skeg0

Probably varnish I think. Seemingly can’t risk any water getting on them!

they have been inside for a year pretty much. But show signs of warping

I reckon it’s just the silver breather as you say. From what I can see there is no cavity. There were gaps left and right between the vertical plasterboard at the sides of the window and the sill which I filled up with foam which you can see in the photo as there were draughts coming through there but everything else was fine. I read a note from our timber frame company that asks is what type of paslode nail we want to fix the sills. So I guess they suggest we nail them?!

Thanks for your reply - no gap into the cavity, just (im assuming) some black DPC. So you would put some plasterboard flat on top, screw it down and then stick down with glue/adhesive?

Hi! Would appreciate some quick advice with regards to attaching some wooden sills to our recently constructed timber frame house. You’ll see in the attached image that the timber frame is there under the plasterboard and the silver insulation. I have pine ‘planks’ to go on top of this that form the window sill but I’m not sure the best way of attaching them to the frame below. Can I for example screw/nail them through the silver insulation to the frame underneath? Or should I keep the insulation completely intact? If it helps the house construction is timber frame with block work. Thanks so much in advance!

So does that mean you can continue to have work done (which you can include in your vat reclaim) after the point of building control sign off up to 6 months? This is a really useful thread - sorry for hijacking! And thanks!

Does that mean what I have above is ballast? Cheers!

Please excuse the noob question! Concreting and wall building is the next skill to learn in our house build process… I have half a bag of this (see attached image - paver for reference) left over from a house build. I am needing to build a small retaining wall to bring up ground levels by a small amount and wanted to know whether the bag of what is in the picture is of ‘mixed aggregate’? And therefore suitable for mixing with cement to create my wall footing. I will need a depth of 300mm, width 450mm length 6m. If it is suitable, then I shall use it but assume it won’t be enough for the above trench so will need to order some more. I think a 6:1 ratio is standard practice for this of aggregate to c20 cement? Thanks so much for your help!

Our contractors have left this outside door way to our garden store unfinished. I will be getting a concrete block for the bottom part but not sure about how best to finish the walls. Its outside so will be exposed to the elements. it’s a timber frame build with brick surround so the inner wall in the picture is mostly wood. Any advice most appreciated!

Unfortunately I don't think it is the case for us. We have been told specifically by the BCO that it needs to be hard standing and from what I gather reading other posts on this forum, they seem to be more strict up in Scotland than they are down south - if indeed you are based in Preston. So as much as I would like to stick with the type 1 we have throughout the drive, I don't think they will let us . So the next best thing is temporary paving.

Hi! We are very close to being signed off on our new build. One of the remaining items is having an accessible pathway from the street pavement to our current mono block paving which will need to be around 7m in length. Ultimately we will be mono blocking the whole thing, but this will take quite a bit more expense and time as there are drains/inspection chambers that need to be dealt with. The BCO has told me that all he needs is an accessible pathway from the road. So my plan would be to put in a 'temporary' paved path with 45x45mm slabs laid on top of sand (with approx 150mm type 1 below), but I am not sure whether this would be acceptable? Many thanks! We are located in Stirling, Scotland

Hi! Just wondering what the best approach would be to prevent our guttering downpipes overshooting their hoppers. Don't want to introduce anything that the BCO may complain about. Is it ok to drop straight in without a curve? Thanks!

Hi! Yes I am sure it's registered with the PAF. It appears as per the link posted above (https://www.royalmail.com/find-a-postcode) by @garrymartin. The registration process was carried out by the local council who informed the PO

We have had our new build property registered with Royal Mail now for about 2/3 months. Still our address isn't appearing in various online address tools not to mention DPD and Sainsbury's not being able to deliver to us as clearly whatever tools they are using haven't updated yet! Just wondering if anyone else has had this issue and whether or not they were able to do anything about it? I dont really want to change our address to our neighbours only to then change it again further down the line to what it should be. I can see it in Google Maps for example, but other map providers don't have it. It has even preventing us in getting some services installed. Thanks! Edit: We are located in Scotland

Hi! I am needing to tile right up to our kitchen door with 600x600 porcelain tiles - the tiles will need to span UFH concrete screed, expansion/insulation gap and then onto wood surrounding the door frame (house is of timber frame construction) as you can see in the picture. I’d obviously like to be able to have a single tile span all of the materials right up to the door, but assuming this is not possible due to differing expansion/contraction properties of both the UFH screed and wood etc. So my question is what should I be doing here? I’ve been using flexible tile adhesive under the kitchen floor tiles on top of the screed - would it be flexible enough to handle different materials for example? Or should I cut tiles to match the wooden area, and screed area and have plastic expansion gap in between? - Not too keen on that one as it won’t look the best but don’t want to be having to re-tile any time soon! Any advice most appreciated!