goodbyegti

Thanks! It's 125mm cropped Purbeck limestone and a bit of blue lias. Up against some Surecav except the end which is solid.

We used lime NHL 3 (otterbein), 1 part to 2 parts yellow sand and 1 part grit. It still looks great after a couple of years. It was hard getting a regular bricky to mix it properly. Luckily we found some good masons. You also have to beat it back at just the right time to pack it into the joint. I'd do it again!

^ this, if planning allows!

That is my understanding of it at least. Perhaps one to agree with building control in advance - you could afterall fit a 200mm packer on the final flight to be removed after sign off. Another random thought: could you add a separate 700mm step on to the 700mm landing? Then it becomes a separate flight. It's tough to visualise with no diagram.

That's correct. You can bond a single ply membrane directly to it. The top layer isn't particularly tough, it's very thin, perhaps 1mm?

I lined it up perfectly in the end..BCO have signed off. Just need to plaster!

The family have gone away for half term, so I decided to move the stairs. I need to extend the joists attached to the trimmer, so that they can be hung off the wall. The trimmer won't be supported at both ends, so I think it has to go. Or I need to seriously beef up the joist it's hung off. So I was wondering if anyone has used splice plates to extend joists? I would be adding them right in the middle, near where the sparky has routed all the cables. The original plan was to replace each entire joist with a full length one, but you guessed it, I need to cut literally every service including almost every wire to the consumer unit if I do that. Perhaps I should get on with it?

Some ideas: - Get rid of OSB between joists and firring strips. As above, you can screw the firings at right angles directly into the joists. - Put the VCL on the top side under the PIR. It's much easier to do a good job. Something like Alutrix will immediately give you a waterproof covering. I think there is a rule of thumb that you can then put 1/3rd of the top deck insulation below the VCL. You could use 100mm sheepswool/rockwool or something. - Will the PIR compress under the force from the pedestals? Perhaps you want another layer of OSB under the membrane? - I think it is costs more, but you can get tapered PIR which could replace your firrings and give you some extra thickness.

How are you earthing it? I did something similar and I had to install an earth rod for the new CU in the shed. I hit some rocks but it wasn't that bad. Took a few goes. I think in many cases you can export the earth from the house, but you need a large section cable, 10mm2 minimum I think. I have the shed running off a 16A RCD in the house (legacy thing), with a 10A RCD protecting the sockets in the shed. It always trips first in the shed, which is good, but I'll be upgrading the SWA at some stage so I can get some more amperage in there.

Thanks both. Tile and a half makes good sense if you could get one. I hadn't thought of that. I think I'll cut the two rafters and get the tiles lined up.

Basically this image from the Facro guide, but two rafters cut instead of one. And everything doubled up, bolted etc. All to get the pantiles aligned like in the pics. If I don't cut the second rafter, I'm about half a pantile out of alignment.

Rafters are 400 centres, approx 3.2m from wall plate to ridge beam.

Hopefully a simple one. I have Velux to fit, sized perfectly to fit between the rafters if I cut one in the middle. All very standard. However, the annoying thing is that the clay pantiles don't line up evenly with the flashing. So I am thinking that I should cut two rafters to get the window in exactly the right place. Its either that, or I have to cut the pantiles. Does that seem sensible? I'll be doubling up the rafters on either side and the trimmers.

+1. I made a mess of mine, and brick acid worked a treat. As Mr Punter says, don't skip the PPE.

I love the flint work! A stunning effort all round.

From the other side.

Both good suggestions. GRP over the top would have given me a problem wrapping over the stone on the other side. I did like the lead on its own, but keen to get a drip channel on the coping to keep the water off the wall. In the end, I had some Resitrix primer left over, and that stuck to the lead nicely. So there's synthetic rubber between the mortar now. Probably overkill!

I have capped my parapet wall in code 5 lead. Under the lead I have building paper, osb3 and then a cavity tray with weep vents. To finish I have some cast concrete coping stones, which will give a 50mm overhang on both sides, with drip channels. I have GRP on one side, and surecav on the other. I am trying to make it leak proof for many years. Have I missing anything? To fit the coping stones, should I put a layer of bitumen paint, or silicone a DPC on? The main reason would be to prevent the cement reacting with the lead. But I was also thinking about thermal movement of the lead which the DPC could perhaps help with. For the mortar, would you go for a 3:1 mix as per NHBC guidelines? Is it worth putting fibres in, or some mesh?

Sorry to hear that and good luck! Great info eg. use of Strava! Thanks for sharing.

Surely it's fine. The advantage you have is that you can inspect it easily in cold weather for condensation. Perhaps by cutting a small hole in the foil and taping it up.

Good to hear! Are the joists in the correct place? It's worth checking you have enough upstand on the parapet after the extra 50mm goes on top.

We had the same spec. The tape doesn't even stick very well and melts off in the sun. I had to keep patching more on. Tongue and groove boards seem a much better design. I just can't imagine the tape sticking for long. Our builder washed the 10mm cavity with a hose to keep it clear. Not that it mattered a huge amount with the render.