Cpd

@Alphonsox my first bit of advise would be for you to have a really good look at what is being grown locally, this can help you to create a safe list of plants that you know are going to work in your area. Then its down to the micro climate within your garden, sheltered corners etc can give you more options. I have an exceptionally large garden with many diffrent aspects and at least 3 major changes in soil type (rich volcanic - peat - clay/shale) there are two springs on the property and a large pond and marsh area so i get to really play around with what trees i can grow. However in the more exposed areas prone to south westerly gales and salt laden winds........ i am growing silver birch (betula pendula) Rowan (sorbus aucuparia) Aspen (populus tremula) cherry plum (prunus cerasifera) I have also having success with griselina littoralis but its only been in two years.... there are many types of willow that can grow well in the right location and worth investigating. on the small tree / shrub front the best of the pick for me would be New Zealand holly (olearia macrodonta) its pretty and supper hardy and grows quick ! I am also growing sea buckthorn on my dry slopes. Hawthorn and blackthorn are both doing well as is hazel. I can and am growing a couple of hardy fuchsia with great ease and proppergating cuttings is sooo easy, they are great for hedging and for providing protection for other plants. I have hundreds of scots pine but the ones in sheltered corners are really doing great, the others get salt burn every winter but then get away in the spring.... i intend to plant some larch as it does well locally but like so many trees there is disease within 30 miles..... anyway as i said look at whats working locally, i have planted apple pear and plum but they are tucked in and surrounded by sacrificial trees, ie trees that provide shelter now but will get cut back or removed as the fruit trees develop. There are many really good hardy salt tolerant trees but they are specialised and come with a hefty price tag, so out of my reach.... try and get a wide variety of trees in if you have the space as disease is spreading so quick and if all your eggs are in one basket..... apologies for bad spelling i am a stone mason not a words smith.

Over the last three years i have planted about 3000 + trees in my garden, they were bare root stock, and only 12-18 inches tall, last year there were some reaching over six foot but most about 4 foot, i live in a very exposed coastal area and it takes longer for them to get used to the conditions but once established they will really get going. As previously said its better to plant next Autumn. Small young trees planted in well prepared ground with good weed control will establish quickly and its a joy to see them grow. Cant help on supplier as my trees came via a personal contact "in the trade" at a very discounted rate.....

Looks realy great and in another situation where you wanted the wood it would look great with a few coats of varnish.

Dont read this unless you are totally mad and suffer from overly attentive to detail when dealing with insulation....... really dont read it........ I have done something similar was working with 220mm rafters, my build up so far is slates breather membrane 22mm sarking board i then put 50x25mm battens up against the inside of the sarking boards nailed to the rafters. i then put in 50mm calotex and held each bit in tightly against the batten with multiple bits of wood.... i then foamed around the 5mm gap i had left round each board, the foam could not go passed the batten as the calotex was held tightly up against the batten. I then cut the foam away and removed all the bits of wood and then foamed any gaps where the bits of wood had been..... then cut that back and taped everything....... this gave me my 50mm gap between sarking and insulation and a very tightly sealed layer between inside and outside. I felt that there was just no way of properly sealing the gaps around the insulation if i had put in 170mm thick sheets, it would be a bit like spraying and praying with the foam. I then cut 120mm blocks of insulation to bring it out level with the inside of the rafter faces, temporally cross battened it on the inside at 400mm intervals to pull the 120 insulation down tight against the 50mm, foamed it all and removed battens, foamed any gaps that were hidden behind battens and then cut it all back and taped the whole lot..... my next job is to put large sheets of insulation up to mitigate the cold rafter ends, foam and tape. I am then thinking of OSB over the whole lot followed by two layers of acoustic plaster board. Well i told you not to read it........ honestly it was a horrid job and if i could have seen how horrid it was going to be i would have ripped all the slates of and put all the insulation outside of the rafters..... shear madness. If you have no choice, dont believe me or are simply a bit mad like me..... then fill your boots and send your reply on a postcard.

Just got the heads up that my local TP were putting their Celotex prices up by 16% next week, so am measuring up today to get my next batch booked asap. Just a heads up in case it's a wide spread price rise.

I had a choise of BM and five years ago i made the effort to go and talk to the managers of all three, Keyline (now TP) were the most approachable and i have developed a really good relationship with both managers, drivers, storemen and shop front. I was never going to be a BIG customer but they liked my quirky ideas and have been great ever since. I get a lot of damaged goods for nothing more than a contribution to the christmas party, i recently needed a new table saw and even though they did not stock table saws the manager was happy to order it for me as they had other dewalt products, he matched the cheapest online price that i could find, yes he said he was not going to make much on it but it was easy for him to do and it got me out of his office ! I dont have an account as i always like to go in, have a chat with the lads and then head into the office to beg the lowest price on the latest requirement, i try Not to abuse this tolerance they give me but they seem to enjoy my stories....... I geuss communication is the key and out here in the sticks there is still a thing called community and these people are not just drones punching time cards, they are interested.

i am no expert but have built small bridges in the past, that looks like a relatively long span with heavy loading and quite a small beam, have you had calculations done for the span x loading ?

When i put down one of my floors i had concerns that one day i may well need to have access to a specific location, so i built a removable hatch in the chipboard, i then made some very carfull measurments and sketch before putting the final floor over the top. Should i ever need access i hope it will be a bit easier.....

Like JSHarris said i gave up after 30 seconds.... I live at the end of a very long and very old phone line and it was all too much for me or my decrepit ipad.

Wow that looks like your preparing to park a tank in there..... i cant help on which material to use but i have used a "no squeak" silicon on top of joists before gluing and screwing them down and it worked very well, more money though. I used 22mm chip on the above.

I think its to make sure you can fit it in square, what i did was to make the gaps large enough to get some 20mm calotex around all sides and with room to foam it in as well, i then fitted the windows, checked that the frames were sqaure to both the roof and just as importently to the glass units ( put the unit in and make sure it has an even gap between the frame and glass unit) tighten it all up and then seal it all up from the outside ( in my case it was some foaming and breather membrane ) then its back inside and finish foaming the gap between the insulation and rafters, cut back, tidy up and retape vcl. I am not saying this is the propper way as i did it without researching...... But it did give me a well insulated and sealed window that has given me no problems in the last five years.

Looks grand, however i am intrested that you can still see the inside of the rafters,( how deep are they ?) is this a cold bridge and will it have an effect on potential condensation problems ? Do you need to put extra insulation over the rafter faces to mitigate this ? i am not an expert and i am just intrested as i have a project where i am thinking about insulating the inside of a cold roof with calotex ( slate, breather membrane, 22mm sarking, 50mm air gap, 50mm calotex, fomed and taped, 120mm calotex, foamed and taped to the inside of the rafters face) , i was then going to add a further 25mm of calotex to mitigate the cold bridge. Just asking out of interest and not looking to hijack the this thread.

Well i packed up the duff saws and sent it on its way back to Amazon, will wait to see the money back in my bank before jumping afain, thanks @Nickfromwales for your input, i will look into the Makita you mentioned but would really like to hear about tried and tested models like the dw3151 that @Simplysimon recomended, but i am really in the sticks and buying new may be the best bet, especially if i can get a good warranty. Will see what @Construction Channel Have to say ? Thanks.

Simon, i think that would be perfect but its a long drive in an old fuel guzzling landrover to North hamtonshire from Aygll and back again..... its not even fun driving long distances in it..... Or short distances...... De walt dont seem to have a new model available that is as robust as this now and within my budget. Will keep an eye on it and see if i know a hamtonshire argyll commuter...... Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks Simon and others, just in on a coffee stop.... I will follow up your info as well as all the other offerings and try and draw up a short list for me to do a bit more reserch and try to glean information from reviews. The Makita 1216 is 110 and runs of a 3.3kva yellow brick with no problems, it took quite a bit of fiddling around to get it all zeroed in but when that was done its given me no problems, I think i have had it over 4 years now with intermittent but hard use so i cannot give you a full thumbs up as i would only take that from someone who uses one on a daily basis in a professional setting. It has survived abuse by various volunteers so i would say it is durable. I agree with what you say about getting a saw that is versatile but also like to keep it fairly simple so that i can still understand it and have the ability to fix it. Have just finished packing up the broken bocsh and will post on Monday, when i have my money back i will be ready to try again.

Taking everything on board, thanks for all the sugestions and keep them coming if you have something to add. I think a table saw is a vital piece of kit and many people on this site will either need one at some point or have one and its great to be able to hear people veiws to help with the decision making. Just to add, i already have a makita LS1216 compound mitre saw and am personally only looking for a table saw for ripping material down.

I recently did a lot of research into buying a table saw, my basic criteria was Semi portable but not light weight The ability to cut up to 75mm thick timber Be able to cut up to 45 degree angles Be within sight of £500 Have a good quality fence and produce accurate cuts There is more but thats the basics, I purchased a Bosch GTS 10 XC Professional Table Saw 240 V For just over £500 and after setting it up and doing a few trial cuts its motor lost all power and that was that..... I have contacted Amazon and they will take it back, pay for the return postage and give a full refund, i feel like i just dodged a bullet as if this had happened after 30 days it would have all been a lot more complicated. I had read on a review that this could happen but put it down to a one off problem and felt that a +£500 pound saw from Bosch would be a serious bit off kit.... So i am feeling a bit deflated after all my researching led me to this. So do you know off or own a quality table saw that meets this criteria and would you recommend it ? I would be very grateful for any good recommendations from personal experience. How and where i buy it from are now also a concern and maybe i would be best to get such a big item through a local dealer rather than over the internet. Thanks for any help.

Very crisp clear lines, you see a lot of horrid modern log cabins that do not sit well in the landscape but this works really well, i used a dark green corrugated iron to help blend a roof into a hillside and was very pleased. Compared to a lot of sites the mess you have got is no more than a few hours work and it will be "good to go" Great job and good luck getting ready for opening.

I have all the bits for a large polytunnel and then another one...... The pipe is 42mm OD so its fairly serious, however i live in a very windy location and the construction and ground anchoring will need to be a serious undertaking. I am at least six months away from constructing it but when i do i will also be looking for some help with ideas for stabilisation, insulation, drainage, heating and various other bits and peices. I will be treating it with just as much attention to detail as any other building project. So i look forward to your posts and questions.

I live in such a remote location that there are not even locks on the doors...... My main landrover is parked 2.5 miles away and only gets looked at by sea gulls, and the scrappy keeps leaving his card on the window ....... My other ancient ex military landy is such a health hazard that if you managed to get it started and drove off you would be lined up for a darwin award.

Not at this time, after i finish various other projects i will be looking into a much bigger system built within a large polly tunnel.

So far i have made an insulated dog kennel and a few weeks ago i made a very elaborate hot composting box, this was a lot of work as the insulation must remain dry from both inside steam and moisture and outside elements. It was all worth the effort as now in the middle of winter i have a very effective composting system, when i open the lid there is a great waft if hot steamy air.... very satisfying.

My local builders merchant told me that the delay on sheet insualation was due to a fire at a main plant in Germany, not sure if this is the case but all the local bm are short at the moment.

I was told that when fixing corrugated sheets if they are above a certian pitch then you fix them in the bottom of the valleys as you can screw it down good and tight without distorting the tins profile, however on low pitched roofs i was told to put the fixings on top and be carfull to not over tighten the screws..... I have done both methods and there is no sighns of leakage after many years.

I have to Say, there is nothing dangerous about what Peter is doing if your compitent doing this sort of task / being able to risk assess the situation, but for someone without this skill set it could be very dangerous. "self build" is such a wide topic we all come with our own specific skill sets and these are generally unknown to other forum members, (time and posts reveals more) therefore we should be carful not to be to critical of what we do not feel confident in or have experience in ourselves when to others its a daily task. ( yes there are lots of people out there / on here that are misguided or lack understanding and need helpful advise to bring them up to speed in certain areas, i am one.... But lets not be to judgmental .