ToughButterCup

! is all I think I can say (until we know you better) The kindest thing to say is are you sure it's for design only?

Hello Ann, Welcome. Welcome also to the type of problem that you will have with almost every expenditure heading. And the answer is leg-work; or networking to give it another name. Many here use the global build cost of between £1500 and £1300 per square meter. Put the numbers you have for the drainage in context first: it may be that special circumstances exist where you are - rock - sandy soil - boggy ground. But that doesn't help you with the current issue. @PeterW's post above is the one that needs answering first. Generally, the answer starts with the process of asking as many people as possible for their advice. Don't be shy. Ian

That appeals, because we can insulate the 'back' (inside) with RockWool just before we insulate inside with more PIR. Thanks everyone for the help.

Get it started. Use a blower and Red Diesel (much cheaper). Or wait for a strong wind blowing in an acceptable direction. Get it really hot, and keep it fed with small bits until there's a really hot core. Keep that core as hot as possible. A good fire is no accident, it's hard work.

Sex might be the answer. What size is the duct? Big enough for a ferret: a lady ferret? Get the cable out as @Declan52 says. Get a pair of ferrets. Get one to call the other, attach a new (stronger) bit of para-cord - you know the rest.

Thanks Ed. Sounds like a job for SupeDeb I'll get some extra foam ordered......?

Now that I come to look in detail at our rafter tails, I am beginning to realise that they were designed by someone who has never fitted the specified PIR in between any rafters, let alone ours....... First an empty rafter tail: the end in mind is fill it with insulation Yes, you are right: each rafter has a double bird's mouth. The gap between the rafters in this case is 318mm wide. The gap that needs filling starts at the wall (bottom of the image) and runs up to the noggin between the rafters. The wall plate (sitting in its green polythene jacket) sits about 25 mm in from the inside edge of the wall. So, I had a go: this is what I did; Before you start applauding my master-craftspersonship, there's still gap at the back of the wallplate to fill. Grrrr. This is the architect's illustration of the way the gap will be filled..... I love the elegant way the PIR fits seamlessly over the wallplate. The reason I am growling is that the gap between each rafter is a few mm different to the others. So, 6 years from now, I will still be stuck on a scaffold shaving off a few mm here and there to fit the sodding PIR. Please tell me there is a better way. By better I mean quicker. No is not acceptable The best idea so far I have had is to give Debbie some glue, a saw, some off cuts of PIR , a safety harness and go for a walk......

Confidence and building work and me. Ha! The only thing I'm confident about is that there is always an answer to every problem. It's finding the answer that hits the bank balance softest .

Yes. I have foil-faced insulation between the rafters (200mm), and '... underdraw[ing] ...' (and you call overboarding) the rafters All 75mm of it. 275mm in all. At the moment, the rafters have insulation between them. Just to be clear, you think I should use foil tape ( 2 lots of 4" ) per rafter to seal the gap ( which already has foam between edge of the PIR and the rafter)

OK, you've got me worried now. Our architect has specified ' ... Kingspan K18 insulated plaster board under-draws rafters and creates VCL...' Given your reservations above @JSHarris, might @Archer's suggestion be a sensible thing to do?

It most certainly will be.

What you need, son, is summat with a high thermals mass. 300mm of concrete should do it . It's OK, I'm outta here - no need to pick up me coat. ?

How the Dickens do you tile a soffit?

@Nickfromwales, @PeterW, @Onoff, glue spec, please! Ian

Thanks Ed. On the list of things to this week coming. With a little luck this time next week, we'll be ready to felt and batten. Meanwhile, there are loads of little irritations to finish off on the roof: if I don't get those done, they'll become more than mere irritants. They'll be 'procrastinants' a-la @Onoff Good weather forecast, so all's set well for a productive week.

.... and the knowledge, confidence, experience and skills with which to do so.

We bought ourselves a nice new towel rail. One which switches itself on for a couple of hours, burns your skin when you touch it, and then switches off. Tickety Boo. Trouble is you have to work hard at getting a towel threaded down the back. And you can only put one towel on the rail. Musta bin designed by a bloke, eh girls? One that drops his wet towels on the floor and doesn't care about anyone else using a cold wet towel. It's just me innit?

Yes, because it's easy.

I'm thinking of having a swear box on site: to which I will, of course, contribute the most. It'll do to finance Friday Night Is Party Night in West Lancashire Off to swing a little more on the scaffolding - and contemplate uplighters.

Forewarned is fore-armed. How do you fit lights like this properly @ProDave? Specifically ....but still leaves you terminating the flex straight to the lamp holder with nowhere to lose the slack... How do you avoid that?

There's always one @Moira Niedzwiecka : tek na notice; 'ee's only jelus. Well done you for ferreting around and getting them for a decent price. Let the sparkies strut their stuff - they charge more than enough anyway. ?

And the rest. Ours is well over 10 years old now. Every time I move I seem to celebrate by buying a new Bosch dishwasher. I have never had anything go wrong with any of the three we bought. The machine will be long out of warranty before anything fails. Keep it it clean. Monthly rinse with dishwasher cleaner, twice over Christmas and New Year. Descale twice as often as a kettle if necessary.

I'm working hard at understanding these two concepts thoroughly. And the Internet is probably the worst and best place in the world to sort it out. Worst because of the shared ignorance everywhere, best because BH will sort it out . Pull the following semi-formed thoughts to bits, please....... Air-tightness is about the restriction of air movement BOTH into and out of a building to values, at the very least, that are acceptable to BC. And air contains water vapour. So action to increase air-tightness might well also contribute to vapour control. Here's Keira Proctor of the Proctor Group saying that air-tightness layers can act as a vapour control. (Expanded webinar transcript, https://www.proctorgroup.com/news/vapour-and-air-permeable-membranes-explained#expand-webinar-transcript accessed May 2018) Is it too naive to ask - well why bother with a Vapour Control Layer when the Air-tightness Layer will do the same job? Vapour Control Many on BH have written about interstitial condensation. I get it. Don't let warm air leak out into the fabric of the house so that it comes into contact with cooler bits and so - precipitates water which then pools there and does all sorts of nasty stuff, from mould to rust to other nasties. Take a warm roof. Slates (say) will be cold, and water vapour exiting the house would normally condense on the underside of the slates. So you need roofing felt (vapour control) allowing the vapour to exit, but not return. A bit like a Gortex jacket (other jackets are available) . I have heard that referred to as Vapour Permeable Underlay, VPU (not VCL). But it is acting as a Vapour Control Layer [Thank Gaud its not shortened to VPL ?] Now, I'm under the impression that a house needs BOTH a VCL and an air-tightness layer. And IF that is correct doesn't it make sense (because it would be cheaper) to prevent vapour leaving the house by using the air-tightness layer as a VCL? prevent ingress of vapour in the same way? And put the air-tightness layer where there are least penetrations? But then I'd be wrong, I wager. Looking at whats available; the specs, the advice, the drivel, the spurious claims on Tinternet, I feel like my roofer mate. It used to be so simple

Thanks folks. In the 70s I had an Army Permanent Staff Instructor ; he regularly growled sweetly into my ear: "Lad, you've got two speeds: dead slow and stop" He was right. Then as now, I feel as if I have a concrete block on each foot. But this is a marathon not a sprint.

Wallplate fitted, ridge beam fitted (nearly), rafters up, insulation fitted in between. Who's a clever boy then? ? Maybe over-worried about fixing the wall straps through to the concrete, I chased the Durisol back to the concrete and fitted the wall straps direct to it. This is where we are now (looking up from the floor); I need to make good on top of the wall straps. Which ? Foam, Durisol, Sand and Cement? (Can't Avoid.... )