saveasteading

These usually cost extra, for the character and that they are so full of tar that they don't rot. But someone who thinks they are untidy is also happy now. A benefit of the big truck to hand. Half the time stuff is quoted as free on FB it is not free at all. Or someone who has overordered, or got off-cuts, thinks they can resell at the original price.

The mountains are made of stone and the rest is made of sand and gravel ....and yet that is the price. The granite type 1 comes from a quarry 3 miles away but still costs £20/t. Does that spoil my theory? What is readymix costing? not £44/m3 surely.

Have been getting quotes in for next week and it occurred to me, therefore in BH spirit I pass it on.... For as long as I can remember, the cost of masonry blocks has been very similar to the cost of readymix, in £/m3. This makes sense as the ingredients are much the same. The readymix is handled once, at the factory. The blocks are handled at the factory and again by the merchant, but are risk-free. So if you know the price of concrete, just use the rule of thumb, or vice-versa. Currently £115 for C20 concrete here. 98p for 100mm blocks. £1.20 for 140mm That makes blocks at 10/m2 look slightly cheaper, but add the 5% area of mortar and it is close. Another reason this matters is, if you are replacing timber shutters with permanent blockwork, the blocks are effectively free as they replace readymix.....when appropriate.

Returning to something I said earlier. This stuff is in diameters from 3mm to 10mm and would fill the gap and stiffen it, and give you something against which the fire cement can bear.

I will report back on costs when we get the quotes back. I have gone to Pasquill and Buckland today. earlier to Glenalmond/Intelligent Solutions and to Glulam Solutions. They are agents but will get whole loads and we could collect. also to AJ Laminated Beams (the artic). FYI Pasquill gave me a stocklist and said they hate anything off this list, but Architects and Engineers like to design specials. Our Engineer specified beams that are not on this list. My hunch is that specifying glulam for the hips and rafters is convenient / habit / prettier whereas a big timber would be much cheaper and easier to cut and to fix to. I don't fancy cutting that angle on a £400 piece of glulam on 4 weeks delivery. Fancy hangers are shown for rafter to beam connections, but silent when the awkward cuts apply. I am guessing we use screws, but daren't ask the Engineer or they will all be special fabrications, as are the glulam to glulam junctions.

Any suggestions for economic supplier or glulam near Inverness please? Pasquill at the airport are being responsive and helpful, but someone on here suggested they may be expensive. No quote yet. The only other direct manufacturers are quoting £2,800 cost, but the same again for delivery....ie a whole artic for 2 days. (42m of beam). Other localish suppliers appear to be intermediaries and don't manufacture. It is all over budget already as we were wrongly advised that ridge beams were cheaper than using tied a frames, but building is starting and the programme is tight. Q2. Do we really need glulams for hips and valleys? The remaining old building works fine with ridge boards.

The membrane would keep weeds from coming from below. But over time there would be lots of weeds from seeds anyway. And it is plastic which at some stage will break down within the ground which is a bad thing. So no membrane please. Cardboard works well, or simply turf or seed with good prep. No mow May is upon us. try to find a way of having insect-friendly areas.

Corten is a form of stainless I believe. so welding may require some homework.

If you don't, whatever is behind will get wet. That is going to be quite heavy. I would worry that any adhesive might work but gradually allow creep. I like screws. Rather as rivets do, they show how the construction is done and they work. An Architect might call that 'honesty' if trying to justify it.

I am proposing concrete with fibre additive so it wont crack either.

Is it flat? how big, how thick? And fixing to what? Indoors? If multiple panels will you be able to seal the joints? More questions than answers. 6 : 0.

Because it is 'not normally done'. No other reason I can see. If the ground might heave (clay) the perhaps concrete is needed. That is very strong concrete: any reason? Did this have reinforcement?

I suspect they will climb over a low sleeper, but not if it is treated with tanalith or creosote. 'My' slow worms were a sort of very milky coffee colour, (on the light side of that even) but with a metallic sheen. I may collect bits of loose sheep wool and put it round the bean area....it is supposedly impassable by slugs and snails due to hairy hooks on the fibres. Coffee grounds supposedly work too. Dry ash is obviously not handy for slime trails to stick to. 2 dead hedgehogs found together in the local graveyard apparently. People putting slug pellets on a grave is the current theory.

A lot of scary alterations have been done without permission or proper knowledge, and I suspect BCOs and SEs see a lot of them. Yours may well be fine. If so then the fee will not be great. If not then it does need expertise and sorting.

The one that won't eat your plants is mythical...shame. Slow worms are your friends. I found 2 in the compost heap last week.....the strangest thing was that they didn't react at all to being exposed. I think the bean plants will need some physical protection when small. I put metal grilles around them for a week or so....bits of shelving/expamet/ dead barbecue grilles...

It won't be much less however good the ground is, and I can't comment without a lot more information, so I think accept this. I have argued myself for a thinner slab, but there is little chance of the BCO accepting it without research that would cost more than the saving.* The screed will be dead flat on top (well +/- a few mm). Getting the PIR dead level is less likely. 50mm seems thin to me, and I think you must take the advice of the installers/suppliers. Your Engineer will advise on stability, and I expect will not be concerned. Again , circumstances re important. No it will not feel bouncy. Although thin, the screed is hard and spreads your load over a bigger area of the PIR. Thicker screed spreads it a lot further. The PIR is surprisingly strong ...try putting a board on it and see if it moves when stood/ jumped on. * I am currently pressing to substitute fibre crack reinforcement for the specified steel mesh, which will save a lot of money...but there is resistance.

They should be visible in a week, then ready to plant out 2 weeks later. The sooner any robust plant is in the ground, the sooner they grow fast and you get your beans. The slugs will be mustering now in anticipation, hence a bit of stem height is good, and clear away any nice stones they might be breeding under. Worth putting down a few old bricks that they might hide under in the daytime. I lifted an old tile yesterday when preparing the bean bed, and found 20 slugs.. Do you get rabbits? 50 is a lot, but they are easy to find homes for.

As PeterW. BUT it is always worth asking for several quotes. Some scaffolders charge mostly as if it was a hire..ie how many weeks. Others charge mostly based on the work involved. And all variations in-between. Never accept a per m or m2 price, as the method of measurement can be unclear, or they make it bigger and charge more.

You can replace joists like for like if they are performing as joists, ie only supporting their own narrow area of floor. BUT you cannot have that size of timber supporting joists that run the other direction. Could you sketch or describe in detail what you have, including where the bolted joints are? My hunch is as above, that you will need an rsj or a wall....but send us the info to make sure.

I was thinking of something more primitive but easier to build. Timber as the the 2 flanges, then rectangles of plywood on the sides , both sides but poss staggered. As it doesn't have to be terribly strong, it doesn't need to be I form. If I could do a drawing as well as SteamyTea then I would.

I was very unclear here. I meant expose the wall just locally for a metre, perhaps 600 wide digging-out, then backfilling with the new construction, and the existing wall strength will not be compromised. Then do the middle.

And what under the PIR?

I'm not so sure. the CLS and 2 x 2 used to come ready prepared from Russia so that won't be happening. A local Highland sawmill told me they couldn't compete with these prices so they only did bigger timbers and specials. From a quick look at Wickes (because the prices are real time) I calculate that 2 x 2 is £1,400/m3 inc vat , and CLS 38 x 63 is £828/m3...a huge difference, and the CLS principle stands. Another local sawmill is quoting everything in C16 as £430 +VAT, but I suspect the website is behind the times. That is 2 x 2 up to 8 x 2.

That is the one. we have 140mm x 50 mm timber stud in the current plan. so using 50 x 50 twice is only going to save 1/3 of the timber, now I think about it, with a lot of work. But CLS is lots cheaper / m3 than the bigger stuff.. Another thought...the stud assembly will be enclosed in vapour and moisture barrier, so no risk of rot or worm, and untreated timber should be ok.

Other points arising, and forgive me repeating some answers. PIR is twice the price and twice as good, so in this case use PIR for better insulation or less excavation. 50 screed is not enough. It will vary from 40 to 60 and is likely to break. Exposing the walls and foundations should not be an issue for a 20thC building but needs an Engineer's say-so not BCO. If the house is old with very shallow footings then it is an issue however. Do it gently. If necessary do it in short runs, say 1m and infill with the stone and concrete as you go. Lots of bitty work but resolves that issue if necessary