joe90

Despite being OCD (according to my wife) I have an issue with lining up screw heads, the screw must be tight but lining them up either over tightens them or leaves them loose so I tend not to, however cross head screws are on nearly everything. Screws should be torqued to the correct setting and cordless drivers can be set to this which is my preferred option.

Whichever way up they are the same number of bearing supports are achieved, writing right way up fits with my OCD.?

I did mine for a Smidge over £1k per m2, 240 m2, 3 bed , 2 bath , brick and block, main builder did all the “hard” work, I did all the woodwork, plumbing, project management, kitchen fitting so it can be done but I was lucky with a brilliant builder. I did buy an ASHP and MVHR on Ebay very cheap and bought my own JCB for groundwork’s.

Create a sleeve in 6” pipe cut In half length ways and held back together with tape, the sleeve will be held in the foundation concrete but the soil pipe will float in it.

@Powerjen you need to get it right from day one, it’s so much more costly to change/put it right afterwards. With our build I went through the design in fine detail with my wife and said “it will not be changed during or after the build.” Sounds harsh but it paid off. I will follow your build process with interest.

Ha, no chance (sorry) I am burnt out having spent the last 3 years building mine. I am looking forward to gardening, pottering with my vintage tractor and classic car. My wife (still working) reckons I will be bored when the build is finished, no chance!!! note, this forum has been a mine of brilliant information , I have learnt so much invaluable knowledge despite being a retired builder. Never be worried about asking a “stupid question”, stupid is not asking!

AAAHHHHHGGGGGG, tool abuse ?

What a Stunning looking house, very well done mate.

Before I met her my wife bought a house at auction that “needed work “ she had no idea what it would cost and a friend was a QS and he told her approx £25k, she met me and I took it on and (if I charged her labour) could have done it for £8k.

Don’t be nervous, us buildhubbers love giving our opinion on others projects. Working to a Budget is very difficult but again it may be worth getting quotes, if only ball park figures, from the good builder to see which options are doable. I have a bit of a downer on architects as my experience has shown them fail to work to a customers budget or even plans (perhaps I have been unlucky). I am a retired builder and One job I did for a neighbour started badly when they showed me their architects drawings and asked me my opinion, luckily I knew them well so I said “crap”, if it were mine I would do this (quick pencil sketch on a pad), brilliant they said and that's what we built. ?

I still get calls asking if I would consider working fir them even tho I retired over three years ago. (Frankly they don’t have a chance in hell), I like retirement even tho I still seem to “work” every day, but it’s different working for yourself ?

Personally I would find a local builder with a good reputation and ask him to quote for the work (as long as you know what you want:) yes there are always things that do not go to plan, this is what a contingency is for. The trick is to find a good builder and check with people that have had work done by them. I had a brilliant builder for the “hard” work on my build and cannot fault him (but they are rare!).

Bloody awful, I would not pay for work like that, end of. And people that want to DIY worry about getting it right when paid tradesmen do that sort of thing. Pah

In my case I already had arthritis in my left thumb, when I finished the cut I was doing (being very careful about using both hands and being steady on my knees as I was working near the ground), I went to put the grinder down to my left, releasing the hold with my right hand. I had not noticed the power cord was around my wrist and when my left thumb let go because of the arthritis the grinder flipped and bit me on the thumb. This would not have happened if I had waited for the blade to stop before I went to put it down. (Which is what I do now). It’s a little ironic in that a wood carving blade (small circular saw blade) in an angle grinder LOOKS dangerous as it has no retractable blade like a circular saw. I would estimate however that a lot of accidents with angle grinders occur with blades disintegrating at very high speeds leading to “shrapnel “ at high velocity. The case fir the defence rests Milud.

Yes, I did traditional foundations but with modifications to make them insulated. I got the idea from https://www.greenbuildingstore.co.uk/golcar-passivhaus-ground-floor-foundations/ My builder altered them slightly In that he has done this before and the DPC above the skirting has lead to cracking so he lowered the damp course to floor level and added a second DPC in the outside skin above the ground level.

Ours is a heavy house and stays very stable, I do however tend to close the bifolds (to kitchen and lounge) before the temp drops too much outside to retain the heat we have gained. Yes with UFH there is no “instant heat” when the skin becomes a little chilly of an evening. This is one reason we have a wood burning stove, caveman feeling when it “looks” cold outside.

I agree, ask me how I know!,! If this is turning into top trumps, this is what I did with my 4” angle grinder but with a wood carving blade (think small circular saw blade). The surgery was successful to repair two tendons but it does not flex much anymore.

Ha, been there, done that, mine said the same but my decorator said Osmo was fine and he had done hundreds with no problem. I think @JSHarris is right, some oils may contain all sorts of bad stuff.

I was not suggesting it was suitable for your problem just that it got me thinking about my posts and looking on Ebay. It may be rubbish but fir the price worth a punt.

The lady I bought my last house from was married to the head of ICI at a depot where they made asbestos products, so she told me he even went on TV to say it was harmless, a few years later he was unwell and on examination he was eaten out by the stuff and died quickly afterwards. She was embarrassed by the situation and rarely went out. ICI paid for an annual checkup for her as her husband almost certainly brought fibres home on his clothes. She was lucky but died of unrelated health conditions years later. The stuff is not to be messed with.

My recent airtest only about a year after building showed the biggest problem was shrinkage around windows (timber windows in brick built walls) which is why I wanted the plasterers to use a stop bead before the window so I could use a flexible caulk between the two, but he insisted it was not needed , guess what, he was wrong and I wished I had insisted on them being installed. Mine is fixable very easily but I don’t like the idea of membranes hidden from view that cannot be fixed or seen without lots of work (mess).

After reading this and knowing I have to put in about 50 posts I bought this, purely as a punt, connected to a torquey SDS machine it may work (but I am not holding my breath) ?

Yes I understand this, I designed and installed my own systems and because of my limited knowledge it took a long time to get it right, and I am retired and on site 24/7.

@canalsiderenovation that’s a good result, crack on.

Our site can be windy (today is no wind and scorching) and I realise “wind wash” can suck heat from a build. As the leakage is from places I can “correct” I am not too worried.