mvincentd

This is what i’m Planning....only needs 13mm from slab top, so if you used a liquid tray and thin tile you should sneak in (your 300sq x100 recess also allows an increased fall within this area).

I have IdealCombi and think they (slightly) better than Velfac. Unified sight lines are harder to achieve across all units than at first appears so be sure to mention absolutely every criteria you have for each opening and explain how it’s constructed, especially thresholds, so they can establish viability. Also be sure you fully understand the tolerance and packer they’ll factor into your built dimensions....the result might be a thin frame, but it comes at the cost of a thick ‘no mans land’ of compriband around it and no real gain in glass area over many other frames. Also have them fitted by someone who is specifically experienced with them, not just a general window fitter....because they have their foibles. Having said all this I’d recommend them, and had zero problems from delivery to fit, which seems a rare thing! (Do triple check IC’s order confirmations for accuracy though).

Yes am applying one coat in 2 coats.....seems necessary to eradicate block lines. Am using SBR on therms before. Has been built a year and had heavy green roof sitting on them and lots of stomping about....hopefully pretty settled, very few cracks so far. Blower proof had been considered but is a very expensive option. Anyway am effectively wet plastering now, with onecoat. Choosing onecoat as doesn’t seem to have any negatives apart from people’s perception of it as being amateur diy material....it works and gets me the texture I’m after. Materially perhaps a bit more expensive than scratch and skim materials but I don’t need the plasterers skills.

I've thermalite blocks for an inner leaf of cavity construction. I'd planned to dot and dab then skim. Website wisdom says while 'correct' d&d procedure is supposed to achieve airtightness one shouldn't just make a plasterboard tent, ....parge your blockwork. All tradesmen and merchants so far have said "uh, parge, wassat then?" Knauff Parge Coat or Gyproc Soundcoat isn't stocked anywhere locally. It's all adding up to suggest nobody bothers with this step....do I have a false impression or misinformation or what? I'm now looking at achieving both the parge and my final surface by using Onecoat plaster, thereby deleting all dot dab plasterboard and skim. If I use a plasterer he'll be half the time/cost of skimming...but even I can Onecoat, though i'll never learn to skim. The tradeoff with Onecoat is the quality of finish not being as smooth as skim, but for me this is actually a desirable, I want texture....and so far in tests we've got the onecoat so smooth that i've added back texture with a paint roller. It's almost too good to be true! So what am I missing? Detail question- At my window reveals I think I need to introduce plasterboard. As pictured below my Ali framed windows are packed off the blockwork reveal by a good 20mm (weird I know-Idealcombi Futura windows) and I have airtight tape bonded from frame to blockwork( or in the case of the head; frame to Catnic lintel). On top of wall and lintel I have 4x2 timber wallplate that the joists sit on. For Onecoat should I mesh the timber as pictured and would it be wise to let that mesh run down and under the lintel....either to go behind pb that I then d&d on, or to go onto pb that I d&d on before the mesh? I'm looking for the onecoat to have a 'soft' corner where walls turn into reveals, so don't want to introduce a hard edged bead.

Well you've heard it here 10 times already but i'll reiterate...forget 20 quotes. It's more likely you'll need to put out to 20 co's to get 3 quotes back. Put down any idea that because you're building a whole house you've got sway with trades, what you're doing is just normal to them even if to you it's the biggest personal financial project of your life. I also think a 'do it when you like, but cheap' negotiating stance is an invitation to have rings run around you....they'll do it when they like anyway:) Man management in a corporate environment is of course a transferable skill...but do expect a very different kind of zoo. Good luck, you'll have fun...and a nervous breakdown maybe, but it'll be worth it.

Thanks for tips...useful. Good luck with the rest of installation.

Couple of very good recommendations there, thank you.

...if anyone stumbles across an affordable 2 bowl undermount s/s sink (or 2 x singles) i'd love to know....they mostly seem to be 3 times the price of insets!

As Vivienz said it'll vary from build to build, but taking your statement 'starting with concept designs' it sounds too early for anything other than you, a pencil and the back of an envelope. On what basis have you chosen an architect if you don't know what kind of aesthetic you want, ...what build system will that suit and what SE requirement will that bring about, then what Q of what will a QS S? Sorry to sound a bit challenging but i'm rather wary of your architects opening gambit and i'm concerned you're about to get fleeced.

You own a plot of land that has planning permission but you've not submitted a commencement or indeed commenced with anything. Having planning permission does not obligate you to utilise it. Meanwhile you own a plot of land with boundaries that include hedges that continue to (over)grow. You can upkeep those hedges. If the hedges aren't protected you can even replace them (and yours clearly aren't protected because your planning permission shows them replaced with a fence). I think at the start of our builds we were all paranoid about how interested authorities were in such details but found reality to be surprisingly chilled and rational. Your greater concern should be neighbour relations regarding cutting out the hedges, regardless of WHEN you do it. There is (rightly) a lot of love for a well established hedge.

I went out to a number of mvhr suppliers and they mostly wanted to sell a ducting system that would have created an installation nightmare...impossibility actually....given the specifics of my house construction. ADM Systems however quickly identified the snags and solutions putting me on the right track. I then paid a £300 design fee which is refundable against a final order. I don't consider that ADM have been any more expensive overall for this approach. I do think that the other quotes I received were worthless due to the unworkability of their proposals. My system is not yet running so I cant reach any final conclusions.

Maybe work backwards from your choice of glazing. If you want and are prepared to pay for a frameless joint of glass to glass you are going to have to accept a ‘pole’ in that corner, maybe approx 200mm inbound from the glass ( I’ll take a wild guess at a 168 x 6.3 CHS). If the glass is part of say a sliding door scheme (can’t imagine 6m of fixed panes) what is the manufactures profile. Mine are 175mm so cladding a 200mm H beam out to say 300mm wouldn’t make a world of difference to ones perception of the view out especially when diluted by the extent of glass you have flanking it.

Thanks, but i've moved on now.

No, I didn't...and so I stopped banging my head against brick walls for Sunamp support and gave up on the idea.

How did your system turn out @oranjeboom? Any pics? Any benefit of hindsight tips? I'm looking at starting my 1st fix using Hep2o manifolds.

...whoops, hadn’t finished.... wide angle of view ok for an overview but don’t be folled by resolution figures on cheap kit...the actual resolving power can be s**t so a person in the scene may not be so recognisable.

Gitup Git2 are often chosen by enthusiasts on a budget that doesn’t stretch to the equivalent GoPro. Main problem with them and GoPro is battery life....and if you want them in the waterproof case you can’t tether them to a bigger external battery. In my experience you have to drill quite deep into establishing the true capabilities of these things to do what you want....time lapse is obviously kinder to battery life than constant record but could easily miss a quick in-out theft

I had quite a lot of drilling into reinforced concrete.....1st cheap sds died after circa 150 100mm deep 12mm holes. Now have a beefy 110v Bosch that feels bulletproof. For the price difference I’m not sure I won when the cheapo broke leaving a paid labourer scratching his arse while I went to buy the Bosch......although I got refunded the broken value against it.

Are pallet stairs flexible when you realise your workflow needs them out of the way for something.....since fitting my temporary Howden’s £124 stairs (which took 15minutes) I’ve removed and replaced them twice, taking less than 10 minutes each time.

Yes (will...still under construction). If I could go back I would have put a drain inside to mop into, laid the slab to a fall and increased that fall at the threshold. A friend did this recently, it looks tidy, hasn’t been severely tested by weather yet but I like the idea and may copy if proves necessary.

I used ct1

For me this reveal is a 350mm wide area of the garage slab that happens to end up outside due to the fitment of the door being against the inner face of the built opening.....like you’re planning I think. My door will be a sectional that rolls to ground with a rubber bottom edge that squashes slightly when fully grounded. that “squash” is designed to be minimal with my particular door (Hormann) and i’m not wholly sure of its rain blocking abilities, especially given a couple mm of variance in the slab over the width of garage door anyway. Therefore i’m putting a Rubber weather stop across the threshold onto which the door will close. These are typically 15mm high so will block water until it’s weight due to depth will send it running in the outward direction where an aco drain will catch it. Therefore rain travelling in isn’t a concern. I had considered creating a fall at the reveal but think i’d still use the weather stop anyway as wind could push water up it. The Hormann fitter says if I use a 15mm weather stop they want to fit the door 15mm higher so it’s degree of “squash” remains as per designed. My greater concern is with water carried into the garage by wet car, bikes, kayaks etc.

Maybe a bit OTT but how about something equivalent to a wind post at the half way point....steel U section on plate you can thunderbolt down.

No, 997's aren't capable of flipping their fuel flap positions at will....

Can I revive this thread @Alex and ask what you ended up doing and building control’s reaction? I now face this same question with 373 deep x122wide posijoists at 400 centres. thanks.