marmic

if only we'd had the room! electric oil filled radiator and large bills, and electric blanket of course! Albeit once we're finally in the house we'll use very little energy - in theory...............

evening all from a rainy Kent - here comes the mud again! Hit a conundrum! We commence battening Monday and was about to finalise an order for sweet chestnut horizontal cladding couple days ago - decision had been made back in summer to to use a rebated feather edge. BUT, having picked up the samples again noticed couple splits at rebated end - a section 'peeled off' easily with some small blotchy dark marks in the split. So now concerned about stablity and possible diseased trees from this source? I won't name at this moment in time and am due to speak with them Monday - they have a good reputation so may be able to continue as planned if explainable - but my confidence isn't good at present so going back to the start reviewing options again. We have to use sweet chestnut (as discharged planning) and horizontal The reasons for the decision to use rebated feather edge was visual preference of feather edge but being rebated overall thickness less and sits flatter, and as long as machined at slightly increased moisture content (probably nearly therre again now) it can be racked up without being concerned about expansion gap. Also a sustainable source. Normal feather edge might be an option, but due to how I've detailed fascia/barge/corners it becomes a headache / may not work - and subject to wider boards in sweet chestut being available for window reveals - albeit could use cladding and joint, but would rather not (windows set back - passivhaus) Shiplap (angled or scalloped) was no.2 choice - thicker too so perhaps more stable, but I'm now concerned about the thin machined sections for the T&G joint. But sample does seem robust. Has an expansion gap built in (to joint) so can just be racked up. Half lap - thicker than rebated feather edge again and simple rebates leave thicker sections than shiplap which is feeling far more comfortable - but expansion gaps need to be left. I don't have time to do this myself and we don't want to add risk - the chap who will be fixing for us is more than capable, but I've learnt through the process of this build to keep things as simple as possible as people aren't always as careful as I would be. 1. am I missing any options? 2. any experiences with different profiles / sweet chestnut please? 3. any supplier / product recommendations? 4. any any general opinions out there please? usually is !! 😆 also with the different profiles the old question of how to fix, what with (stainless for sweet chestnut regardless and predrill), and the old 1 or 2 fixings debate! many thanks...................m

or pallets and old rubber stable mats 😁

many thanks - was thinking that as a possibility if I couldnt find a more purposeful trim and already have a roll here....... I did same on a garden office (posh shed!) few years ago at last place but wrapped it down over and stapled to the front edge of the reveal board (which were gravel boards!) - not sure how well it will withstand UV / full exposure etc.

hello all, anyone know please if a preformed flashing like this/similar is available off the shelf from anywhere? so far not found.......... (25mm vertical battens + 21-25mm horizontal cladding/reval boards). ideally anthracite grey to match windows and roof. or if not best/easiest/recommded thing to use? be interested of course to know what others have used please................... many thanks

https://www.thehealthyhome.uk/

for planning stage design we followed passivhaus rules of thumb and submitted old school pencil drawings and statement (by me - cost was a huge amount of time!) and stated passivhaus, but didn't state certified. Once planning approved we then developed design further and paid consultant to run through phpp and we were bang on. We are hitting passivhaus high performance but not quite certified level however (wouldn't have paid for a plaque anyway!) which I had anticipated - simple reason form factor as we are only single storey app 100m2 - as JohnMo states form factor is important. yes the theory is use phpp at planning, but with some common sense and careful thought I didn't believe I needed to - which I didn't.

thank you - have just spoken with Tarkett - they have advised expansion gap is required...... shame, but as expected. back to glue down for me!

looking quickly (before I run out the door to catch a train at last minute to do what I'm meant to be doing!) can only see click and glue-down. Am I missing something? https://home.tarkett.co.uk/en_GB/collection-C002723-inspiration-classics

highly unlikley to be going anywhere imo - but that really doesn't help! Where does liability sit / calcs? Hopefully somebody on here can advise/suggest further. Assume no structural warranty? (they can be picky). Ours is very similar albeit with an addtional run straight down the middle under a structural spine wall in line with ridge. We used SE - design was almost the same as I had thought but very slightly deeper. Without SE calcs etc we wouldn't have got past our BCO / structural warranty provider

I don't know the answer but I would personally ask SE who designed the foundation - if they say yes (covered by their PI) and provide written confirmation BCO will I believe have to accept.

Sent them a polite and simple email (out of working hours) asking for a call** to discuss this particular product. So instead of calling they replied by email with no name (extract below in red - polite but astonishing - basically asking me to contact them again and do what I don't have time for) - to which I responded 'I shall look elewhere then.......' Nothing since - they don't care! Perhaps they think we're just browsing for fun and won't actually be spending money on floor finishes for a whole house? ** An approach I have taken quite often throughout the build process to save a lot of time and also narrow down companies that can be bothered. In some cases has also clearly been a good approach to provide some confidence they know what they are doing, or not! Particularly the larger packages / supply and install. Sometimes emails are of course more appropriate / preferable. I reckon on average when I've sent enquiries to a number of companies for the same thing: A third don't respond or want you run around after them A third respond but clearly haven't read the brief and/or don't know what they are doing often offering something we don't want/need With the final third being the narrowed down options - who we end up spending money with! Maybe it's just me, but I'm astonished so many businesses these days must lose out because they can't be ar#ed! I have to work for a living (construction industry) - if an email like this was sent out from the office of the company I am employed by I would not be happy! Rant over!! Thank you for listening!! 😆😃😁 Thank you for your message and your interest in our loose lay vinyl flooring. We don’t currently arrange outbound calls, but we’ll be very happy to help you by email with any questions you might have. Please let us know what you’d like to discuss, and we’ll provide all the details and guidance you need. Alternatively, you’re also welcome to give our customer service team a call directly if you prefer to speak with someone — you can find our contact number on our website. Kind regards, Your BRICOFLOR Team

sounds good, maybe too good - I shall dig deeper. Anybody had experience of this type of product please?

thank you. response from simply bamboo below - which is very much what I was expecting (but didn't answer about glue down section on website not showing anything. not sure how glued down product moves however - probably flexible adhesive, but imo can't then be bonded well). You’d need expansion gaps for any timber, no matter how its fitted. LVT may be best.

Tpo map?

Fence doesn't always mean the boundary. You said originally hedge was neighbours. Assumption or has something changed?

thank you Susie, have looked briefly online, few companies out there - may I ask who you've talked to please? found one with a glue down 'page' but no products listed!

😁 ah thank you, now i know another polite abbreviation! I thought maybe it was a brand or type!!! 😆 One floor company I called into did say this, but I wasn't convinced they knew what they were doing! others I have spoken with say you do - so who knows! also had contradictory info on suitability for bathroom etc

thank you - sounds interesting. what is the IIRC bit please? - nothing obvious appears on a google search.................

thanks John, tiles not right for us on this project as wanted to avoid grouted joints, & slippery for dogs, and cost too high for anything nice (which we had 2 houses ago - we cleared stock of a discontinued item and had a cracking deal!). Epoxy / micro cement - looks interesting, a very brief google search tells me market swamped with options! any pointers please? will have a proper look later...........

morning all, anything weird and wonderful I may have missed as an alternative to LVT but still affordable?! There are some cork based proucts out there for example but doubles the money! LVT seems at present to be the only option - and glue down to avoid expansion gaps at perimeters / doorways and keep watertight - currenty plan is keeping same everywhere. Limited to about 8-10mm thick. Don't want laminate flooring..... Any ideas beyond the obvious please would be very much appreciated I don't think there is anything, but may have missed something!?

as i said previously: land registry plans don't always reflect accurately whats on the ground/history etc. Our previous house had a fenceline that was angled to the one side - but straight on land registry which would have given us a slightly larger garden - I asked solicitor and he said something along the lines of you've seen on the ground what you are buying, by disputing what the register indicates could open a can of worms, be expensive, and quite possibly not get you anywhere. boundaries can get messy - somebody I know bought a large plot, the vendor split the original title with a large hedgeline between fields being agreed as the boundary (I don't recall if there was a fence inside the hedge) - then proceeded to erect a fence on the side they had just sold (when the purchaser was away!). It went legal and the fence had to be taken down with all costs covered by vendor. They clearly wanted control of hedge as then applied for planning for multiple houses in the field they had retained, which was refused anyway. I've heard the term landcreep used......... correct or not I have no idea

good news it's not a ditch - is there not one on the other side? if there is potentially more good news! - curious as to where the raised bank to hedge is from - or does the ground level just step up where it's previously been levelled out perhaps? if the latter is the case you may need to think carefully about drainage here? regarding boundary and architect's responsibility they will probably throw this back over the net if they were working to details provided by you, or was establishing the boundary part of the brief? Agree talk to neighbour about boundary - but only once you are armed with the closest to facts/history/presumptions you can find. may also be worth looking for boundary markers - guessing extremely unlikely looking at photo but you never know. The land we bought was originally under one title with the vendors splitting it up. Wooden pegs were in the ground marking the split. We have replicated by digging a hole with post hole digger, ramming in deep a steel road pin and filled hole around pin with postmix. Now invisible but know where they are if we ever need. The stock fence we have erected is a fraction inside the legal boundary due to an error by fencing contractor. But in hindsight not a bad thing as to our advanatge should there ever be a future dispute with any new owners of adjacent land should our neightbours sell in the future - highly highly unlikely but it's covered for little effort and cost.

agree to be cautious before building. hopefully you have written evidence of where the boundary actually is? (and land registry plans don't always reflect accurately whats on the ground/history etc). if you don't have 100% evidence of boundary: Looks like a ditch in photo - or could be an optical illusion on photo where hedge banked up? In the event of a dispute the 'hedge and ditch presumption' could put the boundary on your side of ditch - if there is one? But hopfully you'll have something concrete to the contrary - talking of concrete, and if this is a ditch, hopefully your engineer has taken this into account + any water flow / roots. sorry to sound negative but all stuff to throw back at architect if not already covered - if applicable. Watercourses (even 'just ditches' are plotted on some maps) On a positive note however if there is a ditch on the other side (??) you might find the boundary is there. The way the hedge is banked up would indicate there is or was a ditch one side or the other. If blue on marked up image is a ditch the boundary could be the red - or the opposite if ditch is other side.