Mulberry View

Yes, they are.

Room dividing walls.

The roof plan shows opening windows, Vario by Velux windows have always been detailed, although the specificity of the hinges wasn't. I feel that, as the specialist, he ought to have told me if the detail wasn't sufficient, or if he decided to proceed with a detail of his design (which is what he did) that he take responsibility for it. Interestingly, our roof has 200mm of Celotex on it. The upstands are 300mm, but sat on top of a spacer frame made from 47x97 timbers, so the remaining upstand is almost 150mm from the surface of the Zinc. You're right, pics can be deceiving!

A detail rework is currently on the table, awaiting approval by VM Zinc and Vario by Velux (and us). Do I have any grounds for compensation from the contractor for the time wasted, money lost on scaffolding etc? He has even not ruled out charging us to rectify the detail as he still thinks this is my fault. I am baffled.

No, Velux didn't provide a specific detail, they seem to suggest that metal roofs are specialist and require bespoke details. My argument with the contractor is that they didn't query it and if they had, I could have pushed either Velux or an Architect for a better detail. I just cannot fathom how the contractor thought that a detail that doesn't allow the hinges that they removed to be refitted is a finished detail. This is a terrible experience with our first major contractor on site.

I'm thinking of having a go at building my internal walls, there aren't too many of them and I have time on my side. We have a hefty spec Block & Beam floor (175mm beams, all blocks in 215 orientation), with sleeper walls under the internal walls that run perpendicular to the beams and double or triple beams where they don't. The floor was designed for an imposed load of 1.5kN/m2 I'm thinking of Marmox Thermoblocks under all the blockwork walls, followed by Medium Dense Concrete blocks up to ceiling height. Doorways built to 905mm. Am I along the right lines?

What I'm left with is voiding the Vario by Velux warranty if I install the rooflights over this finish, or voiding the VM Zinc warranty if I alter the roof. I'm literally over a barrel and now the Zinc installer is telling me that if I don't pay the completion balance he's going to start proceedings to recover the money, but surely the job isn't complete yet?!

This is the issue... This is how I handed the Velux upstand over to them. Note the 3 hinges under the top rim, these are factory installed by Velux, they don't recommend removing them. The Zinc contractor wanted to run their back gutter detail up the upstand to the top and create a drip detail, all good so far. I believed I would be reinstalling the hinges over the top of a 0.8mm flat layer of Zinc, after cutter away the drip detail where the hinge would go... This is what they left me with. I have folded the drip up and started to cut it, but realised that there are multiple layers of Zinc, as many as 5 in places and the left-hand hinge falls directly on top of a soldered joint. Keep in mind that the hinges were removed by me (with the Zinc guy watching) and on the second window they removed them. Velux won't allow the hinges to be placed over more than one flat layer of Zinc, but if you cut the material out completely, you're left with a break in the upstand only about 50mm above the surface of the roof, which voids the VM Zinc warranty. The hinges pivot at the bottom, so this rules out a layer of material overlapping the hinges after installation. The only solution I have in mind at the moment is to cut all the Zinc out in the vicinity of the hinges and place a single flat piece of Zinc over the whole area, bonded down and screwed through, thus water-tighting the area and leaving only one layer beneath the hinges, but I need that agreed by VM Zinc if that's deemed to be a solution. I'm told that the Zinc roof needs to be able to expand and contract, so screwing it to the upstand seems counter-intuitive.

Thanks for your reply Alan. I toiled for a week over possible solutions, even trying to make pieces myself out of scrap Zinc they left, before going to the Zinc installer as I am someone who is minded to solve a problem rather than cause agro, but the more I looked at it, the more I can see a bodge-up ensuing. I wish there were an easy fix, I would do that rather than go through what I feel I'm about to have no choice but to endure. Sadly the contractor is not a reasonable man at all, he has lacked empathy and understanding throughout the process that I have had to be fully engaged in, but that isn't fuelling this complaint at all. The poor workmanship I raised in the dispute is isolated and it is only that I need a solution to as I am desperate to get these windows in. His view that his detail is water-tight and meets the VM Zinc guidelines is his defence and in a way he isn't wrong, but in refitting the hinges, the water-tightness will be lost and without a feasible and lasting way to regain. In my view, you cannot take parts off to ease an installation without a view of how those parts will be refitted and, as it stands, he might as well have removed my upstands and zinc'd over the entire openings as, although obviously not a viable answer, at least I'd have been water-tight!

I was fortunate enough to find a 2010 Renault Master MWB Flatbed with 40k miles on it. That has been a godsend. We cleared all vegetation from the 0.6 acre plot, brought many many loads of aggregate into the plot (we have difficult access), took concrete and rubble away from the plot and collect most of our materials from merchants with this truck. I shuttle-run supplies into the plot either from the merchants or from their lorries. I brought in 180 concrete floors beams (10 at a time) and 13 packs of medium dense blocks in (pack by pack) using this truck. I can and do take 16 or more bulk bags of garden waste to the tip with it. It weighs 2300, so can carry 1.2 tonne legally. A tipper would have often been handy, but a smaller buck, less payload and the obvious mechanics that could go wrong were what put me off. I also have a queue of people wanting to buy it from me when I've finished with it as it is still only on 44k. LOL!

Anecdotally, I am very pleased with my Beam & Block floor, which has been in place for a year now, but still without further layers (except for grout). I cannot detect any movement. With that said, I did go for a fairly hefty spec. I have 175mm deep Rackham Housefloors beams and ALL blocks are installed in their 215 orientation. My spans range from 2.8m to something like 4.5m.

My merchant of choice is Travis Perkins. I do not have the headspace to be phoning around for everything, but I do feel confident that the Sales Manager at my local branch is being fair. He seems tuned in to the fact that I am paying with my own money and there is not a big company behind me. I have price-checked him a couple of times against Huws Gray and MKM when they try to tout me for business, but he always wins, with only a handful of exceptions (Lignacite Ash-GP blocks was one example, but he knew that at the time). I think I paid about £16 for a sheet of 18mm Sterling-branded OSB3 a few months ago and £30 for a sheet of 18mm structural hardwood Class-3 plywood only a few weeks ago. Machine hire however, MKM cannot be beaten in my experience so far.

We welcomed our first contractor onto site a few weeks ago to install the VM Zinc roof. Their work is now mostly complete, but they have left the detailing around the 'Vario by Velux' windows in a condition whereby the £11k worth of roof windows cannot be satisfactorily installed in a way that preserves the Velux warranty. However, if we alter the detailing we risk voiding the 50-year warranty on the Zinc roof. The Zinc installer insists that their work is complete, even though the hinges that now cannot be refitted were removed during their work, and now they want the final payment. We are now almost a month over our scaffolding term because their timeline over-ran by 2.5 weeks and we cannot agree on how to resolve this dispute. It's heart-breaking as this is the first proper contractor we've had and the cost is eye-watering.

@Conor That's super helpful. You've pretty much answered all my questions in one swoop. Out of interest, why did you opt for 100mm? Did you render straight away?

Has anyone here installed additional insulation over their ICF? For a few reasons (and not just the u-Value), I have opted to allow for an additional 50mm of external insulation over the top of my Nudura on the upper proportion of my build. Has anyone installed EWI over ICF? What did you use and what was the installation process? Also, how long can you leave EWI exposed before render being applied? (Pic for attention - it's come on a bit since then)

Before I could intervene, our Zinc roof guys used their normal bitumen primer before sticking the Aludex Max VCL to the Nudura ICF. They're highly reputable Zinc guys, but haven't ever worked on an ICF building. Luckily I have managed to halt this before we move onto the next part, as I'm not sure what effect the bitumen primer will have. What's the best way to stick this product to the external ICF?

Again, Pasquill didn't design it this way, so what ought I have done? Added it? The scheme was designed on Mitek software by the way. I have full 3D's of them if you want a look!

Conversely, my own surveyed measurements were so tight, nothing in my first floor scheme had to be adjusted. Everything dropped straight in. The roof scheme is largely the same, but my 'squint' cuts had to be made on site by me to ensure sufficient bearing. All cuts were made from the verified trimmable portions of the joists. I just don't know what else I could have done!

It's one thing making recommendations, but you went in fairly heavy-handed and caused me sleepless nights without having the full picture. This image that I posted on Page 3... Is directly from Pasquill's design, which has been agreed with my engineer. The whole of the first floor is in the same principle. Are Pasquill's design engineers not capable of engineering this? But just to be sure, my SE spec'd 195x47 for the Ledgers for the first-floor joists after examining the scheme before it was signed off. The same principle was used for the roof ledgers, so they are probably overkill. If I deviate from their designed scheme, will they underwrite it? If you were the engineer here, would you underwrite it if it hadn't been installed as designed? I think you know the answer to that, so for that reason, I have installed it to the absolute letter. So what could I have done differently? Questioned Pasquill? Questioned my SE? I am a ruthless worrier, so I have done both and both times the same verdict was returned. Fun Fact - My First Floor has been engineered using predominantly top-chord hung Posis and cleared for the 750kg loading needed for a large bath upstairs, along with a 2.3m high 2.6m wide 3-sided triple-glazed Oriel Window. I can't imagine what that will weigh.

Any suggestions on what to use to make an airtight seal between wall plate and ply? Or is a bead of sealant between the two enough?

Sorry I didn't thank you for posting this. It's what I'll use.

Without wanting to get all mushy over some guttering, that looks delightful.

I mean, I'm literally talking about 3 linear metres or so of guttering here, its not going to break the bank! I just want to have it detailed better than a plastic soffit board behind it etc.

Pasquill designed the scheme and it was cross checked by my SE. 45mm bearing is all that was needed. I am almost resigned to gutters now, they are only short lengths and I'd like to beautify them as much as possible ideally with Zinc details/flashing etc. I just need to understand from the Zinc contractor whether he needs to come before the single-ply membrane goes on because there is a 'for and against' regarding who comes first.

I have fixed the Posis that top chord hang down to the Ledger with pairs of good quality 5x85 screws. The short bottom chord is as designed.