saveasteading

Those timbers above the sole plate are not treated at all. I am not happy about that. A timber co MD told me that Britain is not like other countries, being constantly cold and damp, so never to specify Canadian Redwood. It is ok in a country with very cold winters when the bugs and moulds die. But here everything stays damp and rots. They even issued a note to say this to every architect and customer who asked for a quote. The same applies, but more so, to European pine. Can we rely on a painted on treatment? The exposed ends will surely need to be soaked in wood treatment or painted annually.

Great idea. Make it easy for them.

Any thoughts on my concern of the slats not mating together tightly, vertically? I resolved never to have t & g cladding boards longer then 3.6m, as it will reduce the problem, but doesn't remove it. In these garage the t & g is structural though, so it might settle unevenly over time. Or perhaps the weight with the roof on forces the timber into place. I wish I knew. I think a skilled person could go round it with a float and feather the edges enough. Tamped finish first, then floated smooth and sloping on the outside. actually I would float to slightly inside the wall line. You try it and report back please.

ditto. They are under-resourced and overworked and much blamed, but real people trying to help. The ones that deal with drainage are not tree huggers but qualified and sensible.....that I have encountered anyway. I like that they always accept my proposals (not always the obvious) , so they are by definition very astute and sensible.

No. The hurdles are much the same and for the same reasons. Don't worry, you will get there, and the multiple options gradually converge to a solution. Nobody is out to catch you out but, at some stage, you stop studying the options and choose a way ahead that the authorities will be happy to agree to. I have had the 'pleasure' of training the family in construction as they are on site and I am far away. Their main worries have been that there are so many things to consider technically, financially and aesthetically, all at once. But, but but...and then it gets complicated by some experts and many non experts with differing ideas and knowledge.

You could have a single inline fan with 2 ducts into it. I can't see it is worth the hassle though when a fan is £30. What you show here looks sensible and will vent the shower which is important. Does a utility room need its own extract? I have not checked the rules. There is no source of steam unless a tumble drier doesn't vent outside. A big enough fan in the shower area might suffice.

Yes it is almost unavoidable unless it is composite cladding (foam core) or Sinsusoidal (agricultural) and I wouldn't have either. Yes. Haven't used it but have often considered it, then gone for normal timber (price). In my experience pine cladding will last for decades if bought with good vacuum, preservative treatment, then stained, and constructed carefully. I would use thermawood rather than concrete with wood patterns on it, because I hate false patterns, esp if they repeat. On our conversion we have used untreated, but selected, larch and it looks (and smells!) stunning. I would treat it to keep the redwood colour but have been outvoted and so it will go grey and slimy. It is Scotlarch, which feels light enough to be thermawood but it isn't heat or vacuum treated. I am assuming it is very well seasoned and then only selected panels are used. Quite expensive but not as much as the other proprietary options.

For strength of a weak slab that makes sense structurally. But it will collect water and be generally unpleasant even if not a leak or rot instigator. I suppose the slab could slope away at this point but this is getting over precise. I am going off this construction. OR I will work something out that I am OK with. I think this involves raising all timber off the slab. The plastic bearer you mention: is this effectively a shoe that forms both a dpc and an outer barrier? Then sealed with mastic I suppose. Sounds sheddish rather than garageish. Maybe Ok for Latvian or continental weather , but not our damp and drizzle. Thinking about it, my garden shed has a floor on bearers, so this can overshoot the slab then support the walls. N/A for the t & g construction.

Metal cladding has been big in my career, but I wouldn't have it on my house walls. Untidy around windows and a bit too industrial. On roof yes. In fact I have done loads of buildings with metal walls and overclad in timber, usually stained. Probably not on my house though.

Yes this is normal. You have to compact it as you go (150mm layers) and yet not knock over the walls. Best to use crushed hard-core for density and to avoid voids. Then for the top layer a better quality with more fine stuff. Then probably a sand blinding for level control. Slab into smaller areas? Do you mean crack control?

If you have only one tape, any errors are proportional and you may never know there is inaccuracy. Stanley 30m tape measured 30.1 on a Silverline. Could have been very expensive. So needed a 3rd tape to check. TS agreed that I bin theirs. I thus learnt that there are 3 rated levels of accuracy, and then silverline tapes.

i need of my missing bit holders. 'Borrowed' by dry-liners.

Amazing things, so small yet accurate and tiny power use.

This is a really good point. It seems to me that timber treatment is much more superficial than it used to be, with very little reacing the insides. Even fully treated timber does rot though. I have experidnce of 4 timber buildimgs with 4 solutions. 1. My garden shed sits on timber bearers on concrete and is ok after 15 years. Crucial is that the shed overhangs so most water tuns away. 2. Current conversion. The timber bearers are on dpc on blockwork, and the cladding sheds rain to ground. 3. A 3 storey building. The timber frame company did not accept brick but required a concrete upstand. We used concrete lintels, which apparently was a first, but they were happy. But then had brick skin. 4. Ditto but a concrete slab up to dpc level. Sole plates straight onto it, brick outside again. Only no 1. Really applies to this garage which is really a shed. The wall slats appear to sit on the base, and be susceptible to wetting. Therefore i think a raised edge in masonry or concrete is called for. That will leave a gap under the doors, but a concrete hump would be a good thing anyway to keep water out. My other concern is that t snd g doesn't stack well. The slightest twist in one plank leaves gaps everywhere else.

The priority should be to prevent pollution especially of the aquifer. If you design for that you will get permission. Secondly actually do it right and you won't kill people or get fined. Finding a stream would have been a bonus, but it looks like you need this designed appropriately with a professional document to prove it.

It will either go on the selling price or come off the land price. The latter won't suit the landed classes, so I don't expect the tax to last long, or they will just slow down the building til persuaded to speed up. Yes, 25% net is what they make as developers. Huge and unjustifiable profit levels. Contractors make more like 2 to 5%.

It is ok to struggle with geometry. Rather than rely on software, which still needs understanding of the principles involved, can't you ask a friend to help you with this stage?

The easiest way is to make one triangle using Pythagoras. If you have 2 tapes it is even easier as the third corner is where the 2 distances coincide. The corner is automatically square. Once that triangle is made, you have 2 fixed corners and a fixed diagonal distance. Then measure the other triangle to complete the rectangle. In your case length 5800, width 4898 and diagonal 7539.

....whatever excuse they can think of. It probably works most of the time.

From my limited experience, second hand information really, purchasers of very, very expensive houses often replace perfectly good, even ultra-expensive, upmarket kitchens immediately. I suppose there has still to be some minimum standard to demonstrate what is possible. I heard that there is a decent market for such second-hand kitchens, if the fitters have time to dismantle rather than rip out. But the time is usually limited, no excuses for delay tolerated....and fees ultra high to suit.

Thus, slinky pipes underground are near the surface. The ground warms and stores heat in summer, but loses it in winter. Hence the newish acceptance of force heating the ground, using solar panels, in summer. Power therefore needed all year.

Correct. If the ground was porous sand/gravel with a flow of groundwater then the cooled water would be replaced by warmer. In heavy clay or rock there is no significant replenishment and it gets cold then freezes.

But that might be enough for the bco to say 'prove it'. Bear in mind that a ditch is not necessarily a water-course and, if it is, it might be the wrong direction.

One of the great things about this site is saying nothing if we can't contribute. At least you know you aren't missing anything you could have done knowing. Bu here goes..Stone tiles for bathrooms get treated with a special liquid. Is it right for you? I don't know.