saveasteading

Fixing anything through profiled metal, to be weatherproof and attractive is very difficult. A roofer who thinks it is not would worry me. Even if worked out precisely it can be different in reality as cladding widths vary +/- about 10mm, and lines wobble. For a skylight in a house I think I would create a box-out first (timber and lead) to get a foolproof and tidy transition. This is only theory, as I know lots about metal roofs and not so much about houses. These good examples above are very impressive, but still grounds for a little concern in storm conditions. For anyone who does not know, every metal profile has foam fillers available. Tidy closures, but seagulls peck them.

The building looks relatively new and decent condition compared to most like this. The gutter sections simply butt together, so the joints fail with time. Maintenance is primitive and as decribed above. As the gutter is within the structure it can only drip inwards. As a simple start, do the cleaning as that will reduce ponding and empty the gutter more quickly, then dripping stops or at least reduces. Also check that the downpipes are clear. Then test the flow with bucket or hose. Unfortunately the gutters will be level at best, not falling to outlets. Although the cladding appears to be asbestos, any in the gutter should be wet and encased in filth so should be safe..but get back up on this or you may get complaints. Another solution is to insert a liner so that it is impervious as dave jones says. This is a standard solution and commercially available. I have thought of creating extra outlets forward from the joints, but never tried it.

not everyone wants to go to London. Wikipedia say this, which I can't improve on. The constituency is set in a relatively isolated part of the southeast from the railways perspective and so does not enjoy some of the more general affluence of this part of the country. In the 2000 index of multiple deprivation a majority of wards fell within the bottom half of rankings so it can arguably be considered a deprived area.[3] Hastings has some light industry, while Rye has a small port, which includes hire and repair activities for leisure vessels and fishing. Hastings is mostly Labour-voting, whereas Rye and the rest of the areas from Rother council are Conservative. Back to the original point..... the drainage does look tricky. I hope the buyer comes on here, and maybe there is a solution other than taking a gallon away every time they go out.

Mr Punter, Amber Rudd famously said much the same as you, not knowing she was being heard, 'but at least it isn't too far back to London'. There was an article in the press, and tv, this week about how towns on the coast were disadvantaged. It is largely, I think, due to only having half the opportunity to travel...one way is all sea. So they are literally dead ends. I have found that they can be like an island mentality. the druggies etc are not necessarily the produce of the town, but of course some are. No Eight fish restaurant rather posher than the other 20 chip shops, but in a good way. That survey that someone linked to this week....all the values per m2, shows coastal towns of the SE as half the cost of just 20 miles inland. I like Hastings, and Broadstairs.

Mr Punter, you have not seen the real Hastings. Been along all Saints Street, or Rockanore to the net drying sheds? The most music festivals in the country. World champions for 'dress as a pirate day'. Of course there are less good areas. Developers have their eyes on destroying the best of the seafront, to allow Londoners a weekend pad in the 'next Brighton', but so far the locals prevail. re that squeezed in house. I can't say I like it, but the absence of parking matters less in old Hastings than most places, where there are masses of small old houses with no parking, and about 20 pubs an plus small shops, within walking distance, but the steep climb/stagger home. For that reason I feel the buyer will be a person who wants to live centrally, not a developer, but we will see.

Everbody is correct. The only issue with 20mm sand is that, however well laid and compacted, it kicks up as soon as anyone stands on it. Then you get not only loose areas, but differences in thickness. IF they have a way of getting it level and keeping it that way, then all may be well. Next insulation you say? That is strong enough to take pedestrians and spread the weight . Then I suggest putting a board on it and jumping to even the sand under the insulation, or there may be hollows. On the other hand 10mm more screed is 0.4m3, so not a great cost. Or mix sand and cement as mentioned. 0.4m3, with free sand? That seems to be the answer.

I was helping a near neighbour with an issue with their heating, (SE England £3,100/m2) and they showed me the manual provided by the certain very large house developer. Built 10 years ago, timber frame, brick clad, 'affordable'. It was a few sheets of paper in an oversized folder, almost entirely generic, and of no use at all. Basically it had the sbem certificate (for a sample house) and some tips on saving energy by turning things off. If tested the house would have been off the bottom of the scale....yes really. So if it is alright for that builder Then We don't have much to beat.

This is simply price divided by m2, and for large, mixed areas, so will be very approximate. Also I would think it would be slightly too cheap, because bigger does not equate to better. To deal with your query of extensions and their value. I would say that a house extension has to be absolutely appropriate or it will be worth less than the cost. In a terrace of £200k houses, a small extension and loft conversion may just get the cost back when sold, but anything big or eccentric will cause a loss, because there is a 'right' value for that location. If you want bigger you look somewhere else. And extensions are expensive £/m2 People extend because they don't want to move, and they pay for the convenience (and saving) of not moving. An eccentric, overextended property may even be worth less than the standard ones around it. cheaper cost divided by bigger area The same will apply to quality. You won't get the money back on a very fancy kitchen. So a wreck in need of conversion will keep the cost/m2 down, and a 'tired' conservatory is worth nothing (or less) , while a fancy refit will not push the price up much. Or am I wrong? is there one for Scotland?

Agreed, but will be a discipline to gather the details together for future reference. A chance to hunt down any missing info now. I am in positive mode. Had a client once who said he couldn't adjust something, so I referred to the maintenance manual. 'Never got one, don't know what one is' 'See that red file on your shelf behind your right shoulder? ' 'Harumph. How did that get there? ' It becomes the site manger's role to pick instruction books out of the rubbish where the plumber/sparks has chucked it. 'No release of retention until information provided' is written into the contracts, and helps a lot.

I had not heard of this either but easily found it here http://radar.gsa.ac.uk/6856/1/Home Starter Guide report.pdf I know it as 'soft landings', but quickstart is a better term. it appears to be a template of what you need to know about your new house. an operators' manual. in commercial terms this is the maintenance manual. that would include all the drawings, manuals and some descriptions for future maintenance. it is sensible to keep all the manuals of course, for the ultimate 'soft landing' in business projects we would assume that the client's managers had all left and some poor new member of staff had to adjust clocks/ reset boiler or whatever. we even got the sparky or plumber to talk to camera while doing these things, and they were proud to do so, then the film went on file. I will leave it to you to read the article. for your own house it is still a good idea.

Always write to the planner to correct any errors in objections. Do it asap to give them time to consider, and it even saves them the time of reporting on any discounted arguments. so planner will be happy to get it...esp if your message states the point, and the proof of why it is wrong. keep it polite and professional, esp factual. eg here is our proposal plan and we have shown the boundary on it, and here is copy of deeds showing same boundary.

Glad it worked out for you. Surprisingly you do not have to own land to get planning permission on it. Neither do you need planning permission to build something. However you could expect to be in court later, then removing it all and compensating.

Non-woven geotextile through preference. This allows water to drain away, prevents mud from coming up into the stone, and prevents stones getting pressed down into the earth. Costs anywhere from £1 to £2 /m2 normally but there is very heavy duty stuff at high prices. Easily confused with woven, which works but not usually so well, and is more suitable for weed control. You could use this to protect the drop-off point too, then recover for original use, whereas polythene will get thrown away.

Often with metal roofs you have to plant a new section of metal from the penetration all the way to, and under, the ridge. otherwise the laps dont work. OR if the zinc is old-fashioned craftsmanship, there may be a plumber left in the country who can fashion some lovely waterproof trim. imo sunpipes are for corridors, or to provide a glimpse of daylight for someone otherwise in the dark. For more light you can sometimes use a skylight and build your own box down to the room, eg if there is an attic, you can box down, and have a translucent ceiling panel, and a reflective boxout above. Here is my favourite example .

Similar costs until you start knocking out large areas of walls. Taking off the corner of a building is not likely to be easy or economical, as is where all the elements come together and stiffen the building. Something has to go in its place, like columns and beams and struts. Better find a way of working the existing wall, or some of it, into the design. But Architecture is adventure. Engineers can make it work. Just remember I mentioned the cost. That picture is something special..keep it, frame it and hang it with pride when the work is done, perhaps where the corner used to be.

Here is a start in answer. Random order. Stone is very much cheaper by the lorryload than in bags. The bags are single use and you pay for them, and to get rid of them, plus there is more handling. Yes you should remove the moss and topsoil, and put down a geomembrane that will prevent the stone and earth mixing. You do not need MOT I or II for your purposes, and you should find something much cheaper. Tell the supplier you are not in the industry and ask what alternatives can they suggest. (Never pretend or bluff knowledge. They will not fleece you for that reason: generally the prices are straight, and no discounts) It varies by location and availability. They will send you a full list of materials and prices if you ask. Beware tonnage to m3 conversions. You buy it by the ton, then compact it, and get quite a lot less by volume than you hoped. You can save money by putting weaker stone down first, and better on top of it. You can buy from merchants, direct from quarries, or via haulage companies.

Best check what they mean by scalpings. To me there are MOT I, MOT II, Road planings, Road planings Type I and Type II. and scalpings. As I understood it scalpings were slightly inferior, quite good for under a road, but not to MOT grades. I think basically the nearest the quarry could get to Type II with their own materials. From a quick google I see a lot of the above being interchanged,. Ask. But for a pedestrian path, any should be fine. The bitumen content of road planings is surprisingly little, (5% or less, and coating the stone) and imo it will stick back together without dissolving.

Thanks re Basalt. I will keep looking for info. If your original road design was for 2 layers of A393, that seems very heavy structural construction. Presumably the SE had nothing to do with your choice of a crack-control amount of Basalt mesh instead. As you say, there appears to be an assumption that 'of course steel rusts'. This makes a good story for non-technical journalists and public. There is seldom an interview with a Structural Engineer, because the answer would not aid the panic.... I should have some articles in the pile of technical press I haven't got around to opening. He would say 'It is not that simple, and proper dense concrete does not normally fill with salt water and rust to failure. There are dams and sea walls that have stood for decades.' so they don't ask. We saw the exposed steel in Miami, but I expect that could have been sorted in good time. I have seen a seaside (ie 10m) concrete building completely disintegrated in the Caribbean. I suspect there was salt in the concrete mix, and a series of other issues like insufficient cover to the bars. Would other reinforcement perform any better? I am working on design of 400m2 of floor, in a conversion, so would be interested in using basalt mesh. It will go through the door, and be easy to place. There is insulation and screed to go on top, so no real risks. Hence my interest is real as well as academic.

I had not heard of basalt reinforcement before joining this forum. Fibreglass basically I think. If anybody can pass on success or problem stories then that would be great. Where do we buy it even? If only from ebay and alibaba then it is not for me, yet. why are people buying it? Price? Availablity? Or known properties? I can find remarkably little about its uses and properties, so am sceptical. Shame because buying it in rolls is so much more convenient than great 4.8 x 2.4m sheets. I can see that it might be very appropriate for internal concrete floors. The tendency to stretch would not be a problem (might even help distribute micro-cracks) , as long as the bond is good....it doesn't look great by sight. Steel mesh has more texture, is less shiny, and even the rust helps grip quite a lot.

Good luck with the discussion.

Is this for thick resins? In what sort of use? In concrete there is significant heat generation too, but it isn't much relevance in everyday building. Dams and bridges under construction may have chilled water and aggregate in the mix, and cooling pipes running through. Concrete slabs curl in curing too, but not in everyday, controlled circumstances.

I only ever used them for small pours or multiple small pours of bases in boxes, so the volume was known. always seemed fair. What I didn't like was that there were no accounts and they wanted a deposit, which was difficult to get back. Now I see that some of the big companies do it, as an option. have you ever tried them?

Good advice. I never thought to look. I sometimes wonder how precise the mix is anyway, although I like the principle for small pours.

You need to know the angle. So you need the width of the building, the eaves height and the ridge height, and of course subtract them. and watch out for the change in shape at the brick parapet. Then either Pythagoras, or a scale drawing and you will have your angle. It looks as if you may have to ask at the end of terrace, but presumably all the roofs are the same.

Done that essay. I have a friend who posted the most awful domestic slab up on facebook, asking about cracking. It was very much worse than this discussion. The answers and suggestions coming back from public and supposedly 'experts' (my husband is a screeder and says....) were concerning. Re the current post. I once had trouble getting concreters for a big industrial floor. A gang I knew from before said they could do it, without their ganger man who 'wasn't necessary'. Oh yes he was. I couldn't believe how these people who had indeed poured lots of slabs, could not do it properly without their ganger. I had to do a lot of pointing and instructing myself, which isn't the idea, then I can't remember if I sacked them or found a ganger. This happens in all trades....the second and third in command do not tend to think much of the whys and wherefores of what they do every day. So yes, your ganger may well agree that this is not acceptable and has to be sorted... Please, ....not by concealing the cracks with some cement paste, as it will only be a few mm thick, and the cracks will still be there. Trying to be optimistic, it is possible that only the surface paste has a severe problem. They have allowed too much paste to come to the top, and that may just come off and leave a hard surface, but a few mm step down. Keep all these slabs wet.