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ToughButterCup

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Everything posted by ToughButterCup

  1. Right then Pete. I'll tell 'em..... " My mate Pete, missin' a few teeth, needs a new nose and comes up from the Smoke (know what I mean; nod's as good as wink to a blind self-builder) , says you have ter come aert 'n measure up like.... " That'll put the wind up them. Up to now (Minera and Cheshire Floor Joists) have said - very politely - to measure it myself. Hence the concern about accuracy
  2. Roof on (ish) need to think about the flat roof and first floor now. Each is supported by metal web joists, POSIs in our case : MiTek. In measuring their length to assemble an order, how accurate do the measurements have to be? To within 5 mm? Its just that our wall is pretty wavy if you know what I mean (Don't ask, it just is ?)
  3. 4 meters of oak: oak. Oak. King Hell. How thick?
  4. So far, I have been very grateful that I either delayed, or was forced to delay many decisions. Bit like the chippy who said to me the other day; Don't cut a piece of wood until you really have to.
  5. Thats the intention. The mesh will have to be fitted round our bat and swift boxes - we really hope they'll visit us one day.
  6. Now that our roof is on ( well, all bar a Velux and a bit of the ridge) I need to give some thought to our cladding. The whole house is to be timber clad; most of it is fine - standard stuff. Have a look at this The area that concerns me is this one: ..... (Text accentuated in blue). The cladding encloses an unheated area (called the Winter Garden - more sexily I heard Piers Taylor call a similar design a Breeze Corridor) Put slightly differently, what we need is hit-and-miss boarding so that the garden below and behind it can get plenty of light and lots of air. This is what it looks like now..... As you can see, the hit and miss boarding has - as yet - no framework to support it - except the steels that surround the area. I need to screw a wall plate all the way round the edge of the steels; that much even I can see. But the cladding (hit and miss boarding) will need a framework on which to sit. Is this an SE job, or use-yer-loaf, or a go and ask to see what local farmers do job?
  7. We're on exactly the same type of soil ( topsoil or fill , re-named made ground). And solved that particular issue by using a radon barrier.
  8. Your analysis is optimistic. Some of the worst building and engineering practice I witnessed was when I worked in East Germany in the 1980s. "Concrete isn't delivered in the afternoons because ...." " We are completely disinterested in customer feedback because that is not part of our planned approach to sales " " That is how we have always made Trabants. If you are dissatisfied, we will allocate it to the next citizen the list " Those statements were either made directly to me or made in my presence.
  9. Because of something that happened over 70 years ago? In that context ... suitable gas protection measures ... means ? I have a strong suspicion that all you need to do is have a report written by a competent person to the effect that the likelihood of gas being present is close to zero. At this stage all that means is a Desk Study. Not too expensive.
  10. We are just about to 'fit' ours. @Dudda's advice is exactly in line with what we have found out (but took years to do so ? ) Our flat roof build up is 'normal' : but you can bet your life I will be all over the nitty gritty detail. Not sure yet whether to have a GRP or EPDM top surface: there are horror stories and hymns of praise in equal measure for each . So, that makes me almost certain it's all about attention to detail. What's new?
  11. Even I, working on my own, can do better than that. And that's saying something..... Have you paid for it yet? Hope not.
  12. Thanks very much. Re and re-read time.
  13. Could you give us a little more detail about that please? We won't be able to afford batteries for a little while, but I can foresee a time when we might we'll do so. In which case - rather like provision for a spare this-or-that elsewhere in the house - it would be good to make provision for the time when we can fit some battery capacity.
  14. I'd patent that if I were you. Now the only problem that needs to be solved is the foam that dries in the threaded part ; especially where the can nozzle mates with the gun.
  15. .... shouldn't be too hard - I know now, because I've done it before ? This time I want to keep the threaded bar (inserted horizontally into the hole) perfectly level while the chemical anchor dries. I'm thinking I need some of jig (or thingamajig even) to keep the threaded bar perfectly horizontal while the chemical dries. Anyone done summat like this before? I have 40 to insert.....
  16. Bang on. That's why procrastination is actually useful , and sometimes very useful. I mean, we aren't talking undergraduate essay procrastination, we're talking about stuff that matters: hits us in the bank balance when we get it wrong. And thats why I agree so strongly with your last sentence
  17. Really? I suppose 'taint what ya do , it's the way that ya do it.... that's what its all about Any public guidance for cladding anywhere?
  18. Thats the one. Good enough for you, it's good enough for me.
  19. That's enough for me, then. I'll refer the planners to your secretary then..... what was the phone number again?
  20. Here's a screen grab of our architect's design: look at the orientation of the cladding...... If I want to change the orientation (of the cladding) on any face , do I have to ask anyone? The reason I want to change the orientation is to help make the East face ( image rhs above the green flat roof) more resistant to driving rain. I want to change it from vertical to horizontal. As some will have read, the east face is sometimes subjected to turbulent gales
  21. You need to be reaaaallly wary of those. They fall out of the sky on their own. Regularly.
  22. If - once more - I have to go to the BM to buy just 200 screws, I'll go mad. But before I buy 2000 of the wrong size, which sizes will I use most?
  23. Roofers are here until Saturday Gary. Do you need some help on Sunday? Ian
  24. Knowing him, Nick, he'll want something more subtle - 'arty' (not to say farty)
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