TANK

Yes there is in easy escape route through the window to the neighbouring flat roof or down to the ground.

Wasn't sure if this might be better in the loft conversion section or not..? We bought the property with a loft conversion for third bedroom, but it never had a door. I know it needs one as part of the regs to be a bedroom, but we've put it off as son was younger and quite liked not being 'cut off' up there, but now he's older and wants the privacy (as do we tbf!), it's time for a door. Technically I think it should be a fire door, but due to the access it's going to be hard to put anything completely orthodox up there (another reason why I've put it off)... Am I over thinking this - can i make a basic door just to give privacy and block the noise?

Great thank you

So what paint Andehh? And do you mean you dilute it work 25%water? Cheers.

Quick one here guys. As above, what to use for painting thermalites? I regularly see white painted blocks when out and about with work, but what are they painted with? Just want to rid myself of the depressing greys in my outbuilding... Thanks

Thanks Dave. Yeah I won't be putting in any cables myself, just the basic infrastructure to house them. Can't run horizontally from socket to socket, as mentioned the batons for the ply are in the way. The current set up is in line with safe zones I believe..

OK. It isn't technically a garage, it's my flat roofed man cave, build with block and brick (and clad with wood). But it has the same footprint as a single garage.... Anyway. Just been prepping the electrics before I select a qualified spark to come and complete the install, and being a novice, thought I'd run this past you experts to prevent said spark A) ripping all my inadequate prep B) laughing his head off. It's a simple installation of sockets and lighting, via armoured (already purchased) into the garage consumer unit (purchased). The man cave is only a couple metres from the house, the trench is dug. I've installed three x 2 gang socket boxes where I want them - screwed directly to the block wall, with 20mm conduit running up to the top and linked along just under the roof line (see diagram). Now, the reason I've gone down/up and along and not straight across to link the sockets is because I've batonned the wall which will be covered by panels of ply.. I can't go through the batons. It's a lot of faff I no as it will be much easier to slap it all on the top of the ply, but i just thought it would save a little space and look much nicer. So my questions to the erudite are: • Does this look like a doable set up in its current config? • Will all the cables (2.5mm) fit in the 20mm conduit? • Do i need junction boxes anywhere or will three way conduit connectors with inspection panels suffice? • Is there anything glaringly obvious I've missed?? (Prob lots!) BTW the consumer unit (and possibly the light switch), unlike the sockets, will be situated on top of the ply. Thanks for any input you are willing/able to put forward. Tank.

Thanks Tony. That's a good idea. It will be basic power tools, a smallish chest freezer, maybe a fan for occasional use (for gym work). Possibly a tv at some point..

Thanks for all the replies guys. Thanks to all this lovely weather I've managed to put in my concrete flooring in the OB and have further excavated the trench to increase the depth and width and better facilitate the plumbing and cabling. Annoyingly the drain sits in an awkward position, right on the corner of the house at odds to the angle of my patio, and also slightly obstructing this trench. I'm not sure I can get a sparky in for a few weeks, but don't really want to leave the trench open like this for too long as I'm thinking it leaves the house foundation partially exposed and the trench walls will dry out and start crumbling... so I'm wondering - Am i ok in being proactive by running in a length of armoured cable (I'm assuming 2.5mm will suffice?), concreting over the top of it, then safety tape, and completing the trench work (I still need to find a solution to tie in the drainage) before the sparky attends? Or would they want to see in the cable themselves? I'd like to attach photos to illustrate what is what but can't. When I click 'add files' nothing happens. any ideas?

Ah right. Yes that will work. Thank you.

ok, finally going to move ahead with this now the weather is nice. one final question if you please: I think I saw somewhere that you shouldn't pour the concrete right up against the walls, in order to allow the building to 'breathe'. I now can't seem to find any reference to this, and although it still seems logical, am starting to wonder if I made it up in my head! if it isn't supposed to directly against the walls, then what forms the perimeter - wooden form work/shuttering? If so, does that remain in place or is it somehow removed? Many thanks again good peeople.

just another quick question linked to this. A couple of the boards are non foil backed. does this matter? cheers.

Thanks for that Mike. No I'm miles away in Herefordshire and already have some ducting but thanks anyway. I prob should have mentioned that I can't fit the trench deeper due to drains further down...

Hey guys hope it's all good posting this one here... I'm intending to feed in electrics to the outbuilding from the house - the distance between (the corner of) house and said outbuilding is roughly 2.5m. it will come down the wall, then through the 2.5m trench under a new patio I'm putting in, to the OB. The question I have is, will the patio serve as part of the 450mm minimum depth requirement? The trench at present is about 250mm, so with the patio on top or should kep more or less get there. Is this acceptable or a 'cheat'? cheers in advance..

we have three doors, one on each side of the property - the fourth side is attached. So, we still have 2 with this one blocked off.

OK, well I guess no one knows! 🤣

I'm about to put in a rough concrete floor down in my 6x3m outbuilding. I want to put some insulation in first, and have a selection of leftover boards which are varying in thickness between 40mm-60mm. Is it a big no-no to use slightly different sizes? Or can i still use them, as the finished level of concrete will still be the same? I'm not overly bothered with the finish, it's just an outbuilding for storage mainly, but just thought would be prudent to stick some insulation down whilst I have the chance...

Hello peeps we have a front door that has not been used for many years, sometime before we purchased the property. I believe it became obsolete when porch to the side door was constructed. We also have a rear door from the kitchen which opens onto the rear garden. So, what I'm wondering is, as the title suggests, can I block this front door off? I could remove it completely and fill the hole, but I'm thinking this is an unnecessary expense, since we lose very little heat through it (it's fairly modern upvc), and only want to change the look of the front of house. Are there any regulations preventing me from simply cladding across it? many thanks in advance. Tank.

i was thinking that there would be a small break between the 3 sections where the shuttering is, and that three smaller ones would be stronger and less likely to break than one larger long one... maybe I'm looking at this wrong. would said gap at the shuttering be a bleed point for thermal retention? cheers

Hey guys I'm (finally) just about to get cracking on laying down my floor in the block shed/outbuilding that I built last year (I've kinda been distracted by a patio plus a multitude of other things...). I'm doing everything myself, and thinking that a 6x2.5m area is a bit much to tackle in one go. My idea has been to lay it in 3 separate blocks. This way i don't have to completely empty the stuff out of the building, I can just move it down away from the first area, then move it back when the first part has cured. It will consist of: - sand blinding - dpm - 50mm insulation - 50mm concrete As you can see from the level of insulation, I'm not overly fussed with the floor - the uilding is primarily for storage but I will want to use it now and then as a basic workshop, games room etc. Sooo, what I'm essentially asking is, is it possible to lay a third of the insulation, shutter it off and do a pour, then move to the middle third and do the same, etc? Will this method likely lead to level issues/thermal property issues/other problems? I am a novice! cheers all.

thanks all. thought as much. so now I've got half a tonne of the wrong sand on my hands! What a pleb. Unless, that is, I can use it for my concrete slab.... I'm presuming not.

A rather simple one for you guys. I'm building a patio to the rear of the house, and it's half finished. I needed more sand but the sand I bought is a lot finer than the other stuff I had. is there any rights or wrongs when it comes to which sand you use? Thanks

yeah, well the two barrels I currently have are just like giant water butts. Don't look pretty though, and take up too much space. I need a nicer solution but glad to hear I can hook up to the downpipe. We get a really large amount of rain, and I've been surprised at how much water the flat roof collects. Must admit, being a novice builder I overlooked this aspect somewhat although before I built it there was a concrete base of the same footprint (from the prefab that was there before we bought the place), and the water was obviously going SOMEWHERE back then although I do not know where...

really? if so that would be amazing. I thought there midge be some regulation regarding how much roof area feeds into one pipe, but I suppose with it just being an overflow it could avoid this. ideally I'd like to get rid of the barrels as they're unsightly and I'm fed up of emptying them periodically, so if this is a goer I will replace them with an icb (potentially underground), have a pump feed the downstairs loo and then any excess/overflow can be directed into the house down pipe.

Guys just a quick one. I've built myself a flat roofed outbuilding (6mx3m) mainly for storage about 1.5m from the house. In short I have a problem with where to put the rainwater as the ground in clay so my initial plan for a large soakaway is a no go. currently I have 2 large barrels to collect it, but these need emptying every couple of weeks or so. I have been weighing up various ideas re harvesting the water from pumping it down the garden for irrigation to the raised beds, or to use for flushing the downstairs loo... But the most obvious solution to me seems to be to hook it up with the down pipe from the house roof which is very close (and very tempting!), but I am assuming this might be prohibited.? i know its prob only a quick call to the water authorities but thought I'd see what info I can get here first. many thanks in advance.. Tank.