ToughButterCup

Windows off a flatbed LGV and into a container . Should not be too hard. Thats our backup strategy....

OK, folks, so this is what we've decided: Monday a.m. ring the SE. Thanks @MikeSharp01 Monday a.m. a bit later ring the H+S guy. Thanks @JSHarris It's a finely balanced decision which could go either way. But leaning towards roof on first. Thanks everyone else, our heads are a lot clearer.

It's exactly that question , @Alphonsox, ' ' ... what are we hoping to save... ' that made us think out-of-the-box. The unavailability of labour, for whatever reason, has made us try to build as defensively as we can. I / we have had enough of key people promising and not delivering. For months at an end; constant kicking the problem down the road on their part has really pi$$ed us off. We've just had enough. @HerbJ, thanks for the thought : mini material handler (the sort that will get into a container) £115 per day.

To those of you who have mentioned the stiffness of the walls: The house is made of well-cured concrete. It has endured all the named storms since October. One or two visiting trades folk have said that any other type of house ( i.e. non-ICF) would have '.... been down bi now maaaate....' The house has more rebar in it than TaTa Steel works. To those of you who have mentioned boarding: We have enough kwikstage scaffold and boards to make a working platform at first floor or higher, and in the case of the ridge, up to and beyond it The roof is vaulted: we are not using trusses. So there appears to me to be no reason why, once the ridge beam is in place, the rafters cannot be put on in two halves. Safety is a principal concern: Our Kwikstage can be built up to way beyond First floor height. We already have three full harnesses, and need to consider a fall arrestor. I am considering ringing a mate who is an H+S bod to come and do an assessment. He is a very very nice man, very nice indeed. Trouble is I can't name him. Debbie leaned over my shoulder just now and wants me to thank you all for your help. She is being a real star, lugging long Standards and Ledgers around and fussing gently. And the weight of those boards ---- phew! Some, wetter than others, feel like they are double the weight. Yes, @ProDave, I have spent an hour each morning and evening stickering the ones in store so they dry out. Thanks for your blog post about that. Saved me a good deal of money. Pint next meeting

Given a careful risk assessment and appropriate safety plan, Is there any reason why we should not put our roof on before we fit the first floor? We have more than enough kwikstage to put up a proper, safe working platform several feet above the first floor level both inside and outside the house, sufficient also to take us to the roof apex. You might be aware that we've found it difficult to get trades to come and what do what they say they will do when they say they will do it. My concern is lack of communication when the normal rescheduling process occurs. (For example) If we had a waterproof roof, then working inside would be much less subject to scheduling crises. And that has been our main issue since the beginning of the build.

Well, mostly I let her have my way..... takes a while, but I'll stop digging now

Has anyone here insured a telehandler for a short period? My self-build insurance specifically excludes hired plant. Ideas anyone?

Hi @Marie Turner. You are most welcome. I'm all for a female perspective on stuff. The OH is off this week, helping me scaffold. And mostly, she's right. Which is annoying, but can be fun.

I couldn't agree more. But @vivienz how would you solve the problem of the Attention Deficit Disorder suffered by those trades folk who, once paid on time simply refuse to be contacted? Or when eventually contact is made, and a start date agreed, don't turn up. And when met by accident in the local supermarket tell bare-faced lies about turning up to do £1300 worth of follow up work '...on Monday...' Everyone has scheduling problems. Everyone. But it seems the emotional maturity necessary to face talking to customers about low-level job-juggling is rare for some in the building sector. My argument is that with the 90% of decent trades folk, paying on time is 'right' . But for those whose personal standards allow them to simply ignore a customer mid way in a job with two phases (supply and then fix), then not paying is the last resort. It's the only thing that would hold (in this case) his attention.

Thats an advantage for those of us who put dark coloured tools on dark surfaces

Welcome. We could do with some creative accounting on our build. What's your day rate? Ian

A very reassuring Welshman will wake up from his mid-afternoon snooze soon.

''' ... I think that the next big brain task is to get to grips with SPONS ... Its no easy task. But (you're) worth it.

.... Also in the meantime, I'm still waiting for sign off from Natural England to get the roof off the house and deal with the bat summer roost. ... Tell us about that, would you please? Lots of people have the same issue. I get the feeling it's dealt with differently across the UK, and possibly differently across the UK by individual ecologist . Despite official protestations to the contrary.

Fair while ? I'm German. Fair while is not appearing in my translation app. Be more accurate Englander!

Oh, so many of us. Do a bit of ferreting, a bit of quiet fireside reading. It's fun.

Lets make this easy @jpinthehouse but painful. Forget the stove. Just a bit of research on this site will save you the expense of a stove. I know, I know, it hurts. I love them too. Ian

That the kind interpretation. Debbie agrees with you. Thing is, trades get the bulk of their repeat business from farmers round here. Hence the availability issue.

OK Ferdi ? Anyone else got a view? Do your worst

Wonky? Me ? Moi? Probably.

@nod. honorable, decent blokes like you are increasingly rare.

No, perish the thought: closer to a major war victory. And war Prime Minister. And drug-addict wayward scion.

Way back when I cleaned windows to pay my way round my first degree. After a year or two, things were going well. I was beginning to get a lot of top-end customers; including the landed gentry from West Oxfordshire. Think of the biggest, famous estates with big open parkland: the kind of place that you can visit and get lost on the estate. We did parts of his pad, and all his family's local houses. Tucked away, out of sight, pieds a terre with interesting architecture and decor. Very very interesting. A couple of times a year, I'd pop into the estate office and get paid. One year, however, I met His Grace at his (what I called) Passion Pad. and since I needed to be paid, I asked him to pay the bill. I told him how much. He pulled a roll of £20 notes from his back pocket, counted out about half of what I'd asked for, and told me he'd owe me the rest. I won't repeat what I said. That's beside the point. The next customer was the Lord Lieutenants house. Super bloke: one of the best. He sensed instantly that I was furious. So I told him what had happened. "He's frightened you won't come back, Ian". I have recently paid two trades folk in full as soon as the job was done. Between them, they've agreed to do another few grand's worth of work. Months ago. I'm frightened they won't come back. Should'a learned my lesson from all those years ago eh?

Have you worked out yet whether you are likely to be covering your clay with (say) MOT1? Our site is on a slight slope; we needed a piling mat: that is built up on MOT1. So despite lots of clay (alluvial till), in a real sense, the problem disappeared under 400 tonnes of MOT1. As soon as you step off the foundation build-up you can see the effects of the clay: bogged down Land Rovers and Great Crested Newts, waltzing to their hearts content.

I'm no expert in heaving or subsiding, but I am good at searching for sources of relevant information