ToughButterCup

Knocking down the old piggery means we have a good deal of our own local stone with which to make some stone slips. And very many of the original local bricks. Why slips? Well, the ICF which we have substituted for the stone is 320mm wide. So adding a stone 'jacket' would mean walls, half filled with concrete and overall more than half a meter thick. We aren't building an Observation Post for an artillery range. Here's what the piggery looked like I can buy stone slips. But. They don't convince SWMBO. Might we be able to make our own from our own 'stock'? I've done a good deal of research. I think the key problems I need to solve are Cutting the right quality of stone such that it doesn't delaminate (by cutting across-grain, rather than with the grain) Cutting the stones without wasting too much Finding the correct tool to cut them Using the waste stone appropriately I've looked at this tool to cut them. But it strikes me that the 'bed' on which the stone is cut is at least as important as the cutting tool. And it's expensive, but I bet I can hire one. I've spent hours on YooChube researching how to cut them for myself. Not a brilliant resource, but there are some nuggets of information. And didn't you @Construction Channel, do a video review of a chop saw that might do the job? Visiting Italy (Pisa) Debbie and I visited the marble mines nearby. They used diamond encrusted wire to saw the marble. Might there not be some low-cost DIY equivalent?

But not fact. I smell inappropriate pressure being put on you. Or perhaps understandable urgency on your part. Or both. I got planning permission, the guy 25 meters away from me didn't. To all intents and purposes we're on the same plot (almost) . The difference? A simple, very humble farm track. If I were not to point it out to you, you'd miss it. Rejected at all levels, right up to Appeal. There is some very hard-won advice earlier in this thread from people whose judgement I have come to respect and trust . 7 day completion really is nonsense.

We all wish you more than just luck. Success would be better! Your story sounds more than familiar. And this place is as good as any other to wallow in the stories that others tell. Nobody here has had a hassle-free build. Nobody. At the very least the avalanche of decisions we all need to make keeps most of us awake at part of the night; and then when you've been nagging at something for a bit, you realise - there's bound to be someone who has sorted it out one way or another on BH. Before you know it, a few ideas have been dropped into your head and you're a few steps further on, with, often, a laugh thrown in too. I have no idea how I'm going to sort out my stone slips. None at all. I'm just going to ask how others have done it. By the end of the week I'll have a sensible plan in place. Without BH, I'd have even less hair than I have now. Welcome. Lurk, read, ask. Ian

Persistence. Plan. Plan. Plan.

We have bought matting. It's flexible. It reduces the likelihood of slips trips and falls. Every single contractor on site has commented on how much difference they make. Wheeling a sack truck laden with tools.... and then bumping off on to MOT1 points up the differences. And I can re-sell them at the end. There is a secondhand market. We've reconfigured the area protected 4 or 5 times now. I have a quadriplegic mate who comes to visit, every time all we do is drag a mat to his van door. Easy. Cleans easily, wet or dry. But some areas MOT1 is best. It's neither one nor the other; it a question of deciding which is most appropriate.

Both.

The storage system isn't going to be the problem. It's the long term maintenance cost. Underground, away from light, refresh continuously - rainwater recycle tank? Filter the incoming free water. Two filters, one coarse, one fine. Occasionally (once a year) put some aluminium sulphate (spoonful) in the water : let it settle the rubbish out to the bottom, and then flush the tank out fully and replenish. Maybe think about putting a length of copper pipe on the supply side (copper sulphate helps clean the water) Main thing keep light away from it. Keep it child-safe. Make sure you can drain it completely and have access to clean it out. Dig a deep sump so you can flush it all away: every last drop.

A saving indeed. But remember it's from Rochdale. You might have run the gauntlet of the Rochdale Cowboy(person)

There's loads of those '.... Oh FGS why didn't we think of that(s)...' aren't there.

From that to this and after separating the foam blocks from their wooden 'jackets' then kissing them with the digger, this.... a really nice, soft, bouncy, free draining top cover for the MOT1. It'll break down even more over time. And come into its own over the winter - maybe not so many muddy boots. Better and much cheaper than skipping it. Meeting the Durisol MD and rep on Tuesday of next week. Contractor tomorrow. With luck and a good deal of energy, we might just get back on schedule with the least damage possible. Now all I have to do is make it happen.

For the very worst of reasons I have 10 bags (1 tonne rubble bags) of Celotex, all in 250ml blocks going free. Put them through a chipper. I'd like to think they will not become landfill.

OK. I'll bite. Evidence, please. Ian

Ah! @Stones, good idea. Thanks! Ian

Well @ragg987, this next lot will hit us from the west and south west going through to south. We are well protected by slightly higher ground and two lines of trees, so I'm not to worried. And the contractor has shuttered those faces. Oh that he had done so to the east . But. I'm not so concerned about the scaffolding itself. I have concerns about people. People on the scaffold. Who sets the limit on the wind speed , wind gust speed in which people may work? My comfort limit is different to that of others.

Thanks for the good wishes Terry and Jan. We're startinging to move into the '...nothing to see, move along .... ' phase now. I'll have all of the rubble processed by the end of today. Post the before and after pics later. Nearly Friday.....

Wind. Makes me wince now. Here's why Understandable isn't it? Worse when it happens at night from some point of view, better when it happens at night because people in the main are in bed. But tomorrow deals up the next dose of wind during the working day. And that makes me wonder about scaffolding and limits. What are safe wind limits for working on scaffolding? I suspect there are a good few of us on here who sail boats, some who fly, many who walk on hills. And we'll be aware of local turbulence and unexpected, sudden wind-shadow. Our wall fell over because the wall faced east, had an unrestricted fetch all the way from the Pennies with only Forton Services on the M6 to tubulate the lower wind. Worse, we are on the leading edge of an East facing slope and the wall that fell starts two meters above ground level. Perfect for slope-soaring gliders. The opposite for scaffolders. It's not steady wind I worry about it's turbulence. So, what's safe and what's unsafe? Try, just for me, please, try to keep it straight eh?Just a little bit.

Stability was our first concern with the architect this morning. The most anything has moved is half a mil. Every morning first thing I have a schedule of (4) measurements to take and plumb lines to check. That should calm me down and develop a little more confidence. I'll sleep a good deal better tonight than last.

I'd missed that for some reason. Well when we meet for a pint we'll have something to talk about eh?

In terms of the fright... I wonder how long its going to take us to ignore a windy day. It was horrible, sickening at 0200 to listen to the blocks coming off sometimes in groups,sometimes one at a time, and bounce off the scaffolding. I'm not the big roughy toughy I used to be Deb reminds me. I have made some indelible reference points on key bits of the building and either laser measured the distance between them or used the laser plumb line to connect two vertically inline points - so I can check for slow movement. Looking at those readings for a few days should, I hope, build our confidence about the building stability. I have, by accident, acquired an optical theodolite, and a mate has given me a proper tripod. I'll find out how to use it and create some reference levels: two of our main GPS station nails are right outside the house a few meters away and within easy sight of the building corners

Spot on @Stones. @Declan52, that's what I think will be a sensible resolution. Given a pour straight away after the build, or maybe two during it....

Thanks @JamesP. We have no intention of shooting anything. We need to focus on solving the problem, not making it worse. This issue would have been sorted out by simply pouring when it was built. It really is that easy.

We, all of us, contractor, me , the architect went away on the Durisol course at their depot in deepest Yorkshire. And Durisol sent their rep to us on the first day of our build. He trained the lads on site for half a day, and at the end of the morning session, left. In other words, the contractors had had a day and a half's training. Attended by me too.

Thanks for the good wishes. Durisol seem to be pushing the boat out a bit. Hopefully we'll get an order in and delivered by the end of next week. It's a Faff when the BM is a 400 mile round trip.

Right folks, here's what's happening. Done a good deal of clearing up today. Why oh why oh why do scaffolders put clips at exactly the wrong height for my head? Still, if I can't take joke, shouldn't have started should I? Been on to Durisol. The rep's coming on Tuesday of next week, and we're putting an order together then, to be delivered by the end of next week I suppose. I paid the contractor on a day rate. And so far I've paid about half his bill. I will be interested to see what he has to say for himself when he gets here. Ideas on how I should approach this one will be gratefully considered. Ian

I am really heartened by all the posts and sympathy. Off for an old mans zizz; been up for 14 hours....