ProDave

1978 for me, at the age if 15

"liftt" is just how many platforms. e.g with Kwikstage, you can put a platform at 50cm intervals. So for my gable wall, the first platform was 2 metres above ground, the next 2 metres above that, etc. I had 4 platforms to reach the gable so "4 lifts" My guess is it stems from the process of "lifting" planks up to the next stage. Someone will come along and explain that much better than I have.

I don't know what house prices and plot prices are where you are looking, but few of us would advise a self build as a way to get a cheaper house, unless you can do a lot of the work yourself. Rather it is a way to get the house that you want, built to the standards that you want, rather than a builders off the peg standard box. You don't need to jump through all the hoops and pay fees for a house certified as a PH. Many of us are just building very well insulated, well sealed houses that we know will be very energy eficcient without having them certified as such.

The thread would not be complete without a mention of the system scaffolds like Kwikstage and cuplock. I have a load of Kwikstage that has done my whole house right up to 4 lifts high for the end gables. While it is normally 2.4 metre by 1.2 metre (5 planks wide) I also have a few short transoms that make a narrow 3 board wide section, and a few shorter ledgers and planks that make 6ft long bays instead of the usual 8ft.

I have said before, just buy a heat pump and any plumber can install it (okay monoblock only, needs a specialist to gas a split system) All I have seen from packages systems is big price tags. Do you have any SAP calculations or anything else to actually tell you what your heat input requirements will be? Without that you are guessing what size unit to fit.

I do the same with a 25mm packer (offcut of tile batten) taped to a 1M level.

Here is a close up of one of the frames. That's an opening window, I like the crisp clean unfussy lines. That's a smooth "pebble grey" finish. I think you can have any RAL colour you like and a textured paint is an option. I never did directly compare the cost of ali clad Vs just wood so can't comment on the extra cost.

Without a doubt I would say consider a third option, Aluminium clad timber. All the maintenance free advantages of upvc, can be painted any colour you want, and much much nicer looking than upvc. For that crisp look you want, I would highly recommend the Rationel Aura plus windows we have, the external profile is so clean and crisp.

Looks good. One man's "shed" is another man's "warehouse"

My point is, it's not completely de skilling plastering. It would be no good just spraying it on unprepared plasterboard, the tapered edge joints would show. So you have to do something, tape and fill the joints, so it's not a "lot" of saving in skill is it? Perhaps it just hides slight imperfections in the taping and filling?

So it relies on you taping and filling all the joints first to present a flat surface, and presumably all the corners as well. So is little more than a thick paint?

Bedroom 1 is going to be a cold uninviting room with only a window to the north. Get an east facing velux window in the sloping roof, if necessary pushing back the boxed in eaves space to fit it in. That will brighten up the mornings. Likewise get a west facing velux in the en-suite. And put a window in bedroom 4 Make the door between the kitchen and the "back passage" a sliding pocket door. I am willing to bet you will never shut it and it will just be in the way.

Which way is North? more importantly which way is South?

Do get the access checked out and a legal right of access from MK council drawn up. We had a potential access issue buying our plot. The plot was last sold in 1980 (with PP but was never built on) and then, the road was a private track. The plot came with a right of access to use that private track. In the intervening time the track was upgraded and adopted as a public road. My solicitor made the point of checking the new public road was indeed in the same place as the old private track. Had the new public road been built to a different route there could well have been a strip of land between the plot and the road that we did not own.

You normally dig alongside the existing foundation and down until you just find the bottom of the concrete.

I understand what they are doing, but if they have been using it for access for more than 10 years, would Adverse Possession not apply?

Thanks Grosey I have re jigged it slightly, this is what I want. Looks a fair price to me. http://www.stairbox.com/stairbuilder-staircase-designer/?dmVyc2lvbjIuMy1zYy0yNzAwLTEzLTIzMC42Ny05MzAtOTMwLTkzMC1sZWZ0LWhhbGZfdHVybi1ub25lLTNfd2luZGVyLTUtTmFOLWxlZnQtc3F1YXJlLUxCdWxsbm9zZS1tZGYtc3F1YXJlLTAtMC0wLTAtMS1waW5lLW1kZi1waW5lLXBpbmUtcGluZS1hc3NlbWJsZWQtY29sbGVjdGVkLS1mYWxzZS0xLTAtMC0xLTAtbm9uZS0wLTAtMS0wLW5vbmUtMC0xLTAtMC0wLTAtMC0wLTAtMC0wLTAtMC0wLTAtMC0wLTAtMC1kb3VibGUtMC0wLTAtMC1TVEQtLWZhbHNlLVNxdWFyZVNwaW5kbGUtNDEtMTQwLTU4LTAtMA==

If you have an UVC then the flow rate from the shower is a product of your water pressure, pipe sizes etc and not related to boiler output. If you have a combi boiler then it's a function of how much heat the boiler can put into the water, and how cold your incoming mains water is. A combi gives priority to HW, so while showering it temporarily stops feeding the space heating.

All my pallets got turned into a shed. I did previously have a scaffold staircase set up, I had to take that down as it was in the way for a few jobs, but it could go back up again, but SWMBO did not like climbing that either, it was a small number of very big steps.

Transport from Plymouth would kill any Howdens staircase. I will get a price from them for a new one, if it's cheap enough to be throw away then I might consider one. It would have to be bodged due the floor to floor height being wrong so would not meed BR but would do as temporary if it were cheap enough. I shall have to research stairbox. Do you have a link?

Not really. The thing about a small budget, is you don't want to waste money on something that would ultimately be scrap. So it's either find a way to make something decent out of the cheap parts, or get SWMBO more used to the ladder.....

As the title says, I am thinking about cheap stairs. We are trying to get the house partly habitable for the winter, and I don't think climbing a ladder to go to bed will cut the mustard. So I need a staircase and it must be cheap. At the last house we paid a joiner to build the stairs, he did a very good job and it fitted perfectly with every detail a we wanted. But this time,. at the moment, it has to be cheaper. Howdens do a standard cheap staircase but only in one size, 2600mm floor to floor. Our house is 2700mm floor to floor. Rembrand keep pestering me so get a share of my joinery business, and I see they do this flat pack stair at any floor to floor height, and is in line with how much I want to spend http://www.rembrand.co/products/Kwikstair-Straight-Flight.html However it's not that simple (it never is) For a start I actually need 2 staircases, 13 steps in total, first run 6 steps to half landing, second run 7 steps to upstairs. Now I though I could achieve that with a standard 13 stair straight run, and a saw. Even if I achieve that, it doesn't get me the stairs I really want. For a start that basic stair has no newel posts. We need short newel posts at the top and bottom of each flight, on the left hand side when ascending. Now to me with only basic joinery skills, fitting a newel post onto the top and bottom of a stair stringer is a proper joiners job, at least if you want it to look nice. I would also like a half bullnose to the bottom step of the bottom flight. Of course this customising to get exactly what you want is what you pay a joiner to do to make a stair that matches your needs. So am I barking even thinking about doing this myself with standard cheap parts?

Who owns that? More importantly, do you have a right of pedestrian and vehicular access over it? Usually in the case of a grass road verge the first 3 metres is regarded as "the highway" so what about the rest beyond 3 metres?

Let's just say it's a 6 hour drive from here to the border. Is that big enough?

I wonder what membrane they use? Protect VP400 plus kept out house dry all bar a few drips for months before I got the roof tiled.