markc

No reason you can’t use reclaimed boards, but they are a pain to clean up, loads of holes, splits and cracks and they are a pain and time consuming (and therefore costly) to lay. if you want a wood look, use chipboard and put laminate over the top.

But does the neighbour want a 9ft slab of wall/fence to look at?

@flanagaj I agree they would look very neat, it’s just the consequences of any leak. The above detail is a definite improvement as an overflow does go onto the outside but any hole, split, crack or open joint in the gutter will wet the wall without knowing about it until serious damage has been done. I suppose you could add a secondary membrane under the gutter and out onto the outside and if you saw water coming from this area then you would know there was a gutter problem.

No connection or knowledge of Howdens but from a production and selling point of view, unfinished doors would/should cost extra. Someone would have to sort through and find ones with no imperfections or knocks etc. whereas a finishing line will take them unsorted, fill/sand any imperfections and then add the finish… or primer so the cost would be the same.

Internal gutters… omg noooo! Hiding gutters behind cladding but still outside the envelope would be ok … but a PITA for maintenance etc. gutters will leak or overflow at some point and you def don’t want this inside your house

The wind load on a 6ft fence can be huge so the dwarf wall would really need to be cast concrete. Use posts for the fence and build the wall in front or around for aesthetics rather than structural

£150/m2 for electrics sounds way over the top especially on a new build. taking your WC as an example, if it was a stand alone job then yes it sounds about right, but as part of a full project then absolutely not, an additional 2-3 hours and a bit for materials so 1/2 or less than the £475

1st question would be - how will you lift this into place? A 5m (almost) 250kg beam isn’t like boosting a big lintel into place. The method of lifting will then determine the best (safest/most economical etc) support method.

Nothing wrong with option 3 apart from it will be difficult to get the socket front back on with 4 wires in each connection.

Good on her 👏👏

Increasing head height in a loft can be done by raising the ridge/rafters or by dropping the ceiling height of the floor below. I think sinking the steels has been used to describe putting the new floor beams in with their bottoms below present ceiling height - yes it gains loft height but is messy and a PITA to do.

I’m thinking possibly because of the “alongside conversion of garage”. Sketch/s would help

Problem with pigeons is they soon get used to anything that initially scares them.

Whilst some dust and noise has to be accepted, the builder/owner etc. must take reasonable steps to minimise. Debris netting on scaffold, fully boarded hoarding their side of the hedge and you should not have to accept repairs for flood damage caused by their works. be firm but fair and get agreements backed up in writing (email).

Hi and welcome … and omg! 1200sqm 😱

Not ideal but yes you could take lead from under the window frame full cover on cill and then onto roof with lead adhesive/sealant but you really need to cut through the cladding/render to get the flashing under either side of the window reveals and then seal any gaps and edges.

Yes you can

For your application it doesn’t need to be specific reinforcing mesh, if you can get some off cuts or strips then great, A142 (6mm wire) or above will be more than sufficient to stop the pipe creating a crack line

Not ideal but no big issue either, get your pipe runs in a sensible place - parallel to any crack inducers or joints etc. strip of mesh over and under (if possible) and you will be fine.

Just about any slate can be reused, but, there will be breakages, lots of sorting, cleaning, swearing and throwing them into a heap … and then wishing you hadn’t bothered.

The L shape is pretty much self supporting (if you join at the corner. And the nearest run, I’m guessing is between walls? So a support/restraint near the top at both ends removes the cantilever load from the bottom.

@Thorfun what is the length of run? Turning a corner makes life much easier. With balustrades it’s not just the ultimate strength but also the deflection under load (flex when it’s rocked back and forth) the fixings may well be massively over the top to resist load but floor flex or compression can give unacceptable deflection at the top. This is why you often see vertical glass strips either in front or behind to act as buttresses to reduce movement.

To big to use in a general bathroom, unless they now to small ones so practical to drain water after each use rather than filter

Oddly I have been thinking about this for years, I never considered using the bath as a radiator but i looked at spa baths and non of them heated the water, only circulated it so went cold very quickly. That got me thinking of taking water from the bath, heating and returning either as a whirlpool or even falling like a conventional tap … just one of my endless “if I get chance I must do this” lists of engineering tinkering projects.

Hi, to use one yourself you don’t need anything, the hirer should give you a hand over (familiarisation) and you are on your way, platforms upto 25m working height can be on a trailer and towed by a 4x4. A lot of spiders are owned/operated by small organisations or one man bands are they a generally very helpful.