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That could work if the beam is lightly loaded but if you use a concrete block, you need to make sure the block is quite a high strength block (and be stronger than the masonry below it - which it is unlikely to be if the wall is brickwork ?) otherwise it will crush under the concentrated load...

No, sorry if my last comment was a bit misleading. The cut down precast concrete lintel would be the padstone, and the length should be just as if it were a cast in-situ concrete padstone, sized to suit the relevant loads and masonry strengths being used, usually specified by the same person...

A common way is to get a precast concrete lintel and cut it to the appropriate length, which means you dont need to wait and the concrete strength is more than adequate.

I do know you can get them in kit form to fit yourself.

In theory there is nothing to stop you having a spiral staircase to a loft conversion although im not up on all the regs. Just be aware that they take up more space than you may think although I believe you can get away with quite a narrow flight but you need to think about what you might want...

If your new stair follows the same layout as the one below you will probably be ok although one thing to watch out for is that because you have high floor to ceiling heights your stair will need to be quite long to get all the risers in, which depending where the top of the new stair emerges...

You might find that you get some horizontal cracking at the top of your walls if you do because the horizontal members are there to stop the roof trying to spread at the eaves. They will still do a similar job if a bit higher but not quite as well.

I believe there is a minimum ceiling height in the building regs but its not where you would expect to find it. I cant remeber where it is at the moment but will post further advice if I can find it.

You could ask the engineer if he could give you a splice detail although not sure how suitable that would be for a timber beam. If the beams are timber, I wouldn't expect the weight to be a problem for the brickwork as the timber would probably crush locally before the masonry.

The structural engineer should be able to sort the whole thing out for you, including structural calculations and plans for your builder to follow.

As Robert too says, you are probably going to damage your roof if you do that, unless the purlins are significantly bigger than they need to be, which I doubt. There is also a chance that the steel straps will break. Obviously we are saying this without seeing the full picture so there may be...

I would check with your local council planning department to check whether you need planning permission or not. Even if you don't, you will still need building control approval either by submitting a full plans application or using a building notice.

Personally i would probably reduce the centres of the the timber studs to 400mm but you also need to bear in mind what the `load bearing' partition is sat on, i.e. will there be something below it to transmit the load into the ground without any settlement. One other option is to increase the...

254 x 146 x 37 UB. The mid-span deflection will probably be too much if you use the 152 x 152 UC 30 or 37.

If you can tell me how much roof it will be supporting i can give you a size which will give you an idea of the price but i doubt if it will be smaller than the timber because that sounds undersized to me anyway. Also, building control will probably want to see a structural calculation to prove...

no offence mattysupra but i used one of those but after about a year the z part had become sprained and started to break so i had to replace it with something else. Maybe i didn't fix it quite right but i wouldn't get one again.

I found a strip in b & q when I did my bathroom. The final difference in floor levels wasn't as bad or didn't feel as bad as I expected considering the build up on the bathroom floor. It might have been designed for laminate nut seemed to work ok.

I would say let the lad do it because it wil be good practice and if he does want to sell it at some point he could always get a pro in to reskim it in a few years prior to selling when he might have more cash. I went on a two day course and found out enough to do a few diy jobs for myself and...

As already mentioned I think soot might be the way to go. I have worked on a new stone building before where the planners requested that it be sprayed with soot to blend in with the adjacent buildings, although it didn't happen in the end but that suggests it is a recognised way of achieving...

Your best bet might be to talk to arrange to meet a planning officer at your house before submitting any plans. I think its called a pre-planning consultation or something. I also think the reason they want the front of the extension setting back is so that it looks like an extension rather...