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Hi, I'm new to the forum, so I thought it would be a good time to introduce myself. I'm working on a renovation project with my wife which is great fun and frustrating at the same time :). A little background on the project. The house started out as a bungalow built on a hill with great views. In the early 80's it was renovated and extended. The front of the property has the earth dug away to make space for a separate building (The same width as the bungalow upstairs) with a sundeck built on top of it overlooking an amazing rolling country side. At the time to gain planning they put this down as a garden storage room (They must have had a lot of garden equipment!) and therefore didn't join the 2 buildings together. In terms of finish, think of white Spanish villa with concrete balustrades. Stage 1: Last 4 years... Make it habitable as we have a young family (you know things like toilets / taps working and hot water / heating) The garden was overgrown and hadn't been maintained for about 10 years. Roll out the petrol powered tools! Decide what to do with the renovation while living here. Step 2: Start initial renovation So that's things like new roof as we had snow in the loft last year A glass box built above where the joining staircase will go down eventually including groundworks ready to house the stairs. Windows / doors across the front as the old wooden ones were about to fall out So now we're at the next stage, which is get the stairs in, stud walling up, first fix electrical, make a final decision on heating (air source / underfloor), VIP insultation as we're restricted on room height and all that lovely finishing stuff (flooring and Tech :)) After that's done we can move downstairs and start sorting out the top. I look forward to being involved in forum and meeting you all. No doubt I'll have a few posts about some of the items / decisions along the way as I'm sure you all have valuable advice :). Regards, Rod

Hi,I am planning to do some work this year in July on my parents’ house which they bought 10 years ago, nothing considerable has been done on the house as they are can't afford the majority of the project that are present to them. I am taking on the project to help them out and to make a change, right now I am in the process of ordering the stone window surrounding set so it's ready for next week. I've talked thing out with my parent and we are looking to integrate the security roller shutter in the tight space behind the stone head of the window set so that box doesn't appear ugly. we are also planning to put a tilt & turn aluminium window in the two opening and put in a lintel above the 180 x 180mm shutter box. I was thinking of replacing the timber lintel to a steel beam with 200mm end bearing on each side. I will probably need to buy some arcow prop and some strong boy for this kind of job but don't know how many for a 600mm opening in a stone wall. probably 2, to support the timber floor joists inside and 4 for the window opening. Please let me know if am wrong.At the moment I need some advice on what lintel to purchase on your but need reassurance on the right lintel for the job.I will leave the detail below for your adviceSpan of opening: 600mmWall construction: Stone Wall (solid wall) no cavityMasonry height: 2m above, has roof load and floor joist bearing (2 storey)I will leave photos of the natural window surrounding set plan and a few photos of the 2-storey house.If you have any advice, I will be happy to listen