ProDave

I have always understood bridging the DPC is a really bad idea. Our previous house a 1930's semi when I bought it had "rising damp" problems with one section of wall in the living room being very wet. That was caused by the cement render bridging the DPC on the outside. On the surveyors recommendation, I cut back the render to just above DPC, formed a new bell cast at the bottom, and left the bricks below DPC exposed. That totally solved the damp problem. I do still note some builders up here take the render over the DPC right down into the ground. As for EWI going below ground, that does not to me sound like a smart idea. It would have to be some form of EWI that can stand being permanently wet, i.e. NOT wood fibre board. A lot of LA houses up here are beinf upgraded with EWI. that stops at the original level (DPC level) and is being fitted to rendered walls, exactly like you are proposing. I see nothing wrong with "air pockets" as long as there is no gap open to the outside, so a generous bead of sealant along the bottom edge to seal it as each EWI panel goes on perhaps?

Okay, so just how do you view a "podcast" on a windoze PC? It gives me an option for Android, or ipad. Where's the "none of the above" button?

Is there an exception if you fit a sprinkler system?

Your type of house still has the No 1 advantage of a true detached, in that there is no party wall between living spaces, so you can have your music on as loud as you want without bothering the neighbour, and likewise you can't hear his tv or music. That was always the thing I hated most when I was joined to a neighbour, even little things like being able to hear when they slammed a door were just so "wrong" Of course there are detached, and "detached". My definition of properly detached is I can drive my car all the way round my house. Where I am now, We are sufficiently detached from the neighbours that I really could have a drum kit if I was so inclined (instead I flog a dead horse and one day I WILL be able to play something on a guitar)

They are a little bit more honest here, that would probably be described as 2 bedrooms and a box room. But estate agents have a history of making something sound better than it is. Their definition of "spacious" differs somewhat to mine.

The joints must be staggered, i.e joints in first layer must be in a different place to second layer, and not just any old PB, the fire rated stuff which is 15mm thick and bloody heavy.

It's what most estate agents call "link detached". Yes it's not truly detached, but there are no habitable rooms adjoining, so you still get most of the major benefit of a detached house, not being able to hear your neighbours, and not having to worry if you play your hi fi too loud. But if both extended / converted so there were habitable rooms adjoining, it would definitely be classed as semi detached and worth less.

Been snowing all day here. Life goes on, schools still open, school bus still running. Tonights B&B guests have a rubbish van. I didn't see what make other than it's big and front wheel drive, and it took 3 of us to push it up the road. Then next door goes out in his van without even a hint of wheel spin. Some vehicles are just rubbish (we found the same with a VW Touran, have I ever mentioned it was the worst car we ever owned)

That's the same stove I am planning to get. I believe they do a version with a log store space underneath so it won't look quite so tiny.

What your drawing misses, is Purlins to take part of the flex load, and transmit it partly to the gable walls, and partly to any supporting props they may have. But weren't you talking of a hipped roof?

I would also caution you is this the best way to add space to your house? As has already been mentioned, if you do this, then you make it easy for your neighbour to do the same, and then your house devalues because it becomes a semi detached rather than detached. Do you really need an extra bedroom, or are you looking for an easy way to add value and sell it on? Looking at the picture, there's scope for an extension to the right, and quite possibly to the rear as well.

Two points of relevance. One of the new builds near me has ther timber frame built of JJI I beams, including the 45 degree pitched roof, but crucially the roof is supported on a ridge beam. the portable eco home builder close to me used I beam construction as well, and they do much like what is being talked about. When I asked them they would not give details about exactly how they made the joins but from what I saw, it looked like the gusset plates were made of OSB, very thick perhaps several layers, to the point that the "stack" of OSB at the joints was as thick as the fat bit of the I beam.

I had to follow a number of links to find the document. Here is a direct link http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0051/00512753.pdf It mostly seems to be about changing the way local plans are created. A few things did jump out at me: Removal of a free re application if planning is refused (extra cost for self builders in some cases) There is talk of introducing an "infrastructure Levy" something Scotland has so far avoided. Introduction of a charge for an appeal Some more items included as permitted development but not details.

The last one was very ancient and single glazed. No insulation under the floor and very thing walls. Keeping it warm was not the issue, but with so many cold surfaces condensation was the issue. If you put clothes in the wardrobe and shut the door, it gets so cold in there that the clothes get damp with condensation. The one we have for the new build, that we are not yet living in, is still only single glazed, but hopefully there is a bit more insulation in the walls, and there is insulation under the floor. Don't forget we are in the Highlands and we get proper winters here with snow and stuff. I would actually say the biggest issue in the last one was the bedrooms were to small. The new one that is not so bad but they are hardly palatial.

A stove will only heat one room. You will still need electric heaters in the bedrooms. We did 18 months in the 'van last build. the onset of the second winter had s moving into the house WAY before it was ready to move into, but it was a LOT more comfortable. We took the view that it needed a lot of heat to keep it dry and sod the expense, and that seemed to work okay. Keeping clothes in the wardrobe in winter was hopeless, they were kept in the house (under construction) with only the clothes you were wearing in the 'van.

Up here it's normal to apply for (and usually get) temporary planning permission for a static during the build process. they then usually insert the clase that the 'van be removed upon completion of the house. But I want to keep ours as a workroom and studio. I chose it's location as one that would fit withing permitted development rights if it was sited there after the house was completed. I then pointed out that on the day of completion, I could remove the 'van and immediately replace it with an identical one and in an identical position under permitted development. They changed my planning condition to "habitational use of the caravan will cease within 2 months of completion of the house" so my 'van gets to stay legally as a studio and work space.

My 'van has been on my plot 2 years now. I have not yet paid anything as I am not living in it. That does not stop the council tax valuer coming around for a nose every 3 months, sometimes I catch him having a look in the windows. It's a fact that they can only charge council tax on it, if it is habitable and that must include water, and drainage. I have deliberately not yet connected the electricity supply so my treatment plant so that if pushed, I can justifiable argue the treatment plant is not yet operational, therefore the 'van is not habitable.

All that the self builder of such houses needs, is the VAT reclaim scheme amended so it would also accept a letter of comfort from the council planning department to confirm the house has been built according to the planning permission. At the moment it needs a building control completion certificate which of course you won't have.

^^^ and they could find that out by driving it onto site slowly? This sort of stuff is just madness, money for old rope, the world has gone mad I tell thee.

So let me get this right. you are using piles because you have poor ground with low bearing capacity. But if you have poor ground with low bearing capacity you can't get the piling rig on your site...... And the "test" seems to be take a heavy wheeled vehicle and drive over a plate and see how far it sinks. If anything is going to bog down on site, that will. I can't see the loading being a big issue, it's only a large digger with something else instead of the normal boom, and the point of tracks is to spread the load.

In a gable ended roof, with the ridge supported on the gables, the ridge beam takes half the weight of the roof, and importantly stops the roof spreading allowing room in roof situations where upstairs you might have half height walls. Joe is talking about a hipped roof. So there is no gable to take the weight, that is taken by the sloping beams at the hips. This type of roof needs ties at floor / ceiling level to stop the roof spreading, and usually intermediate support on purlins. I can't see the loading on the gable beam being very high and am surpised someone thinks it needs a glulam beam.

+1 "shed" and "too big" never appear in the same sentence.

I would be surprised if a toilet overflowed because you flushed it with too much water, unless it was blocked. To some extent you can reduce the volume of the flush by adjusting the float so it does not fill as high if that did prove to be a problem.

The current layout is as my diagram a few posts up, so just a short drop from each pan into a horizontal run. Unless of course things change which is entirely possible. (I use the term "horizontal" meaning set to a slight fall of course)

What's the size of the bit with a vaulted roof? It might make more sense to have most of the roof with attic trusses, and the vaulted bit as a cut roof supported on Glue Laminated timber beams which can be sanded and made into an exposed feature.