Big Jimbo

I don't know. I just know that that is the size used by the labs.

The 425 because that is what i believe is the size used to filter the material before the plasticity test is done.

Say that the 1/2 kilo was all clay, but the other material was say sand with gravel. That means that the 7/8 of the material is not taken into account ?

@alfaTom So if you had say 4kilo of material. Dried and filtered. Say 1/2 a kilo of material goes through the 425micron filter. Is the other 3.5kilo just discarded ?

I know that when a soil test for plasticity is done, a sample is taken, dried, and put through a 425micron filter. The material that passes through is then tested for plasticity. Would anybody know what is involved in a Modified plasticity test ? Is it something to do with adding back in the material that does not pass through the filter ? I can't seem to find the relevant info online.

As you are next to the canal, i think you should have a 1/3rd size canal boat built around it. A 3ft moat all around the outside of the boat, with a plank for the chickens to access the shelter of the tree. Then you could have a couple of ducks in the moat to keep the chickens company. If you think i am being silly, it's because. I like your house. I would like chickens, (and ducks), and i've had loads of canal boat holidays, and love the canals. So basically, i'm jealous. What about a pirate ship, half sunken. Designed in such a way as to be a nightime house for the chickens.

Try and keep it friendly. They tend to get the hump if you get arsey. You need to lose the front gable for sure.

Perhaps he is looking to boost to more than 1.5 bar ?

I can't remember wher i used to get them, but how about the tiny little PIR sensors. I used to use them on kitchen cupboards.

I fitted One at my daughters. It didn't have a vessel. It increased her water pressure to 1.5 bar. There was a single main that supplies her and her next door neighbour. Without it her water pressure was dreadful. She is single so just has the kitchen, and One bathroom, so serves her well.

Tell your builder that the boarding is not the issue. (It might also be poor but we can't tell) It's the fact that the fiberglass has been done so badly that it is not fit for purpose. To be honest, it might last a couple of years, or shorter, or longer. I did a repair to a fibreglass roof 30 years ago. I told them it was temporary. It's still there. Tell him you are going to have the roof looked at, as you have been told it is poor quality work.

I have done some fiberglass work, but boat building. IMO that roof needs to come off. I wouldn't do fiberglass roofing in the UK. Don't know what you are doing, ruined. Too Hot, ruined. Rain, ruined. Your builder would, i'm sure, not put up with that standard of work on his own house. That roof, even if watertight now, will not last as it should. I would be looking for a full refund.

@nod How much screed cover will you end up with above the pir upstand fella.

I like it. if i was going to buy it, i would buy it on the basis that i might not be able to extend it. It would do for me and the wife. Nice bit of grounds to create a nice garden, and permission for a garage for me to play with an old car. I would then get pally with the conservation officer, and try and get him round. Talk about what might be acceptable. If you can get him/her onside planning will be forthcoming. So basically, if you buy it, be prepared to live with it as it is.

Cut with an angle grinder. Ebay will get you a set of diamond polishing pads for a small angle grinder. Go down using the grades and you will get a perfect finish. I have a set that i have used a few times on granite for window cills etc. A perfect polished finished to a meter long cut takes about 10 mins.

@Furnace. I get the above, and agree with you. When i was building a couple of large houses for a developer several years ago, all the contracts to plumbers, brickies, electricians, roofers, plasterers etc, had a 10% contract value retention for 6 months from house completion. The developer thought he was being smart. However, all the contractors simply loaded all of the quotes by 10% and treated it as a "If i ever get it, it will be a bonus" If a manufacturing company is say involved in producing 10 timber frame houses a month. Materials, power, rent, wages, etc during that time could be considerable. To cover this may involve borrowing money which will cost. I can see it from both sides, but agree that regardless of what companies house checks you try to do, you are going to be at huge risk of paying up front for a timber frame from any company. That's why i wouldn't buy One. From the other side. I used to run a small company producing bespoke hand built furniture, Kitchens, Bedrooms, Vanity Units, Media centres etc. I used to have 25% on signature of contract, 25% 12 weeks before delivery due, 25% before delivery. I had lorries parked, and refused to unload them untill funds in my account. Final 25% within 14days of completion. This ment that i didn't have many clients, but provided me with a decent income for 20 years. I was never exposed to a client not paying me (even if i got a knock for the last payment i was more than covered) The value of my contracts were between £35 to £200k Over the years, i was offered a lot of work that i turned down, because they were not happy with my contract terms, and i was not happy with the contracts they were offering. I knew many companies doing similar stuff to me that went under due to being exposed / not being paid. Perhaps i could have made a lot more money if i had taken more chances. I will never know. I would have been happy to have worked with some sort of escrow, but i would have involved lots of extra work in admin, and i might have needed to borrow money in order to fulfil my parts before getting my money. The end result is that my already hideously expensive kitchens would have cost even more. Say my timber frame company is cash rich. My company is able to use that money to make more. In it's simplist term sat on deposit with a bank. That is earning my Company interest. Take that away, because i am now using that money to make your timber frame......It ain't hard to guess that the cost of your timber frame has just gone up. It kinda sucks both ways, But i still wouldn't be buying anything off me, if i still produced any of my stuff. Not on my contract terms.

The only time i used it was for a stage set that i made for a production about 30 years ago. I gave the manufacturer (Bolloms i think) the total surface area, and they supplied me with the paint. Loads of it and it cost a fortune. They also provided me with the Fire cert that was required for the production company. It was hideous stuff to paint. I used loads of brushes, rollers etc. To be honest, i didn't use it all because i had lost the will to live. The only other time i used it was when i did a loft conversion, and because i had it, used it. When the building inspector came he said what was i covering it with. I told him, One layer of 12.5 mm plasterboard. As he said, i shouldn't have bothered. By the time the fire got through the plasterboard, and heated the steel to the point that it failed, we would all have been rescued hours before, or long dead. I swore that i would never use the bloody stuff again. You have a lot of steels. That is not going to be fun.

I have no idea why but i have just thought of @pocster. There is no way that even he, will have a vibrating tool, in the special cupboard, suitable for the purpose of laying a garage floor.

What a pain in the ass. I hope you are able to dig out all the stuff he needs over the next couple of days, and ger it sorted.

I expect it's because the lean to is open on 3 sides.

And i believe owned by an American Bank.

Travelodge is booming. Bookings up year on year. However about 30% of the bookings are paid for by the Local Authority, housing homeless families.

It's the reason i walked out of my job in banking. There was no mercy. Can't pay, take the house back off them. I believe that when the shite hit the fan in Ireland, the banks ended up owning more property than the general public. From memory, my first mortgage was £325 per month against a take home pay of about £1000. However, a tenner a month to the gas and electricty covered it. Petrol was about 75pence a gallon, a decent second hand car, about 3 grand. Now a bloody coffee is about 4quid.

I don't know what the premium would be. My quote for bloody blockwork shocked me.

Basically as @Canski above says, even if the bricks are pre cut, you have to handle more bricks to get the distance. More bricks = more money. More bricks to lay per square meter. Thats why blockwork costs less than brickwork to do.