ToughButterCup

Welcome. Hmm, what's an inclusion rate ? If I'm asking that then the direct answer to your question is - no - . But I'm interested in the answer. How about chucking a handful of perlite in the normal mix? Our residents chemist ( a certain Mr Harris) will be along soon.

Nope. That was a Martian.

@Onoff, you are the only person I know who still writes essays on your walls.

Welcome. You've got me interested. What was the warning? You might like to keep the response appropriately annonymised. ?

Will it work on my air guitar? If so, Debbie'll buy one.

Go on dad, be a Devil. Go for 2.6 - Dare ya! ? Seriously: really seriously, on the day of the pump, you get to 2.5 meters - what are you going to do if yer man says, "Well there's £300 worth of concrete left in the lorry: want me to dump it " ? I regularly bless the advice @TerryE gave - he suggested digging out a small pit for the flushing out remnants from the pump ; now got two or three nice little flat work areas which can be kept clean and tidy and ready for a temporary work bench.

The simple answer is somewhere. The most important thing is to have a clear end in mind and stick to it. It really doesn't matter where somewhere is. Choose one of the millions available to you and think about it's dependencies. Follow each one of those dependencies to the bitter end. You'll find there are thirty or so things that you need to be thinking about in any month, of which 10 are important and 5 both important and urgent. Lists and lists of lists are helpful. If you need to share those lists, consider some of the free list apps that abound on the Internet, we use Google Keep. But paper and a whiteboard are just as good, if not better in some ways. The most difficult thing to judge is how to penetrate the appropriate help network in a way that those network members approve. Make no mistake: trades people act and communicate exactly as a more traditional elite. They are harder to talk to than the average mortgage account manager. Harder to reach than your MP. Banging on a contractors office door (because they don't answer the phone) may be exactly what's needed to break the log jam but a turn-off for others. Find out which pubs they use. Listen. Welcome to sleeplessness. Welcome to networking. Welcome to compromise. Welcome to a lifetime's reading.

Is the question: can we build under PD rights? If so, the answer is highly likely to be yes. Provided you follow the guidelines. Here is chapter and verse.

Exactly right, dad. Reps are full of stories of whole houses being poured in one go - all tosh as far as I'm concerned. If successful, the reward is not to be sniffed at. At least the cost of a pump for a day. £500. Is it wurf it? For Durisol, there is no hard and fast rule. But there is a good deal of BullPoo in the stories I have been told, the amount depends on how pissed the story-teller is. Ask yourself this question: given the likelihood of a burst, how much concrete are you prepared to lose in one go? We had four bursts three at low level, one at 3 meters: every one caused by a combination of couldn't-give-a-tossitis and in one case criminally negligent behaviour. Three bursts were minor irritants - they caused half an hour of frenzied activity and we're promptly forgotten. The last one, despite being fully prepared, and having everything to hand (to repair a burst) , caused months of delay: and I came to be grateful for the delay. I now know exactly what to look for to prevent Durisol bursts, and so my risk appetite is different to what it was a year ago. Go and watch several pours on builds using your chosen ICF - you'll learn a huge amount from doing so. Err on the side of caution: reduce to potential for error to a level which is acceptable to you. Yours is the only relevant opinion.

Oop north, this is top of the line....

An essential skill here....... essential.

And why is nobody on this forum surprised? ( Except @Nickfromwales)

Thanks. That explains it. I thought it was just too much porridge.....

They work even when the user is blind(ed) OK, I was a bit cack-handed, let my glasses fall off my nose, and then - in - slow - motion, watched my size 10s stand on them. Waraneejit But -the good bit- I found I didn't need to see the screw head for the drill bit to engage and drive the screw. And neither did I need to be able to see the next few screws either. I could do everything by feel. Bless the inventor. Bet Torx was invented by a woman. That's it. Buying Torx only from now on.......

Better sell my old G10-40 watch then (£100 on eBay) ?

I've been on a Wanted poster. Does that count?

There was a time during our various planning hiccups that I thought we were wasting time. I have come to see enforced waiting time as valuable planning time.

Not that many of us about @lizzie

That precisely why I'm suggesting planned labour exchange. Maybe it's not a runner though : I have the strong feeling that we all invest too much in our own builds to have anything spare for anyone else. Pity. The other biggy is (say) @Alexphd1 needs a bit of help and I can go up to his place, and he can come and sort something here in Lancashire. Between us that's four days travel. The Buck Stops Here, eh?

Hmmm: makes me wonder whether there's any mileage in - for key parts of our builds - a Labour Exchange. Off the top of my head, for my build, I can think of at least four things that would be sooooo much easier with just a bit of help. Just a bit of muscle and good humour. I'm not talking about specialised (say) Sparky work, or the clever bits of plumbing that many here seem to do. In exchange for a similar amount of time and effort on 'your build' .... Or is that too hard to organise? Or make work?

"How's the build going?" Is the most common question I get asked by people who walk past our build. One gorilla of an instructor once whispered in my ear. "Lad, you have got two speeds: dead slow and stop" So, in reply to 'Hows the build going ' I say. " I'm on my own, and doing the vast majority of it myself: well, me BuildHub and YooChube. " Well, Sergeant Williams you were, and still are right. I'm making slooooow progress. My only 'excuse' is that I'm really, truly doing it myself. And , uncomfortable truth to be told, feeling sorry for myself occasionally. Yes, I have the odd hour or two of help and Debbie always offers to help out. But, there's not a lot she can do. (Lifting a few tonnes of concrete aside) DIY. How many of us (non-builders) are doing the vast majority of their build mostly on their own?

... let me describe a commonly observed (by that I mean I have seen the following happen), local (West Lancashire) approach to ecology. Out of nowhere, trailer loads of pig manure have been deposited in strategic places , roof spaces have been fumigated , fires left smouldering for weeks. The following year, an application for Planning Permission is received, surveys done: bats, GCNs, badgers and other delicate flora and fauna are found to be curiously absent. Motivation? In the case of GCNs - if my case is any guide - £6000 and a year's delay saved. Similar numbers for bats, and as for badgers - I'm still too upset by my experience of the financially motivated destruction to detail it further.

Welcome. If ever there was a project that demanded thorough research, this is one. And you'll be doing it on top of a full time job. The list of challenges faced is longer than average, but all of them have already been covered here in some detail. I mean - It's just a house. And you'll have lots of local advice on tap I'm sure. You now have a few hundred BH addicts hooked. We all want piccies so we can wince over our cornflakes, and splutter into our cup of tea. ' Eeeer, sweetheart! Seen this?.... Proper job that. Wonder how long it'll take @Onoff to find an excuse to visit?'

Hmmmm, had you down as a Babysham lass. Phhhhh.

Isn't that the phenomenon which causes many to fit a radiator directly under a window? There'll be a descending column of relatively cool air being delivered to SWMBO's feet. And, since wimmin are generally freeeeezing all year round, you'll be told about how extra cold the bathroom is (because, at the time of the complaint, her feet will be both wet and uncovered) Solution: shower with slippers on. Simples!