saveasteading

There is usually reclaimed timber on Marketplace, but barely cheaper than new. Perhaps it sells to people who just assume it's a bargain.

All good advice. Where does surface water go? Towards this wall or away from it? Keep your gravel lower than the drive so that it can hold water until it soaks away. The gravel will need cleaning every year or so but this is easy.

Presumably all natural forests have changed genetically to suit the circumstances. Then they replant as monoculture with something faster growing and alien. Commercial forests are not generally attractive to be in for human leisure, and are deserts of needles and darkness on the ground. But I still favour timber. We must wish @Pendiclewell in reusing the salvaged timber. I think I can tell C24 from C16 by sight. Especially as C24 appears to be more wide grained than in the past.

It is because the trees grow very quickly in the climate, unlike cold places where the growth rings are closer together ( eg Finland, Canada, and previously Russia). Also i was informed by a Finnish timber merchant manager that their flat land results in straightness and strength.

Sorry, you're right of course, I'm mixing up who's project we are looking at, re zero or 5% then explaining badly. This is right though isn't it. The 20% tax back on materials bought direct does apply but it can be quite a cash investment, IF it saves money at the time, then waiting a long time for it back. Saving will depend on the builder's account levels, and on how they value risk or margin on materials. I had one job where the contractor was taking some of our plasterboard every night...that's another matter though.

If Only. They invoice at 5% VAT but you can reclaim it at the end of the job, so must keep very detailed records. Materials you an buy yourself, pay 20% and also reclaim. Equipment used for construction, you can't claim back Be sure that your work complies with the requirements. Renovation does not and is all 20%. New build or conversion does, as above. And you still have to allow for the cashflow, as it will be out of your hands a long time.

Good point. A UK Power guy dated a pole to the late 1940s based on having a wide grain and lots of knots...ie a British fir tree that grew rapidly, and was all there was. Even now you can buy Highlands timber that is C16 or ungraded, but not C24.

That seems an awful lot, after a leaf filter. My 1920s brick single chamber cess tank had that much on the bottom. Not bits of leaves. Any idea what it is? would you change anything another time?

Great idea to reuse it. Its quite likely better than at the local BM anyway. Photos of it? Most timber is visually graded, from the closeness of rhe growth rings and the amount of knots. So you need help from your BM (agree to buy everything else from them) or an SE. OR you could design as if it as C16 timber and be on the safe side.

This last year has had very little input from me, but masses of work by daughter and soninlaw. They have excelled. They've been boarding in the stairway today too. A shame to lose the storage space but needs must.

got a name ? Anything good or annoying about it? eg bright display or sounds.

I see we discussed this in 2021! have I been on BH that long? But it was early days I hoping you recent completers can advise.

The steading is done. BCO final visit next week and ...ooops we haven't fitted a CO2 detector as required in one bedroom. A CO2 monitor should be permanently fixed and is required to be mains operated." Does this mean it needs to be fixed to the wall and hardwired? I . Having to be hard wired is a pain and awkward being so late. They seem to be very expensive. £150 and rising. Any recommendations please, considering cost, rapid availability, ease of installation and, of course, that they perform.

@Smallholdertoo as the others here, i worry that your designers are having trouble. This has all been done thousands of times but your people are making it up and getting it wrong. The sketches are skilled in draughtmanship but not building knowledge. Best change to an experienced designer not someone learning alongside you. Who decided on larsen trusses? Is that decision leading your whole process?

Then be sure. Inspect during and after the worst rain and take pictures. My hunch is to use french drains all the way to these ditches. That will spread your water over a big area and avoid affecting the peat. It will then spread the same water as currently, across the clay. Big storms reach the ditches. You might put a slight dam in a ditch to hold water back.

Is that freudian? Consciencous? EDIT: This typo is just too good to edit out. She's a keeper

If you use the ditch, will the water flow away ( and where to?) Or sit there until it dissipates? Any idea what the ditches were dug for?

Watch the guy doing it and ask what the cause is. I predict you will see a screw at that point. Tt may have ben protruding ever since built but some slight movement has touched it to the glass or vice versa, If so, screw it in tighter or change it. Or the glass is slightly too big and touching the frame there, again through some movement.

wise. We haven't even mentioned what size it should be relative to the frame.....leave that to the fitter too.

I have reverted to using hit-fix for this. The hole doesn't need to be so accurate. The same applies though...predrill the timber, then change bit and go into the floor, deeper than you need and you don't have to worry about dust. Then thump and it is done, but tighten if it will take it.

The Scottish and English guidelines are almost identical, but not quite. If one doesn't suit then use the other and you should be ok. BUT if you can't make it work by numbers then use logic. Where does water go now? AND if in trouble, go back to page 1. 'the Regulation' . Paraphrased It will say that " water must be disposed of to cause no trouble or flooding or whatever. Using the following guidelines will satisfy the requirement." It does not preclude other solutions. BTW the issue with percolation being too fast is that it can create sinkholes. That happens with Kentish (etc) chalk. It will not happen with glacial moraine, which is just short of being sandstone until disturbed. Too slow and a solution is to spread it over a lot of area, in different directions rather than a 'field' then with an overflow to a lagoon, where the head of water helps and wind will evaporate a fair amount. The numbers still won't work but the reality usually will.

I've said on here before...I have seen PIR floating.....not an experience you want or worth saving 50p/m2 for.

US post boxes have a flag that sticks up. Not so much fun as wires and lights perhaps?

For a transport company in the grottiest estate you can imagine, we had to tick a box for the LA. The ground was a bombsite dump, and any hole would result in rotting clothes and dead dogs. No holes and minimise the cost were the targets. Behind the garage was out of sight. So we bought 5 IBCs and placed the end one under a big downpipe, then linked them by tank connecting pipes. In theory they filled buckets at the end tap for slungeing out sick from bus floors. Overflow was from a higher outlet and so it could have reduced flooding too, if that had been an issue. Payback? At today's prices that might cost £500 all-up. What are 5 buckets of water a day worth?

Perhaps too complex in the existing tank, but the principle is good. You need a small manhole before the tank for maintenance, so make it a bit bigger and as a catching, ie in and out at the top. I then got our non bricklaying worker to build a brick wall across. The low quality mortar filtered the water after it had settled, but otherwise build it properly with a gap at mid height. After 2 years there was about 1mm of silt in the inlet side and negligible on thd outlet side. Do you need to waterproof the inside? An old tank is likely to be cracked and leaky, but these cracks would be fairly obvious. It's not for drinking water so bitumen paint should do.