LSB

We can't do the 28th, going to the theatre in Norwich

Time moves on and so does the build, albeit much slower than most of the builds featured in blogs. Over the past 4 months we have dug out, cleared and prepared our 2nd phase ready for the groundworks, as in all the stuff that goes in the ground, costs lots of money and is never to seen again. The next wall to be replaced and the old roof to be removed. This is one of the original walls, but it only had 200mm foundation so was not saveable. Cleared Trenched, this is where we had to get the SE to visit, he said we had clay and needed 2.4m trench originally. The BCO visited and said 'you're having a giraffe'. A site visit was arranged between the two of them and 1m was agreed. Of course this cost of circa £500 for a bit of paper from the SE to change the original drawings. Concrete pumping, these guys were brilliant and come greatly recommended. I think G&J had the same peeps. Certainly beats the previous trenches which we raked despite the extra cost Then we needed to dig down for the insulation and floor pour. BCO cleared us to use our own sand for blinding. Then insulation, DPM, more insulation & mesh And the next pour, again with the pump, in 30 degree heat. 22 cbm of the stuff. and our new levelling tool, a bull nosed float, hired for £17 for a week, which gave much better results than our previous raked floor in phase 1. It will, of course, be screeded with UFH when we get to that stage, but lots of walls to be built first. And drains and windows and doors. As per one of my other posts we did have some blocks knocked over for the single wall by the pipe, but looks like that is because of light blocks and hot temperatures. We also had to keep some of the existing foundations and walls as this is a conversion so we need to sort our drainage with those. Talk again when walls are up, in about another 6 months probably 🙂

Welcome, what part of the country are you in.

We can do the 21st & 28th

self build by hubby, he decided on these because they are only 9k whereas the solid ones are 18k and when he started he found them too much. He's stronger now after all the work so changing will be feasible.

no lime added 😞

A mortar question for you guys. I am laying Celcon 7.3n blocks using a mortar mix of 5 to 1 (measured out by eye on the shovel) with blue circle cement and building sand from Travis Perkin and an additive to help the mix. The problem that I am getting is after a week or so the strength of the joint is surprisingly weak with little effort or pressure required to break the block off usually with a neat break with the mortar “delaminating” from the adjacent block or concrete foundation. Where am I going wrong ? What do I need to do to get a stronger bond. We had concrete floors poured on Friday and there pump pipe knocked down 4 blocks as they went from area to area. The wall has gaps for doorways so is only 4 blocks, is it just that this is too few blocks for a very heavy pipe. Obviously, as it's built up it will be supported by lintels above the door ways. The blocks were laid weeks ago, prior to us preparing the floor ready for pouring.

well done, that was a hard thing to do, but you did it and it will be worth it in the long run

As some of you know we are building block by block. But, we are lucky as we own the host house with no mortgage and are converting the barn (old pig sty) to the new house. So, it doesn't really matter how long it takes. We also have a finite bucket as I work to pay the bills and he's building the house. We make mistakes, lots of them and have to go back and fix, but ultimately we will have something to be proud of and our pension will be the sale value or income from the host house. It will cost a lot less to build than buy - if you ignore all the time it's taken.

We were wondering about about floor level, but weren't sure how that would work with shower drain. This is the layout for the 2 bathrooms. It is agricultural concrete, which we have broken lots of, but that didn't matter when it cracked. We need these foundations to stay sound

thanks, I'm not sure how deep it needs to be, this may work for bathroom one at the top of the drain run, but the next one will need to be lower to allow for the drop. It's 24m in total along the back of the barn. Bath 1 at one end Bath 2 in the middle so about 12m in.

Good wet Saturday afternoon. As part of our barn conversion we have to keep some of the existing foundations and underpin. But, I would like to put a drain through the existing foundations, gen 3 concrete, in total about 750mm deep * approx. 600mm wide. This is for the drains for 2 bathrooms. How feasible is this. We've looked at diamond cutting drills, but not sure if that is the right thing. I've googled some local companies that seem to do this, but before I ask a company I want to know if this is even feasible or if we just go with the maserator approach. This is the top end of the drain so it doesn't need to be very deep. Thanks

I'm really p'd off that life got in the way of us getting there and really want to see the next slab.

Would love to, just family issue at the last minute

We can't make it after all, issues this end, more's the pity

Is the meet up at the George going ahead

I've got to unlock the village hall at 6pm so will only be leaving just after then, so won't be at the pub for 6:30. But, we will be there. Please send me a text on xxxxxxxx if you move on and where you go and we will find you. Jill & Dave *****Please PM personal details folks!!!*****

I'm impressed that you are still at it.

Definitely like to visit the IP8 one with Paul when is this planned

Is the genie lift yours ? who specified the wind steels

well done, great to see so much progress

This was just me wondering, no one is particularly right or wrong. Obviously, it depends on skills, time, money and attitude. We are doing it block by block as our budget is <200k for 240sqm barn conversion. This requires 2.4m underpinning and we couldn't even get anyone to quote on doing it. So, rollup your sleeves and get on. Hence we are doing it in phases, like building 5 mini houses until we get to roof level. I'm not sure what happens then though. One real advantage though is you've got time to make decisions and rectify any mistakes when they happen (we've made a few)

This doesn't seem to cover putting mortar on blocks etc, just planning it all.

Who is really doing it themselves, as in digging foundations, laying floors, laying blocks etc. etc. etc The only outsiders we have had are the pouring concrete suppliers. Every other thing is done by one man and his missus. It's very slow, hard work and sometimes not much fun. But, the satisfaction. I'm just wondering how many of us are on here as it seems most people are getting in teams.

would be good to see it