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Hi all, I'm in the process of building a garden room. It's a lean-to structure in the corner of the garden against the boundary wall. There is a wall at the rear face and against the right hand side: My sketch is pretty rudimentary, but hopefully you can see a basic studwork structure in...

ahh, thanks, that wasn't included in my original build. Just reading up on it now. I notice it is used in walls, ceilings and floors, in addition to DPM etc https://www.permagard.co.uk/advice/installing-vcl-vapour-control-layer

Good advice, thanks. It's definitely more complex than it looks, and probably best I leave it to the professionals.

Yes, you're probably right of course, but aesthetically I really don't like the look of a building sat up in the air, across my patio, if there is a more pleasing solution. I found a site that offers to do brick plinths for greenhouses. I quite like the look of a black brick plinth and think it...

Yes, but I didn't want voids underneath the structure because of pests, rodents, vegetation etc. Wouldn't this need airflow underneath? I would prefer it was closed off fully, but agree, I don't want to go overboard, I just want to specify modest foundations to do the job as it will be...

Ahh, thank you gerald. I'm glad you came along because it was the picture you posted that prompted me to change the type of construction I had to timber frame on a brick plinth. It seems to resolve a lot of concerns I might have had about rot prevention, stability, rodent invasions, etc! I...

OK thanks. On my revised spec I had added 25mm of sand on the hardcore, but I'll bump that up if you think it's advisable. And is it otherwise OK? I hadn't given much thought to the brick plinth. Would these just be laid directly onto the concrete slab, or is there additional prep work or...

Oh, damn! I thought this was how you do foundations. So from what you're saying I think I need to dig a deeper trench at the edges for the blocks/bricks to anchor into? These will form the base of the walls on which the sole plate will be positioned. I mistakenly thought the 150mm MOT and 100mm...

Anyone have any thoughts, or know somewhere with the right info or advice? I think this sort of foundation may be overkill for a 7.5m2 timber outhouse, however other types of foundations I've read up on seem to leave big voids on the underside of the structure and I don't want to provide a home...

So, I've gone ahead and jotted down some notes to present to the builder, but I'm not sure if this is sufficient in itself. Also, I'm unclear on some of the technical details on the foundation. Have I got the basic structure right? Is the compacted hardcore even necessary or do they just use a...

Hello again, well, it's 6 months on and I'm going to take steps to resolve this train wreck so I'm reviving my original thread. Everything has been left in its original state through the winter and my current plan is to dismantle what has been built, and to rebuild it properly using as much of...

Thanks, that's great to hear about your success! I work FT and also have other responsibilities too so don't possess the time/skills/tools/transport/etc to do it all myself, but perfectly happy to chip in in support if someone else takes on the task. I actually know of Alistair as he's a couple...

Thanks for the perspective. You're not wrong, I've had a number of reputable firms round with NFRC credentials and big project work, etc, and none of them come back for a second visit after feasting their eyes on the work. Or they drop me an email later tripling their original quote. That leaves...

Hello all, after several weeks and no tangible progress I’m coming around to the inevitable – to dismantle what has been built, prepare the groundwork and re-erect the building properly. Hopefully re-using as much of the materials as is possible. It will be difficult, not least in part because...

Well, after some investigation I discovered that EPDM can indeed be bonded directly to insulation boards, and that there are various tapered boards available for over boarding existing roofs and enabling a single-ply membrane to be bonded on or mechanically fixed. This would address several of...

Ooo.. this looks even better: Kingspan Thermataper® LPC/FM tapered roofing system

Thanks, that's very interesting and it's the sort of product I want to look into and possibly use. However, frustratingly, I called Celotex about their similar Crown-bond boards and the lady there said they don't do that product at the moment, and in any case you can't bond EPDM directly to it...

OK, thanks. That's it decided then. It needs to be a single layer EPDM then. The only thing I need to investigate further is if it's possible to overlay an PIR insulation layer and bond onto that.

BTW Vinty, what do you make of that other video where they're bonding the Firestone directly onto what looks like 100mm insulation board? Is that possible of kingspan or celotex for example?

Thanks for the reply Vinty, very informative. Yes, you're right, I probably will just strip it off. The disadvantages were that it would probably leave a lot of messy residues and the resulting new roof will be uneven and slightly compromised because of it. The advantage of leaving it on were...