saveasteading

Welcome. What is the construction? Cracks may be less significant than you think, if it is stone. What part of the country? A commercial builder will almost always want to demolish and build new. A very hands-on self-builder may be able to save the structure and money....but there are risks. Let us help. Pictures will endear you to the forum.

with a plot being £60,000 in the remoter parts of the Highlands or £300k in SE England, the formula doesn't work everywhere. You can easily spend that if you don't think the project through, and leave the decisions, and especially resolving problems, to others. In business I never allowed more than 5% for contingencies, and then designed my way out of changes and problems, rather than spending money on it. Careful thought like your current discussion is a good example of avoiding overspend. If anybody knew what the 5m 'rule' applied to. Is it the excavation, wall of the tank, or where the water is? Or even the centre? Depending on circumstances* you might even get formal approval of 4m. * ground permeability, amount of flow, options to change shape of chamber, slope of ground.

I don't do layouts, so no comment on the above. What is the purpose of the glazing over the entrance? If only to light the stairwell then it is large and requires the complex dormer housing. I resist valley gutters but appreciate the reason here. Just be aware of the risk of blockages, and need for cleaning regularly. I would make the gutter oversized, and feed a hopper outside the house. Unfortunately the dp would be above a door. Avoid internal drains as they gurgle and block. Also I can't read the dimensions. What are the heights?

If you don't have them already, it is worth getting a set of small, precise, hard screwdriver heads. I find I use them a lot on watch straps, electronics etc...and grub screws. They provide a better fit to very small screws, are harder steel and so can tighten better. I think mine was a set of heads with handle from TS.

That is not normal. I would cut the mesh into flats and link them with bent bars, which you can bend on site if necessary. Actually no...I would extend both top layers of mesh to the full width, and build a cage to form the edge beam, made of stirrups which link top and bottom.

Stone is certainly more interesting than block. This is not the work of a master mason! There doesn't seem to be any coursing, more of an undulating pattern. Do you know what kind of stone is used locally? Because we have granite, we use the kind of lime that goes quite hard, and has to be used before it sets, which was a surprise after reading so much about lime staying soft for days. Most people wont be interested it is 'just a building'. But there may be an estates manager, or a retired clerk of works who could be interested to help. Also try to find what other conversions have been carried out recently, as there may be information to be had.

Interesting. I still mean what I mean, but perhaps need another fancy term for it. Groundworker (digger driver) thinking he knows about concrete..... what would an Architect know about it? of course you add water, everybody does it no need to compact it when it is wet enough no need to cover it as it has plenty of water and needs longer to dry. any more?

As if these huge chemical companies had not worked out the optimum mix. Dunning- Kruger applies in many (all?) trades.

And so you should. I don't think they are disagreeing with that, and you would be entitled to send it back if it is wrong. The batching plant will even monitor the dampness of the sand so that this is already included in the mix allowance. I don't agree. This has been studied at length and is a fairly precise science when you consider that it is made of of broken up ground from various sources. I have worked in the lab on a big project (all of 3 days as CPD) and sampled/tested using slump and cube tests. It is remarkably predictable and adding water is a bad thing. Yes this was for bridges, but quality is quality, and the same control was applied to mass bases, kerb bases and everything else. No it is quality. All concrete companies have the exclusion clauses re added water, but they are hard to find. I admire this up-front statement. I don't envy the worker with the shovel, but that is not my job, and it is theirs. For £4/m3 extra you can add a plasticiser and everyone is happy, except the buyer. Have I ever authorised additional water? Yes, but only a small amount and for mass footings. How often have I stopped the addition? Many times. They had to sweat a bit but managed fine.

Excellent. Gus's points are very good. What were they building with in those days? I don't think concrete blocks were around yet, so stone seems likely. And yet it has that coloured render. More pictures would be good. When I started researching stone steadings, I knew there was a lot to learn. It has been fascinating and also very important. If you can find local information that would be a good start, from talking to people / asking at the library or whatever.

Found this attachment today. I hope this is useful for beginners, experienced builders and professionals alike. The former to learn, and the latter to show it to people who don't believe you (including 90% of groundworkers). Water content in concrete is a precise science. Concrete hardens by chemical reaction, not 'drying'. Many groundworkers add extra water to concrete to make spreading easier, not knowing that it is bad for the concrete. They seem to think that Engineers, other professionals and the concrete companies know less than they do. All concrete suppliers have small print about not adding water without permission. Here is something much clearer. So see the attached very plainly stated leaflet from Hansen Concrete. I think it needs to go on the wall of every site hut.

It isn't for you to dabble with what the SE has shown. If it isn't clear then you mast ask the SE, not us who don't know the details or context. These columns look a bit flimsy but the planks might retain them sufficiently if very precisely and properly connected to form an integrated structure. We are not here to do that design, cannot, and would not. And adding a steel is not necessarily going to make it stronger: structures can be complex. Oh, and btw what makes you think this is 'gents' only?

Not by a very long way. Scottish standards for a conversion ask for 'reasonable efforts'. So perhaps you can convince them that the floor area is crucial, and that a U value of 0.6 in the walls is ok because you will have stunning insulation to floor and roof, etc Also for a floor area of under 50m2 some rules are less strict but I have not read in detail. Conversions - in the case of conversions, as specified in regulation 4, the building as converted shall meet the requirements of this standard in so far as is reasonably practicable, and in no case be worse than before the conversion (regulation 12, schedule 6).

As well as the open aspect being retained, might they be wanting line of sight for the bend in the road.

Accelerated weathering is surprisingly expensive. I think we are going with Russwood, but untreated, on the basis that the timber is selected, ie higher quality, and so won't twist or have knots falling out. I don't like the weathered grey look (and would stain it) but am outnumbered, and presumably plain wrong.

Hoorah. Some varieties are ready at that stage. Others when the beans inside are starting to plump out. You might need to pick that one anyway and just chuck it into some continental type stewey thing. We have only one plant producing at present, but have had 4 portions from it this week. Plus one marrow (from being away) 7 courgettes, 4 cucumbers and 2 tomatoes. Hardly a glut. But we were away 3 weeks, there was no rain and the irrigation machine failed. I forecast that a week from now you will have too many.

Haven't done it yet, but start in the next week or so. Fundamentally we are using the properties of the wall. It is made of inner and outer granite masonry and a central core of rubble and mortar. Very little dampness gets through all that, according to numerous studies. The little damp that inevitably exists can be dealt with by 3 methods. 1. waterproof the inside face...not a good idea because it will come off in time. 2. build inner insulated wall with a cavity, and ventilate it. This is a common solution, but in my opinion, defeats the insulating benefit of the thick wall. 3. ditto but not ventilated. There will always be some ventilation through the wall anyway, especially along the core.. The bottom metre is the only part which has significant damp so we are tanking that, and allowing the rest to breathe. (I borrowed this from another project which had a blog. Also it fits with technical info on tested buildings. come back if this works for you, but await other comments that number 2 is the only way. Our steading has similarities. Although it is big, the individual wings are narrow, so we had the same concerns about losing room width. We have dug out the floors (the ground is sand) and will put in 125mm of PIR. Walls we are thinking 50mm PIR and 50mm rockwool. attic spaces Fibreglass quilt. Exposed roof tried some PIR, and now changing to cavity batt. Insulation levels will exceed new-build requirements. You urgently need to know the wall construction. I am anticipating the end extension is modern and block.

Apologies if this is already stated, or I have missed the point. A highway includes marginal land / verge etc up to the stated property. This is because the land has been deemed to be be highway in the past, possibly hundreds of years before. The road may have been wider to allow weaving past ruts and puddles, and may have had banks before being built up. If so, then it is not only the planner but also the highways authority who would want to retain the land. It could be of use in the future for road or services, and avoids recovering land that has been lost.

It would be nice to complete , and the Juliet suggestion is good. You should get one in a week if not too fussy about the appearance. Speak to the BCO first though.

Do you know the product 'drain trace'. Brown powder that becomes fluorescent yellow. that will show where the water goes, if you have rodding cceses downstream. I wouldn't be surprised that a builder had done the easy thing. Is the Aco to resolve a serious issue? where does the water go at present. An easy answer might be a catch pit, so that the rain flow is not obstructed, but the downstream connection is under water.

Brilliant. Very Exciting. My initial thoughts. Obviously the damp bit to be dealt with. Not high enough for 2 storey (?) although could get a gallery perhaps. The walls are very thick, and provide a lot more insulation than the calculation programmes allow. You will be converting so do not have to reach any specific standard for insulation. However it is in your own interests to do what you can. Therefore I would put high quality but skinny insulation and stud on the walls, and make up for it in the floor and ceiling/roof. If the floor is concrete or stone, you can keep that in place and insulate/screed over it. I suggest UFH and Air source. This also avoids undermining the walls, which may be very shallow. You will be living within a plastic tent, with no draughts, which is possibly more important than insulation levels. Dampness from the walls has to be dealt with. I am happy with our solution for 600mm solid granite, although one or two other BH members disagree. Later. You have to look properly at the roof timbers. Prepare for bad news, although the roof doesn't seem much out of shape. External insulation would mess with the geometry, hence my suggestion above. I think you need to sacrifice 125mm on each wall. perhaps 100. Try to add a porch as it will be a heat buffer when the winter winds blow. No reason why planning shouldn't allow that. Apart from the roof, it seems to be an inside job, with a few service holes. So if you are into DIY this looks promising.

Keep us informed please. Not much like Hastings, which is perhaps the point. I like Hasting btw.

I am not understanding what the problem is. A sketch or photo would help.

Other than the smallest ones, new stoves in Scotland now must have a fresh air feed. At first I resisted but can now see the reasons. ie I was going to put a closable grille nearby, for use only when needed. But of course this is subject to user knowledge, and ability. A few stoves now have a dedicated air inlet at the back, but they are much more expensive. This is what we have shown on our Building Warrant application, so must shop around or hope that prices drop as it becomes standard. I didn't know until recently, and don't expect most builders to know either.

Ahh , the dry East Kent coast., except when the salt water lashes off the sea. You are right though, it isn't as generally damp as many places. Did they also fade to grey, or too small to notice? A timber merchant showed me a technical document about why WRC was not a great idea in much of the UK. He also showed it to potential purchasers and architects but to little avail. It was good business he said, but there were quite a lot of disappointed customers. South Coast.