BotusBuild

Or could it be an offshoot of Men's Shed? Mobile Self Build Shed

Self Build SOS!

Or anything. Fullstops. Leave the phone on charge in another room. Read a book. I prefer detective based novel - it makes me think of something completely different as I drift off to sleep and forget what page I was on 😀

Look carefully under the second step. Haven't hidden the wire to the camera yet 🙂

Notebook and pencil by the bed. Write down what is on your mind. That way it is out and physically recorded. Why not a pen? Makes a mess of the bedside table, bedclothes if you miss the paper 😉

@-rick-, note that none of the milled wood is in the staircase, thats just in the breakfast bar. The wood for the staircase was about £2200

I have a perfection streak (maybe OCD) like many "hands on" self builders, and I hear what you're saying, Ian, about being less lenient with your own work than others. I think we see more detail because we did the work ourselves. Could we have done better at the time, with the right tools, and maybe more time? Now we may have done the same thing multiple times, and through experience got better, sure, we know that first one is not as good as it could be. If you can fix the "bad" one, go for it. If not, accept it as a lesson learned. Has my perfection streak disappeared? Absolutely not, and I'm still fooking it up every so often. Ian, be kind to yourself. What you've achieved overall with your selfbuild is monumental. You know this to be true. Try to put the little things in context against that, one little thing at a time. Hope this helps you a tiny bit

Just shy of £10k

Osmo oiled 👍🏻

Differing levels of annoyance require different responses. Severe annoyance, for me, means remove and replace or whatever will correct it to my satisfaction. Anything else is dealt with by the phrase "it is what it is" which kind of sums up some of things @SimonD states more eloquently above. In summary - fix only that which you can at reasonable personal and/or financial cost. Everything else is a lesson learned. FYI - the phrase comes from someone who worked for me many years ago. He used this phrase in daily worklife to describe situations that were not fixable or in some cases would cost far too much (time/money) to put right, but in themselves were not terminal, unlike his final medical diagnosis, at which point his phrase hit me square in the face! I now use it at appropriate times to remove stress from my life.

Three men and a rope. The two spines are separate pieces.

It is (part K). It'll get done sometime before completion signoff 🙂

Dusters on the toes of our slippers 😀

No plans for a handrail at this point in time

One of the things we paid someone to do for us. Spines are powder coated. Cabling for lights runs inside the spines. Steps made from walnut kitchen worktops. Spindles are solid walnut. Glass is 10mm toughened from Cornwall Glass. Why walnut? It goes with the breakfast bar made from the walnut tree we cut down, also made by same person (Principle Constructions based in Cornwall).

You're welcome, and always here to help, listen and advise (where I can)

SWMBO? {Puts on tin hat} There should be a service dog available on prescription for self builders

How do i cope? Do the jobs you know will take short amounts of time - and pat yourself on the back to say "job well done". Plan in trips out, or visits to or by family members who will help your mood. Go for walks in the rain - it can't stop you doing that! If you have a local pub you like, go and have a pint or two once a week. Chatting to the locals/your friends always helps.

Agreed. Would go for twice the recommendation for a rail, and around 20-40% more for the point fixing

IF the humidity sensor gets its power from the lighting circuit, the sensor, the fan and the dimmer switch are now all electrically connected. The combination of the electronics in the sensor (the NEW item in the circuit), the fan and the dimmer switch may be causing interference along those electrical connections causing a trace current to exist causing the LEDs to glow dimly. Seen this before and it was an elimination exercise to get rid of it. As @Nickfromwales has said try the switch change (the simple cheap first step). After that it's back to the electrician and check what circuit that sensor is connected to. It may have been a better idea to change the fan to one with an integrated humidity sensor e.g. https://www.powerdiscount.co.uk/greenwood-unity-cv2gip-smart-dmev-extractor-fan-with-timerhumidistat-764-p.asp?msclkid=fcf8825d4a5e11a8765eeb2b0f8bd0b6

So move the batten up a bit, and bring the vapour barrier over the batten rather than behind it. Sounds good

HI, Looking forward I will be building a garage on a slab foundation with timber framing. I want to naturally get the Slab/Frame interface correct with regard to damp proofing. Below is a diagram I have put together for which I am looking for constructive critique. NOTE: I have left out the anchoring of the sole plate to the slab to keep the diagram simpler. I am thinking also that the DPC, DPM and Vapour barrier should be taped/sealed together, or would the batten on the bottom piece of cladding achieve that anyway?

These? (the M10 version)

Never thought it would work to be honest, just one of those "brain not doing enough so fill it with craziness" moments 🙂 OK folks, so its down to recommended fixings to use for each of the proper two options.

Hello all. The final stairs are in place and we need a balustrade along the Glulam beam in the picture below. For reference it is 360mm deep by 142mm wide. Our preference is for a glass balustrade possibly with a hand rail on top. We have two options for fixing - either point fixing to the side face (example in second picture for reference only), or a rail fixing on the top of the beam (example in third picture for reference only). I know there are also side fixed rail systems as well but they will not meet the desired/required "look". I know the main issue is going to be fixing (bolts/screws) into the glulam beam. You can see we have clear access to top and bottom of the beam, but would have to disturb the plasterboard (yes, already painted!) to get access to both sides of the beam, which I'm prepared to do if necessary. What would be your approach (top rail or point fixing) and what fixing would you recommend? One "outside the box" idea I had was a routed groove in the top of the beam and using relevant rubber seals (as would be used in a rail fixing) fit the glass into the routed groove. Anyone care to comment on this idea.