Declan52

Not true that a 200mm cavity won't cost more. Your block founds will need to be wider for a start. You will have to build the blocks 450mm wide to suit a 200mm cavity instead of 350mm Foundation block. You will have the extra cost of the mortar as well plus the cost to lay the extra blocks as you will Def use more. If you are already planning to build your founds 450mm wide then it won't matter. You will have the cost of longer wall ties. Depending on how wide your openings are you could maybe get away with using a 65mm concrete lintel to close the cavity at windows and doors. A standard bootleg head will close a 150mm cavity.

Done a lot of boreholes around the centre of town for the sewage system that went in under the pitch and putt. Plus had to do some all the way out of town for the connecting pipework. There aren't too many peat bogs around there with rock sticking out of the ground everywhere. If it's a standard two storey then just put membrane under the truss and tape at the edges. Then put 300/400mm of rockwool in the loft and leave it. No need to spray the roof. For the cavity the sweet spot is what you can afford. Price the three options up and see where you sit. Don't forget to add the extra cost for the different lengths of wall ties plus for a 175/200mm cavity you will need to use wider lintels or a bootleg concrete head to close the cavity which cost more. Have you posted your elevation drawings anywhere???

Wouldn't need a 9 inch head for that span, 6inch would be fine. I have 2 concrete prestressed heads at 4.4m long over my patio doors. They took some handling!!! 2 Brickies will easily lift heads up to 2.5m and if they are bigger you can always use a digger or telehandler to sling them in.

You can use a single skin lintel on the outside for the bricks and a concrete head on the inside. Then bring whatever you have in the cavity down to fill the gap.

You know how dangerous that is with all the spoil sitting so close to the trench edge. ESP with the first metre of that being made ground. That guy would be squeezed before he had time to say wdf.

Would go with joists either standard or I beam and forget the slab. The extra to do a floor and plus the ceiling underneath will be a big saving. 200mm cavity could be reduced to 175 or 150 will save some money. Cut roof or attic truss whichever suits better. Take it it's a 2 storey house and not a chalet bungalow. Getting the spray insulation is way more expensive than frametherm type. Plus is easily a diy job. Airtightness in block build ain't that hard. Tape at door window reveals and and wall ceiling junctions. Taping these is a job you can do yourself. I take it you will wet plaster the house inside. Bpc have kits for mhrv that aren't expensive(2k) and you can install yourself. I have ufh downstairs and rads upstairs and it works fine. As you are in Newcastle the ground will be gd so you can go shallow trench founds. Realistically how much work can you/ family do???

Could you run vlc player on the fire stick and from this type in the IP address of your camera. Use it like that to watch streams of football and works a treat.

Goes without saying it has to be a min 55inch oled smart TV with a speaker bar.

I went with softwood door frames and MDF skirting and architrave and both painted white with solid oak doors. MDF is obviously much much cheaper, easier to paint as it comes pre primed, won't twist , no knots and easy to fill any nail holes. Only disadvantage I found with MDF is that the off cuts don't burn well in my stove.

If the water or gas pipes are plastic then the cat and Genny won't work. Needs something metal in it to conduct the signal. Can use dowsing rods to find water pipes including sewers and drains. Unless the gas pipe has been covered in marker tape which has a wire in it it's pretty much undetectable. Gas companies can insert a wire down their pipes and trace it that way. Only sure fire way detection tool I have came across is the teeth of a mini digger and I have hit everything from a 25mm water pipe to a 33kv cable.

Or buy a door pre hung in a frame ready to be fixed.

A lot of people here me included have used Gary from bpc ventilation who is even a member on the forum. https://www.bpcventilation.com

I used full fill boards but as i built it myself i took a lot of time and made sure everyone was perfect. No Brickie will take that much care as he will be on price work so has to go fast to make his money. I also used lightweight blocks on the inside to improve the u value. Done all my working out near 3 years ago so wouldn't have the specific details to hand. Generally whoever you get will have a standard bead with a k value of 0.04 and then a premium version maybe a plantinum bead of 0.032. Take a cavity of 150mm and from that you get: 0.15/0.04=3.75. 0.15/0.032=4.69 1/3.75 = 0.27. 1/4.69= 0.21 This is a useful calculator. In the cavity section pick the mineral wool as it has the same values of 0.032 and 0.044 as the beads. Play about with it and see how using different types of blocks improves the overall u value. After that then it's working out the costs and see what suits the budget. https://www.cba-blocks.org.uk/u-value-calculator/ The solid boards are better in a lab but if they aren't installed correctly then they are useless. That's what you are doing by going the beads route. You are eliminating the risk of boards being pushed out by mortar it wall ties and creating cold spots on the walls. It's very easy done.

Build the cavity to suit 150mm and get the beads blown in. Will be cheaper than the full fill insulation and you will end up with a better real world result as it's very easy to leave gaps in the boards ESP at corners and doors & window reveals.

Any roadworks near you that have the pedestrian barriers than fit nice into the back of a car!!

They do work as i have used them before but being sort of "magic" only certain people seem to have the knack/ability to use them. Maybe the force isn't strong in james!!!

If you don't go with mhrv how are you going to meet the ventilation regs for your house?? In my experience i would put it in just to get fresh clean air in the house. The fact it recovers heat is a bonus in my book.

A CAT will only detect electric cables, no good for water or gas unless they have marker tape above them which in most cases they don't. You can look for the obvious signs of manholes , water pipe marker posts etc and if possible you can use a mouse on the end of sewer rods and trace sewer pipes that way. This can get very messy very quick!! You can also clip the clamp from the Genny around cables leaving telegraph poles and use the signal going down the cable to trace it. Even if you do get info back from utility providers it's generally useless as it will be very vague where the actual utility will be. But its always better to have some idea to what is in the ground. Do they have a dial before you dig service where you are at??

More a case of the wall failing rather than the screw.

I used both lightweight and normal blocks for mine and had no issues with them. Had never really used them that much before so i tried a few out and couldn't pull them back out in either types of blocks.

I used 80mm concrete screws to attach my liners to blockwork. You can screw them in nice and tight and out if you need to put a packer in. Holes get hid behind the door stop. For putting skirting on i used a mixture of adhesive and 50mm masonry nails. Being MDF the nail leaves a nice round hole that's easy filled with filler or paint depending on how fussy you are!!

Use this to help keep your architrave nice and tidy. http://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-mitre-adhesive-200ml/41795 Lay the 3 cut pieces out on the ground/ anything flat using battens to keep them lifted up and use the glue to hold the bits together. Easier to have a few doors worth cut as the glue sets rock hard in under 30 secs. You can then lift the complete bit up and nail it with out the risk of your cuts opening up and looking untidy. Also works with external corners of skirting.

Dig 2-3 trial holes along the length of the old wall. Only need to be wide enough for a shovel,1ft, and go down until you can scrape under what's at the bottom. Once you know how deep the old wall is at a few points along the wall then you can make a more informed choice on how to proceed. Take pictures and measurements.

If it's gd quality t&g flooring the short end doesn't have to rest on a joist. When it's all glued up you won't be able to tell any difference between on a joist or a join in the middle of 2. It should all be rock solid. Mine where 400mm joist spacing.

Nope loads of nice flavours. http://www.tayto.com/product-category/tayto-standards/