Recent content by martin68

I recently heard (not sure if it's true or not) that there is zero vat on insulation as an incentive to insulate Britain's homes. I just been to my local building yard and wanted to buy some insulated plasterboard and was told that 20% vat still applies, and was told that the zero vat is only if...

No, there are no airbricks in that area

Im in the process of preparing to lay a concrete floor in my newly built diy conservatory. I have a double french doors opening out into the conservatory. the doors have a upvc sill on them and just below that is the DPC for the house. My question is: can I raise the concrete conservatory floor...

The gable ends are in fact the existing walls of a house on one side and a block built shed on the other, so i want to fix the steel beam between the two walls. Its a courtyard shape area between the house and the shed, where i want to build a conservatory type of covering. I want the beam to...

Hi guys, i'm needing advice as to the size of an "I" beam I want to use for a roof apex. This does not involve building regs as its for an out building and the roof covering will be light weight poly-carbonate panels as a conservatory type roof, with 4x2 timber rafters between the panels which...

High level will spoil the floor length symmetrical look I'm after. And net door is my house too. I mean how would bifolding doors work if an openable window needs to be fitted? I have looked at loads of pics and find loads of kitchen extensions with bifold doors but no extra windows.

Hi guys please see my before and after pics of my proposed work, I currently have a pair of french doors with two high windows with top openers on each side, to me it looks ugly so i plan to remove the two side windows including the walls below them and install glass panels the same height as...

I've had my conservatory there for 15 years with just a simple channel cut onto the wall where lead was inserted, and never had any damp problems whatsoever. I have today hired a grinder to cut out a row of blocks as cladding is too expensive. But in my opinion I think fitting cavity trays is...

Hi guys I am faced with a huge problem all of a sudden. I am changing my lean to conservatory for a tiled roof which goes up to the window sill level on the first floor of the main house. The main house is cavity concrete block with pebble dash, and I was under the impression that all i'll need...

....that my window manufacture has supplied me with the energy rating i asked for? Hi guys I have recently placed an order with my local window firm to make me some windows and doors, we had a deal as i told him that i could get A+ rated windows cheaper online, so he bargained with me and said...

I have been quoted £42 per m2 for the 365mm T10 blocks that have a U value of 0.25 which meets building regs for a workshop. There are 450 mm wide blocks also available which have passive house insulation properties! For a self builder I just can't understand why this system has not taken off...

@OLD butnot dead, thanks for your advice but don't be negative over the build method, it is a tried and tested method in Europe for years, I'm actually surprised it hasn't caught on in the UK. The roller is £70 available from the block suppliers in the UK . But I can't find where the leveling...

Hi guys i have decided to build my workshop using Thermoplan blocks aka Weinerberger The first course has to sit on a dead level bed of cement. I have seen on youtube that they use a leveling frame, see the beginning of this video: Does anyone know where I can get one of these frames from?

I had 30 conifer trees chopped down in my garden which were a about 70 feet tall, as you can emagin this produced a huge pile of logs with most being over 6 inches diameter. Trouble is, my tree cutter let me down, as he originally agreed to stack the logs on the left side of my garden (treens...

I', very interested to try thermoplan blocks for building my workshop, apposed to timber frame. But who sells them in the UK, as they are more widely used abroad. Has anyone used them, and how do they compare to timber frame and standard concrete block construction cost wise?