Declan52

Yeah I cut mine like a wedge shape then the next board on top of the dpc cut at the same angle so the dpc is sandwiched in between but slopes down so any moisture can run down and out. It should be easier for you as you are using beads. Cut the pir and put a squirt of foam/ grap adhesive to hold it in place. How big the piece of pir is will depend on the length of dpc you have so it laps down and out the front.

The block being returned is the inside skin turned in towards the cavity. Depending on how wide the cavity is you will either have a block cut to 7 inch and then a brick on the next course so you end up a 25mm strip of insulation and then dpc then the out side skin. This would be for a standard 100/100/100 type build. If you cavity is wider than 100mm then you can go for a wider strip of insulation to fill the gap. It's standard build here in NI to do it this way. I just cut strips of pir insulation and put them into the gaps below the dpc. Just takes a bit of time to wedge it up and leave no gaps.

Any of the houses that we done that had block and beam floor I hated them. If a suspended floor was the only way out then I would go for a full concrete slab.

Did MBC do your screed???

How do you deal with the obvious cold spot round the edge where the beams sit on the wall??? How much insulation do you put in the cavity??? How much insulation do you put on top of the floor??? As far pure luck getting a floor screed level I think your doing the MBC guys a big disservice. They do massive amounts of work under neath the floor to get it level.

Unless all the materials that built their houses where helicoptered in then it's just a case of biting your tongue and being civil. As long as the lorries don't do any actual damage there ain't a lot they can do so don't stress too much.

All it is is an insurance policy if anything major goes wrong not that the nhbc would actually do anything to help if it did. Could you get your architect to confirm that all with the build is up to the relevant regs and use his indemity insurance. Obviously he will be looking paid for this.

If they are block paving kerbs then they are can be put tight to each other with no gap.

There all self employed so he should be doing it right.

That's some wage for fixing leaky taps and clearing blocked bogs!!! Think @Nickfromwales should get the sat nav on the van set for London when his spell as a one armed bandit is over. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5496089/london-plumber-210k-a-year-pimlico-stephen-fry/

Definitely habitable for mice but for anyone else that would be no. Can you contact them and ask what exactly made him think it was habitable.

Could you build it so it's an alleyway so you and the neighbour have access to the back but you also gain 1m width upstairs.

The diesel will only kill the tree as its being absorbed by just the tree. You only get maybe 50ml in each hole and just top this up. You don't just pour a Jerry can full round the roots as that just won't work. It will take a month or maybe more depending on how big the tree is and how vast its roots are but it will work. Once it's killed then the digger will pull it out very easily.

If you can cut your way into the trunks drill some holes with the widest wood bit you have and put some diesel into the holes. Keep topping it up and it will poison the tree and make it easier to rip out when the digger arrives.

It just looks a cheaper alternative to using proper lead. Have never heard of it. Says on it's homepage that it should last 20 years. Is this long enough for you so it ends up some one else's problem further down the line??? http://leadax.co.uk

That's why they will charge a £10 a brick. Hammering out each brick will break at least 3 silverline cold chisels.

Yep that's how it works. Shake hands at the start then beat lumps out of each other then shake hands at the end.

You spot on with that Ian. Every tradesman that came on my site had been known to me for a long time through either working on sites or from playing Gaelic. All had been wired of months before I even turned a sod that their skills would be needed and each where more than happy to offer mates rates. The only guy I didn't know was my plumber as I was going down the rhi route for my pellet boiler and all of the plumbers I know had absolutely no knowledge of that type of installation.

Only difference really is the local caravan folk have a liking for lead but fibreglass is worthless to them. Both will keep out the rain if done properly.

Can I be in the van team!!!

As I said blocks are far more forgiving than brick. With the weight of the block is pretty hard to bed up more than a few mm with good motar as the block just sinks but with bricks you can quickly make a real dick of it.

If this is going to be your first attempt at bricklaying then don't start of building a brick garage. Your bedding and perps will be all over the place and with facing bricks there is no hiding place. Build it in blocks. Much easier to work with. You can nail lengths of timber at the corners to act as profiles so your bedding will be close enough. You can be 25mm of the plumb with blocks sitting in and out and a plasterer can still get it looking good. Same goes with skimming a few rooms. Unless you want to hang your coat on the finished wall just don't even go their.

Could you not put some small diagonals on the frame somewhere that won't be seen to stiffen it up.

There is no way after just 3 months of learning that you will be up to any kind of standard to attempt to build blocks in a foundation or the walls of a house. A low garden wall at a stretch maybe. As for plastering it really is a skill. After 3 months you wouldn't have the strength in your wrists or chest to be able to lift a hawk and scoop up a trowel full and smooth it on to a wall unless you like the old wonky Spanish look. You maybe could learn how to hang a door but are you going to be confident enough to take on a door worth a few hundred quid. Same goes with plumbing you could learn how to do a few simple connections and joints but a full house??? Don't even touch electrics far too much can go wrong!!! Sometimes you just have to be honest about your skill set and use your time on things that will save you money. Trawling the internet for deals, driving hard bargains in builders merchant, being organised and a very important one realising that somewhere along the build something will go wrong so don't stress out to much.

Only thing about the z type is you can see every join in it. I have the random type on pieces of my house. Its put on with tile adhesive that would normally be used for swimming pools.