Squaredy

I agree with almost all of what you say. In your first line however you say UK lockdown has worked as it has flattened the curve so stopping our NHS being overwhelmed. My point in this thread is that we have a much higher death rate than Sweden who had and still have no lockdown. So did the lockdown which has cost vast amounts of anguish and possibly millions of jobs stop the NHS from being overwhelmed? Or has it made no real difference? Sweden are managing far better than us with just recommendations not sanctions (apart from banning gatherings over 50).

Yes we don't know when or if we will get a vaccine, as highlighted by these conflicting two headlines just posted by the Metro. UK leading race to find coronavirus vaccine 'as early as September' METRO.CO.UK 'The speed at which it’s happening is astonishing as vaccines normally take five to 10 years.' 'We may never find a successful coronavirus vaccine,' minister admits METRO.CO.UK Business Secretary Alok Sharma said the only way to 'definitively conquer this disease' is with a successful vaccine. Mind you maybe that says as much about our press as about this pandemic...

UK is possibly experiencing the highest death rate from Covid 19 in the world. 34,500 deaths from a population of 66 million. Sweden have a death rate way lower per head of population (367 per million - UK 517 per million) and have no lockdown. Is our lockdown actually helping? Would we be better off advising people to take sensible steps and avoid mass gatherings like they do in Sweden, or are we just too stupid in the UK to actually be sensible? Is the lockdown causing more health problems than it solves? E.g. bowel cancer screening (2nd biggest cancer killer in UK) has all been paused. My mum would be dead now if it were not for her bowel cancer being spotted early in 2012. Feel for the poor guys who submitted a sample to bowel cancer screening and have been advised they need further investigation, but that is also now on hold. Bowel cancer must be caught early, so delay can be lethal.

I know it would be good to do so, but trying to keep it simple. The building must be dry, but as long as I can avoid the worst of the heat and cold that will be fine. The finished building will not have a TV or computer in, so not for lounging around in - snooker is a very active sport as we all know

Thanks guys for the input again. I was aware of fibre added to the mix, but didn't realise it was really strong enough. The slab will have no vehicles or major weight on, I just felt due to size it might be sensible to reinforce. Would be much easier not to bother with the steel.

Maybe I can use this on top of the concrete. Damp Proof Membrane 5L WWW.TOOLSTATION.COM Water based rubberised bitumen emulsion for internal and external use. Can be used on walls and floors to prevent... Anyone done that? Then perhaps followed by screed I guess? Or even just floorboards etc straight on top.

Well I am struggling to prove you wrong, Cardiff really does have most rain. Finally us Newport people can be smug about something when compared to our more glamorous neighbours....we get 20% less rainfall than those posh Cardiffifians....

I always knew Google was crooked! Actually I very much doubt Cardiff is the wettest city. Let me have a look....

Such an urban myth....I have just put my sprinkler on in my front garden, partly for the garden, but mainly for the house as in the hot summer of 2018 this corner of my house subsided and I can see big cracks opening up in the soil again!

Thank you for the input so far. My research and experience suggest to me that normal concrete is permeable to a degree. Certainly not dry enough for my purpose without some sort of waterproofing or membrane. It will be a simple reinforced raft foundation with a simple wooden structure sitting on top. Probably 150mm deep, but maybe getting nearer to 200mm in places. About 6 cubic metres in total. I agree about the shuttering I will make sure this is good, I do know how much easier it is when this is done right.

Us Arbtalkers seem to know about most things, so anyone advise me on waterproof concrete? I will be putting a reinforced concrete slab down later this year for a garden room and I do not want to use a plastic membrane - I know from experience that the edges and corners are just a nightmare to do properly. Anyone got experience of actually laying waterproof concrete? I will be buying in ready-mixed concrete so I will ask local suppliers what they suggest. But maybe some of you guys have experience of doing this?

Most insulators work I believe by trapping air. On this basis I would expect Poplar to be an excellent insulator, but with the advantage that it is not plastic based, so much nicer to handle and install and ultimately highly sustainable. The image below is Poplar viewed through an electron microscope. Slight gaps will not be a big issue (I hope) as they will be caulked like a boat hull, so allowing slight movement.

I still have the brochures I sent for in the early eighties when I was at secondary school, I got the brochures from all the UK manufacturers I could find and pored over them for hours. I have no idea why really, I had no money or space but there we are! Keep an eye on this thread Steve, you are not too far from me and I daresay there will be invitation evenings for wood people eventually....

Ah but Jonathon this is Wales not damp Scotland! I will kiln it if necessary before installation, and then leave a little gap like a boatbuilder planking a boat, to allow for a little movement. But the plan is it will be quite a controlled climate in there - after all it will have a snooker table in! If I need to run a de-humidifier during damp cold weather I will. I will update this thread as work progresses...might be this side of Christmas....might not!

Well the outer skin will be Doug Fir cladding with a breathable membrane under. The bottom line is I have to keep the building dry for the purposes of Snooker table etc. With a proper membrane in concrete slab and other details I don't think this will be a problem. I have discovered that the cheapest good quality second hand snooker tables these days are full size ones. I have to have a chat with the neighbour this weekend and see if he is happy for me to go right up to the boundary. If he is OK with that it will be full size. Dream come true...

Oh yeah, still going. Comes through the post not a paper boy, but is a nice little thing for our boys to get each week and not screen based.

When this is over or sort of over I am going to have a Chinese takeaway. They all seem to be closed around here. All other takeaways are open - surely it isn't due to bad feeling towards Chinese?

I am starting to design a garden room (well Billiard Room really) to go at the bottom of my garden. It will be a simple wooden structure, basically a large shed on a proper concrete slab, and insulated. It must be properly dry and to be usable it will need some insulation. My plan instead of buying Kingspan or mineral wool or whatever, is simply to use three inch Poplar which I have started milling for the purpose. My logic is as follows: 1) Pop is a cheap timber and I had ideal logs lying around which I can spare. 2) As it is a very light timber I believe it will have a fairly good insulation value. 3) By using Actual boards of solid wood as the insulation, if I do it neatly I do not then need to face them with yet more boards. They will be fitted vertically between the uprights of the walls. There will be no bracing as I am relying on the Pop to effectively do that for me. The Pop is starting to air dry, and if need be I will pop it in the kiln so it is properly dried before fitting. I am sure I am not the first person to try this sort of approach. No exciting pics yet, just a pop log on the mill today. Half milled on the Lucas mill as it was nearly three foot diameter, then finished off on the bandmill.

Thanks. Not made a final decision yet but maybe Hudson. Hud-Son Oscar 52 Slabber Sawmill Large Diameter Bandmill WWW.HUD-SON.COM The Oscar 52 Portable Sawmill has a 52" log capacity and an cut up to a 48" wide board, making it perfect for all those large logs. 23HP Electric Start I was going to go to the USA in July and I would have visited the factory and seen one in use. Sadly that trip is now off, so I may just order blind. No UK dealer sadly so will have to import it myself, but I know plenty of people who have done similar so hopefully this will be smooth.

If you can get them reading lots this is the way to sort English out. It is all about getting them off screens and loving books. We have Beano delivered every week (and have for years) and they love this - fun and reading practise.

In the case of our boys I think they are doing better than they would be in English medium education....I would home school them rather than send them to the local primary school or comp. But that is a reflection of our area - Newport.

Strange, I applied for one yesterday with my business bankers (Co-op) and unless I missed something it just said it must be used for the financial benefit of my company - it more or less said it can be used for anything that will help the company. So if I get it I will be investing in a super-wide bandsaw mill that I have needed for years. Not convinced I qualify though as I had to declare that as at the end of last year my business is classed by the EU s as in difficulty as the balance sheet (Ltd co) shows net liabilities.

Is this a wind up? Have you got some LIme leaves and a Cherry trunk to try and confuse us all???!!!

Yeah that is interesting. And reassuring, as what we all seem to be forgetting is that in the short to medium term the only real way out of this situation is for us to get herd immunity. In other words most of us need to get the virus and recover. For most of us we cannot dodge it forever. The most vulnerable perhaps should be shielded, but even this is debatable. My mum is 80 in three months, lives on her own and has had no proper contact with her two sons or two grandchildren (or indeed anyone) in 7 weeks. A vaccine could be years away. If we keep trying to shield her she could eventually die in a few years lonely and sad. She would rather take her chances and have a 90% chance of a normal life than stay locked down for an unknown period. As soon as the law allows, she will be visiting her family and I don't blame her. Remember, the scientists have said that it is possible we will never find a vaccine.

Check if you can claim a grant through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme - GOV.UK WWW.GOV.UK If you're self-employed or a member of a partnership and have been adversely affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) find out if you can use this scheme to claim a grant.