Recent content by unclebobby

plenty of space between the 8" deep rafters for insulation and an air gap under the membrane so not planning on counter battens

thanks again. i'll go cold roof, no boarding and usual ventilation. and later between rafter insulation. one final question. slate spec states 25x38mm battens for <450mm rafter spacing. mine are 400mm except for 3x 550mm spaces for roof lights (and 200mm each side of roof lights) - will i...

yes. the trusses are 8"x2" at 400 centres.

thanks for that. i've got a breathable membrane although the slate suppliers documentation states that a cold roof should still be ventilated as these are close fitting slates. what is the normal way to construct a pitched roof these days ? i suppose some of my dilema is should i go for a warm...

I am building a 2 storey shed with office over (but possible future accomodation potential). The roof will be covered in artificial slate onto raised collar trusses. The raised collars will become the office ceiling and are 1m above wall plate level. My plan at this stage was to keep it all...

thanks FMT. yes it is at eaves level. i did think about the cold bridge but the closing blocks are aircrete and butt against aircrete blocks so not tooo bad. i might even dry line the walls for a bit off added thermal efficiency - or perhaps that will be for the future.

I have recently built a cavity wall as part of a shed/office wall (no building regs). It has 4" dense block outer and 4" aircrete block inner and I closed the top of the cavity at the eaves with blocks on their sides. They rest on the outer leaf and butt the side of the inner leaf. I forgot to...

Unless I'm missing something, cavity walls haven't been around that long and stability relies on the fact that inner and outer leaves are connected with ties on a permanent basis (thats not to say they will fall down if they weren't). I wouldn't be surprised if in 200 years time, all the 200...

Lintels aren't an issue for me, but I suppose straps on the outside could also suffer corrosion ? I thought about stability but couldn't think how it could be an issue if leaves are tied together properly ? Any thoughts on cavity closure ?

I am building a 2 storey 10x5m agricultural shed with general purpose storage room/office over. It is built with 100mm concrete blocks (dense outer/Durox inner) with 100mm empty cavity (3 sides) and 150mm Durox/wood clad on other. I have a question relating to eaves details and roof design...

So bonding the outer leaf 4" dense concrete blocks to the 8" lightweight block solid wall should not give to many problems with differential thermal expansion ? Can I use cavity ties to bond the inner leaf to the solid walls - wall are all going up at the same time.

I am constructing a 10m x 5m building with 3 sides at ground floor level (open as 2 bays on one long face for parking access) and a room above with 2 UB's to support a wall over the open side. The 3 sides at ground floor are 4" dense blocks for inner and outer leaves with a 4" cavity. At first...

Thanks for your thoughts. Yes the existing pipe is the right diameter and feeds into the foul drain. I understand about building regs but asked the question as a matter of fact...wondered if it work fine or not ?

I am planning to install a new upstairs toilet which will discharge into an existing waste pipe downstairs. I believe the existing pipe starts with a ceramic gully trap and was wondering if I could connect straight into this, or if this is just asking for blockages (I would obviously include an...

Starter bars are 10mm dia at 500mm centres, sticking out of foundations by about 600mm. Tied to these are sections of 142 reinforcing fabric (6mm dia 200mm mesh size). Was hoping a strong 4 to 1 concrete mix would cover me for slight variation in mix.