BadgerBadger

I'm not sure I follow, the pipe length is 60m? This feels quite long for just UFH manifold feed and return?

Well done - I always enjoy reading your blog entries!!

Thanks all - any immediate concerns with going straight to 100 x 100 do you think? I think I've sourced some, and need some elsewhere anyway, so avoids any doubt about stacking.

I thought about this too, can I just nail them on top of eachother?

I've used 47x100 on one roof section which seems to have worked well, but on the second section my as-built masonry height has worked out lower than anticipated. ~100x100 would bring it back to where it needs to be, bit harder to source, but is this too thick? Or is it ok? Failing that, I might need to take the top block course off and re-cut 🫤

Could anyone confirm the right/best/usual nail material for fixing plain clay tiles please? I think my googling is guiding me towards aluminium, but not too commonly available so do many roofers just use galvanised? Copper seems superior and common with slates, but excessive/expensive for plain clay tiles with nibs?

As our build inches towards being weathertight, I'm gradually starting to think how we tackle the internals, get the build "finished" and move in. Our build is reasonably large (~260m2, plus attached garage) and very much designed for us to grow into. We've gone for a high quality build but the only way we've been able to make it work financially and still get the finish we wanted has been to be very involved alongside individual trades, which has taken time! The vision is to carry on with that high-quality throughout but we're outgrowing our current living situation and to be honest we're keen to allow ourselves to focus on other things away from an all-consuming build. The way the build is laid out gives us a bit of flexibility - there's three adjoining sections which can be pretty well partitioned from each other. So we're toying with the idea of doing a quicker basic finish to one downstairs section (it would essentially be two-bed flat) and the bare-minimum needed elsewhere to get our completion certificate. We could then gradually "open up" the subsequent sections as we're able to complete them. So the question is, what is the bare minimum we need to do elsewhere to get a completion certificate? (I'm aware there's some pros and cons to going for completion, as opposed to just moving in without it but I'm keen to explore our options)

I believe you can get fast-tracked if it's holding up a property sale, I think your solicitor just has to send a request. We did this last year and if I remember right it was processed in a couple of days.

Just to say I have massive respect for what you're doing - you've taken a risk and are pushing outside your comfort zone with the simple aim of providing a better home for your son that isn't otherwise available. Some of your friends and family might not get that, but its the real essence of self-building so people on here do. Now is the time to take a breath and focus on what is the best way forward for your project. Worry less about how you into this situation. As others have said the truth is some responsibility likely sits with yourself based on the way you've structured the project. You might not have realised it and that's fine, but based on what you're saying here I think you're more than capable. From the input on this thread nobody is saying the beam calculations are wrong. So if it was me, I'd stop worrying it was over-specified and now be finding the best way of raising it as high a possible. Your SE sounds like they're looking for solutions, perhaps because they recognise their part in this mistake, so work with them and don't sour the relationship as it's likely to cost you more if you need to go elsewhere. Negotiate with the builders and find the most cost-effective way forward. Unfortunately it's going to cost you something but use the leverage you've got. They don't sound blameless here either. Your SE's instructions on the padstones were in the drawings, so if they were having trouble because they couldn't find the right size padstones or whatever then they should be coming back to you for clarification and not just doing something different. Good luck! I recommend you post up a new thread to get thoughts on the planned solution, it will get lost if you put it on this long one!

I'm not sure I fully understand the contractual relationships between yourself, builder, SE - or if you have an architect? Who is responsible for the design? Traditionally an architect would work liaise with the SE. The SE would calculate beam sizes etc. from a preliminary drawing and the architect would then work those beams back into the design. It's at this point the architect would hopefully say "that beam is impacting head space too much" and work with the SE to find a more acceptable solution.

I feel for you, I really do. It's a horrible feeling when you've identified a problem but haven't yet found the solution. But try not to panic and just methodically work it through and Id be confident the end result won't be anywhere near as catastrophic as you fear it might. Your SE sounds like he's responding and looking for solutions. Try to focus on what is going to give you the best way forward on the project, as tempting as it can be I often find trying find blame for past mistakes doesn't actually help get them sorted. I see two initial steps... 1) Establish with SE if loadings on this beam are correct (i.e. if first floor mistake has been made) 2a) Assuming they are, talk with your builders about the best way to raise the beam as far as practical based on your SE's proposed options. 2b) If they're not, look realistically at how much re-specifying the beam is going to cost and decide if the extra headroom is worth it over 2a.

It sounds like the measures you're implementing already have got you a good, comfortable house. Yes there are more things you could do if it was a new build, but if reducing your overall footprint is the driving motivation then knocking down a perfectly livable house doesn't feel very environmentally conscious. By all means investigate further just don't forget to take the whole lifecycle impact into account when weighing up your options, not just the resulting energy usage of the completed house.

Is it a stepped cavity tray? We're using preformed units for our stepped tray and they have integrated weep vents in the bed joint which might not be immediately obvious once installed.

I agree, I don't think it's really anything to do with the brick but likely the extra work in the bond that wasn't costed properly. Hopefully it's clear in the specification and you can use this as a bit of leverage. We've just done Flemish garden wall (similar but not quite as many headers) and setting out the bond around all the openings/corners was time consuming. We had our headers and closers cut off-site, and it might be good to offer to have this done especially if your bricks are difficult to cut.

Our garage has steel PFC that forms a lintel over an approx 2.4m opening. The wall plate is running directly above it, and drawings make no mention on how this is attached. Can it just be bedded on mortar in exactly the same way as it is on the adjacent masonry, or does it need a bolted connection?

I struggled getting an accurate answer on this but it doesn't actually matter too much in the beginning if you don't need everything in one go, I just ordered extras as needed. Getting towards the end though I did some sums averaging what we'd used so far, to estimate how much more I needed. Average usage for each block laid was 2.4kg of sand, 0.5kg of cement (at an approx. 5:1 ratio) I have no idea how this compares to what other sources estimate!

Our brickies requested Sika MaxMix - they definitely preferred the concentrated stuff. It's such a small amount I can't see it affecting colour significantly. We just used buckets for gauging. Whatever you do make sure it's simple and convenient. Make sure you explain to them why the gauging accuracy is important, I found almost everyone wanted a good result and would do things if they understood why it mattered. Are you buying all the sand at once? Our cement mortar isn't visible, so this didn't matter to us and you can clearly find the different coloured areas where we switched sand suppliers along the way.

Our structural opening is just about that, but it's a relatively wide door going into a vaulted space so would really benefit going up an extra course. Our trussed roof design has required a deeper rafter section than was originally assumed, so the wall plate has had to drop to maintain the ridge height which has in-turn squeezed the door height. Thanks for the inputs - I think we have a solution and have tweaked the truss design to extend the bottom chord to bear flat on the wall in the area above the doorway instead of a birdsmouth rafter.

Moving onto roofing and back at the bottom of the learning curve! We're building an L-shape with a fairly restricted ridge height. It's a masonry build with timber roof and the rafters land on the wall plate with birds mouth cuts. I've hit a bit of awkward detail - there's an internal door that goes through the structural dividing wall between the two sections but the head height is working out a bit too low. We can't push the lintel any higher without moving the wall plate, and are at the limit of how deep the birds mouth cuts will be. What are my options? We can happily build the masonry around the door higher to accommodate the increased lintel, can I use masonry hangers in this area to support the angled rafter instead of a wall plate/birds mouth?

Thank you - I took the NHBC guidance as my starting point which states "38 x 100 or in accordance with local practice". But can't really find 38x100 easily in merchants, which made me think everyone must do something different! My architect drawings show approx. 50mm total plate height, so currently building the masonry to that level. What are the advantages of going thicker at 75x100, as opposed to 47x100?

Our build is finally getting through the masonry section (hurrah!) but it does mean I'm back at the bottom of the learning curve now we're getting on roofing! Can I just sanity check I'm buying the right timber please?! For wall plates can I just use a 47 x 100 C16 treated eased-edge carcassing timber that's widely available in all the merchants, or does it need to be something else?

We've just laid out all our posi joists on our masonry build. There are multiple spans which land on internal masonry load-bearing walls. The mitek details specify the gaps between joist bearings should be infilled with masonry to the underside of the floor for lateral restraint, all self-explanatory. But, should I be building up all the other internal wall masonry to the underside of the floor deck, or leaving them down at the bottom of joist / ceiling level?

Feels like I should provide an update! The DPM tip has been invaluable thanks, big 4m X 25m rolls has definitely been the cheapest way of getting large plastic sheets. Insulation, lime mortar etc. has all been well wrapped with it and stored for much longer than it should, but it's stood up and protected it well!! We haven't had a storage container - not much space for it, expensive and an obvious target. Instead we've tried to limit amount of materials on-site. Anything easily movable I've stored off-site and brought in a needed, so we'd only lose a week or two worth instead of the whole lot. Bulky stuff we've taken the risk and kept on-site, but obvs hidden from opportunists as much as practical. Not at internal/first fix yet so will review as we go!

If it was me I'd be asking to have a very close look at the inverter datasheets to check things like efficiency at lower power, and start up conditions. Your array is going the spend most of its life producing power well below it's rated max, so if your inverter isn't efficient at those because it's oversized (or hasn't even started up!) you might be wasting a lot.

Definitely contact openreach at the beginning of your project. They sent a surveyor to have a look, who gave lots of advice on where the duct could be brought up and how it would route into the chamber, and then provided the required ducts - all totally free. Once ducts are in and we're close to completion, chosen supplier will simply pull connection through.