saveasteading

Same with timbers. Unless you need lots of dwangs/ noggins. And they will moan about it taking their time to sort it. I once had a job with heritage bricks that were uneven. The brickie simply discarded the bent ones to ground. Our ( not for long) site manager who valued tidyness above the things he didn't understand, had them collected and skipped. Emptying and harvesting the skip stopped this soon enough. So discuss it first. Btw I've said before: in an industry group we calculated that each average skip cost £2,500 when including stuff that shouldn't be in it. I heard myself called 'the skip inspector' , but it worked. Number of waste skips on a £1M job? 4. Perhaps add a metal or timber/paper skip as required.

If i had a lot of depth to fill, i would likely use eps on the bottom rather than subbase or pir. There are diminishing returns with thickness so eps might be optimal there.

The omly way to be sure is by testing the moisture level. It varies dramatically acc to product, water content temperature and humidity. If the location is dry and warm then it is much faster than 1mm/day. Especially for a dry mix or any without excess water (most then goes into the chemical structure)

The figures are in the suppliers' literature. You need about double the pir thickness. So fill the space then put another layer over the top. If using pir, ask your builders merchants for pir that isn't kingspan or celotex or St Gobain. As you don't want to use suppliers who were responsible for Grenfell. There are plenty.

Another thought. Wastage can be devisive. The amount of half blocks and wasted cement tends to rise when the builder isn't paying.

Imagine your contractor adds 20% for overhead and profit. They don't collect any of that until their vat return. Not a comfortable way to run a business. Timing can help to reduce the 3 month wait. Or the client buys materials and reclaims at the end of the job. Offering to pay the bills very promptly can overcome this, as does having no retention. But for this you need utter confidence in the builder. As perspective....I did a £3M project where the VAT liability was not clear and HM customs wouldn't even make a ruling prestart. Scary. But the same applies at whatever cost to some extent.

Insulation. The easy bit is below. Most heat goes off the top in simple heat transfer but also in evaporation . Is small enough that you can lay a bubble wrap on the surface and a tarpaulin over the top. You could add extra layers. It keeps the dirt out too and birds/insects/children. You could also build a timber surround and fill it. That could link with access/jumping platform/seating. £10 per week might be about right with all that. Less in summer.

You called? PIR is twice as effective as eps. In floors it is easy to lay as sheets so I don't have any criticism But it is horrid to cut and fix between joists, making it hard work and less effective. In steel buildings the PIR is extruded into a sandwich between 2 sheets of profiled steel, forming a single item, and no gaps, and there is no better way for big steel roofs and walls. It burns. But not a lot in properly designed and constructed. buildings. EPS is much more flammable and also melts readily. PU also burns. It is cheaper in cladding than pir but is for agriculture not industry.....animals and crops are not valued as much as people. It would be OK under a slab but I dong think is available. Why don't people like PIR? It was badly used on Grenfell. In everyday use though it's as I've said. For your floor slab I can't see a reason for 300 eps rather than 150 pir. But I now try to avoid the brands Celotex and Kingspan for moral reasons. Others are available. I've seen sheds after fires. Eps was awful, and spread the fire fast and widely. Fibreglass doesn't burn, and turns to sand, harmlessly in extreme heat. Some mineral wool has more resistance. Pir in a composite steel casing pretty doesn't burn because no air reaches it. But it has been known to fall off walls during fire and fire fighters stay clear.

There are a lot who are bullies and try it on. Keep it civil and on the record as this becomes important if it does get legal.

Have a look tomorrow and report what the problem is, with photos. then the BH superbrain can help......i've been where you are and others will have too. there are solutions..

I'm sympathetic to these installers. Presumably they haven't come across this process. It worries people that having heard of it, that they might lose out. As a contractor you pay vat on materials, plant and subcontractors. You reclaim it only quarterly. In vatable work the client is covering this cashflow. But in non vatable work it can hit cashflow hard, and is a free loan to the government. The contractor has to cover it somehow. Is a vat registered business obliged to take the work? I dont think so. More discussion may resolve this but I suggest don't be angry or critical.

Big. Mine was enough with a normal ladder, but the fold down one takes more space, and some stuff is now stuck up there forever. Just 100mm too small and it becomes awkward.

What would be the problem if the wall just continued to fall over? It is their wall?

I didn't know that energy source could be harnessed.

Because the walls are linear. Then the width of the footing will turn it into /m2. Safety factors...different factors are applied to dead/live/wind in a realistic way. As the chance of everything being at maximum*, plus 1m of snow on the roof plus a hurricane at the same time is low. * the building weight is known. Then you allow for a reasonable amount of furnishing and people. Not grand pianos everywhere and dancing. These figures are standard and published, but are changed by purpose if it is e.g. a fitness room. There are other safety factors built into the structure itself, for inferior materials or workmanship. The other thing the SE looks at is proximity of trees and the effect on the ground.

Do you have this beam already with the plate welded to the bottom? Unlikely, as we don't know how wide it is. A cross section would explain all. If your Engineer is a sole practitioner, message them....it is part of the job, and character building. If they are in a bigger practice, get someone else to answer. In my mind this will be a 10mm plate the width of the beam, 102mm, plus cavity, unknown, and outer skin, presumably 100mm, then less 25mm, as the steel is not to be exposed. Buy we should not be guessing. It should also specify the weld and not leave that to the fabricator. Then there are the plates..welded outside of the beam for some reason. I see you have to galvanise it after fabrication. Sorry, only the designer knows what is intended.

The same guy explained that they did a real fire in a test room with 2 x 2 stud and plasterboard screwed in, with no jointing. the stud charred where exposed but no worse. but as this was not the purpose of the test it was not published. With metal stud I wouldn't be so confident. So our ovens get repeatedly soft, but aren't structural so its ok?

With a listed building almost everything is subject to planning. I was reading about it only yesterday. Any planning involving a listed building tends to take longer too, however irrelevant the matter is. There has to be some limit though, and perhaps this is obscure enough to be worth the risk...after all you would be leaving the wall in place. I can't see the planners being too bothered, if the wall is not conspicuous or ancient/interesting in its own right.

as you would see, gabions were my thought too. as an easy and non technical solution. I think the planners would love it once you have eased their decicion. Tell them you would be filling the baskets with ...whatever they want to hear that also suits you. Local rock faced and demolition rubble behind (and invisible) ???? and that it allows water to pass through it, and that wild flowers will grow in it. Oh, and insects and reptiles. Are gabion baskets modern? The Egyptians 7,000 years ago used the principle with willow instead of wire. In the modern era they have been in wire at least 50 years (ie as long as I have been interested.)

You could possibly build all new on your side then fill the gap with stone. I like the gabion basket idea, possibly leaning back into the wall. No crossing the boundary required. When did the toppling happen? Following the wet weather perhaps with resultant buildup of water and soil turning to slurry?

It's probably alright. The bending stresses are nil, or close, at the end. Check that it is official though, not a whim by the fitter.

I agree. if there is a fire will it reach the beam? 1. fire in room....ceiling protects it unless there are significant holes in it plus air flow. 2. fire in void. Protect the steel, OR remove any source of fire (removing the ignition element (lights or fans) OR any flammable material. The easiest way to protect the steel in the case here will be to infill against the webs using appropriate rockwool. the remaining exposed flange base will likely be insignificant in any calculation.....but you don't want to be calculating for such a minor thing. In reality, no fire will burst through the ceiling lights or from them and get to any temperature to be of concern, as there is no air flow and little fuel in the void. I asked a professor of fire once, how much does it matter if joints in plasterboard fall out in a fire, or other exposed edges. He said , hardly at all, as the fire won't go through that way in real life. Plus, in the heat,the plaster changes chemically, and drives water out, especially through the edges.....killing fire at these points..

However much you don't want to see the 'plumber' again, you should get him back. Or is it just a bloke who was cheap, and has no company, reputation, insurance etc?

It's not fantasy but it is very technical to prove and difficult to do. How far away is the threatened house? Your insurers may be interested. Is the land beyond the wall yours or the neighbour's? Who else is involved? Contractor, Engineer, Architect?

And the answer will be in there. My short response is that I never thought of ties working in compression, only in tension. And yet there has to be a reason for sometimes using twisted flats rather than wire. Plus I had never heard of putting them on a slope. Any water ingress will be from outside to in, then it drips off the twist or bend and the problem is gone Structurally I can't see that it matters. I await the 2.00 am article.