saveasteading

It would depend on more specific details. If you build the new to very high spec, and can close doors from old to new, then it might be worth heating as if it was a new house. so ashp and ufh an option. Or leave the existing system alone and install all new including boiler. That way it will be a small unit, lower cost, and minimal disruption. Also no quirks in the joined up system you would otherwise have And if the old system has problems, the house is still up and running. I understand it can be more efficient to use 2 small boilers than one, except in the coldest of conditions.....but may be wrong.

How many hours? if you don't mind?

Coated steel is a much cheaper roof than most others. Sandstone is good news too, as it can be made into a thin skin to fix as if brickwork. Quite a skill though. Unless planning to do it yourself, it would be worth taliking now to a local mason before committing to a design. They can advise on availability, cost and any pitfalls to avoid. You are in the fortunate position of controlling the design before the planning app.

im in central Scotland, rural area, the house is quite visible from the main road which was an issue in the previous application which was 2 storey and all white render, with lowering ridge height in this design and some stone cladding i was hoping to reduce the visual impact. Bad luck not getting to use the ubiquitous white. But this gives you more scope for individuality. i just googled barn conversions central Scotland.. plenty ideas there.

Rectangles are the simplest and cheapest buildings. Sloped roofs are also easy and cheaper. Metal roof. Walls in whatever is the local style. Stone could be tricky....what is your local stone? Start with that and add features such as picture windows (like cart doors) to your own liking. Then sell your design to them referring to all the barnlike features. I suggest a drive looking at old barns and new, rural buildings, and get ideas in the local style.

Or good swiss or good french. I would only buy branded screws from a specialist supplier. Make sure they are "heavy" spec for going into a beam rather than a purlin. Tell them the timber width and web thickness. (TBC btw what german manufacturer are you suggesting?) Nearly all good screws go in first time. With cheap ones the first is often only effectively a drill bit and discarded, so you need twice as many. The advantage of screws is speed and you can fix more if you feel inclined, and less precision required.

Good point. Counterbatten underneath? Will still be easier I'd guess. Getting crazier here.......plywood on the bottom, which may even work better, and your floor boards provide even more stiffening, then batten underneath at plasterboard centres, thus creating a service void. Or your way and drill holes.

Anything about my suggestion that doesn't resolve your issues at lower cost and inconvenience?

Quite right. I don't mean a site agent. I mean somebody has to integrate design and suppliers. That is the client if not clarified elsewhere. I can see why a frame supplier excludes that interface, as it can be badly designed or constructed. I can also see why some will overcome some difficulties at their own expense, just to avoid aborted visits. * But their quote will allow for that. I think there is a common assumption among self-builders that contractors are avoiding responsibility, when in fact, the client or their agents are not dealing with all issues, mostly through inexperience. Splitting a project into phases to avoid a main contractor and their management should save a lot of money, but there are risks. Talking about exclusions and the reasons for them is essential. *I have been there, putting steel up on inferior foundations. Main contractor had no quality control or wish to cooperate. So to find a solution or send workers and cranes home? With a ready solution i would sort it at our cost. For major issues, like foundation bolts pulling out...no. The end client never knew anything about it.

You can fix a plywood layer on top of the joists and massively improve the strength with minimal disruption. It needs proper approval and spec by SE.

So give him a 💙

Back to cdm and welfare. I have had perhaps 6 visits or phone calls from hse over many years. By chance I was on site during 3 of them. The officers do ask who is site manager and ask to look at the documents. If there aren't good responses to these, then expect a going over. But mostly they are pleased to see a well managed site and discuss any potential concerns. If there is an accident then things are rather different (I am told). Blame will be attached to contractor, subcontractor or client, or consultants, or all. It was clear always that they would rather see a safe project than a load of cut and paste documents.

That is project management. This happens even in the biggest projects, with consultants all over them. Use a main contractor or manage these issues relentlessly. Of course 'amateur' developers don't know what to look out for. To be positive, if the contractors had each allowed for this responsibility it would be charged for, possibly twice.

Isn't too difficult apart from learning a few essentials. Some may be learnt the hard way. I started by changing cracked glazing (not the glazing company's fault) and then tried small windows. Doors are tricky. Risky though. Break the glass or drop the whole thing and it is your responsibility. And getting just one more coloured flashing is expensive. The on-cost for the complete package can be very high. But this includes damage and mistakes...many a unit has been taken away or skipped at glazier's expense, and resupplied in a hurry...which they can do if they make their own.. For example of the risk...we have measured an asymmetric ali window back to front...so the colour faces in and the plain white faces out....a very expensive error, but well within the saving for diy. I am suggesting that the future garage has the same feature window, that way round.

Yes. And heating with bottled gas is a problem too, because water is created as a byproduct. I have often found that nothing much seems to be happening, for a week or more. Then suddenly the slab is dry. Presumably this is due to water being drawn to the surface until it isn't.

Electric flexible conduit with drawcord. They go in as standard in Spain, and means that a rewire is a very simple operation. It comes of necessity as all construction tends to be solid. It has a cost of course which is why it is not done much here.

Guessing of course. To pour off your gutter it sounds as if the gutter is lowest at that point and that the downpipes are blocked.....possibly totally blocked on the neighbours end. That is obviously a common problem where one neighbour is diligent and the other not. Do check that yours is not blocked. The AA advice is good. You will be escalating the issue but you do need to. The bco is not an enforcer for the neighbour but their word has some authority. If the soakaway was built too close to your property then they may be able to help your argument...but you don't want to be paying to correct it. My brick in the gutter partial solution might cause the overflow to move to the neighbours side....but solving for you may create aggro....your decision...and good luck.

This is free and very effective. You don't get a bucket of water to empty so the benefit is invisible....hence I think dehumidifiers are often used too early and too much. Of course if groundworkers didn't add water to the slab mix....

What do you mean by their excess flowing in your gutters? Is the gutter continuous along both properties? If that is the problem then you can subtly fit a barrier in the gutter, to keep yours and theirs apart. It doesn't need to be a tight fit, just a barrier to most flow....a brick or stone just hidden below the edge. But this could cause other issues so think it through before, and inspect when raining heavily.

Drainage drawings are often inaccurate. The previous owners have allowed this soakaway, or else it is even older and was just not recorded. You are probably stuck with it. The bco has to ensure that your rain goes away safely. They can't insist on closing the neighbours connection, but you need another solution. More details would help, but I suggest you take your drainage (new, and also existing if you can) as far away as you can. Or to a pond. Have you scope for this? Barrels on dowpnipes slow the flow to the soakways. In time the soakaways will probably bung up with leaves and muck. I doubt if the neighbour is allowed on your plot to rebuild it.

It seems from a very quick catchup that Grenfell had pir on the wall, and polyethylene filled outer cladding. Not pur. I have tested pir on a fire, and it burns rapidly, creating more heat and flame spread. Have never used pur or pet, assuming that is the term. Long before Grenfell I met some firemen at a seminar. They told me that they kept well away from any composite cladding, especially secret fix, as it might suddenly fall off the wall.

I'm happy to learn that I'm wrong if I am. Perhaps pur has changed since last I checked, but we had clients' insurance companies checking that we didn't use it in composite panels. So now from a quick check I find this from Kingspan. The most notable differentiating factor for PIR is its flame and smoke resistance. PIR slows the spread of flames and reduces the smoke emitted from the fire when compared to PUR products.

Pur burns very rapidly, and also melts and flows. Pir burns but crumbles. In a domestic situation it shouldn't burn, as what will ignite it and where would the oxygen come from? Toxic fumes when not on fire? Don't know, but surely it would be on the far side of plasterboard and polythene.

Please report how it goes. If you aren't airtight yet, the draught should be doing a fair amont of the drying for you already.

A solution to keep it slim is to fix plywood on top, with lots of ringshank nails. The plywood converts the joists into T beams. You need an SE to give you the design to hand to bc. Then you don't need any steel.