ToughButterCup

And, can you source them locally ... I mentioned sustainable concrete once in the pub : the laughter only died down after I had bought a round

£80 ish per cube plus £500 for the 24m pump. 'Course the real costs depends how many - and of the volume - of bursts you suffer dunnit ? ?

You arent bonkers. Quite the opposite. Our local BM had an old BT lorry body for sale - the strong implication being that it would make a good ManDen or site store. It sold within the week

On an external wall; thin coat (3 - 5 mm) of plaster + battens + tape + ply. On an internal wall fix battens to concrete and fix ply to that. The thing that is exercising my imagination is how to balance the amount of ply with the Fire Reg requirements. Someone mentioned the threshold for the Fire Regs is a wall area > 50% of the floor area. The Devil will be - as usual - in the detail.

Wet plastering is part of the airtighness strategy.

I don't begrudge anyone their pay: but at that pay rate (using SPONS as a guide), people who want to work for us need to tell us why : experience, speed, one-job-at-a time. The kicker for us is the statement 'Well, we'll just fit you in between jobs' . Been there, got that T shirt in spectacular fashion. (wall blew down - contractor absented himself for 5 weeks: no notice.) We'll just have to fit you in is code for Yer on our list, but last ... mate

Folks, the issue isn't the plaster or other labour-intensive covering system. Its the price of local labour : day rates appear to be well over £200 generally here. (West Lancs)

Finishing grade: well not quite but good enough. Where from? My girlfriend Jackie at Haldane Fisher ?

Yes, exactly. I'm digging around to look those up. Any references you can point me to, please?

I propose putting the boards on to 40 by 40 battens (themselves fastened to the concrete substrate with concrete bolts or maybe 100 , by 75 concrete screws) Boards screwed to the battens with something hefty and plugged. The battens will be painted black so that, using a 3mm gap, there is a sort of 'shadow-gap' round the boards. Gonna look sexy as Hell (Why would I want something like that then?)?

Cos I do. ? Cheaper than plastering.... £300 for 60 sq m The internal walls upstairs will be PB. We're only going to line some walls with ply ; needs to look sexy like all the ply - lined walls we have seen this summer - and the offices where D works. Looks a treat - but I suspect it can be over-done.

Lining a wall with plywood isn't as easy as it looks, I'm sure. But then nothing else in house building is either. We are considering lining some walls with ply. The substrate for the ply will be battens fixed on concrete - perfectly rigid, therefore. Question is, how thick should the ply be? Thanks, Ian

Welcome. Determination, grit, bloody-mindedness. It took us 30+ years to convert our orchard into a building site. 30 years to have enough equity to support the necessary finance. It's been a long haul.

I know less than nowt. But can offer this

Be sure to tell the postie which one is for letters and which for parcels , eh? ?

Depends on your perspective. And budget. An electric shower is cheaper and simpler overall. And as for @Nickfromwales with customary understatement, referred to electric showers as ' ... spawn of the Devil ...'

Being dry while you switch on and set the temperature....

'Fit a digital electric shower my boy, and the world will be yours...' Has He got a point?

Excuse the naive question: doesn't that just treat the symptom?

Ahh, you've never used one underground then.... hmmmm

Never used waterproofer in mortar before. There are several on the market - Which to snog ? Which to marry ? Which to avoid ? Let's hope this thread doesn't get too long, eh? Know whar' ah mean ? ?

First hit on Google.

No. Our build is on a Newt - Commute - Route midway between between two ponds, 200 meters apart: in an ecological sense you could accurately describe the two ponds as local Newt Nightclubs. When it's warm and wet outside, and the lights turned down low, they do what comes naturally: searching for a bit of action. Often that means traipsing through our kitchen gurning on about ' the lack of talent round here ' . Sid, the tomcat sits and growls. I pick them up and take them to where all the action is : the hibernacular. Our Mitigation Strategy required us to have a refuge for them: we created three. (Meant less clearing up) They're beautiful, and we treasure them.

Welcome. There's yer problem ... '... on my own ...' That statement implies the need for team work, and all that goes with it. Teams are wonderful things when they have bedded in, when colleagues come to know and trust one-another. And they only ever do so in a deep and meaningful way when the members have shared a bit of hardship : been tested in some way. Had corners knocked off , snarled at one another a bit and made up (or not as the case may be). Thats the thing you need to work on - whether with an architect or not - getting someone to design with you. The chemistry's the thing. Compromise, provoke, enable, share. Be clear.

Just bloody do it.