Declan52

I put up a kwikstage frame to lift both my 4.2m concrete lintels. Used a pulley block and sling attached to a standard across the top ledgers. It was easy 200kg+ in weight and the frame took it easily. You could easily use the same but connect the electric winch onto the top. Have planks across the gap and you can set your cage on them and load it with whatever is going down. Start the lift and remove the planks and lower it down. With the winch on the inside of the frame it won't tip over as all the weight is in the middle. You have diagonal bars to each corner to strengthen it all up.

Exactly. We mainly built for 1 contractor who kept us in work for the majority of the year. If a self build came up it was evenings and weekends or on the odd occasion if the main site was waiting on materials or they where putting roads in and we had a few free weeks then we went to the self build. But once he phoned looking us back we jumped wether the self build was done or not. It got finished on evenings and weekends.

He's being honest by telling you he wouldn't be able to do your job till the end of August instead of saying he will be there in the morning and not turning up.

The builder is just being honest with you. The job that he is on has by the sounds of it had extra work added on which then impacted you. It happens. The joys of being self employed.

Get a spade out and dig down against your outside wall where ever is the easiest spot and find the founds. Next doors will be near enough the same. Then you will know for sure.

It's a well trodden path doing it that way. Most of the risk of encountering significant issues will occur before the roof goes on. £4k saved is not a bad start. Keep haggling over everything once you take over the reins and the savings will soon mount up.

A timber floor like you would have on most sheds are usually something as basic as 4*2 for joists and OSB sheets. You lay the flags in rows and on top of these you can lay a scaffold plank onto which you then set the 4*2 at 90 degrees to the planks. Very easy then to pack up the planks so they sit level. Down side of this is you have left a gap for mice,rats etc. Concrete much better solution but obviously much more work and more expensive.

Something as simple as some putty maybe.

Rake out the sand. Dig out the soil in the blue area and put it on top of the sand and rake it all together. Roll out turf will grow here as the grass has its roots already in the turf. Will your garden office have a concrete floor or timber?? A concrete floor will require some compacted hardcore. A timber floor will let you lay some of the flags and then use scaffold planks to set the frame on so it's easy to get it all level. Not much more than a weekends work digging out the blue area and raking it into the sand. Roll out turf is very very fast to lay. It will take you longer to carry it round than put it down. 14 days of watering the turf each day and it will be perfect.

It will depend on how far out they are. But hopefully it's an easier solution that digging them all out. You can use 4*4 posts instead on 4*2 of your concerned about the strength. Will just mean longer bolts.

Putting up a set of curtains on that window will be a bit challenging.

How much are they out of line?? You could use long bolts and pack out some 4*2 or 6*2 treated to get you where you need to be assuming they are maybe 50mm -100mm max out of line. I did this a few weeks ago using M10 bolts and 4*2. You use the 4*2 as your new post and it gets set level and all in line and gets bolted to the wonky concrete post. You can see the old posts sticking out the back on the last two posts in the pic below.

How are the fixed to the joists?? Can you see any screw heads or even nails. Can't make any out on the pics.

Even better then.

Have you a sump hole dug just incase you need to drain any surface water quickly.

I didn't use any matting on mine either. Didn't know there was such a product. Just used a flexible adhesive and coming up on 6 years its crack free. I had my floor in for 10 weeks with the ufh temp increased by 1 degree each day till it got to a flow temp of 35 degrees. Would there be less movement in a sand cement screed compared to a liquid screed.

Just try to reload them on another new comment in this post.

Or a bar or seats or if you really want to torture yourself Pinterest is your new best friend.

Keep the pallets stacked up nice and neat. You will have lots more deliveries which might need something clean to set them on to keep them out of the muck.

That's how you can tell the difference between a bricklayer and a block layer.

The worst thing you can do is check each brick. If your profiles at each end are plumb them the string will be plumb. Just lift the brick and when you set it down it will only need a single tap or 2 to get it down to the line. And then lift another and so on and so on. Just don't build till it's fouling the line or you will be moving the bricks further and further out each time. Only check with your level on your 3rdand last course. You will still have the line at the top edge so just go along every 4th brick, if your using a 900mm level, and plumb up then use your level across the brick run to straighten it if you need to. Same applies when you start the blocks. Don't plumb every block. Depending on how fast you are you might be quick enough to do every 2 course high. Plumb up every 2nd block then used the level across. Don't fret to much they will never be sheets of glass. Bricks and blocks aren't perfectly square .

No brickie would ever use a credit card for this method. It's a £50 note or nothing.

You just treat it like you would a standard brick wall. Just open the perps up to give you the required distance.

A tool as simple as a water level, £17 in Screwfix, will be your friend. You set your 4 corners using the water level then string line in between.

I done this one last week using treated softwood. Used 4*4 fence posts for the uprights and 4*2 treated for the rest. Longest span is 2.4m with 4*2 doubled up front and back of the posts. On top is treated lath as the customer has a pergola cover so they will stop it sagging.