redtop

by chop saw i assume you mean electric table mitre saw? Thats what i would use anyhoo

that sounds like a good use of tech. I only want to add things that end up being useful (i.e. saving effort / money) over the longer term. Perhaps we need a thread of what tech has proved useful and what hasn't (there probably already is one lol). As our ground floor is raised off the ground on stilts i was thinking about temp sensors low down in the ground floor make-up so i can detect fire very early

sorry cant help other than say whenever i have tried to calculate it i have always underestimated by loads. Its amazing how much goes into a re-wire / new installation. On the other hand if you buy a bulk load you can sell me any spare cheap :-)

we have got an A rating on SAP without renewables using a standard gas combi boiler, going for an ASHP reduced the SAP for some reason!

yes, can get a 3T dumper on site. but it would need to be driven around 800M from the bottom of the hill. each cap is 450X450X300 mm and there are 41 of them re pumping. i can get a concrete wagon close (ish) to other end of the site. Probably within 60 to 100M of the piles, and it would be a downhill pump from the estate road down footpath and onto the site.. this might be the easiest option

thats not a bad idea!

you can get bags of ready mix that isnt postcrete and hence goes of at a normal rate. We might have to do this for our pile caps unless we can get a pump long enough as its 40N (high strength) spec which you cant mix by hand apparently. Will be using a concrete mixer though and each post is 6 bags

i agree entirely about needing to re-balance and improve manufacturing. But for decades 'engineering' as a trade has been under played in the UK. Being a chartered engineer in germany means a lot; far less respected here for some reason. I suspect the germans respect building, engineering and manufacturing right from school, collage, university through to employment far more than we do. And despite the car debacle i still have the perception that german engineering is better than UK (or any other country). I think this is one of the biggest mistakes we have made in the UK; not investing enough for decades in world class engineering and relying far too much on the service / financial sectors.

yep thats true, but it isnt that simple. To add additional piles the SE needs to re-do the loading calcs, we need to re-submit BC (or an amendment), the groundworker would need to amend / change the terracing for the piles, the steels on top would need re-designing and the survey guys would need to re-do their work. And we have 41 piles for a timber frame; lots of piles to keep the steel sizes down. so some extra weight would probably add an extra half dozen piles (i guess, who knows). And steel sizes go up due to extra weight and the bad access becomes a real issue (6ft wide and steep road). and of course i would need to get the concrete beams on site. and extra weight would probably add to the torsional pressure which has been the issue with the piles.. arrrghhh :-)

i have the same ground floor build up, but for dif reasons. We are having pile foundations, and then steel posts and steel ring beam due to the steep slope. So thr ground floor will be .5M to 2.5M above the actual ground. Metal web joists and fireproof board underneath has been specified. Cant use concrete as too heavy. Not yet sure of how we will tackle this as we too want to avoid having to replace the floor at some point. Mind you i suppose if the joists are treated, fireproof board and a ventilation gap it should last as long as the timber walls. I guess :-)

statistics... In know there are lots on min wage. But then in the midlands its exactly the same, and wealthy london or bristol... Plenty of people in both places on very low income however due to the large number of highly paid jobs the average income is higher. I agree not everyone is as lucky as me, but then its taken me until mid 50's and working all over UK and europe to get to this position however having lived in Bedale, Aldershot, 3 areas of the midlands, Aborfield, sunderland over the last 30 years i can certainly say the area in and around Looe feels far from deprived.

just moved to conrwall, albeit just inside the border in Looe where we are self building. I dont think this area is poor at all, everything stays open all year and lots of work at plymouth with good train routes from there to the rest of the country. West cornwall may be a different story. I think with increased home working we are seeing more people (like me) who can live anywhere in the UK without having to change jobs. In my industry its very common and we employ people from york, n wales, midlands, london, newport, devon and cornwall. Technology makes it very easy

exactly what we got to and hence going for the sedum roof

we are going for a sedum roof and it adds little to the cost and will look great. For the soil to be deep enough to grow vegetables (or even grass) it would be a lot heavier and hence more expensive. We have had no issue getting a mortgage for the build that will transfer to a normal mortgage post completion, got a few quotes as well; no drama

i asked about that and cant remember why i couldnt... May need to go back to SE when he returns from extended holidays. I think beam and block was weight but also ease of getting materials on site. All the steels are short so easily manhandled, anything requiring a crane is out although a small tele-handler can get onto the site. re access the whole floor is lifted of the ground so i could (just) get under to fix the board. Once first 'course' was in (at the 'uphill' end of the build) the others would be easy

agree, that isnt right either

yes but even if it did it woudl then rest on the wood that sits below the joist. Surely cant be right?

below is the BC drawing submitted by the architect. The building is on steel posts (connected to pile foundations) raised of the ground with steel beams forming the ground floor sub-structure. Now, the SEs drawings show the beams being supported by the posts, as you would expect but the architects drawings dont seem to connect the steel post to the beam. Am i missing something...

should add we have done all the PM to date, which even at this stage has kept us busy sorting services, groundworks, steel quotes, foundations, etc, etc

well we are very early in the build phase, site cleared, elec on site and water booked. Got more clearance work being done over next few weeks which includes laying entrance drive, making levels right for pile foundations, etc. Then piles go in. Now, none of this we could do ourselves (digger job was very difficult on a steep slope). BUT starting to get quotes in for the less skilled bits (concrete pile caps, simple retaining wall, etc) and its clear a lot can be saved by doing it ourselves. So plan is to do the simple concreting, probably get the steels designed, supplied and erected seperatly (lots of small steels, all can be man handled). then get a builder in to put frame on, and windows in. FLat roof so i will GRP myself (booked a free course). Then onto the inside, where we will do as much as possible. In total i reckon we can save £100K plus, easily. We would probably save a bit less if trades didnt try to rip you of but that aspect seems endemic

I have just taken a quick look at the site (cogkart) and i would recomend cancelling your card. Its difficult to tell with just a quick look however the site apears to have have had various pages (T&Cs, data privacy, etc) cloned from other sites (there are various errors). Plus the language is very poor. Plus they are very vague over delivery information. FInally coupled with mad low prices for products not yet shipping.... BTW i work for a cyber security coy, ime not very technical but i know what to look out for.

no but i can well imagine £300 wont come close....

i thought that was the way you always did it lol, so 'normal'. Only thing i would also do with raised beds like that is put some vertical wood (preserved 2 by 2 or similar, could be smaller) on the inside of each corner to hold the horizontal boards in line, stopping them a few inches below the top of the soil so cant be seen ?

i know the answer to the second option was due to twisting forces in the piles as they are quite narrow. no idea re steel pile cap. I have gone through the drawings and still have no idea of where the bar marks can be found in the drawings. As there are only 41 piles why do i have bar 01 and 02 each with 41 piles and a slight dif in the rebar lengths...

steel posts, 100SHS 5