whatever?

Ah that's no too bad then! Russwood are treating it for you are they? I'm planning on laying everything out inside the empty building and treating there, in the dry. Still to decide on a treatment option and I am now way over budget on this aspect of the build...

Just by chance I bumped into a neighbour yesterday who is finishing up his build, and has partially clad in larch- he used Sioo and it does looks pretty good, but obviously only time will tell. My larch cladding quote has come back about 70% higher than I was originally quoted, so I really don't have any budget to speak of in this area any more

Holey moley. Is that price for Siberian? What width?

Yes but this is local Scottish Larch...

I was quoted 70p/m for larch cladding back at the end of last year, which I thought was an excellent price- went to the same sawmill for updated quote with the intention of purchasing, and the price comes back at £1.20/m. Ouch! That's a pretty steep increase. Has timber in general gone up a lot in the last few months?

Just by way on an update, I used Cromar Vent 3 Pro (the vent 3 comes in various different thicknesses) and am so far very impressed. Despite some horrendous weather recently, it has stayed put and no sign of leaks. Like Dave, I installed it vertically so the counterbattens run over every overlap. It is pretty tough stuff, as I found out when the first 8m length I was trying to tack down by myself was whipped out of my hands by the wind as soon as I had put the first nail in; it ended up flying like a banner and hanging on by that one nail which did not show any signs of stretching or tearing out.

Just bumping this to see if anybody can shed any light. I guess I am very lucky as I didn't see the need for site insurance, as there are no other buildings immediately next to the plot.

Sorry not able to help really, but just wondering if you got this resolved yet?

Lifting onto a stand is pretty simple. I can manage and I'm about 5'5! How big a barrow do you have?

Welcome aboard! Have you chosen a construction type etc?

My Dad bought a cheap Belle 240v one about 20yrs ago and it still looks almost good as new. Secret is to keep a bucket of shingle on hand and let it chew on that for ten minutes after you've finished. Definitely worth buying, and if you find it isn't being used stick it on Gumtree.

Good topic, thanks. One of the best known books in this area must be Mark Brinkley's "Housebuilders' Bible" which is now on something like the eleventh edition. My (tenth) edition has some editing problems, in that page numbers don't match the contents page, which is a bit annoying. I find it a useful reality injection to temper the ideas you pick up off Grand Designs. It's quite entertainingly written in places as well.

No counterbattens under those? Quite a different wall buildup to me, bet it'll be cosy though! Did you chamfer the top edge of the battens? My windows are in by the way, looking good!

Could certainly be interested, but I'm budgeting on £10/100 from Toolstation at the moment, would you be able to undercut that?

I was advised that I needed 50x50 to give sufficient stiffness, since the battens are only supported every 600. You wouldn't want to lean against the wall and find it bowing! The 25x50 battens lie directly against the wall so are fully supported, and just provide a drainage gap.

The 25x50 battens are fixed with 50mm nails, put in by gun. Screwfix have some 1000 packs of 100mm screws on special at the moment.. very tempting but that leaves only about an inch going into the studs...

Danker... no spraken ze Deutsche... time to phone a friend I think

Next stage in the exterior of my house is to fix the 50x50 battens horizontally over the top of the 25x50 vertical counter battens. This will create a ventilated drainage space and provide the structure that the vertical board-on-board larch cladding will be nailed to. Before I go and splurge out on a few boxes of these (150x6mm screws) is there any sort of rough rule of thumb etc I should be considering for choosing what length of screws to use? My gut feeling is that, with 75mm thickness of battens to pass through, I should have the same again going into the studs. There are going to quite a lot (over a thousand, from my BOTE calculation) of these screws going in so I could easily end up spending a fair bit on this if I over-spec, but on the other hand I don't really want my walls to fall apart either

Sometimes render fails because the underlying brickwork is poor quality- is yours leaving a mortar skin behind, or revealing fresh brick where it has come away? The latter would obviously suggest the bricks themselves are the problem.

So long as you have rodding access at frequent intervals, and maintain an appropriate gradient, I'm not aware of any limitations on distance.

ProDave of this parish has done his house in a EWI woodfibre board with an acrylic render on top- details in his blog Rather conventional in appearance but could satisfy your requirements!

Use of a textile is not always necessary. As a rough rule of thumb, you want your largest particle size to be about half the depth to be laid. There's some excellent advice on all matters hardcore on Paving Expert