ToughButterCup

Remember the retired feminist roofer? The one with the shoulders like an American footballer? If you dont, here's an introduction. Well Mel and his mate John turned up unannounced this afternoon, just as the sun filled the house with a golden glow. Our chickens eyed the newcomers for food. All of them lined up on the scaffold like 5 old hags doing their knitting and waiting for the severed heads to fall from the guillotine . None forthcoming. Crops packed as full as is Dolly Parton's , they could wait. Mel, the roofer is fastidious - perfect car - perfect haircut - perfect work jacket - but brothel creeper shoes which he proceeds to take off, place on a piece of carpet, and change into his work boots. Chickens eye one another and the shoes. John, Mel's mate, the retired medical photographer (Welsh, thus inevitably known as Evans the Snap) always smiling, always cautious, always combing his hair, always observant, notices first one, then the rest of hens hop off the scaffold and tip-toe nonchalantly towards Mel's shoes. Potential there, it seemed. Tha's meking a reet fookoop o' that staircase mert, said Mel. He was right. I hadn't a clue of how to actually build a staircase - beyond what a few hours looking at YT had taught me. Burt, tha's got them stringers raght: it's 't cummins' and goin's tha's got wrong. Wodja mean comings and goings? I asked. John busied himself choosing a Play List appropriate to the occasion - and then turning up the volume on my new Bluetooth speakers. For some reason he chose Gerry Rafferty: - '... cos if you get it wrong, you'll get it right next time... ' Miserable old git. Dont you mean tread and riser? I said falling straight into Mel's trap. Aye, laak ah said, cummin's and goin's, lad Between them, unbidden, John and Mel set to and built the staircase bottom to top. Between them, in their time they must have built a fair few staircases. And these -mine- are temporary. My God I learned a lot. Ah see Tea Lady's still ere said Mel to John at one stage. Gave them some of Debbie's cake too. So, I do take notice of what you say when I have an urge to do something stupid Walking out to the car -full of thanks and bonhomie - I noticed Mel had forgotten to change his shoes. So I ran back into the house and grabbed them. There, neatly placed inside the heel were two ForgetMeNots, one in each shoe. And not a chicken in sight. "I'll just pop these in the boot eh? " I said. "Cheers" and off they roared.

You would not needed to have seen the aircraft. They both have uniquely different sounding engines.

I'd rather you contacted Jamie direct, please.

That @scottishjohn , is a decision only you can make. I have nothing useful to say about any ICF other than Durisol.

The local Durisol rep that looked after my build (ermmmm.... re-build) has changed product to Isotex. He gave very clear reasons for doing so: A couple of weeks ago, I visited his last Durisol build - and in the light of what I saw, the move from Durisol to Isotex was understandable. Durisol have had some senior management changes, and the training emphasis has changed too. Local reps are not involved in local training any more, it seems. The MD has changed and the old MD is now the training manager. In some ways, that surprises me. Talking respectfully to customers was - until last year at least - not in the senior management skill set.

The Mods are running a sweepstake on who manages to delete them first.

What size is the source file (the file that's on the removable card) ? (On a PC) Insert it in a drive (card slot) , open the drive > right click > properties , note the file size. Ian

You like the kitchen: you would not have bought it otherwise. The key thing is the fitter(s). Attention to detail? Careful? Experienced? Competent?

Relax. Almost all of the trades who have visited us (not the sparky) have been grateful that I have a cross cut mitre saw on site. I have it mounted on wheels so we can move it to the job, rather than the other way round. I don't let people borrow it - I found one eejit merrily cutting through embedded nails. I use it every week - for example dug me out of the joists debacle, producing 20 or 30 noggins correct to the mm. I'm busy making a 5 meter window cill : a beefy crosscut saw is a huge help. You need, when cutting long lengths, to think about the feed-in and feed-out system. And, if you can, buy one which projects a laser line to the cut - huge help. There's one saw which projects two lines; one either side of the cut.

MBC? Minimum bactericidal concentration?

I think that this spat had little to do with money. And much more to do with self indulgence.

If you can evidence that statement in writing, tickety boo, it's an NMA. If not, Here Be Dragons. Follow @TerryE's advice

Limited exemption to what? Dont think about it, just do it. Box ticked, next job......

Welcome. Research brise soleil Good luck. Ian

Must have clipped my braces to my knickers then eh?

Its the wedgies that get to me most....?

Ya jorkin ..... It's the cussed cack-handed stupidity that gets me...

Well, folks, that's it. The last nail in the last joist. Its been hammered in HARD. Here's why. For reasons only known to the inexperienced self-builder, I put the floor joists up working from both ends of the room to the middle. 400 centers. That makes a gap between joists of about 328ml. The middle three joist are longer than the others - they had to be inserted closer than the others: 310ish. Tight. Well tight if you are my size. Arms and head above the top chord of the joist - beer gut wedged firmly between the POSIs, but swinging the hammer now like a demon (900 nails down and just a few more to go - all because of you @Pete). Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy. Well yeah, until it came to turning round to reach that sodding wedge to help nudge the top chord a mil or two higher. Christ this is tight. Turned a few degrees. Couldn't reach the wedge. Bugger - - Hand in my pocket - - maybe there's a spare wedge in there? Nope. By this time there is a semi painful wedgie though.? Dropped the hammer. "Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo" Stumped, and firmly wedged, I realise I am going to have to wriggle out of this. Up? No way Jose. Not strong enough to overcome the effects of the beer years. Starting to sweat a bit now. More from annoyance than anything. Down? No choice. Only way . Now, those of us whose work trousers 'need' braces because our trousers have half a ton of tools hanging off them (all lies girls, just lies) will realise that descending through a really tight space has an inevitable effect on your braces. That partially painful wedgie now got worse. A lot worse. You see the back clip of my braces caught fast on the bottom chord of the joist. The front of my work trousers started to pull hard. My eyes started to water I think. By this time, my hands were in the air, and my head altogether too close to the gap between the joists. And suddenly with one bound (as it were) I was free. PING - THUMP The clip of the braces parted company with the waist band - shot up inside my clothing and hit the bottom of my shoulder. No wedgie pain now, just shoulder pain instead. All of this was happening dear reader at the same time as my T shirt, gillet and windproof were slowly making their way past my beer gut on the way to my my head. Couldn't see a thing. But sure as Hell, I could feel my shoulder. A few seconds later, there I was topless on the scaffold boards. Cold? No. Furiously hot. Just a matter now of jumping down to the floor. Yep, I suspect you are ahead of me......... The jump was elegant. Feet and knees together (just like I wuz taught) Thump. I stopped. My trousers didn't. Normally that wouldn't matter. No need to fuss over a small thing like that. Standing in the doorway way my best friends wife with a grin from ear to ear. I wouldn't have minded but her dog went mad.

By chance I have the very Bosch SDS+ (note the +) The key thing to look for is soft start - sometimes called a clutch I think. The Bosch has a switch built into the handle (marked 75%). It spools up slowly and disengages instantly when ( for example) you hit a bit of rebar. For that one feature alone I am eternally grateful. Other makes have the same feature, but it tends to be on the slightly more expensive versions. Your wrists will thank you one day.....

Thats what Sunday's for..... More than enough pallets. Bring it on.....

Thanks @Pete and @PeterStarck. There's a balance to be held between stairs and ladders. I'm happy with either (or both). The motivation for this post came from meeting one of the people who regularly walk-in past our build. He isn't the fittest guy in the world, but he is intensely interested in what's going on. And always contributes sensible ideas. There's no way he can manage a ladder. And it won't be long before I will be wanting to walk upstairs with kit in my arms - i.e. hands free. There is also a simple design driver (restriction). The stairs go past the top of the wall that supports the staircase. And quite where they finish is , as yet, undefined. Hmmmmmm, yeah, I know..... So a flexible set of 'stairs' is an attractive idea. Flexibility must not compromise safety. I've quite a bit of re-usable 8 by 2 and 6 by 2 knocking around, and too many pallets to ignore. I feel some tooth-sucking coming on while finishing the mezzanine today. (the one where I made a 30 mm mistake  on Thursday)

As soon often @Onoff hits the spot........ 'twil be a good discussion tonight in the pub. Photos to follow.

Wot Debbie says. Risk appetite varies, and since I'm operating outside CDM2015 (because this is pure DIY - nobody else will be using then) and I have a huge incentive to stay fit, I expect the risk to be as low as using normal stairs or lower. @nod well I won't be burning mine.... ?

I like controlling risk down to acceptable levels. And I have a huge pile of waste wood. And ever dwindling piggy bank.

You mean you made them from CLS and ply?