saveasteading

Excellent, thanks. Just seen your previous messages. No planning conditions at all really, we think there must have been a temp handling this application.

Harmless foam gun indeed. They are banned by me because of collateral damage.

Hilti gun warning. For 15mm steel you need the strongest bullets. I took a shot for interest. Even with a warning the recoil was a shock and if let go would be very dangerous. I always specced screws where possible....and you know they are fixed. Speak to a proper fixings supplier and tell them what you are fixing. A box of very good screws is cheaper than hilti nails too, let alone hire charges.

Does it matter? I've been to pro cricket matches. People sitting reading the paper and drinking tea. Just out of the house really.

That's nothing. Once worked in a design office, and a colleague returned after a site visit, where he had found the contractor was putting up the whole steel building the wrong way round. A new football stand facing the road. I know, for some teams that might be for the best.

Without any screws, insert timber noggins vertically between the flanges, then plate directly or overstud first. Or "no more nails" fix stud to inside of flanges. Then the construction effectively clips round the bottom flange and is secure.

Everyone uses a screwdriver. There may be a cover lifter available, eg the keys afor manhole covers makd it so much easier. You can make a hook with heavy wire, through whatever holes there are, vertical force much easier.

Probably the wrong screw. There are different heads for heavy steel, usually an inset tungsten blade that scratches a hole rather than pulls itself through. With the right screw and good drill it should cut through in 10 seconds or so.

So had I until recently. It often takes an effort but I think is worth it. But more suppliers are giving in or advertising under amazon. I really couldn't find this product any other way. I had a look at the Royal Mail map of charges. Amazingly places like Banchory are charged a lot extra, and they are posh suburbs of Aberdeen (excuse me, people of Aberdeenshire)

Have avoided a rip-off delivery charge, I am pleased to say. It was just for a roll of aluminised, reinforced vapour barrier like this. I knew the target price was about £1/m2, but only one supplier kept appearing whatever terms I used in the search engine. The price looked ok and it clearly said free next day delivery UK. But that wasn't true. To get a delivery quote required a phone call, and the cost goes up minimum £40 as soon as the van went over the county border out of Perth. The supplier, in the Midlands said it was clearly stated but that is not true. They have 80% satisfaction on Amazon, mostly explained low due to extra charges and cancelling orders, but their google presence is good, and where they put their efforts. We decided that we would not use them whatever price we found elsewhere. What do you know, Amazon were spying and sent some other options through. So it is now coming from another supplier, better price and £4 delivery to the remote door next week, (Or where the door will eventually be). Beware false delivery claims which are hidden until the purchase page. I'd like to tell you their name but best not. They will likely come up first in any google search. I have no idea why some delivery companies think they have to, or can, charge so much more to deliver to the area...they must be losing a lot of business. For anyone not familiar with Highland Region, Inverness has Tesco, Sainsbury, 20 car dealerships, Screwfix etc, and they seem to be getting the deliveries without any trouble. Much as I try to avoid Amazon, I couldn't find another good value source on this occasion

It is used extensively in huge projects such as motorways and estates. However it only works if it reaches another layer that can accept all the water and so this is getting technical and expensive. Also, they fill with muck and need the gravel replaced every few years. And there are strict rules to avoid the localised water flow causing sink holes. So not for a little job unless you happen to know that there is a layer of porous ground, not far beneath the non-porous surface.

I know an Architect in Kent who specialise in new oak, and old buildings. General design too and I even used them myself for a commercial building as they understand cost and value. Don't know if that is any use to you.

But most of us use aliases and don't give precise location, just in case.

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?