saveasteading

Do you mean ground floor (UK terminilogy)? A 1950s house floor won't be insulated , as you say. The extension does need to be insulated. Getting the finished level right starts with your excavation. As you have a doorway to measure through, this is reasonably straight foward but it is still easy to get wrong. I suggest that you use a spirit level to transfer* the existing floor level outside and mark it boldly on the outside wall. Use a nail and paint around it. This can be measured down from repeatedly as necessary. Doing this now can show up potential difficulties. Once you have decided on the construction you can, if you want, also mark dig level, hardcore level, top of insulation. So it is easy to get right, but not for everyone. * measure up, say 300mm from the floor and mark the door frame. Spirit level and mark on the outside of the frame. Measure down 300mm again and mark the wall.

It is a project notebook. Anything and everything can go in it. It doesn't need sentiments or sentences. Rain, 2 joiners til 4.00. Order nails tomorrow. Of course a younger person might prefer to use some electronic type thing.

Like a Persian carpet there should be a flaw, as only God creates perfection. Good job mortal.

They are mostly built into the walls I suspect.

Also keep a diary. An A4 page a day one. 1. Very interesting to look back on. 2. Keeps all notes and contacts to hand. 3. Conclusive evidence when your suppliers deny dates, agreements etc. 4 weather and conditions and who was on site until when. 5. In the unfortunate event of any problems you will have this as confirmation. 6. You will forget some problems that have been overcome. This will remind you how well you did. Start it now, summarising the verbal agreements with the architect.

Indeed. As a designer and contractor for decades, there was always the 'buyers' search for 5% off materials. Welcome of course. It is much more productive though to avoid waste. This can be in not throwing ends away, but mostly is in efficient design. Save 5% on the cost of 10m3 of concrete and that is £50. Buy 1m3 less through design and site control and that is £100. Have both. Can you do that throughout the whole project and save 15%? Yes but you need to contribute a lot of time and effort and have designers and contractors of similar mind. And 25% saving by DIY. In business we could usually save our clients 35% off the competitors' proposals, but that was mostly design changes but to the same standards. You have to know your subject backwards, so if anything allow 10% more for risk than assume savings.

If the steel face is in line with thd wall then probably better and much easier to screw into the masonry but project the timber over the steel, and glue to the steel. If there is the typical recess in the steel, you may be able to fix vertical timber studs or ply that will pack out to the wall face. They can be wedged or glued or screwed on with special steel screws, often called tek screws. Then fix studs to that.

Our best price was from the local, family BM. beat the online suppliers and the specialists. not by much but enough, and a superb delivery service. My experience of the big BMs was that they just piggy backed off the specialist suppliers, and it was better to go direct to them. btw you are doing the right thing by not mentioning trade names. Sheffield Insulations (now SIG) told me that if you say, for example, Celotex, then they are obliged to only quote for it, and not offer alternative brands.

Perhaps we will hear from you again when you get a quote for it. I went to a National Trust place today and saw their parking surfaces. On most they had gravel, which must be on a very good base. nearer the property gets most use and wear, and they had plastic grid, but was full of earth. Another extensive area was covered with plastic boards made for the purpose, and they had moved a lot and were trip hazards. So the moral is that the NT are still experimenting.

When I was designated mouser in a shared flat, I found that cooked bacon was the best bait. Once was walking out of the kitchen only 10 seconds after carefully setting the trap, when I heard the snap. Humane but gruesome, as opposed to poison, which I use in the attic. Live traps are only humane if you remember to release the mice promptly.

Gravel grid cells are too small for type 1. Needs to be 20mm down stone to fit. Hence gravel in the title, but grit is better. It has to be full so that the weight is on the stone. It isn't good for heavy vehicles, especially turning, and needs a strong base. Better in your case to design in stone and add geomembanes to suit the ground and loading. If you cut too many corners you may end up endlessly topping up.

Yes that would be correct, if well made, as reservoirs can be waterproof without any tanking. It is just cost really, Brick would stop water flowing in and through, even if it wasn't static water, which most floods are. Any dampness would be under the dpm and would dry out eventually. If the fill is clean stone it won't subside due to wetness. 1mm settlement should not occur. Agreed though that not all construction is well done. So this does need supervision or a trustworthy contractor who looks at drawings (2 big Ifs) I had an old project subjected to about 300mm of flooding, and it was at a fast flowing major river, so not just static water. It was surprising, and pleasing, how well it performed. The walls up to slab were single block footings, simply to contain the slab. Using steel mesh instead of fibres does give some more security but again at a cost. Fibres would save 200m2 x £10 here.

Suits up to 2 small and related people, close in both senses. Doesn't appear to have room for a seat, let alone a wheelchair. These lifts move very very slowly too. My estimate was for a bigger one, but it may not fit in typical rooms. As with most improvements, it is not intended to increase value, but allow the owner to live comfortably without moving

Preferable to RC, but not unless the whole house is ICF. A brick and block cavity wall or solid wall will do just fine, will be much cheaper and easy to resource.

These prices are right. About £20k for the minimum size lift, plus builders' work plus some design. Say £25k but more if project managed by the contractor. Building regs too. Best say 30k and hope to improve. It probably needs a dedicated power supply, but the motor is simple and not hungry.( a threaded rod on the end of a drill, scaled up). Stair lifts have zero value at house sale time. Give away to medical charity at best. How a lift in the corners of 2 rooms affects value I have no idea, especially as floor space is lost. I wouldn't approach the lift companies advertising to thd retirement market , but to a local lift specialist as they can do any size and don't have smoozy sales people

Sorry Iceverge, I disagree with this. Unless a raging river, masonry will not be at risk from flooding. It is supported by internal fill and anchored by the house weight. I would hazard that a concrete beam to the perimeter will be 4 x the cost of masonry. RC walls to 1m are specialist and expensive. So do it well. Why wouldn't you? I don't disagree . Round about 1m and more and it becomes worthwhile, but may need extra footings. Access is the other differentiator or building on a slope.

Let's say it is 20m x 10m. Build the wall to whatever construction is appropriate. Up to your concrete level makes it easy. Fill with stone in layers, compacting as you go. Use good stone on top, and blind. Then polythene dpm horizontal and turned up the wall face. This provides a break between concrete and wall, as well as waterproofing. Then insulation including between wall and slab and another polythene layer. Then your concrete. 200m2 is quite a big pour: one day if access is easy. Sometimes 150mm is specified but 100mm is enough, so 20m3 which is 3 x the biggest wagons of readymix......not insignificant. This slab should have contraction joints to control cracking, ie have tidy joints where you want them. All concrete cracks but it can be controlled with these joints, steel mesh or microfibre and minimising water content. As someone else will be detailing it, that is enough for background. If access was difficult then you might consider beam and block instead if fill.

That's what the filters are for. Usually it will be lime scale or sand from the filters, but it is near impossible to keep muck out of a repair to the mains. They will often flush through, but can't always, and some may escape. I have heard of insects getting through, so keep the filters in place and check again next year or so. There may be more gauze filters if you have a fancy mixer.

That was sadolin. Light oak, and dark palisander. I wouldn't use anything else, just because I know this works.

No problem with the right prep. What size will it be? If an architect can't deal with this then they need changing, so a good chance to test some.

I think it might be sweet chestnut, as it was trendy at the time, about 15 years ago? Here is one I did, with standard but tanalised T & G, stained 2 colours. The light colour hardly changes the timber colour but freezes it from fading to grey. Most of the walls are horizontal cladding. In full sun, the dark colour fades in 10 years. In shade it barely fades.

They are very sharp, and the metal will be wobbly and quivery when released. I got a very deep cut while fitting one, and that was on the factory edge. The screws are into brackets fixed to the wall.

have to check if there is exemption for forestry. so it is strong enough. No, it doesn't need reinforcement for the tractor, as it isn't about to fall through. reinforcement is for crack control. you should have a deeper perimeter about 400mm below ground, for strength and to be below frost and other weather effects. 100mm would do it if yo can be that precise, on top of 150mm of good compacted stone, on compacted ground. Reinforcing mesh A142 at mid depth, using spacing blocks. now you are possibly into regulations. it then needs to be much stronger for regular occupation. If you were challenged on it you might have to show that the space was seldom used, and not for long. No that is sensible, as long as the occupier is safe. Structure, fire escape etc. Imagine the tractor going on fire: would the office occupier know, and be able to escape?

I like that plastic stud. Better and cheaper than masonry or concrete, easy to screw down and seal. Looks solid too, ie not the kind with voids through them. The reviews say they are not tong in bending but that will be fine for the shed base....just got to deal with the doors being higher.

Aesthetically yes, but more chance of leaks. Nothing should depend on lots of mastic. perhaps I am exaggerating. Staining, and differential fading. And if the wrong fixings are used, they run in purple. I don't like this. I expect the architect still has the new timber image in their portfolio.