Recent content by giznorm

Ah yes, I know they weather to that silver grey. And I know that is what everyone else would do in my situation. For some reason I just really don't like weathered cedar. I have never found anyone else who agrees with me on this! Everyone seems to absolutely love it. In retrospect, I might have...

STEP TWO. A Floor Would Be Handy. Advice for this section: buy a set of spirit levels that includes a long one as well as shorter ones. It really helps in getting foundation screws level. get an expanding foam gun. Not just the cannisters with the plastic tube. The gun allows so much more...

STEP ONE. Preparing the ground. Advice: never ever underestimate how long this 'little job' will take. Possibly the most back breaking of it all. We removed all plants, dug down a foot or so to remove the roots of the most invasive plants, turfed the front half of this space and removed the top...

Red cedar shingles. We will stain them black when they are all on. I bought royal size (24 inch) and am totally regretting not buying perfection size (16 inch) as royals are really hard to find in stock now just in case I find myself short! My advice to everyone is to buy the most readily...

I did promise to update this, and it's been a while. So here is the starting photo (we had actually already cleared most of the brambles by then!) And here is the status quo. Rest of the cladding can go on this week, and then it's just final bits like roof trim and guttering.

I'm leaving this post up just in case someone wants to chime in for someone else's benefit ... but I bit the bullet and bought FlexWrap. Now to tinker with the budget spreadsheet to make it work. :)

Hi all, I'm building a timber frame garden room at the moment and I'm just about ready to install the windows. I've wrapped the building in breathable membrane but it's now time to waterproof the rough cill and window opening. I know that some people use tyvek flexiwrap, but a full roll of...

Hi endeopt, No, I'm not using tounge and groove, just regular structural OSB 3 sheets.

Brilliant. Thanks mate. Your post popped up at precisely the moment I was by the silicone in Homebase. Picked up some Evo-Stick low modulus builders silicone.

Hello all, I've just laid the OSB3 flooring for a garden room build and I've included 2mm expansion gaps as suggested in nearly everything I read about OSB. I have a question though ... can I fill those gaps with something flexible like silicon, expanding glue, or tape to help keep the building...

Hi all, After years of hanging around this site, I finally have a big enough project of my own to share. I am building a garden room (yes... it's another garden room post) with a view to discovering if I can learn enough skills to eventually build my own timber frame house extension (which I...

Hi Jonbey. Thanks for the response. The stud wall option is the best option for reducing sound, but would take up a significant amount of space in the room. The panels are soundproof plasterboard with mass loaded vinyl and closed cell foam attached to the back. They take up around 3cm rather...

Hi everyone. This might seem a silly question, but for me it is an important one! I am looking to add sound proofing panels to my party wall in the living room and dining room in a 1930's semi-detached. My concern is how do I know how much weight the walls can safely take? The panels are 29kg...

Been away for a while, but thought I'd post an update to thank everyone for their advice: Things I have done: - I bit the bullet and paid for someone to inject a chemical damp proofing course (having seen this, I actually think this is well within the scope of a competent DIYer. The chemicals...

Unfortunately there is no water meter. I was toying with buying one of those leak detection devices. Either way, later today I will lift up a floorboard to see if I can work out what is happening beneath.