Alternatives to Siberian Larch….

[Kelvin]

[Kelvin]

These are from 6-9 months ago. It’s lightened since then. I’ll add another picture tomorrow. Fortunately Board on Board was the profile we wanted. 
 

We’ve not done the decking yet. The thermopine decking is lovely and it does go a darkish silver. 

[saveasteading]

3 hours ago, G and J said:

cheek by jowl 

So either lay thr timber out now to fade. Then fix it in grey form and fire protect it.

OR stain it grey and fire protect.

OR choose a colour.

OR just fix and protect it and find out if it fades anyway. My favourite. Who will see it?

[Duncan62]

Think I'll be using thermo wood and applying with Eco Wood Treatment to silver it all consistently.

 

https://ecowoodtreatment.com/

 

https://www.celticsustainables.co.uk/eco-wood-treatment/

 

Thoughts?

 

 

[ToughButterCup]

11 hours ago, saveasteading said:

Perhaps discuss with the building inspector. If the chance of your wall catching alight is very low, for example because there is little chance of the neighbours having a bonfire, or their house is brick, or there is a pond adjacent, then does a year matter?

...

 

In our experience, the other thing that matters is the BCO taking the decision about  the need for fire protection. Two (of the many who visited) BCOs  disagreed about the need for fire protection on our house. Both were from the same company.  

 

I accept that in our case the decision might have been part instinct and part calculation. But both BCOs stood between our two properties, eyed them both up, solemnly got their calculators out of their pockets, did the relevant measurements  and drew the opposite conclusions. 

 

Yet another one of those so-called professional decisions, which after 8 years of suffering similar professional inconsistencies makes me extremely cynical about the build sector. 

 

The risk of fire occurring here and transferring between our two properties is extremely low. But it would not surprise me at all if similar inconsistencies were  found where the decision - to protect or not-  really does matter. 

 

[saveasteading]

1 hour ago, ToughButterCup said:

makes me extremely cynical about the build sector. 

Don't be. These are 2 people making their decision. One ' by the book'( the very big book, summarising lots of study)  the other on a perception of risk. This happens in other businesses too but  every single building is different. 

Which did you agree with and why? Would I agree (i did a lot of fire study and design)?

Why did you get a second opinion? 

I'm only arguing with the word cynical. 

Cautious, uncertain, ?

[G and J]

1 hour ago, ToughButterCup said:

both BCOs stood between our two properties

How far apart are your two properties, wall to wall?

 

And what did they get you to do?

[ToughButterCup]

6 hours ago, saveasteading said:

...

Why did you get a second opinion? 

...

 

I didn't. I assume the second BCO hadn't read the file notes before visiting. He was walking round the build with me and apropos  nothing said

" I'll just do a quick Fire Assessment...." 

 

I kept my trap shut (quite an achievement). Listened to his decision, and - once given - smiled and moved on.

 

You are clearly a more level headed, sensible person than I @saveasteading. I'll go into more detail later (daughter's birthday party)

[saveasteading]

2 hours ago, ToughButterCup said:

You are clearly a more level headed, sensible person than I @saveasteading. I'll

I can be. I've had clients ask how I managed to remain calm when another party was being difficult.   I didn't always feel calm perhaps.

 

But I've lost my temper a few times recently at public meetings.  Maybe it worked though.

 

You are right though, sometimes it is best to listen and see what transpires.

 

You've made me think.

I'm thinking that I get very angry if someone is being unreasonable, whether through rudeness or bluster or bullying.

I'm not angry if they are simply wrong or ignorant, or disagree with me, as I can go a way and deal with that by study and then another approach.

I miss the old Building Regulations folders that I would take into an awkward bco meeting, and lay on the table: I could see blustering BCOs shiver at the sight.

I didn't even have to say 'show me where it says what you are saying' because it was implicit.

 

Fire is difficult. The reg's are not necessarily clear. I went on a 3 day course on fire, and found that the professors said it was difficult and inexact. Phew.

And one of my biggest showdowns with a bco was about whether a stair could be timber, sheathed in plasterboard. Could have been expensive replacing 4 storeys of stair.

He wouldn't give in, but found another way of agreeing it could stay.

 

@ToughButterCup   what do you think swayed the second bco s decision? The onsite reality didn't look high risk?

 

[ToughButterCup]

1 hour ago, saveasteading said:

....

@ToughButterCup   what do you think swayed the second bco s decision? The onsite reality didn't look high risk?

 

 

I have no idea. It was one of those rare occasions when I was either completely switched off, or alert enough to realise that I should remain quiet.

 

The sheer volume of decisions that a DIY Max self builder has to consider is significant. I used to teach: a class full of lively children is - over an academic year - like keeping 30 (in my case) plates spinning all at the same time. Self builders do the same thing: keep on top of many concurrent issues. But without the formal professional training that (used to be) required of teachers before being licensed to teach.

 

It's that breadth of perspective (the formal training) that is missing on our build. I do as much research as tiredness will allow. In this case - the decision process of whether to treat the timber or not - was and remains a closed book. 

 

It's that 'hidden-ness' that jangles.

[G and J]

On 26/07/2024 at 21:17, Kelvin said:

We’ve not done the decking yet. The thermopine decking is lovely and it does go a darkish silver. 

Thanks for the pictures......looks great!

 

For where we are now would be perfect, but new place is more urban........

 

Would be interested in seeing the thermopine........in the pictures Russwood have it looks good, but the worrier in me is concerned that the images show boards with fewer knots........

[Kelvin]

3 minutes ago, G and J said:

Thanks for the pictures......looks great!

 

For where we are now would be perfect, but new place is more urban........

 

Would be interested in seeing the thermopine........in the pictures Russwood have it looks good, but the worrier in me is concerned that the images show boards with fewer knots........

We’ll be going up to Russwood in a few weeks so shall take pictures of all their decked areas. Be less anti knots 😂 

[Kelvin]

Here’s a picture from a few minutes ago. This was the first elevation we did so it’s been on for 12 months and is more or less the final colour which is a honey very light golden colour. You can see how significantly different it is from the other pictures. 
 

[Dave Jones]

look a lot better with some oak sikkens cetol on it.

[Kelvin]

It’s treated with a different product that doesn’t require any wood stain treatment ever.  It’s exactly how we wanted the house to look especially that it’s completely uniform regardless of elevation or under the eaves/windows. The colour is the thing passers by comment on the most. 

[G and J]

1 hour ago, Kelvin said:

We’ll be going up to Russwood in a few weeks so shall take pictures of all their decked areas. Be less anti knots 😂 

 

Will be interested in what you find..........Russwood is about 11 hour drive so will go at some point but.......didn't realise we almost drove past the door on the way home from a scottish campervan trip in May

1 hour ago, Kelvin said:

Here’s a picture from a few minutes ago.

 Stunning......if we could have that profile would be a done deal!

[saveasteading]

 And more russwood. This is about 6 montgs after fitting and rhe fading has commenced. The shed behind is in normal softwood.

[G and J]

28 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

And more russwood. This is about 6 montgs after fitting and rhe fading has commenced. The shed behind is in normal softwood.

Can tell difference.......was the larch sioox treated? If not would be interested to see how weathering differs from @Kelvin in a few months...........ideally we would not sioox but the nature of the plot (ie not open) means the north (1.5 m from neighbour/ south (1m gap) sides will not get the exposure of the west/east......minimal windows on north/south and cladding only on first floor/render beneath but.....