LSB

Good progress, well done

Our build planning said we must have sprinklers so it is possible without the turning need

Well done Geoff, Woody won't know what's hit it 🙂 Take care Jill & Dave

I hadn't realised that my last entry was in Nov last year. Where has the time gone. As with many self builds, particularly those on a DIY basis we have been very subject to weather slowing things down, not that it could be much slower. But, in fact compared with last year we have done loads. The NOT wall (the side of the barn that was open) is now a wall. This wall is 16m long, with 4 lots of French door gaps. double skin block with 150 cavity and 4 heavy lintels. It then turns the corner to head south. We also had a big overgrown bank which we dug out and cleared. Then out next door farmer came and took away all our soil spoil which we didn't need for some holes in his field. About 40 ton we think. And in the process flattened the bank. I then planted a hedge and seeded the bank. Inside what was the barn we have started digging down, in total it needs to go down 500mm so this is just a start The back bank needed digging back to allow for the digger for drains when we get to that stage. And finally in March we've started taking some of the remaining roof off, to be the stables roof in due course Hard to believe this has gone from bog to beach in a couple of months. Once the roof is dismantled then we can start with the trenches for phase 2 of the build. Thanks for reading. See you next time,.

I hadn't spotted this either, can't do this week.

already done that as we have some hessian from horse feed, just wondered if there was a recommended temperature as it fell to -2 last week after some blocks had been laid on a warm morning.

We've always been told that the temp must be 3 degrees and rising to mix mortar and lay blocks. But, the question is, how long does it need to stay over 3 degrees. At the moment it's warm in the day, say 10 degrees, but getting colder in the evenings, so if they are laid in the morning when it's warm enough, but we know it's going to be cold later, is that a problem. TIA

Hi Alan, we are using Gateway in Bury St Edmunds

Thanks guys for a lovely evening, entertaining and educational and others can just wonder what we discussed 😞

Well my BH locn may be a little old 😞 Or, maybe I'm bringing the helicopter

We will be there, and probably eat as I won't get home from work until 6 and it's 40 mins to get to Stow. There will be 2 of us

Looking for some advice on brick / block laying. We have built up 2 single storey cavity wall to Lintel level and am now running my blocks across the top of the steel lintel. The problem that we are having is as we set each block (7n H&H blocks approx. 9Kg) they seem to “skate” on the mortar, regardless of how dry we mix it. When we am laying block on block there is no problem, a tap with the mallet and the block moves a small predictable amount. On the Lintel they seem to slide about like a bag of monkeys. Is there a trick of the trade that we are missing or some way to overcome this ?

why not just book a table in a name 'bob the buider' or 'buildhub' and we just ask for that

and hard hats

We are IP17

Our quiz team is called East Suffolk Mountain Rescue, so like minds

We've had the machine years and never used it, just wondered what it was 🙂

Hello lovely peeps Who knows what this is and what does it do? It's a linkage mechanism that can be lifted and placed into one of two positions. This is sited beside the transfer levers. TIA Jill

you are very lucky my previous boss failed to submit as did his architect and he didn't get off and had to pay, in his case only 88k Our parish council have been reaping the benefits ever since as they get a percentage of all CIL payments In the end it cost him quite a bit more as he went legal and had those fees as well.

oddly, considering we were converting a barn we weren't asked for a bat survey, this was 4 years ago. We were asked for 5 other surveys though 🙂 And we had bats, still have, they just moved themselves into the trees and we see them all the time in the summer

hotels are often built in sections, complete with bathrooms already installed and fitted furniture like wardrobes. I saw one build in North Bristol when I used there, took about a week for a 100 bed hotel with all the conference rooms. Not sure how BC works though

Well done, you are progressing well, I've also been on the IT over 60 no jobs boat 🙂 But, I'm now working in a different industry earning less, but paying the bills as hubby is building having taken early retirement. It's great to see someone on the other side of the build and it starting to look almost habitable.

we are the new pocster, no loans, just my income and hubby doing the real work, bit by bit. We are already 3 yrs in, but did faff for the first two of those, even so, doing it on your own is very very very very slow and you do make mistakes, which take time and cost money We know that hubby could have worked and got more help, but he is such a perfectionist that he doesn't trust anyone else to do it, and it keeps him busy 🙂 Well done pocster for getting yours done, I just hope we get there some day so we can enjoy our retirement.

Once again it's been much longer than it should have been since I last posted with my last entry being July, wow where has that time gone. Back then we were building the walls for phase 1 and installing the window and door lintels. Back then it was warm, unlike now and building could be done in shorts and T shirts Once these walls were built then it was time to think about a roof, even though it is going to be a temporary one for now as the whole house will have the final roof at the same time. This part of the conversion is designed to look like an extension as it did on the original. So, the South wall is higher and this 'hooks' on to it. We also have on-site building inspectors checking out their new home Then we had to start getting the rafters in situ, allowing for the overhang on the sides and end. The roof 'ladder' was built from the wood that was used to line the windows whilst building. These did take a long time as the roof is 4 degrees so slightly sloped so each block of both cavities times 2 had to be cut to the exact size required The weather wasn't always kind, but we did have some visitors to check out what was happening. Eventually, it was finished with the temp roof on. Windows covered for now as this will become our storage shed for a while During this time, we also had to move the stables. From this, already part demolished, not sure where the original pictures have gone. To this to this, luckily moved by a local farmer. Not sure when the horses will have them back though. Next is to start on the East side of the main part of the build. Originally our SE said that we had to have 2.4m deep underpinning foundations. But, our BCO had on on-side meeting with the SE as he felt this was over the top. We dug some example trenches to show what the soil was. He agreed with the help of the dog that it really is sand in this area. We do have some clay further on where we can have stepped foundations But he has agreed that we can have 750mm where it's sand so we are doing phase 2 which will be the office, master, bathrooms and 2 bedrooms. It will be the plant, another bedroom, family room and pantry which need deeper foundations. We have started digging out for the 2nd phase so will post my next update in due course. Thanks for looking and good luck with your builds

we got a man with a crusher, we dug out 1/2 m x 250 sqm of very hard concrete. he crushed it and we had for hardcore, topping the drive when it got muddy. we will have the same again, but will use under the base for the stables and cart lodge and hubbys multiple sheds so we paid crusher about 1k, but don't have to buy any hardcore in. garden waste we separated for our log burner or just set fire to it