BadgerBadger

Our external brickwork needs around 2000 snap headers for flemish bond. Our bricks being delivered standard 215mm long, so I need to cut each one (ideally twice, as opposed to just in half) to give two headers. Options are: - Divert a couple of pallets to external brick cutters and pay to have them cut off-site. - Or try and cut them myself on-site... I think the noise and mess of using a brick saw on-site would quickly use up any goodwill with the neighbours. But wondering about those manual brick splitters? They look fairly quick and quiet too, but never used one. What would you do?

I'm looking to order our cavity lintels and a handful of longer steel PFCs that form lintels. Blockwork hasn't gone up yet, but I know I need a minimum 150mm bearing on each end. Should I be oversizing the lintels/steel that I order to ensure 150mm bearing? Or simply adding 300mm to the design opening width, and then ensuring brickies don't make the opening any larger? Is it likely to be problematic if the lintels end up with a longer bearing?

Nice looking site! That's just what I'm thinking - did you keep it dry? I'm hoping it's bulky enough to not be too nickable. We're using a pre-mixed lime mortar for part of the build, which is giving me the most worry as its expensive and only comes in paper bags!

I'm planning to get some of our materials for the next stages a little early, because we can and I'm keen to avoid any further price rises or late-availability issues. But it's obviously a bit of a false economy if it gets damaged! Would like be sat for 2-3 months before use. Any thoughts on how best to protect stuff? We don't have a container, but thinking of getting a sturdy shelter/workshop tent to keep some of the worst weather off underneath. Key things are likely to be insulation (big and bulky, prone to blowing away) and cement/mortar (probably more risky, prone to getting wet!)

Our build was always going to get lots of neighbour objections, and be somewhat subject to the interpretation of the conservation officer. We submitted a very detailed design to pre-app and the conservation officer requested lots of design changes but the pre-app let us deal with all that without the neighbour scrutiny. We addressed the concerns and submitted a full application - it attracted the objections we expected - but sailed through without any further changes. It cost as much as a full application, and took longer, but was worth it for us.

Well every days a school day - good plan, thank you!

Lining up our masonry wall construction and an off-hand comment from the brickie got me questioning - at what point in the build process would timber first floor (web joists and decking etc.) normally be put in? I had (perhaps wrongly!) assumed it would be after the build was weathertight, but suggestion was there could be some benefit in whilst the walls are going up so it can be a working platform.

What's the best way of getting power and water to outside the of a wall? e.g. for external taps and power sockets. We're just starting foundations and substructure - masonry walls with beam & block floor. Is there anything clever we could be doing to make it easier later on, such as putting some ducting through the substructure?

Our roof area is slightly larger, and we're looking at 19m3... so broadly comparable, but big! Did you do an infiltration test?

Make sure you have actual values specified for efficiencies of ASHP and MVHR units and cylinder losses etc., as opposed to just the default. We were in the same situation as you, with a similar score, and doing this alone boosted our as-designed score into the nineties.

I'm interested - and looking ahead to our build process - which parts of your builds did you find were most cost-effective to DIY, and which parts did you definitely leave to contractors? We're pretty handy with general DIY with a good eye for detail, but no specialist building skills. Currently on our list to have a look at ourselves are things like wood cladding, guttering, and obviously lots of internal decoration. How about things like drainage? Beam & block flooring? Or roof tiling?

Just working through our drainage layout - we have separate foul and surface water (to soakaway) systems so seem to be having an ever-increasing number of inspection chambers. I'm a little unsure on the minimum building regs requirements for rodding / access. If I needed to have a ~90 deg change of direction, but there was a rodding eye or inspection chamber further along in both directions, would I need to provide another at the bend? Thank you!

Potentially a naive question! When is the right time in the build sequence to put all the underground rainwater and foul drainage in? We have a few runs around the sides of our build that would need the ground to be re-instated before the scaffold goes up. So should the drainage runs be installed soon after the foundations/substructure have been put in - so everything is backfilled in one, scaffold over the top (?) and the downpipes just connected much later? Or should it all be left until later and the ground is opened up again to put the drainage runs in once the main structure is complete?

We're connecting our site to a temporary water supply with a simple board-mounted standpipe. Looking at our connection requirements we need to bring the supply up through an insulated duct that is sealed at both ends. We have 110mm pipe as the duct with thick pipe lagging. But how do I seal it? I see there are some duct seal products but couldn't find many, and seems overkill for a temporary install, so wondered if I was missing how it's commonly done.

I think it's a discount for the future income the provider will get from the new connection ?

Make sure you have specified an exact model for MVHR/ASHP/Hot Water Cylinder etc. so the assessor can use actual efficiencies instead of just the defaults. Doing only this lifted our SAP score from mid-eighties to mid-nineties.

If you don't need to do any work in the root protection zones, I think you could comfortably do this yourself without a specialist. Work out the root protection zone diameter ( there's a standard based on multiplying trunk diameter) then mark it on the plans as an exclusion zone that will be fenced as you'd previously submitted. If you need to do stuff in that exclusion zone then it does get more complicated.

Our plot is a blank greenfield site, and at time of purchase we had a basic desktop Groundsure screening report that showed nothing to indicate any potential contamination. No problems obtaining planning permission, with no mention of contamination other than ticking the "not known to be contaminated" box on the form. We're now going through the full plans check for building regulations - do we have to do anything further to prove there's no contamination? Or does it just get approved if there's generally nothing to indicate otherwise?

Hold on! They have planning permission for the dropped kerb, but it sounds like highways have held back on the subsequent consent to implement it. Our Planning Permission was very clear we needed the subsequent dropped kerb / verge crossing consent, even though highways had been consulted. Not sure on the best way forward, but ploughing on without the right highways consent is probably not it....

Looking through our detailed designs and we're currently on aerated blocks throughout. What are people's thoughts around concrete blocks vs aerated types such as Celcon or Thermalite? Are there issues with strength of internal wall fixings (shelves, TVs etc.) with the lightweight blocks? Our insulation U value would drop slightly with a regular concrete block, but could there be benefits with thermal mass/delay? We have a couple of long runs where bed reinforcement has been specified to stop expansion cracking, is this just a problem with the lightweight blocks?

Our key driver is aesthetics - we're sat near some historic buildings, and our general approach is to go for high-quality materials that give us a "traditional" appearance without pretending our house is old. So our thinking is if lime (alongside handmade bricks) could give us a softer more natural finish than cement based mortar, but weighing up if it's worthwhile for any potential costs and other disadvantages. I think there's a few arguments around using lime alongside handmade bricks where the more open texture might allow more moisture in, and the breathable lime helps allow it out again. But not sure how valid that is!

We're starting a new build with fairly standard brick/block construction. We're aiming for a pretty high standard external finish and are planning to use a handmade brick. Any thoughts on the pros and cons of using a lime mortar (e.g. a pre-mixed bagged natural hydraulic lime) on a new build? Is it likely to be significantly different for a bricklayer to use? (i.e. do I need a specialist!) We also have some areas of double-skinned wall - can I combine a cement-based mortar for the inner blockwork when it's right next to a lime-based mortar for the outer facing bricks? Thank you!

We're looking at rigid board insulation on a brick/block construction and we're on the edge between moderate-severe exposure for wind-driven rain. If you had a general preference would you be considering full-fill insulation as opposed to partial-fill? Are there any advantages for ease of high-quality construction etc. or the other way round? It perhaps seems a shame to leave the extra insulation space if the wider clear cavity is not strictly necessary.

Hi all, We're going through detailed design with our architect at the moment and we're aiming for reasonably efficient/airtight construction without going as far as passive. Wall U-value around 0.13, and windows will be 3G with a U-value around 0.8. Looking at our window detailing our windows are positioned in the fairly "standard" position - mounted to the outer leaf of the wall, with the inside of the window approximately in line with the outer edge of the cavity. Should I be asking to push the window position further back into the cavity for increased efficiency, or is it not really worth the complexity? And the silly question if so - how are the windows supported?! Thank you.

I've confused myself with what is probably very obvious once you've been through it! We're intending doing a full plans building regulation application and our architect is currently working on the drawings. I've been looking at our options for using the local authority or a private company. Is the process the same for each? i.e. would we submit our plans to the private company for prior approval, and they then follow up with inspections. Or do the plans still need to go to the local authority, with the option of using a private company for inspections? Before the house build gets underway properly we need to do some things like creating an access from the highway, setting up site, getting temporary services etc. Can we do this whilst our building regulations plans are being finalised and approved to save some time? (obviously only once planning conditions are discharged, and CIL exemption/commencement notified) Thank you!