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For doubling up rafters/joists to make a trimmer or header for a stairs/roof window, I see a few ways recommended in the forums: - Bolting with M10/M12 at 600 centres with a toothed timber connector between members - 10d nails at 100 centres - Grade 6 100mm screws at 150 centres If the...

Thanks to everyone for the advice. That makes sense about the 2 parallel timbers. I'm guessing it's similar to the Glulam constructions where the knots are offset and any cracks/separation along the grain will be stopped at the boundary between the timbers. The trimming joist will sit on the...

Hi all, I'm converting a loft and have hung 6x2 c24 joists between 2 steel beams (that go from gable to gable). The 6x2s rest on a central wall at first floor level. I wanted to keep the joists as low as possible to maximise headroom. For the stairs trimming and trimmer joists, I have 2...

Hi all, I'm planning on installing a 2-turn stairs as follows up to the loft. I'm wondering - what are the minimum fixing points needed for the stairs. The stringer along the red line can be attached to a block wall. The green line will be a stud wall and the post marked "A" could be supported...

Just an update for anyone who's interested again. The timber (C24 6x2) was 42mm so I cut 8mm packers to fill the gap. Then I used 40mm twist nails on the packed side and 30mm on the other. Pic below:

Hi all, My joist hangers are 50mm wide while my 6x2s are only ~40mm wide in reality. It means there is a 9mm gap. If I squeeze and nail directly, the top of the hangers are almost touching each other. Is a 9mm shim cut from an offcut the way to go? Are the 30mm twist nails sufficient then for...

Just following up on this thread (for anyone who is interested in the future). Below are pictures I took a few months ago of the finished gate. I used chemical anchors to fix the gates. No movement or sagging in the last 10 months despite a few storms. In hindsight however (for anyone who's...

Thanks @^woody^, just wondering what is considered safe without involving extra supports over and above doubling-up the framing and supporting rafters? In my case, I want to remove 2 rafters (5x2 rafters with centres at 360mm with total span of 4.8m) to install a 94wx160h roof window. Is there...

@SpaceWorm The beam is a 254x146x31 bearing 12.4kN on 100mm blockwork (cavity wall). The mortar wasn't spec'd by the Engineer but perhaps this is related to what @^woody^ and yourself said. I.e. - that the engineer assumes a mortar similar to what was used in the original construction (such as...

Ok that's great. Thanks @SpaceWorm. I presume the same is true for a retrofit operation where I've chiselled out a pocket for a padstone. The house was built in the 60s. Presumably a 4 to 1 mix with no plasticiser would be ok?

I know a single rafter section can be removed to fit a Velux but how about 2 or 3 rafters for wider windows? In all cases, rafters, headers and trimmers would all be doubled up. Thanks

Just wondering what mortar mix to use for under a padstone that's bearing a large steel beam? The padstone will be sitting on 4" blocks. Would a standard 4:1 mix (no plasticiser) do the trick or would I be better off going with a 3:1 or sharp sand mix? Thanks

Ok, so using a gate post gives a better fixing for screws and distributes the load across multiple blocks and joints. That all makes sense now @JohnD Thanks for the advice on the greased washer @big-all It'll be a wooden gate - 75mm thick like @RayCaister 's directly above but roughly 6' wide...

@Swwils Thanks, I'll fix using a chemical anchor @Mr Chibs Yeah, it's 6' wide and around 7' tall @foxhole Yeah, I've been thinking about the narrow spacing in the supplied plates. I might get some of the 19mm hook plates visible in the attached image @JohnD Thanks for the tips. The pillars are...

Hi all, I'm looking to fix an outward opening gate to the inside face of a pillar (built from concrete blocks). I'm thinking of using 24"/30" hook and band hinges. Can these hook plates be fixed into concrete block? I see most people fix them into timber gate posts but I want to avoid that to...