ToughButterCup

Our windows order is important partly because of the value of the order. And so the scrutiny of detail, intense. The whole process of creating an accurate order has been made so much more difficult because of the lack of attention to detail on the part of some involved in the administrative process. Notably not in the case of our supplier. Austrian company - nuff said. I am keen to reduce the sources of error, and, among other things I have decided to spray the window designation on each structural opening. With any luck when the company comes to fit the windows, the fitters won't have to ask which window goes where...... Which simple site-based practical strategies have you used to reduce the potential for error? I'm not thinking about high level stuff like Prince2. Just nuts and bolts practical stuff.

Thats exactly what we are trying to do. Its hard getting the paperwork out of our contractor, though. And as @Alphonsox says promptness 'pays' in terms of commitment to a longer term relationship.

@Onoff, here you are......

Thanks. It would be good if we could finish the job off: but due to an avoidable error (I could thump my stump - and I have two available) we, that means me, needs to shoot down to Wales (Crumlin, Gwent) to pick up some more blocks. @Nickfromwales, how far is to your gaff (from Crumlin)? Chance of a cuppa? PM me. Anyone need a load shifting down the M6, M5 corridor, from Lancaster to Gwent M/T? Got a Merc Shifter going down in the next few days. Ian

Anyone got a creative answer to what to do with this? Seems a shame to skip it. There four bags of the stuff Ian

This is cheaper still and passes Occam's test

Hmmm, @Nickfromwales, the bathroom issue...... it would be a shame to get it finished: we'd have no other miscreant to whom we could point as being worse than we are. Can't you just hear it...... "Well yer lucky @Onoff's not doing [...] aren't ya!" No, his procrastination is, to all of us, a valuable asset. Long may it last. Second thoughts, Much Longer May It Last

As you go, gently gently. Very unwise to fill the lot at once although people do do it. The concrete pumps costs a fair bit...

Erm, no not EPS. Here's too much detail Briefly, here's the point: the blocks are wooden chips with the sugars and protein kicked out of them, dried and then embedded in a cementitious mixture, lightly fried for a bit and then bashed into shape. Ram a bit of EPS or PU into the corners and you have yourself a very well insulated (fire-proof) block. Light, easily stacked and cheap.

18mm 8 by 4 OSB and a few double threaded screws driven with a normal cordless screwdriver. Not a Hammer or Impact driver. Not all of the walls, just corners and exposed bits. And wall joins. I'll tell you why I know about wall joins sometime later. With piccies. They say that the harshest lessons are the best don't they?

No, none. The only cold bridging considerations are with the huge west-facing windows we have. There's a massive RSJ above the west facing window. Heart in mouth about that (RSJ) for all the reasons widely discussed here. But we have strategies in place. And we have a 10% risk of overheating. Strategies planned for that too. I haven't been this knackered for a good while. Builder's first time, architects first time, my first time, I was on-station from 0530 to 2030 every day last week; cleaning up, printing out stuff, generally helping, keeping a weather eye on everything, making tea, making my workshop available, fetching, carrying. And making a general mockery of our recent H+S thread. The main builder had questions that needed answers there and then. Owners have no options but to deliver. @Construction Channel.... and @Stones, at your suggestion I have large time-lapse videos ready for fettlin'. Deb says she'll stitch them together on her machine at work. We have been lucky with the weather, soooo lucky. More soon. Including a step by step breakdown of what went well and not so well. And how we solved the problems. Yes we had a couple of bursts - and they are nowhere near as dramatic as Kevin Mc WhatHisFace on 'telly would have you believe. Yes, the first time my [...] did [....] just a little bit. Ian

And when you do Dave, I'll show you a shortcut back to (and from) Forton Services. And where to get genuinely cheaper petrol - 3 minutes off the motorway at Sainsbury's next but one stop further south. If you come off at J33 (south) it takes two minutes to our place. Give me an hour's notice and we'll get the kettle on. Ian

Oh God yes....! I'd almost forgotten about that. Off at J33 on the M6, south along the A6 - look for the scaffold 1 mile south, and then turn right for Cockerham. First right into our lane Drop in anytime. Ian

This week has been hard work, but for all that, there's a lot to show for it. This post is an update - much more detail to follow when things have settled down in a week or so. First of all, what's the end in mind? Have a look at this. Its roughly 10 by 10 with an internal garden (on the left hand side - the dark area is open boarding to allow air to circulate freely) The Piggery (of which more later) is the small (wire-frame image) building on the right of the image. We are using an ICF called Durisol. This shot shows a corner detail with our (as yet roofless) Piggery in the background. The blue marks show where the blocks were cut to size: and where the gap is a little bigger than finger width. A little foam was injected into those gaps. Here's a more general shot taken at about mid morning. As yet all hand laid, dry, no concrete. You can see the main contractor (Dan) framed by the the front door framework. The house fairly shot up... Here's where we'd got to by Wednesday And here's where we are today. A couple more window gaps to make, the final pour of concrete and that'll be it for the main build. Everyone walking past says something like 'Where did that come from then?' I always take the time to talk to anyone who expresses an interest. It's important to explain to locals what's happening. There's a very big anti-build atmosphere centered on the Local Plan - it has identified the A6 corridor (100 meters away) as the main area on which to achieve Wyre Borough's housing target. Why the A6? It's a little higher than the local flood plain - ie. the area west of the M6, but East of Blackpool. Lot's of development has already taken place on known flood plain area round here; and justifiably, the LPA is taking stick for it. I'm knackered. Lot's of challenges, lots of hard work, lots of satisfaction. It didn't all go smoothly. Next post, much more detail and an analysis of what issues we faced and how we solved them. The good bit? Needing to buy an SDS+ drill. (The term 'need' is correctly applied in this instance @Ferdinand )

Paraphrasing : while our soil survey recommended steel sleeved concrete piles, the SE pointed out they were not mandatory - for example stone improvement columns would be acceptable. Price difference? Between £10 and £18.5K. He also pointed out that the piling mat we needed happened also to fit in beautifully with our landscaping design. He didn't need to point out what to him was the blindingly obvious. But he bothered to engage with his customer. That's why , even though he has been over cautious elsewhere on the design, I would have no hesitation recommending him (and this is the key bit in terms of this thread) for a similar design challenge.

We wouldn't want to be seen to encourage illegality now would we?

Our SE saved his fee four times over by writing one single sentence. He is a specialist and one of many that we talked to. Get the right SE for the job. Money, tears, aggro saved. Network, network, network.

Me too ..., even the cat likes it

What a missed opportunity to calm the atmosphere. I sense a certain lack of raw courage, and an instinct to protect herself first. Add that to a demonstrable inability to discuss, listen and debate openly; the omens are not good. And she owes it to the bereaved and the dead to handle this well. Argggghh! We are being lead by donkeys all over again.

Quick update: my builder casually said " 'S OK lad, there's a load o' rebah lyin' 'round in 't yard. Help thee sen. Tek 't Landy 'n fetch it". It was a pleasure: driving a lovely Disco 4 - with reversing cameras - was smug-making. (OK, it isn't an Audi Allroad Quattro, but Hell it's better than my 1988 Landy TDI) But I simply had to re-tune his radio to Radio 4 on all the pre-sets. . Well what else is there to do while waiting for the lights to change? So, I'm giving him some (some, not all, I'm not daft) of our over-ordered rebar mesh in exchange. Overall cost? Say £50. Well down from over £1000. A few more cost savings like that would be just the ticket.

Thanks folks.... It worked. The power of 'Tinernet discussion groups. More than halved the price I was about to be charged

£17.64 for a 6m length of rebar - £2.64 per meter? Or am I being a skin-flint? signed Outraged of Lancaster.

We will be keeping them in the piggery, outside the heated envelope. Already there are dark mutterings about having to walk 10 meters (there and back). Ah well, into every life a little rain must fall.

@Vijay, I have learned one thing about concrete: what is specified is often not what gets delivered. I say this on the basis of about five deliveries (or so), and having bought several lots of cheap concrete from a lets say 'informal' supplier. Our main builder explained that, unless you know the production and delivery companies - the real people on the end of a phone - then you are likely to get generally strong concrete, or middling concrete or weak concrete. Here are a few factors affecting what actually gets delivered How do you know you arent getting the tail end of someone else's delivery - to a different spec - topped up with your spec? How well do you know the company dispatcher (for the lorries)? Not at all? He'll smell it and might well take advantage of that Is the concrete going to be pumped? If so more cement is added to make it 'slippier' in the pipes Is the concrete going to be tested? If not, lie and tell everyone that samples will be taken. Trying to squeeze prices? By accident I saw some cheap concrete being mixed. I lost some (more) hair that day. All the locals have subsequently warned me only to order from that person when the quality doesn't matter This board is full of people who have forgotten more than I'll ever know about the subject. But one thing is sure. Concrete is fascinating. Really fascinating.

@Ferdinand, T Knipe, Flookburgh: old school timber merchant. No website, phone is almost never answered; magnificent wood stock. Prices as low as you can find anywhere. If I need serious wood thats where I go. If you're up this way, go and see the yard. Bring a camera. 1950s writ large. Ian