saveasteading

You are very welcome. Tell us more please about your project. We give and take, and learn.

If the surveyor tells you there is subsidence , and that means you will pull out, then you don't need a written report. That can halve the fee, as it saves time and there is minimal legal liability.

My experience with boards: Keep the lengths down, perhaps requiring occasional vertical break features. Otherwise the twists in the boards cause a problem with laps (the highest bit of the lower board and the lowest bit of the upper board dictate the spacing, so it is worse with long boards. Get it on site early in case it has some severe shrinking to do. Colours: whatever you pay, they all fade to grey, unless you use the wrong fixings in which case there are nasty stains, esp with cedar. A timber merchant showed me a trade document on red cedar, which stated that red cedar was only weather and pest resistant in colder climes. Britain is too damp and it doesn't get to dry out. He sold lots but never promised it was a good idea. My choice (agreed with clients) has always been to use standard softwood, pre-treated as tanalised or protimised. Left to shrink and twist for the summer, then stained which keeps the same colour for many years, depending on colour and exposure. If stained too early, any shrinkage will show strips of un-stained. A merchant will give or lend you some sections to take home and hold up to the wall. lapping a few together is important to see the effect and coverage.

And anywhere. Too many are only knowledgeable in a very small sphere...eg structure but not cost, aesthetics but not structure, New starts, read up on here so that you know a bit about everything.

We saw some incredibly cheap ex caravan park, but they were distinctly shabby and needed a lot of work. The nicer ones are quite expensive but should retain their value. the transport cost can be very high so ask early, then you have to consider access for something with apologies for wheels. Road-going caravans are more expensive. I suggest £10- £12k for a couple, and hope to get a lump of that back later. allow for high winter heating cost.

Probably, but depends on your circumstances. Ask the builder as it is not especially technical, more layout, and they will be able to see the implications of getting water and waste connected.

And the rumbling noise through the floor. Which of the washing machine noises annoys you most? The high pitched swish swish, the banging or humming of the spinner, or a rumbling through the floor...etc. ? You need soft absorbent construction as well as density...and this is not all possible in a thin wall. Plus cut a slice out of the floor under the wall to stop physical transfer under it. Or invest in a quiet washing machine.

Cream of tartar in plaster is mentioned in Wikipedia, where it says any acid will slow hardening.

so it is structural. 9mm is normal enough to stiffen the wall, so all good

Just found an online estimator, which shows that this beam in glulam is £150/m. x 40m including hips and valleys = £6,000 which is miles over budget. I designed the roof as A frames according to the standard Scottish method, and it all works in 240 x 100 C24. The Engineers possibly can't do that and go to first principles, and add £5,000 to the project, but say, 'look you don't need roof ties'. If a C24 timber it would be £30/m, but perhaps more for cutting to order and making even bigger. Bolt 2 side by side? The few Engineers I used after I moved totally into contracting were chosen because they accepted feedback on real life value. I don't know these people well enough to know how they will respond, although I should say they have accepted some of our 'feedback'. The cost increases in this and other areas, dwarf their fee, but they do not seem keen on any more work in iterating the best design. It annoys me most I suppose because I know this is slack, and I am used to resolving such issues, but I don't have a Scottish 'ticket' , otherwise I might let it run and later discuss with the Building Officer.

I have used Kerto a lot, and like it. Much prettier and easier to nail into than steel. Also pretty well fire-proof. For our rebuild section, our Engineer has introduced a ridge beam, which I am ok with, but as a laminated section, 405 x 165, so a very heavy section, but presumably properly calculated. I am assuming these are ordered to the span plus a lap for the joint, then joiner makes the scarfe on site. Do you think kerto might be better value than laminated ? If so then now is may last chance to suggest it before submission. Is there an Inverness supplier you know of?

A timber ridge beam or steel?

That pays for one beam design. For that sort of fee you are not going to get a site visit, anything other than basic calculations, any suggestions, or any follow up.

Too big for one contractor but too small for others? They are not quoting for fun, as it takes time, during which they could be earning a great deal by your account. They may be bound to quote by the supplier as an approved installer, they may price high because there is a lot of perceived risk or they aren't specially skilled at this , perhaps having trouble attracting skilled workers, or they may be the one who does it properly. Or they may be making lots of money and see this as the going rate, Best don't take it personally, and find someone else. Materials £6,000 plus waste and sundries £7k labour 4 x 4 x £200 x 5 = £16k management £2k sundries and access £2k Vans etc £1k Manager's shogun and merc £1k sub-total £29k 5% risk 20% overhead subtotal £36k 10% profit in these times = £4k and a big company may think that is too little. Grand total £40k If they are short of staff they may subcontract. Add another 10% Maybe you can talk them down to that. If it was me I would redesign to something that was going to cost a lot less.

Yes they are. An aluminium window with the same U value as a timber or upvc window has the same thermal efficiency. There is a thermal break in the construction so that the aluminium on the inside is joined to a separate section on the outside by a plastic link....there is no continuity. Some are better than others. That is much easier to achieve with upvc, which is a very large factor in the cost. Wood is not great at thermal resistance so a good timber window also needs complex construction. Check the U values for the type of window you want. Nod, what is that roughly £/m2 if you don't mind?

No I had not noticed the revised proposal, which seems much more tolerant to movement. You will have to find a way of wedging the glass in tight to keep it in place as well as the weather out. Also, a minor detail , is not to drill so close to brick edge. I admire your enthusiasm and acceptance of challenge and risk. But isn't there some small standard window section that would do the same?

Unlikely unless you can break up what is there to become more porous. Digging it over would have more effect but short term. Another thing that helps is trees and shrubs. They don't drink the water in winter but the roots can make channels for the water to run away to deeper levels. Not scientific though. ie it probably helps but as an extra,

They shouldn't. The recent floods are not only climate change, but fast runoff from land and buildings. For a new development the runoff is usually limited to (from memory) 5 litres/second/ hectare, (including the house drains so that would have to be retained too) which for a normal garden is very little. I always aim for zero and you probably can too.

Most buildings move more than people imagine, or like to think, mostly seasonally. Some movement allowance from brick to frame and then frame to glass allows for this. Your proposal looks very solid.

Yes if by some chance the price suits. Professional builders don't want to modernise or take on risks. So they will be interested in the start again sites. Non-professionals usually don't see potential and want a good quality building with just some minor refurb required, or a new p;ot. I think many of us on this site are in the middle, as there are affordable old buildings which the above don't want, , but the aggro and risk and timescale have to be accepted.

Agreed. if the water table is permanently high then that is a problem and no amount of drains will help. However if the water table is below the ground then a pond is a likely option. It is somewhere for you to divert the water, has a big ground surface and some head to drain into the ground, and a top surface to encourage evaporation. Plants will help in the summer. When you dig a pond you get surplus earth, which can be used to raise all or some of the remaining ground above the wet area.

If you buy single sized stone, such as gravel, at least 2/3 is stone and only 1/3 is gaps for the water. So you need a lot of it, gravel isn't good under a drive, other crushed stone is expensive, and you also need a porous top surface, Over time even this 1/3 tends to fill with silt. I don't know your builder but it is unlikely he knows all this. Crates can take artics as long as you get the right ones. The shallow ones allow the water to disperse into a greater area of ground, but are more expensive, and depend on porous surface. The boxy ones are fed from drains. Whichever method, you have to allow for the amount of rain and the percolation. The builders merchants (especially the drainage ones) can get the sums done for you, if you know the input numbers.

My experience is with huge roofs, The main point was the very substantial extra cost for secret fix, but was not noticeable, then you cut holes in it which really are difficult to seal. BUT this was self-spanning between purlins, and so maybe is different for small scale and screwed to wood. 25m2 of roof without deducting skylights, and 35m of edges to form? For profiled cladding my keen (perhaps optimistic) estimate would have been 25m2 x £35, + 35mx £15, so about £2,500 plus access and perhaps an extra margin for the main contractor. £3k to £3.5k approx. Similar cost for Sarnafil (but I am totally guessing) as there is no waste and edges are easier. Standing seam, add at least 50%? BUT this is dependant on finding skilled workers interested in this small job. Do not let anyone practice on your roof: metal cladding is highly skilled, and should not depend on tubes of mastic as it often ends up with beginners. You are even turning me towards considering Sarnafil for ours.....we will see what skills are available nearer the time. Building inspector won't mind (but tell them), your planners/neighbours might.

There's a thought.... a lot of our timber, and not usually the best, comes from Russia. Not any longer! I worked with a few timber merchants (building for them) and heard some bad stories about bundles of timber with rubbish and barked lengths hidden in the middle, coming from Russia and deliberately packed to conceal illegal bits.

I would say that ply this will work perfectly well without the seams, which are for show to simulate the corrugated appearance. I am surprised it is half the price though so would quotation the material choice. If it is a high-tech product then good. If a modern equivalent of felt then no. Do you mind indicating the price level? My own preference is for non standing seam metal. I don't mind the screw heads, and it is usually stronger and with less 'oil canning' effect. Genuinely half the cost, especially if not by a rolled-on-site supplier. It is also very much easier to adapt to openings and to seal at any tricky joints. And if ever damaged, standing seam is not easy to repair/replace. But the screws are the thing....you may not like them.