Russell griffiths

If you want to do as much as possible yourself then I think there’s a few options. icf you can do everything yourself timber kit, get that put up and then finish it yourself timber built on site, you will probably need a couple of carpenters to help brick block cavity you will need a bricklaying gang. will also depend if you have a large chunk of cash up front, timber frame erected on site will probably be the heaviest up front cost. icf has a large up front cost, but probably 20% of a timberframe then you can drip feed cash into it. brick n block lowest up front cost but large weekly payments for labour.

I just left out big gaps, I hadn’t even looked at doors when I put the foundations in. mine is icf so a bit different, so I didn’t core fill under the doors I just left it low so I could fill with insulation and concrete later. if you have a cavity then do not core fill the area below the doors, leave it as a void it’s easy to fill later and easy to add insulation under the threshold as and when you have the correct design, you can leave a course of face bricks off if you need to and add them in as you get your height sorted. I would always be looking to go full insulation under my doors, it will be hidden on the outside if you are going level threshold, so keep the brickwork low and build up later would be my advice.

There’s loads of good lads out there. This isn’t a dig at bricky’s, but you need to be armed with the knowledge to say what YOU want, then you can weed out the slap dash lads and find a good gang.

Very inconsistent results, it takes only a small mistake in measuring to alter the colour which might not be noticeable until properly dry, I’ve had some horrible results using dark browns which looked brilliant while wet but dried very inconsistent they also tend to not like being wetted after they have dried and tend to look patchy.

Triple glazed lift n slide from norrsken here. the back wall of my place is 90% glass, I can’t recommend them enough -3 outside here and the doors on the inside feel warm, open them up and the outside feel is freezing. a strange thing you notice with this quality is the outside door handles are freezing cold, the inner handle is warm, there is no heat transfer through the door via any lock mechanism.

The mix is not important, getting your bricklaying team to mix it the same every time is the important thing. when you get the colour you want you need to discuss it with the bricky and get it in writing that they will use a gauge box to get it the same every time. any not up to standard gets taken down at their cost. you will need to buy sand in bulk and cement to get the same batch every time. DO NOT USE any form of mortar dye.

Sorry that’s a balls up too far, no matter how good you plaster and fill that it will show up in certain lights, mainly harsh daylight. go and pick some nice architrave. your shadow gap boat has sailed. 🚢. 🙋‍♂️

If you want to claim your vat back you do not need a completion certificate you can prove it’s habitable by a few other methods. valuation form from the valuation office when you start paying council tax, or a habitation certificate issued by the council. have a read up on vat re claim.

Why not build it just like an insulated house slab. I would use xps not pir, rough the surface up, flexible outdoor tile adhesives and tile the bit you can see.

12 loops with 100m a loop give or take a bit.

very bad screen grab, try and zoom in.

Ufh pipes will cost a grand to buy, if you don’t put them in you need a serious word with yourself. I don’t understand the figures like some on here, but I know I’m sitting in the most comfortable house I’ve been in for a long time, just a gentle warmth in the tiles emits to every point of the house. it’s just an absolute pleasure.

The problem with all these comparisons is you are comparing the prices from the builders merchants if buying EPS you can deal with the manufacturer, pir manufactures won’t deal with you. I got my EPS100 at a third of the price of pir.

No not really they said diluted contract Matt goes chalky as it has a cheap base with lots of cheap filler products as a bulking agent. once the walls are all sealed up you can use the good gear straight on by diluting the first coat a bit to thin it as they are generally very thick. because of the thickness they don’t suck in well but sit on top, and because of the scrubbable nature stuff doesn’t stick well to the surface so the underside doesn’t stick well to the coat below. I phoned a couple of technical help lines and they all said the only people using contract Matt are the mass house builders.

As above use what the professionals use, a 12-14 inch roller on a frame, so fixed both ends, not a roller on a handle that you can’t put even pressure on.

That’s sort of what the paint manufacturer say, just use the top coat diluted as a primer contract Matt is just for really cheap low spec jobs.

Same here, I thought I had no problems until I scratched a bit of wall, then discovered it wasn’t really stuck on to the mist coat very well, did some research and found the thick non porous anti scuff paint doesn’t really like the chalky contract Matt. if you watch all the YouTube stuff and ask 100 painters 80 will say they still use contract Matt, but the other 20 have been to sort out a new set of problems that are just coming to light with the newer scrubbable paints.

Work backwards look at your finish paint, then read up on the primer / undercoat for that paint. do not rely on a mist coat of watered down cheap arse contract Matt everyone does this, but it’s not 1980 anymore, the top coat anti scuff Matt paints don’t like sticking to it, there are lots of videos on problem jobs. don’t put £100 a tin top coat over £10 a tin primer. I’ve got a couple of horror walls that might have to go back to bare plaster.

Water works with gravity everything travels downwards ( apart from a bit of capillary action ) so lap everything downwards, just sit and look, pretend your a water droplet where will you get trapped, how would you run under that sole plate and into the house. lap everything down and out.

You need to consider the temperature for pointing, needs to be 5 degrees and rising for the duration that it will take to dry. fix the problem of water hitting the wall first and the pointing can be done in April.

That’s your problem fix that and let the wall dry out, then re point it in the spring.

What’s that black plastic pipe. zoom the picture out.

I did exactly the same floor screed down boards on walls big fat squirt of foam all around entire house let it cure and cut flush fit skirting. don’t be buying one tin, get a box of 12 at a time and use it everywhere.

Are you sure, you have a mixture of two floors there, you wouldn’t put block n beam in then an insulated raft on top. are you sure it’s not just insulation on top of block n beam then screed. post a drawing up. if your keen on an insulated raft then look for a SE that specifically works on them regularly.

If you spray it your still supposed to back roll over it to get the correct finish, straight from a sprayer is too perfect.