LSB

prime farmland is 20k acre, not 10k and that's productive land with no chance of building, any parcel of land that farmers don't want is more than that even as amenity / small-holder land just because 'they don't make it any more' That's in East Anglia and I can't imagine it's much less anywhere that farming can still be profitable.

we have a 1.5 ton digger and a 2 ton dumper. dumper very old and only about £600, digger lots more money, circa 11k with VAT as ex hire. But both have been extremely useful and I will miss them just for moving things. The thing for us is that we are DIY building and doing everything ourselves so if you are having contractors then they will probably provide their own equipment. Digger is doing all our trenches as well as moving approx. 200 ton of concrete to be crushed and digging out the floors by 500mm. We did look at cheaper ones (5k), but they were generally pretty knackered so we decided to pay more for a decent one knowing we can sell and recoup the cost when we don't need it. Both the above have been reliable mechanically , some maintenance, replaced a track on the digger and the tyres on the dumper, just because there were some better ones at the local farm auction for £60, then sold the old ones for £50. Both looked after by us, kept under cover and regularly checked for oil and pipes with oil change once per year. Alan, if you are interested in buying then look at Cheffins monthly auction at Ely, very good source of building / farm machinery and commission charges are much lower than Clarke & Simpson. Of course there is delivery, but Shipley is the best for that.

the first trenches we dug we pure sand, these had some sand and some clay at the south end, nearest to the rest of the build. We have had some 'collapse' on sides and particularly corners. The strings lines were after some issues on the first stretch we did where we ended up not quite level when we go up high so wanted to do the whole thing.

So, about to order the mesh and I realised that I need concrete spacers. Do we have to use specialised ones or can we split some blocks to make our own, just another thought about trying to save costs. We were provided with about 80 broken 7.3n blocks (since replaced) but wondered if we could make some spaces out of those as the ones we've been quoted for £8 each. We have 2 layers, so first one needs to be 50mm up and then another 100mm above that.

just realised it's all about the same couple and then, I can't access after all at the next step

which episode, online i have access to 4 episodes in series 1.

So in the last couple of months we've moved on quite a bit for us. We started on our next section of the build, to be the snug and entrance hall. This is the sticking out part of the 'L' of the build. We removed the roof covering some time ago, so at the start of July it looked like this. Then the 4 layers of floor and internal walls were broken down Then the walls came down and trenches were dug and filled up again Sometimes with building it looks like we do loads of work and then cover it all up again Once that was set, we started on the foundations and while we had access we had to build out the floor to the correct level for everything that needs to go in there. From the DPM we had to go down 650, almost as deep as the foundations at 750 While we were going down and starting to build the walls back, we had 100 ton of this. Crushed by this beast He was worried about our Suffolk Hill, aka a small slope as his machine is 24 ton and totally home made using his built in pecker for some of the tough concrete crusher.mp4 So, quite an active couple of months. Next is to build the floor in what will be our snug and hall, first hardcore with blinding sand layer (wackered down), then cellcore as we have some clay, then 2 layers of mesh and the concrete pour. The mesh and pour needs to be inspected by our BCO. Till next time Adios

what about drugs

we already have 2 layers of mesh 🙂

This guy just knows his stuff and is very practical, he came out and looked at our first trench and told us that with our soil we could have shallower trenches where we have sand, basically we have to go down to 'good ground', anything over 0.5m, he also accepted photos for the 2nd lot of trenches. He's happy to answer the phone or responds to emails the same day. He's been helping us with our floor make up (different thread) and what we need after the SE made an error with the mesh type. He's coming out next week to look at the mesh before the floor concrete pour.

private company in Stowmarket, Gateway Building Control We deal with one guy, which I like, but he's not the only one just who was allocated our work. Our build is very slow, but that hasn't been an issue.

the whole build is 240 sqm but, this has 3 sections each with its own roof. So, section 1 is 6*4, which we are working on now, this is B785 Section 2 is 24*8 and B313 (or something like that, haven't got the email in front of me) is specified as there are steel pillars in the centre of the roof with padstones at the bottom. All bar 2 of these are 'in' walls, but 2 are in the family room. Section 3 is 24*4 and A mesh is specified. We are DIY self building and doing section 1 first including roof and floor (up to concrete) so we can use for storage. We still have the old roof on the rest supported by old walls and acrow props with all our supplies stored. The supplies will be moved to the new bit so we can start on the 2nd section. The build, like many on BH, will take years, hoping to get water tight by the end of next year.

quote is not to scale, we are using 150 also the Cellcore at the bottom helps with insulation

I don't know Russell, I'm just using the SE instructions as that is what the BC is using. SE have re-checked the specs and confirmed what we must use so it's not down to me to try and do something else. It took us a long time to get planning and to get going so we are now just cracking on unless something is obviously wrong.

We went private for the flexibility, our BC is brilliant and really helpful. He also gave us some advice about the SE drawings and told us that they could be 'downgraded' in places, which the SE agreed in some cases. So, he has paid for himself in materials.

again more expensive for me than Jewsons 🙂 I don't even much like Jewson's but their initial price has not yet been beaten, not that I'm going to tell them that.

yes, They have agreed to A393 for part of the build (we are building in sections), but the part we are doing must be B785, he did tell me why, but the digger was going at the time and i didn't fully hear him, something to do with the roof. He is going to followup with an email.

So, got some prices back, Jewson is the cheapest and includes delivery, whereas the suppliers charge extra. We can also call off when we need. I will try the one you used, thanks for that

I've been looking around, delivery is the issue

I spoke to SE today and he has reduced half the site to A mesh but is adamant that the bit we are doing must be B785 I can't replicate anything as BC is insisting that we follow the drawings exactly. Luckily i can get it from Jewsons, but lots of places don't provide it, and it's expensive. Apparently it's to do with the roof, this part of the barn has it's own roof and is 6*4 sqm approx. internally. Our SE is a commercial company more used to doing hospitals so guess to them it's a minimal spec.

At last the SE rang back and admitted that it is B785, so a typo all though the document and double checked by a senior. I also questioned having 2 layers of B785 for a single storey residential floor that will only have household furniture on top. He's now checking if that is really necessary. Shows how much we've learnt since we go the drawings 2 years ago when we just took what they said as gospel.

yep, just rang them again !!!! in a meeting and will call me back, just like the last 3 times I rang. Architect says that they just used what SE said. I don't plan to swop for A mesh, it's just the BC says that we must do as per the SE spec, which doesn't exist. The hardcore is being put in today and then I'm stuck until I can get this stuff.

He is VAT registered, but is a one-man band with a huge home build machine that he just takes from site to site and crushes concrete, I don't think paperwork is his forte in life. He's pretty rough and a very typical 'old Suffolk boy', but he's been really good at what he's doing and even went and found HID for me yesterday when I had a problem when I was on my dog walk, HID didn't have his phone so I rang this guy who went and told him to ring me 🙂 I would happily recommend his work and I'm happy not to be charged VAT as long as any risk is with him. My issue, is: If I buy in hardcore I don't pay VAT, no problem. This guy is crushing our own old concrete floors to provide us with hardcore. So, are we buying a service, which is not VAT exempt, or are we buying hardcore.

We saw a system at a show called Unico which 'does it all', this is a hot air system, HID loved it and wanted to install. We rejected because I'm very sensitive to air flow and couldn't face the thought of it coming in the room. But, it did look quite good. This was at the Swindon House Building show.

thanks, it's just that I'm not sure that crushing concrete is VAT free even though we will use most of it, just not all, what's left will go on the driveway