Declan52

A strong magnet will also detect any screws as well.

Nothing gave me more satisfaction that building my own house so hats of. Slightly curious why you have the line you are building to on the 2nd last pic on the inside of the block.

If you use full fill cavity boards to insulate it will be dead easy to build. Your frame should be plumb so the boards you put against the frame will be plumb and then the blocks will be plumb. Only have to keep your eye on your coursing heights which as you will have the boards already in will be a great guide to build to.

If you cut a course like that for the outside then you have to match it on the inside or your wall ties won't match.

How do you know that you are 50mm out of level, do you have access to a laser lever or a theodolite??? If you do have then go round all the corners and hammer in a nail so this is your mark you can measure of. From this you can measure every few course to see if you or high or low. You would be safer checking these every 4 course and writing on the wall if you are + or - out. You can go out of level very quickly which when you get to joist height can big time fcuk you up as you don't want one side of the joists on the block and the other sitting on masses of packers. A height stick is nothing fancy just a piece of timber that is pretty straight that you mark out 225mm sections on for each course of block. You have a mark at 225,450,675,900, etc. As you build a corner you can put the stick on the bottom course and then see if your heights are correct. So for your low corner you could make a mark at 230,460,690,920, so after 4 course you have got 20mm out of it. You can go up in bigger bed depths but it's harder to get the blocks to sit and you are safer taking baby steps first!!

Easier to take the 50mm out over a few courses. Over the next 7/10 courses that corner will be bedded slightly higher with more mortar. Are you building this yourself???? Are you using profiles or even a height stick to keep the coursing correct??? Very important for your wall ties and insulation.

Wouldn't get away with building overhand and the outer scaffolding not up to the same height here. I would have the mortar board up another block, save the back a bit.

Hope the health & safety Nazi doesn't come round and see that guy building like that!!!

Are you 50mm out of level and are using this under a block. Or is it vertical as a brick is to wide.

Hard to make out on this photo but the dpc on mine is where the dash stops. It kicks out like a bell cast and then steps in for the rubbed up section below. Any rain that runs down the wall drips of away from the wall onto the slabs below. You can't have your dpc higher than your finished floor level so don't step it up much. It is usually a course of block below this level.

The blocks don't look the best either. Def not in line or all plumb.

If it's only a long sweep they are just about ok but if it has 2 bends then buy yourself a face mask as you will need it. How do the brown trouts not get stuck on the pic above with 2 bends, a dip and a rise.

Expanding foam and then a screwed cap i think. Knowing them probably what ever days paper it was cut up and shoved in.

Aren't most TS multi coiled. Mine has 1 for dhw, 1 for ufh, 1 for rads upstairs, 1 unused as i was originally going down solar thermal but gladly went pv.

Good plumbers here are like unicorns. Often spoke of and some surely exist but i still haven't found one.

Yep Thursday night crawling around all sniper like around mayobridge is my normal routine. Hard to break old habits!!! Don't worry my dearest called me all sorts of names during our build usually starting with what did you do that for you stupid ************.

Head purse??? Hand rampant rabbit??? Foot perfume???

That's not good at all. The way they usually work is you don't pay 50% till the windows have been been in for 4/6 weeks so i take it you still are with holding money till all that is listed above is fully fixed.

I did have a lot of heat loss from my spaghetti junction pipe work at the start as my plumbers where happy with the fact my hotpress would be the warmest room in the house. If i had made it 1m wider growing some medicinal plants would have been a very real option. Took me a lot of time and effort wrapping the pipe work up in various different materials to try and get the heat loss down. I also tried various different temps to store the water and the sweet spot for me was 65 degrees. If i had to do it again i think i would definitely go for a split system as sometimes if i have 2/3 rooms calling for heat it doesn't be long emptying the tank leaving you having a lukewarm at best shower.

Fixed price. Brickie will get your plans and from that work out how many blocks is in the build and come to a figure of how long it will take it to get built. Then you get your price. £1 a block upwards but then he might be charging you extra for mixer hire, trestle and plank hire etc. Day rate maybe if there is a fancy curved wall or before the roof is complete when he has to come back and replace the bits the joiners have busted out.

Don't need one if you use a bootleg head. I remember pricing them up and the cavity closers weren't cheap. Plus you then have to use plasterboard on the underside to cover the closer which is more work. Price the two options up but it's no extra work as the brickies are already lifting 2 heads just means 1 with the boot is slightly heavier.

Using a boot head is the easiest method. Your windows if going for 3g will be 90mm+ so if you use a boot head it will cover what's left. You would be using 2 heads on the internal wall anyway to fully carry what's above so it won't be much extra to use a standard head and a boot head.

But it's silver line so it's a one use only then gets binned so not a bad price.

There are a good few here who went down the block route, me included, so spend the time before your build starts researching every aspect of it to see how you can improve on the efficiency of your build and come back and post any questions you need help with. If you are a spark mhrv will be easy to install by yourself, i done my own. As a side note mine is 220sqm and with a family of 5 my space heating and dhw comes in at approx £300-£350 per year depending on the price of fuel. My PV generation covers my electric bills with £25 profit last year.

Then go for a cavity that is a min of 150mm wide and get the beads blown in. Don't let the builder put cavity insulation in as the beads will give a better real world result. Also means you save some money as the beads don't have to go in till just before it's plastered so helps cash flow at the start.