saveasteading

Thanks. I see what you mean about asking people who look beyond the obvious. I was a d and b contractor, all in-house, so there is a synergy. Your role is relevant, because if you are the designer and want to be the builder, then I will pull out of the conversation, on a conflict of interests basis, as my family's business does just that, pure d and b, all in-house. I suggest forget the polystyrene, which is great for amateurs but is not really commercial imho. Good luck with it.

In my experience, planners and highways depts. are inconsistent on this, when there is an existing driveway. Have seen them allow an existing entrance despite change of use and a horrendous lack of visibility. So you could try it, and see what comes of it. But do please satisfy yourself that the entrance is reasonably safe for users and other drivers. The only real way to do that is to drive out of it yourself, and consider what might change if hedges grow,

You should tell the SE what you propose. The BCO will likely want the SE say-so, and there may be something else significant that only he would know about. If obv. OK then he may simply email back that your proposal is acceptable. Catnic is owned by Tata, so getting steel should not be difficult for them. Covid or Brexit more likely, so your idea is sensible.

This was what I did for 35 years and the family business continues without me. Therefore i will only give a few points, and you must do as you wish. ie this is some of what we would tell you for nothing if discussing a design and build contract. Taking a project from 5 years ago as an example. This was a 4 storey nursing home, so quite like yours in size and scale. It had to have brick facing. I analysed about 6 different ways of building it. polystyrene timber lightweight steel structural steel masonry. mixture of the above We ended up with timber frame, with light steel a close second, the differentiator being the multitude of small, standard rooms. BUT for an office you should have, in my opinion, great open spaces, so I would propose structural steel as the likely favourite. You can still infill with pod offices if you like, and change them in the future to suit fashions. I have never met a 'sustainability consultant', unless you mean a Breeam consultant. I sat and passed the exam simply to satisfy clients and planners that I knew of what I spoke, but didn't agree with most of what they proposed. In fact we have always renegotiated Breeam planning conditions, by pointing out and deleting the crazy bits. You clearly have architects and other consultants, but are asking this Buildhub community for help...can I ask why? I don't think many here are likely to advise on how to pour a wall, if your consultants cant help. Perhaps that will become clear of you tell us your role for 'your client'.

Refurb or demolish and rebuild? A commercial builder will demolish and start again. It removes risk, allows the work to proceed without special details, and gets the job done much more quickly, and time is money in both overhead and cashflow. In business I have done both. It can be difficult to persuade the client that his building is worth less than nothing, and should come down. 'I will give you 2 quotes' resolves everything. On the other hand, if a building can be adapted it is 'a good thing', and can save a lot of money. A private diy builder may have more time and flexibility, to make use of what is there. It really depends on the building and your own circumstances. Hence we (extended family) are on our 7th repair and modernise project, and have never done new. There will be unexpected issues in a refurb for which you must allow costs. 5%-10% minimum even after expertly identifying problems. There will seldom be surprise good news.

Thanks everyone. there appear to be 3 suppliers readily on the internet, and the prices come up much the same after adding the essential extras, like transport, and legs, and platform. so £900 to £1100 then add vat. We may phone round the hire companies and see if they have any for disposal....the sort you would be annoyed to get delivered for a hire...painty, tired. The need now is for a tower on wheels to scoot around inside for local repairs and wood treatment. I see a diy tower for £300 ish, but I think that will not be very durable, or secure at height. Also I see a second-hand company in Kent, but most of the reviews don't encourage confidence. I suppose you are protected if using a credit card. Their towers come from somewhere, which brings me back to phoning around. Interestingly, there were loads of decent trailers on facebook marketplace. Already proven itself as a good buy for the project.

Any tips on finding pre-used scaffold towers? Inverness area. I see plenty on facebook in the SE of England, gernerally 1/3 of the new price. Nothing Inverness/ Moray.

A year, and no big cracks? Professional.

Good plan, and can poss use up leftover bits. Just a blob of cheap glue to the rafter, as it becomes redundant after ins is fitted? Watched the gapotape video, but will need some convincing that this is worth while.

No need for a latex screed in my opinion. Floorers like it because they make quite easy extra money for it while also taking away some risk (there are some horrible efforts at flooring out there). I have had lots of cases of floorers tutting about levels and moisture content and it has always been false: whether scam or ignorance who can say? How long has your concrete been down? Try putting a glass bowl upside down on it on a warm day, and if it doesn't steam up you are fine.

that is hard and looks flat enough.

Why don't the 3 of you in Devon/Cornwall help each other? Can't really recommend pumping over conveyor from the photo as it doesn't look as big as you say, and can't see whether the height up is a problem. Plus hire a couple of labourers from an agency. Hire a poker and whatever you need for the finishing.

as I am not rushing..... The air gap is to let the roof breathe, esp if there is a timber sarking, and esp if that is a large board rather than narrow boards. I haven't done it, but plan on trying just nailing at 50mm for the boards to push against , to save £hundreds on 50 x 25 batten. (£1.50 x 2, per m, per rafter). If anyone has tried and it is a bad idea, please tell.

If the only issue is a few screed marks, then they rub off easily. can use tools or just rub with a brick. I have known a floating engineered floor to make a slapping sound where there is a tiny hollow, but it then relaxed to shape. Wood bends, even laminated wood. How thick is the glue? Have you tried a straight edge? Latency is another matter. Basically dust or a weak surface caused by too much water or too much trowelling, as that will be a weker bond than glue to wood. If it is ultra soft the it should be rubbed back to a clean hard surface. If reasonably good, it might be worth a coat of PVA. perhaps a thin coat then a thicker one. If hard, leave it. Try scratching with finger nail then screwdriver.

There are standard aluminium sections that create the final slope up to the threshold, and you can use slabs/tiles up to that point. i don't think this needs much thinking ahead really. construct your floor, then locally make the necessary ramp. ditto outside. In the worst scenario if standard sections don't quite work you can get a local ramp made precisely out of chequer plate. 2 pics below

Can we see a photograph? I have often wondered why these specialist kits are so expensive. On the face of it, the contents are £100, on sale for £200. suppose it has been thought out and refined, and made just right for a brick mortar bed, so the company deserves some profit and credit. Also gives confidence compared to buying your own bits. For a barn there will be different parameters. Brick or stone? My own thoughts for a stone barn, are to buy stainless steel threaded rod (v cheap mail order) , possibly add some nuts where bed thickness allows, bend to suit the wall gaps, then bed in with cement mortar. Then finish off with lime mortar. probably more adjustable to the beds, and £30 instead of £200. As i am looking at this kit x 8 it is more significant. If you use helifix, HID will be more relaxed. If you use something else there will be no credit if it works well. £170 plays against poss grief.

Currently reading all the rules, in both the Scottish and England and Wales versions. I see that both septic tanks and package treatment plants needs sampling and inspection access at both inlet and outlet. see Document H2 , clause 1.23 This then refers to H1, 2.48 which implies that an ordinary inspection chamber suffices. result! or result? But the Scottish document requires this. Therefore it is possible that this is also expected in England and Wales, and they are still available to buy as an expensive (£300) 'thing'.

The amount of mud on your concrete is trivial. I was commenting on muck deliberately mixed through from a separate pile. Likewise the odd bit of plastic and steel is to be expected, but not branches., toilet seats and areas of steel mesh. Yes you send away good stuff, and unfortunately sometimes buy back a lesser mix. If in any doubt, ask the supplier if you can observe the crushing process. It will help the price a lot if they can use the lorries both ways, ie delivery and collection, but that depends on having enough space.

The cost of sorting the neighbours door slam is so small that you might offer to do it for them. Thickness of an extra skin of wall? 20mm gap with rockwool slab therein, normally a 70mm stud, with fibreglass roll or batt between, then plasterboard and skim or joint. you might turn the studs 90 degrees, put twice as many in, and accept some deflection. Testing if noise is flanking through the floor is rather undignified. It involves you lying on the floor with an ear on the solid floor surface while a noise is created next door. It is worst with impact on the floor, and much reduced if there is carpet.

I've done 350 buildings and had one measured, that I know of. I don't know why they measured it....probably somebody complained it was too big. It was to the mm. However I think they sometimes just have a look, and if there is no obvious discrepancy that is the end of it. Have asked a planner what tolerance they allow. On a brick house there is no excuse for being more than 1/2 brick out either end, so 1 brick. Strangely nobody goes half brick shorter. Of course they are busy and not looking for trouble....unless upset for other reasons. If there was an issue it would be negotiated, and the bottom line is whether it would have got PP at the larger size.

I am not confident that the typical accountant will know the rules, or be prepared to write that letter. Will be interesting to hear progress. Have met a specialist in VAT who will write the letters, and take the hit if HMRC don't agree, but you don't want to know their fee level. We have just had exactly the same query, since my earlier post. We are writing to 1. State that it is a conversion and the 5% applies. 2. Enclose the planning permission. 3. Guarantee that we will pay (effectively lend) him the other 15% if it is disputed by HMRC , until resolved. (but his invoice must state 5% so we can reclaim) Haven't had the response yet. Firstly we hope he realises this is correct. Secondly he has the planning evidence to show hmrc if necessary. To reiterate, it is not nice being the contractor that has to change the process, lose a lot of cash-flow, and have some risk of aggro from hmrc, so I sympathise.

Never heard of the triple leaf effect. More layers and more density will reduce air-borne sound, not amplify it. Impact sound will come through because there is contact all the way. To reduce airborne sound you need something separate from the solid wall, so changing to a dab connection is little benefit. Any introduction of fibreglass between the leaves will help, but noise will still come through the connections. Also there is flanking sound, where a surprising amount comes through the weakest point, such as cracks or joints at corners. What is the floor made of? If concrete in a single slab, then the noise can reverberate from one house to the next. For a much better sound barrier add another skin of wall, using studs that span floor to floor, and that don't touch the party wall. Fill with acoustic mineral wool, plasterboard and finish. You have now lost 80 to 100mm of floor space. The best improvement I have known was by fitting a special acoustic barrier of pvc sheet, containing lead, hung loose down the 9 inch solid party wal, then stud and board. It resulted in not being able to ever hear babies or tv through the wall either direction. It was experimental and would be v expensive, and I don't know if it is available. It shows what can be achieved if it matters enough. British Gypsum and Knauf have info on the noise reductions theoretically available, but an acoustics guy told me that the life levels are never as good as the lab figures.. Please note that you could do lots to the wall, only to have the noise come through the ceiling, or side walls....it depends so much on the construction.

Not exactly. when you dig up rock or soil it bulks up with jagged edges and lots of air between so the density is reduced. For gravel or pure sand it will not bulk much, but the more jagged the product the more air is between the lumps, 0.7 is a decent estimate for concrete or clay.. So 1m3 of solid concrete becomes 1.4m3 of pile of concrete. If you send it away you fill the lorry with 0.7 concrete and 0.3 air. They or you crush it, and the density varies a lot depending on if it is all one size or there are smaller bits and dust to fill the gaps. If completely graded, like type 1 stone, it is very much denser. Then if you compact type 1 well, it is almost like concrete or rock again. If you crush on site to put back the same volume, you will have surplus hardcore. If you buy it in, you can have a choice of qualities, and densities....ask the supplier what the conversion is. You pay them by the ton, and use the conversion between 1.8 and 2.2 ish to convert to m3 you need. The crushing process can vary in quality, and ethical approach, I have seen earth being mixed in, and have had wire and plastic in it. How did a toilet seat get through the crusher and the sieve? I have rejected a load for being full of mud (mixed thoroughly) and had no argument back from the supplier. Conversely there are very thorough suppliers, and it is as good as virgin stone. answer? diy crushing you will bulk up and have surplus. diy or send away and buy back? you must do the sums. My hunch is crush on site but crush it very thoroughly. Some might have to through twice. Have a hose to hand to keep the dust down, and some beers for the neighbours. BUT !!!!!! are you sure you need to take it out/ why can you not leave it there as a very good sub-base? More to say on that subject if required, but I have observed that most(?) consultants say to take it out and then put stone in, but it is not their money.

Depending on levels, if you screeded inside to slope to the door, would it run outside and away?

If that is your decision, then show the groundworker diagram 9 and clauses 2.19 and 2.20 of document H. Any change of gradient to have an access point. They have none Bends as large a radius as possible. They have tight bends. Unfortunately I can't screen grab it, but here is the link https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/442889/BR_PDF_AD_H_2015.pdf