RandAbuild Posted May 31, 2016 Author Share Posted May 31, 2016 Thanks Jan. Yes, it is looking good in the sunshine, but it's now raining just as they start to dig the footings. Concreting on Thursday - will be glad when this week is over! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryE Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 Richard, how is your sub going to get the concrete up the lane to do the pour? Its there enough clearance under that tree for a mixer to back up the lane? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandAbuild Posted May 31, 2016 Author Share Posted May 31, 2016 Yes Terry, I hope there's enough room. We jacked up two branches by about 300mm to give us 4.1m headroom. The max height of a 6 wheel 6m3 truck is 3.5m. The drive is standing up quite well so far, even with 20 tonne lorries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMitchells Posted June 16, 2016 Share Posted June 16, 2016 Can I ask what size is your plot approximately? It's useful to have an idea so when looking at ones to buy, it gives me an idea of what can be fitted on. There was one for sale near us a few years ago in a garden which I looked at and thought 'ridiculous - it's tiny!' but then they build a four bed house and it looked okay. Didn't have much of a garden but showed I was completely wrong about what can and can't be built. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandAbuild Posted June 16, 2016 Author Share Posted June 16, 2016 It's 17.6m at its widest point and tapers down to 10m at the bottom of the garden. From end to end it's 43m. Our build is 120m2 footprint with rooms in the roof, plus a (large) double garage / man cave. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryE Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 12 hours ago, RandAbuild said: man cave. Envy, envy. and it is a big garden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 47 minutes ago, TerryE said: Envy, envy. and it is a big garden. I don't want you to think I am obsessed with the things, but part of the thinking of buying a static caravan is when it's done with for habitation, it will remain and become a work space. I won't call it a "man cave" as Kathy will use part of it as a studio. 28 square metres of workspace for £4000 or £143 per square metre. you wouldn't get even a rubbish shed that big for that much. And we will keep the loo, and probably the kitchen sink working in it so you can make a brew or have a pee while working (the shower will be taken out and become a storage space) I will probably at some point fit some more insulation and wooden cladding around it, and a better roof so it looks more like a shed and less like a caravan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 On 30/05/2016 at 19:11, TerryE said: Richard, this isn't so bad is it? You have to put a temporary base down in front of your house anyway that can take the crane and other plant needed for the build. We've had to do this at the front of our house, and it will all get stripped off to roughly 30cm below ground level when we done -- to make room for the decent topsoil in the case of the lawn / garden side and for the SUDS gravelling and pavier layers on the drive side. Such is life. What's a "pavier layer", please? Is pavier a noun or adjective? Thanks Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryE Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 SUDS permeable paving bricks, such as these. They are laid on a sieved crushed aggregate then pea single. Note the little notches in the bricks which allow the water to drain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Are you sure about the pea shingle? The MIs for our permeable pavers specifically mention not using any rounded aggregate at all. The sub-base is clean (no fines) Type 3, wacked in layers, then the bedding layer is 6mm to 2mm sharp grit. The MIs are absolutely clear that it has to be a sharp grit, as this locks together and holds the pavers securely. They warn that using pea shingle or similar will result in instability, which I can understand - it's be like laying blocks on ball bearings. I found the invaluable "Paving Expert" site to be a mine of useful information of SUDS and particularly of laying the paving: http://www.pavingexpert.com/permeable04.htm I needn't have worried, though, because the chap that laid our drive had done loads of them using the same pavers and so was a dab hand at doing it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMitchells Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 4 hours ago, JSHarris said: I found the invaluable "Paving Expert" site to be a mine of useful information of SUDS and particularly of laying the paving: http://www.pavingexpert.com/permeable04.htm quite agree with Jeremy, the website is excellent for explaining everything to do with building. I have learnt much from there, as well as here of course! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger440 Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Fantastic website. But that paving is a nonsense. Saw some of this at a supermarket that was a couple or 3 years old. For the most part the "slots" were blocked with general dirt and crap and it was puddling on top!. 5 years down the road, this will be no better than regular paving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Just now, Roger440 said: Fantastic website. But that paving is a nonsense. Saw some of this at a supermarket that was a couple or 3 years old. For the most part the "slots" were blocked with general dirt and crap and it was puddling on top!. 5 years down the road, this will be no better than regular paving. Ours has been down 2 years. No problems at all. The heavy rain this week was a good test and we had no run off at all. I suspect what you saw was a badly laid area. If laid with sharp grit, and if the grit is re-applied a couple of times over the first few weeks, and brushed in as it settles, then you don't get dirt build up and it most definitely doesn't puddle. The chap that laid ours was insistent that we'd need to brush more grit in a couple of times in the first few weeks, and left a bag of grit behind so we could do this. It all comes down to how well the stuff was laid and whether or not the MI's were followed to the letter, I suspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger440 Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Just now, JSHarris said: Ours has been down 2 years. No problems at all. The heavy rain this week was a good test and we had no run off at all. I suspect what you saw was a badly laid area. If laid with sharp grit, and if the grit is re-applied a couple of times over the first few weeks, and brushed in as it settles, then you don't get dirt build up and it most definitely doesn't puddle. The chap that laid ours was insistent that we'd need to brush more grit in a couple of times in the first few weeks, and left a bag of grit behind so we could do this. It all comes down to how well the stuff was laid and whether or not the MI's were followed to the letter, I suspect. Dont doubt how its done will affect it. But eventually its got to fill up the grit with dirt or moss.I remain unconvinced about its long term functionality. Same as a soakaway drain. Ulitmately gets clogged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan52 Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 The material directly under the pavers is nearly always sharp sand. It won't hold water so drains freely. If drainage is a problem I would lay French drains in the base hardcore and then don't use any quarry dust type material as once compacted it will never drain any water. As for pea gravel under as a base layer I think after a few months you would have tracks where the car drove on it. Won't ever compact down no matter how many times you wack it in so as it settles it will end up rough as. When you wack the very fine sand in at the end all the gaps get filled in. After a week or so you brush more in so it's fully filled in again. The sand is treated so nothing can grow in it. Don't power hose it you remove all the sand and then you get weeds. A light hose and a brush is all it needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 56 minutes ago, Declan52 said: The material directly under the pavers is nearly always sharp sand. It won't hold water so drains freely. If drainage is a problem I would lay French drains in the base hardcore and then don't use any quarry dust type material as once compacted it will never drain any water. As for pea gravel under as a base layer I think after a few months you would have tracks where the car drove on it. Won't ever compact down no matter how many times you wack it in so as it settles it will end up rough as. When you wack the very fine sand in at the end all the gaps get filled in. After a week or so you brush more in so it's fully filled in again. The sand is treated so nothing can grow in it. Don't power hose it you remove all the sand and then you get weeds. A light hose and a brush is all it needs. Under conventional pavers it's sharp sand. That under permeable pavers is very coarse sharp grit, 2mm to 6mm very sharp edged stuff. It tends to take time to fill the slots, even after having been brushed and whacked, hence the reason for needing to re-apply it a couple of times. I can take some photo's next week of the grit, as I still have a couple of bags left by the chap that laid it, as we've not used it all on re-filling the gaps. The gaps in the permeable pavers are around 5 to 6mm wide, hence the use of the very coarse grit. Drainage under permeable pavers is totally different to that under conventional pavers. It's essential that the sub-base is type 3 (10 to 30mm no fines) so that it's free draining, with either perf land drain pipe or HD aquacells underneath, as we have, to take the run-off. This keeps the grit dry and so stops weeds from growing. Our previous paved drive was on sand, and I was forever going around with weed killer, as the sand would stay just damp enough to allow weeds and grass to germinate in the gaps, but this doesn't happen with the coarse grit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryE Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Jeremy you are correct -- not pea-shingle, but a fine sharp stone, say 3-5mm. The comment about being weed-free is useful. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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