ToughButterCup

'... Critically, we also expect them (employers in the housing sector) to take responsibility for investing in their research and skills base to create more sustainable career paths and genuinely bring forward thousands of new skilled roles....' When an author writes meaningless bunkum like that, I wince and hope that I had nothing to do with the author's education, and nothing to do with training the author's teacher(s).

Damn. You are right. Phhhhhhhhhhhh. Damn.

Reading this thread and all the dire warnings written there sent me scurrying off into Tinternet to look and see what I can find. Well, the only method of fixing them I haven't found was by using bubblegum. There's oodles of guidance and I have read a good deal of it. MiTek say that the fixing method rests with the designer. So I had a little phone chat with two or three companies and they all said that 'we' could discuss how I wanted them to be fixed. And anyone who knows me, knows that that is going to be a one-sided conversation. So, come on BH, help me out here. help make me sound as if I know just a leeeetle bit about metal web joists rather than sound more of a complete plonker than I already am. I know what to avoid: floor bounce - because of @readiescards 's thread (thanks) not installing them back to front (PeterW here ) [What the Hell is back to front on a POSI fgs?] make sure the trimmer is correctly seated (Jamie same thread) make sure the chords of the joists (flange, web ?) are wide enough (Peter Stark same thread) use 400 centers (already knew that - by accident) make sure the bottom chord is supported correctly (PetereW same thread) AlexPHD (same thread ) tightly pack between the bottom chord and the wall (what with Alex?) Peter Starks are hung from the top chord on a ledger plate (Whassat fgs ?) and he uses a strong back (should I consider one?) PeterW's helpfully annotated image of where the problem lies (same thread) @JSHarris seems to argue against hangers (same thread) Try pre-cambering a little bit ( @JSHarris same thread) @CC45 has strengthened his POSIs (same thread) That's a good start.... Do people use hangers because they are easy, and becuase they are easy to use, they don't pay attention to detail (present company excepted)? My spec is for the POSIs to be hung on a wall plate (rim joist) Knowing all of the above, how would you make sure the problem didn't occur in the first place?

Its the one (not entirely risk free) way of flushing out time wasters. Its also a very strong signal that you aren't wasting peoples time either. From bitter recent experience, it seems to be a local sport.

Selling houses has for me, with one single exception, seemed to bring out the worst in people. The very worst was a with a buyer with a close relative acting as his solicitor : the best - the cash was in the bank within a fortnight of the flat being on the market. Almost as good as the Scottish system. Sealed bid gets my vote.

Ahhhh..... nightmare for you. Ours is an order of magnitude simpler. Thanks for the explanation: as usual, the Devil is in the detail.

Thanks everyone. @mvincentd, what does ' ... a range of supporting methods ... ' mean? The point you make about continuous service channels is important to us because the POSI spec allows only a couple of mm clearance for the MVHR piping.....

Yes. In the words of the architect '.... installed to Mi-Tek standard details and instructions ... ' whatever that means. I have the MiTek Posi Joist manual (PS8 TR26 - whassat?) and frankly it might as well be written in Aramaic..... But, I'll get there.

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

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 ?)

4 meters of oak: oak. Oak. King Hell. How thick?

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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?

Even I, working on my own, can do better than that. And that's saying something..... Have you paid for it yet? Hope not.

Thanks very much. Re and re-read time.

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.

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.

.... 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.....

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

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?