ProDave

Quick fix: Take every shelf out, turn them over and put them back. They will now bow upwards, and it will be some time before they come flat, let alone start to sag again. And when they do, repeat. Okay i'll get my coat.

Hi and welcome to the forum. That's an interesting project there, and not without it's challenges I suspect. That looks to be a big bit of ground in a big hole!!!!. We look forward to the story unfolding.

I think one will do, it just means some cables have to be longer than they otherwise would. In all probability, if you take the entire bundle of cables that connects to a consumer unit, they would all go through one 90mm hole.

The rules are simple and based on "safe zones" You can only run a cable in a wall in a "safe zone" and a safe zone is either horizontally or vertically from any accessory, or within 150mm of the ceiling. You cannot run cables at skirting board height, you cannot run them at an angle, only horizontal or verical. Now, given most rooms have sockets on all walls and the normal socket height is 400mm above the floor, then you can run a whole bundle of cables around the rooms at socket height. So except in rooms that don't have sockets, that may be your route? there is aloways the within 150mm of the ceiling safe zone but personally I don't like that but it is legal. I am wiring a house just now with some steel beams and there are just two 90mm holes in each steel, and it would appear the plumber has first choice at using the available holes, on the basis it doesn't matter so much if my cables have to take a longer route. But it is a PITA.

Do you really want to knock that down? I might be in the minority here, but that looks too good and to pretty (from the front at least) to just flatten. It looks to be on a large plot. I would be more thinking in terms of keep and renovate old house, split plot and build a new one. Without seeing the whole plot and the surroundings, the obvious thing would be existing house to right of driveway as you enter, build new house to left of driveway as you enter. I fear to do anything else and it will be a very expensive building plot.

I hadn't spotted the plumbing fail. So it's a double fail photo, two for the price of one. you get value on this forum.

Sometimes I see things in my line of work that astound me. This being one of them. What you are seeing there is the vent hose of a tumble dryer just lying on the garage floor. That's a solid mass of dry fluff eminating from the hose across the garage floor. I would expect most of the hose itself to be similarly full of fluff. If it had caught fire, no doubt a manufacturing fault would have been blamed and there would be calls for the manufacturer to recall the product. Just how people can live like this astounds me. I wonder what the landlord would think if his house had burned down through the neglect of the tenant and what would have been a 100% avoidable accident?

I think if you raise the floor, you will need to ventilate the space underneath it, which means introducing air bricks. Can you not instead lay a DPM, insulation and then concrete?

Scaffold tower on wheels seems the most logical solution, the larger the better. Aluminium would be easier but more expensive. But don't rule out ladders. Our community hall has a ceiling height of probably about 18 feet, and they have a VERY large stepladder with outriggers for that and it's very stable. When you say the builders tower was wobbly, was that the same cuplock scaffold that they used outside? That's normally pretty stable. Did they "forget" the diagonal braces? I am keeping almost half of my Kwikstage scaffold, and one set of that I will probably scrub up and repaint for indoor use for the same reason. I just need to find some cheap wheels for it.

Here's my first efforts on this build. I am trying the easy approach this time. Ground flattened and compacted with the digger, then just raked over to remove the last of the stones and get it a little flatter. Then grass seed sown. The bit in the foreground was seeded 3 weeks ago, but with old seed that was in the shed for who knows how many years. It is just starting to grow now (or is that the weeds) The bit in the middle was seeded about 2 weeks ago with new seed. The bit in the distance next to the sun room was only flattened today and has not been seeded. I regard this as "stage 1" landscaping. I know it's not going to be a perfect lawn from this. Some bits will settle more than others, particularly where drain trenches have been dug and filled in, and will need topping up and leveling again later on. But at this stage it establishes the rough ground levels and by seeding it and then starting to mow it, it shouldn't be such a mess of weeds than if I just left it without doing anything. Regarding watering. If it rains it gets watered, if not........

+1 to the "arrow shaped" drills. these are them http://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-tile-glass-drill-bit-set-3pcs/53634 I have been using a set for years, they just work, have not yet found a tile they won't drill through.

I always thought of a certificate of lawfulness, as a vehicle to record the fact you did something you shouldn't have done, and got away with it for the right number of years, and now they can't touch you, and it's a bit of paper to say so. A farmer I used to know started letting "industrial units" in a barn and because he got away with if for long enough before the council noticed he was able to obtain a certificate of lawfulness and carry on doing it. I would never think of applying for one for a humble garden shed.

There are lots of things that are "right" that when you first see them you think someone made an "error" The first was when I first saw a bath panel removed, and I literally laughed out loud at the fact they had cut a hole in the floor boards for the bottom of the trap to stick through. Then my dad told me that was perfectly normal. Then I tried to fit a pair of bath taps for the first time. If someone had tried to design a fitting (tap connector) with the design brief to make it as awkward to fit as absolutely possible, given the restricted access, then they wold have come up with....... a tap connector. There are plenty of electrical items that fit this category as well..... If things were designed to be easy to fit, nothing would be flush, and the bath taps would be along the font side of the bath where it's easy to get at them.

I think there are a few points. I have always associated UPVC with "cheap" double glazing. I have only ever had roof windows with a "pine" finish inside, it's what I "expect" of a roof window. The Velux UPVC ones I saw today did not particularly impress me, I think I was left with the impression "is that it?" Yes this window is "only" for the plant room, but it is also the tester, and if it's any good I will get the same for the en-suite and the small bedroom. If it turns out to be rubbish, I will get a different make for the more important rooms. The UW values are the same for both, so if the UPVC frame is more thermally efficient, it's only by a tiny amount. I think I am minded to wait for the pine one, unless someone can give me a good reason to choose the UPVC.

I have to make a decision in the morning so any opinion would help me. Please.

Hi and welcome to the new forum. Now that you have moved South and East, I assume you crossed over the border again?

Okay I have ordered my Eco+ roof window. I ordered the standard pine finish. Sterling build have just contacte me to say the pine one is 3-4 weeks delivery. They can "upgrade" me at no cost should I wish to the UPVC version that they have in stock and is usually a few £ more. Would you wait for the pine finish. or choose UPVC? I have to say I am first fixing a house this week that has UPVC velux windows and frankly I don't like them, I would have the more traditional wooden finish any day. but are the UPVC ones any better performing?

All I will say about the static caravan is leave it there once you have finished, don't worry about removing it. Clad it in timber to make it look nicer, and it will make a great workshoip / studio / store room. That's what we will be doing. If necessary, point out to the planners that it becomes a "permitted development" garden building after the build. They accepted that in our case, and the only clause we have is "residential use of the caravan will cease within 1 month of completion of the house"

I know it's not what you want, but my B&B Workmate 800 is nearly 30 years old now and still going strong. for larger stuff, a couple of planks between trestles.

Hi and welcome to the forum. You will find a lot of familiar members here, so you are not alone any more. Try searching the sites for "newts" if you want to find out about people wasting your money and delaying your build.

You could have saved money and used fibreglass valleys and soakers, and just used the lead for the "skews"

Late to this thread, been out today. Knauf Earthwool Frametherm 35 on a roll. It's much stiffer then "ordinary" roll insulation. I am using two layers of 90mm thick, but it also comes in a 150mm thick roll that should do you. They also do it as bats if you really want that, but I can't see anything wrong with the roll stuff/ I got a very good price for it from SIG in Inverness.

Facro do a 2G "vent free" roof window for £250 with a U value of 1.2 I believe their 3G and the eye wateringly expensive 4G one are available without vents The vent issue does not concern me as much, based on present experience with a basic 2G velux roof window in the present house, when it's shut, it's pretty well sealed. I will report back in due course about how well sealed the "closed" vent is on the Eco+ this one is going in the "plant room (/ workshop) and won't be ventilated by the mvhr so arguably it should have a trickle vent anyway? My target was a U value of 1 or less and tripple glazed. It's only a small window, and if you work out the heat loss of a window with a U value of 1.0 and compare it to a slightly better one, you realise that paying a lot more for only a slightly better window is not worth it.

Re your "making the frame wider" Our frame was deliberately made 50mm to wide and too tall. The idea being the window opening was lined with 25mm kingspan and then the window fitted. Could a detail like that work for you allowing a greater width outside the window for the cladding detail? Our windows are set half way in the frame, and half way proud in front of the frame, but then the walls are clad with 100mm thick wood fibre board and then rendered, so arguably the whole window is within insulation.

I have collected prices and U values for a lot of different roof windows now, so thought it was worth tabulating the information. This is all for size 780 by 980 roof windows, centre pivot, wood finish internally. No special options like anti noise etc. Dakeu 2G U=1.4 £110 Rooflight 2G U=1.5 £133 Fakro 2G U=1.2 £186 Velux 2G U=1.3 £201 Eco+ 3G U=1.0 £221 Roto 2G U=1.2 £222 Facro 3G U=0.97 £301 Velux 3G U=1.0 £321 Facro 4G U=0.58 £1044 All prices ex VAT and delivery I still think the Eco+ 3G at £221 looks a good bet so I am likely to buy one and see. If it does turn out to be good, I have another two to buy later on. The last one, the Facro 4G at over a grand, shows to me a rather high cost for a small benefit that would have a stupidly long payback time.