How do I bathroom / kitchen / extension? etc.

It's a pig if you want 2 hobs on hard boil and only have 1 big ring. Isolate the hob and replace it yourself.

my sparky pal is currently in my place sorting out the wiring for our new kitchen. Turns out the induction hob has more draw than the oven does, so while the oven doesnt actually need a separate circuit and breaker (13a fuse is fine), the hob means they may as well both get their own circuit

I've been trying to get people to quote for making a bike store, nightmare.

It must be a great time to be a carpenter now if you can make a living with no effort required.

Velfac just dropped, foundations in, steels going in, loft underway…

So frikkin hyped/scared.

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IIRC big wood joists are weirdly more resistant to fire than steels.

It's actually quite logical. The beams char on the edges, which is a natural frame retardent. So you oversize the beams accordingly, to get sufficient load bearing capacity in case of fire.
Steel beams need protection, for example paint that foams up through heat but that's very labor intensive because you have to recoat every 10 years.
We normally plan either flame retardant cladding which can be finicky to build to spec, or special render which is easier because it's sprayed on

Why no brightonbikeshed?

Going to need regular updates on this.

I’ve just ordered my cork flooring but that’s more diy thread.

One of our neighbours has one that we really like, which is taller and deeper than usual (bikes go in lengthways rather than widthways).

Blum can't do one that big, and I think Brighton could but from their online estimate thing it would be about £6k.

Builders saving on portaloo rental with the alfresco toilet?

Eh? BBS 6 bike slot in is 1900? 2900 with charred larch and green roof.

Not much happened for a couple of weeks as the builder had to very slowly dig and pour the foundations in stages due to the neighbour's extension having literally zero footings, but that's done now and it's all popping off.

We want one with a higher roof allowing for a shelf in the back, and a bin store at one end.

Maybe it wasn't £6k but it was definitely more expensive than the quotes I have managed to get. The guy who actually built our neighbour's one showed up eventually, came round to measure up, then just never got back to me.

Anyone had a proper garden studio built ? We have a lot cabin which I’d like to be an actual proper studio for work/spare room/gym etc

Can you do one of these and let us know how it went
https://u-build.org/design-category/garden-studios/

I'm building one at the moment following the Oakwood Garden Rooms building kits

Current status:

Yeah these guys have been on my list for a while - not sure I cba to build it myself though...

A decent shed or garden room is next on my list of house gubbins. Not a big shot like @Tenderloin so will have to self build. Koto cabins are another good reference. Was also considering modding a BBS build.

We have what is probably the MVP garden room. It's basically a very big shed with internal (plastic) cladding. Fuck all insulation and some double glazing. I might strip all the internal cladding out and put in some insulation of some sort then plasterboard it. Also want to retrofit a roller shutter door in the back so I can access the walkway behind it.

Minimum Viable Product and Most Valuable Player are at very different ends of the acronym spectrum.

Surely something like that isnt hard to build, the money folks want for garden rooms are obnoxious and you could do a far better job yourself with a smaller budget than getting one of these companies out.

The prices ive heard folk paying are almost always like think of a number and double it.

It's not. I'm an idiot and built this in a week for about £1.5k

Don’t underestimate how useless some people are.
I know a lad who can’t put up a shelf.
Also time = money, not sure I’ll ever really have enough of either to get a garden room sorted.

Tell us more...

I copied it from this book - and bought the doors from ebay. Honestly, if you can build a simple timber frame then you can build one. The only thing I would change would be having a concrete slab poured first as I just used plastic decking risers (https://www.wickes.co.uk/Jouplast-Plastic-Adjustable-Decking-Risers---80mm-to-140mm---Pack-of-6/p/207743) on paving slabs so get a bit of damp at the back, and would have gone for 25mm ply for the floor rather than 18mm. The roof is epdm which was so easy and has (fingers crossed) never leaked.

The skills (and equipment!) needed to do a garden room* properly are the same as doing a loft conversion properly. OK, that might be at height, but I don't think that's what's stopping folks from DIYing it to be fair!

* not a summerhouse, that's just a big shed.