Garden Room Workshop: Part 20. Soffits & Battens

[@xistacio]

Dear Ali. let me reiterate that your videos are the most useful i found here. Loads of info and (most important imo) the pros and cons of using each technic and what could eventually hold you up in the future. Very, very, very useful. Once again, Thank you so much for taking the time to share all this with us. You're a star

[@pkini99]

Thank you for another informative video Ali. Don't know how you manage to get the time !! I've finally started work on my Project and am watching your entire series again so that I can take informed decisions. The knowledge you've shared makes it much easier and less stressful. 👍

[@AliDymock]

Thank you man. This video really took it out of me for some reason so I massively appreciate the positive comment, makes it feel worth it 👍

[@patrickloftus]

@@AliDymock Agree with the above comments - your videos have given me confidence I can build my own.....just need to take the plunge and go for it now!

[@JulesN580]

So good Ali - thank you. We have just built a sculpture workshop with skillion roof, tapered purlins and spacers - VERY similar to a design that you show here. A labour of love with just the cladding to go. We started with no building experience. With a mixture of informed builder/designer friends offering advice, you tube tutorials - such as this superb example - and our own nouse we’re almost there. The last thing that we did on the weekend was to cut down a repurposed hardwood and full-length glass door and to fit out the door frame and install the door. It was fiddly but fitted beautifully - again using a you tube tutorial. All windows are re-used (free) old Huon pine ones. It’s an absolutely stunning timber that I use for sculpture. We’re using vertical rough-sawn hardwood (‘Tasmanian Oak’) cladding following your provided example, leaving air spaces due to the overlap. We live in Tasmania with a mild Mediterranean climate, though l spent time growing up in Devon. Your accent’s a bonus as it takes me back to time spent with my cousins in the UK! Thanks for your thoroughness with this guide; much appreciated.

[@felixthecat3n2]

You have spent such a lot of time doing this Ali, thank you. The end result is nothing short of brilliant - so helpful, so clearly and logically explained with awesome diagrams too.. Thank you!

[@AliDymock]

What a nice comment. Glad it's helpful!

[@Happy-br1oj]

I recently bought a new house and I was just going to buy a garden room but your excellent set of videos has inspired me to build my own! So thanks very much

[@martinscotchmer6951]

Martin Scotchmer 2 days ago Thanks, Ali. Your oldest Garden Room builder is currently at the installation of vertical cladding stage, so good to see that I've got it right! Only the internal plastering to do (which I'm bottling out of) and the second fix electrics, which I've been cleared to do by my local sparky. It's been a brilliant project, even in the wind and rain. I wouldn't have undertaken it without your tutorials. From one (ex) teacher to another, thank you so much.

[@AliDymock]

Well done Martin, you've smashed it!My partner's dad will be in a video soon, he's 72!

[@dai6cbr]

Great videos! As an electrician I’d just add that the zones extend to the back side of the walls where sockets etc are fitted for obvious reasons so as long as the cables run in the required zones within the cladding it would be compliant. 👍

[@tommyjohnson8673]

I watched the whole build from the start, twice over now, learnt a lot. But I thought the series had ended months ago. Excited to see how it's looking.

[@AliDymock]

Just slow mate, we're coming up to the finale!

[@carstenschleicher7113]

Yet another great video. I used all your videos as a base and inspiration for my self-built garden outhouse. The level of detail is just perfect. Thanks for your great work.

[@pkini99]

Thank you for another informative video Ali. Don't know how you manage to get the time !! I've finally started work on my Project and am watching your entire series again so that I can take informed decisions. The knowledge you've shared makes it much easier and less stressful. 👍

[@AliDymock]

Well it did take me 4 weeks to make lol. Glad you're making progress now Preshant, I know you've ben thinking about it for long enough

[@marcopetrillo6867]

Finished my build last year but still find these videos an education, so much good content in them and straight to the points - no filler. Brilliant as always.

[@AliDymock]

Congrats on finishing Marco, send me a pic!

[@AliDymock]

Phew, this is the last _explainer_ type video so I go a bit deeper than usual and round up some loose ends. There's a lot of crossover between topics but here are the main sections: 0:00​ Intro 0:20​ Cold roof soffit ventilation 1:50​ Soffit orientation compared 3:35​ Attaching my soffit boards 6:23​ Tyvek exposure and functions 7:28​ Why do we need battens? 9:38​ Horizontal vs vertical cladding 11:04​ Cross-battening for vertical cladding 12:32​ Vertical claddings types that don't require cross-battening 13:21​ Are battens required in different climates? 14:43​ Insect mesh 15:35​ Attaching my battens 18:22​ Venting the top of the cladding 19:58​ Electrics in the batten area? 21:00​ Perfect build order? 21:38​ Outro -Yo Ali, where's the Dj Quads tunes at? Yeh that's getting harder to determine what is copyright free so I'm having to give them a miss but I was thinking about how I got into the mix of old and new and I think it was this brilliant VW advert from back in the day which you might enjoy: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZnNaWmKo72jnac PS, one of you after i released this vid emailed me this link which is a plastic batten with holes in it which would allow the vertical ventilation, without the need for vertical battens (for vertical cladding: www.cavibat.co.nz/benefits.html. This seems to be available in new Zealand so if you can find anything similar here, that might be a good option.

[@martinscotchmer6951]

Thanks, Ali. Your oldest Garden Room builder is currently at the installation of vertical cladding stage, so good to see that I've got it right! Only the internal plastering to do (which I'm bottling out of) and the second fix electrics, which I've been cleared to do by my local sparky. It's been a brilliant project, even in the wind and rain. I wouldn't have undertaken it without your tutorials. From one (ex) teacher to another, thank you so much.

[@speedyrazor1]

Another fantastic video Ali, I can see why it took you so long, so much detail and Sketchup additions. FANTASTIC.

[@AliDymock]

Thanks Kev, yeh it was real pig of a video to make! Last tricky one though :)

[@ToniReviews]

These videos are really great. Thank you. A friend has had a garden room built which is suffering badly from condensation… it’s rotting from the inside out. This info on the cladding, airflow and hot and cold roofs has been very informative. Thanks 👍

[@mediadesignlimited]

wow!!! now this is what i call proper instructions and reason for doing things. ready to tackle my 12x12 office.

[@newlinkdirect]

This is exactly I did mine !!! Vented front, back soffit. And 120mm joists and 90mm insulation... 30mm vent path above 90mm noggins.... Ventilation is key. and I did fix mesh to soffit slots :) Great job Ali 😎😎 It's amazing how much you learn doing it Yourself.... 😎

[@AliDymock]

Great job, that should last a lifetime and the way to do it. 👍

[@luvit7567]

Love these vids Ali, been waiting a while for this one but we'll worth the wait. Your understanding of the regs/rules still amazes me

[@OurHomeProjects]

Brilliant video Ali. We've just hit the batten stage for our garden room and originally I thought I only needed a single batten for my vertical cladding so the overhang of my roof is set to that...perfectly... but then I realised after further research and understanding why a double batten was necessary for vertical cladding, I've had to completely adapt the look of the building... I can't change the roof, so I've had to change the cladding. I think for the better, but the cladding section has become a right faff AND it's soooo time consuming. Definitely the slowest part of the build for me. Thanks again for all this very useful information. Karen

[@darrenchang2907]

Hi! Another way I've seen suggested for draining horizontal battens (or furrings as it's normally called in the US) is to cut vertical notches into the battens.

[@tomtucker1963]

I have really enjoyed these videos. I’m planning on building my own room next year. I have this year to plan everything I need to do and will be using your videos as my main guidance. You have answered so many of my questions that I have struggled with previously. Thanks, these have given me the confidence to crack on and get it done. Cant wait to get started.

[@AliDymock]

Awesome. Yeh just plan it out completely and you'll be able to get through the build quickly. It's great fun!

[@adamdent1362]

You have inspired me to build my girlfriend a dog grooming salon in our garden. Almost following what you have done to the letter. Great vids and keep the coming.

[@ecsko]

That's what I call a nicely put together informative video. Well done young man. Thanks for the tips :)

[@AccountantDoesDIY]

Superb video again Ali and as luck would have it, I've literally been nailing my featheredge cladding today, so the timing couldn't be better. Love the look of the sneak peaks you've given us of the final cladding!

[@AliDymock]

Nice, send me a pic Chris, I'm collating cladding types right now and need a pic of featheredge!

[@shanerayner4271]

Another great video Ali, thanks for all the tips and inspiration for finishing it off nicely. Currently awaiting a delivery of wood to carry on with my walls now the weather has perked up 😄 can’t wait to get building again.

[@marknicholls4133]

Very informative Ali! But I see you have insulated wall plate to roof! How will it vent the space above the insulation?

[@nialstewart8263]

Ali, thanks for a fantastic series, do you have a final costing? I've been through most of the episodes but don't see one.

[@jeromephilipon750]

Hi Ali, thank you for another great video helping me along my build. I see u used a framing nail gun. First fix or finishing nail gun? Unsure which one to choose? The first fix type seems like such brutes I fear they would mark my cladding or split the tongue and groove due to excessive force? Any advice gratefully received. Thank u

[@MisterBoy316]

Fixing through your battens to the stud makes sense but often you need a double batten or additional battens (apex of your gable wall). Do you just end up putting in additional bits of stud/noggins so you can fix through?

[@matthughes8791]

Great video! Have you installed the battens flat on the 50mm face so that they protrude and leave a 25mm gap behind the cladding? The cladding I’m ordering says I need min.38mm air gap behind but that seems overkill? Thanks

[@richbvw]

Great video and I have used your videos as a blueprint for my own build. It was quite eye opening to see that 2 years ago your battens were £1.04 when mine yesterday were £6.45 each from the same supplier 😢

[@Chris73767]

Hi Ali, I'm now on my second garden room build after watching your fabulous videos - thank you for such high quality content. I am about to start the Soffit and Fascia board work now on my second build and had the thought whether I should put breathable membrane on the underside of the overhang on each side where the soffit goes, I noticed you haven't - did you have any thoughts about this. I'm not saying they are needed, I just wondered if you considered this at all? I was thinking if there were some capillary action, could water penetrate? Maybe being over the top as usual....

[@AliDymock]

Well done Chris! Umm I considered it but most would say putting it on the fascia is overkill. I think the soffits won't see any water get to them so probably not required.

[@lincolnshirehiker]

Great video Ali, I just need you to do a camper van conversion now!

[@AliDymock]

Heheh I've never really been into the van conversions, if I were to ever do something like that it would be a full on tiny house that I can tow around Europe for a summer. Once the house is done I think that would be a great project. Can apply a lot of the stuff in this series.

[@chrisaitken4353]

Excellent video as usual......been looking forward to this one. Still planning my build and this series is excellent research

[@paulhollingsworth4166]

Awesome tutorial as always Ali, great help, thank you. Nice work with SketchUp.

[@AliDymock]

I learnt from the best 😉👍

[@120Livi]

if you have open jointed vertical cladding which you see quite often where the 100mm board is set with a small 5mm open gap do you need another barrier to keep the water out? thinking of doing this for mine but conscious that most of the discussion r.e. the tyvek breather membrane and venting this area has been about moisture and vapour and with an open gap it's more likely to be actual water drops getting into the cavity between the cladding and the vapour barrier.

[@AliDymock]

That's no problem, you just have the BM on the outside of the wall and then an air gap between wall and cladding. You shouldn't get much water in there and any that does can run out the side and the BM will prevent it soaking into the OSB/studs. The thing you haven't mentioned it the colour of the BM - I'd definitely go with a black one so it looks like a shadow gap, otherwise you might see the BM if it's grey with orange writing on like mine!

[@120Livi]

@@AliDymock good thinking! I'd not even thought about colour! God can you imagine, being all chuffed with the new slick garden office then the wife comes out and asks what the colours are in the gaps 🤬🤬🤬

[@222rich]

We were hoping for this vid. about 18 months ago lol! From what i understand we have done just what you did. We have still got our sofits to add, may now do them widthways rather than lengthways like you have as it looks real neat.

[@AliDymock]

Well at least it helped with one thing lol 👍

[@alexbarr4619]

Ali - what did you use for the door reveal? My larch cladding is 20mm so too thick to fit between the door hinge and frame. Can't find anything thinner anywhere and the timber merchants won't plane it down.

[@MultiEski]

Hi , if i would like to keep motorcycle in building like yours is this will class as a garag aswell ? For insurance company ? 🤔🤔

[@FreeskierSean]

This series is so helpful! Thanks for taking the time to make it. I'm wondering if you have any insight into the proper way to vent and weatherize a cinder block out building that will have 2x4 walls framed in the inside to allow insulation and drywall to be added. I plan to use a vapour barrier between the drywall and the timbers/insulation. I'm wondering if I should also use masonry waterproofer on the inside of the cinder walls before the framing goes up. I do not want water to seep in through the cinders, but I also do not want moisture to get trapped between the vapour barrier and the masonry waterproofer.

[@AliDymock]

Hmm, let me point you towards a vid I made on insulating a solid brick wall as that will be similar to what you want to with similar consideration concerning moisture: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pITRk4CpiN-Xjrc

[@jeromephilipon750]

Informative and eye opening. Many thanks

[@Jarul0706]

Great info as per usual

[@AliDymock]

Glad you think so!

[@philipkelly7471]

Another great detailed video

[@dibley1973]

I think Oakwood Garden rooms showed they wire on the out side.

[@pisees738]

Thank you Thank you Thank you ⭐️ Soooooo useful

[@garycheshire7663]

Cheers for the videos completed summer house ,with alot of helpfull tips from yourself , thanksyou m8 👍

[@naj114]

Great vid as usual. Your videos inspired me to build my own and I'm greatful for that.

[@simonr6793]

Ali I've often wondered if you could use diagonal battons for the vertical cladding! Starting with a short batton at the near top left then raising diagonally towards the roof, so short length of batton then another a little longer in length then another longer one and so on that way you can Install the cladding vertically and if any rain got behind the cladding it would run down the diagonal battons and run off. Surely this could be useful or not ?

[@AliDymock]

It's certainly a good idea. It would work perfectly in the centre of a wall as there would be the airflow from bottom to top. Less so on the sides but air would still be able to travel upwards but not draw in air from the bottom so I reckon it could do the job and save you from cross-battening but probably not quite as effective as vertical battens or vertical+horizontal battens. Smart though!

[@simonr6793]

@@AliDymock I'm actually in the process of digging foundations for a workshop just might have a try on one of the walls when I get to this stage!

[@yulasinio]

Great video as always with ton of information. You mention no need for vertical battens if you use box steel roof sheet but how about the water that needs to drop on the vapor barrier? Will it just evaporate?

[@AliDymock]

It would just flow forward and then run down the back side of the metal sheeting. There are a bunch of ways to do metal sheeting which I'll cover in my video on it and you may want vertical battens depending on how you do it.

[@yulasinio]

@@AliDymock Thanks for replying Ali. 3 of my walls are tight to the boundaries and wanted to do horizontal battens with the steel cladding fix vertical. But I'm thinking if water gets on the wall, breathable membrane it will stay on the batten and maybe absorbed I to the OSB. Looking forward to your next video.

[@garethroberts9223]

Superb content Ali - My garden room is about to be insulated! Can you advise on window reveals, particularly over a window. I see some details with a profiled tray under the reveal - any thoughts? Keep up the great work!

[@AliDymock]

Hey Gareth, do you mean if you don't have a window sill? I'm not sure of the best way to do that but it's something I've been thinking about for a future build.

[@teach1913]

When's the final video coming with cladding etc?

[@AliDymock]

Just polishing off another mini series then get back to it with some extra footage I'll have for metal sheeting :)

[@nickrice5]

Would one row of diagonal battens be an option for vertical cladding?

[@RaySawyerPhoto]

Love the series. Really helping me. I’m converting my old outbuilding into an office. Your videos have been really great. I’m going to use a warm roof, do I NEED an overhang or would a box roof be fine. Joists on my wall plates in line with the walls. Is there a reason for an overhang with a warm roof or is it just aesthetically pleasing. Thanks Ali

[@AliDymock]

Hi Ray, good for you! The overhang is mainly aesthetic, certainly the big one on the front but they do give the walls rain cover AND it shades the windows in summer when the sun is high in the sky. So not totally useless. It's not related to a warm or cold roof. You can do overhangs or no overhangs with either.

[@RaySawyerPhoto]

@@AliDymock thanks Ali. I have existing single skin brick building so I’m making good the walls. Tank slurry the inside and weather proof the bricks on the outside. Then build an internal stud structure. PIR insulation vapour barrier and plasterboard it out. Your concrete floor video was helpful too as it’s a concrete slab. Thanks pal

[@jasonjayalap]

More options for vertical boards: There are products that have drainage built into them. Someone makes (plastic, composite?) corrugated strips. EDIT: This guy uses backwards T-11 siding (exterior plywood siding used on sheds with vertical channels) as battens/strips. I guess you could cut your own strips with slits, too. If you want to just do horizontal battens but are worried, there's Tyvek Drainwrap, which a draining version of the housewrap. Then there's Tyvek DrainVent, which goes over the normal housewrap and provides a full rainscreen. Made for stucco but works for cladding. Seems expensive but some people might prefer it for the thinner wall?

[@AliDymock]

Great suggestions all. It makes sense that a batten should have drainage through it so it can just be attached horizontally for vertical cladding

[@scottw3780]

I’m planning on cladding mine with grey roof sheeting, do you still need to use exterior osb and battons, or could you just wrap the side walls in breathable membrane and screw the sheets straight to the frame? Then insulation, vapour barrier sheet and internal Osb... or am i being too much of a cheapskate? Most of the KZbin videos showing steel sheet cladding are from US or Aus, they have been screwing them straight to a steel frame work, the few UK ones have used external OSB and battons... Been loving the series by the way..

[@AliDymock]

I reckon you can go without OSB but that's not from experience, just a guess. My plan for my next garden room is currently to use metal sheeting without any OSB to keep costs down too. give it a go!

[@scottw3780]

@@AliDymock nice one, i figured on the internal OSB to add the rigidity that you need, cuts costs down quite a bit.

[@bdizzle7633]

Nice Informative video for most and clearly a lot of time gone into diagrams,however I must say Hollow board soffit ran lengthways is certainly not the norm and would immediately point out to myself that it had not been undertaken by a tradesman.

[@AliDymock]

Oh is that right? Every soffit or porch overhang I've looked at seems to have the soffit running lengthways along the soffit, unlike mine. So I did it the 'proper' way then?

[@JBONMETUBE]

Excellent vid ... thank-u!

[@paulthomas6275]

Hi Can I ask a question. Your airflow from front to back.....Does not have a continuous flow.. Because of your noggins... How does this work if that's the case I'm building my garden room now.. Is it a case of air pockets between noggins as you do not have continuous flow back to front.. Regards Paul In Dublin

[@AliDymock]

You mean on the roof? I have a warm roof so there's no ventilation required not designed for. Check out my 'Extra' video on the topic of cold roofs or Part 9 of this series to see the difference.

[@paulthomas6275]

@@AliDymock yes I have a cold roof.....you talk of continuous flow of air front to back....how can this be possible if you then insert noggins.. The air I trapped then in pockets between the noggins this is my issue. It's gonna be a 5 x 2 roof 3 metres wide with 100mm kingspan and a gap of 25mm vapour between barrier and insulation.

[@martinscotchmer6951]

Hi, I had the same problem as I've built a composite roof - 30mm below the insulation for downlights and 50mm above for ventilation. It was only after I'd installed the PIR insulation did I spot the noggin problem. As the main purpose of the noggins is to stop the roof joists twisting, all I did was cut a v-shaped notch in the top edge, using a jigsaw, to allow at least some air to flow from front to back. Martin Scotchmer.

[@patrickloftus]

With vertical cladding and cross batoning, the vertical batons don't really serve any purpose other than to lift the horizontal batons off the surface of the tyvek/OSB do they? If so I assume you could just put much small pieces of baton ( a few cm's) under the the horizontal batons to lift it of, and perhaps further improve airflow? Or is it just not worth the aggro?

[@OurHomeProjects]

Patrick, we did consider this for our garden room, but felt that the smaller pieces didn't offer quite as much stability as a longer pieces when cross battening. Plus screws can be offset, ie placed away from the horizontal batten screw in points iykwim. If you have the budget I would suggest a full vertical length, but clearly if savings need to be made, then shorter vertical pieces should also do the job. After all the boards are supported along the whole length at multiple points so if one fails, it has others to fall back on. That's my tuppence worth :) Karen

[@patrickloftus]

@@OurHomeProjects good points Karen, thanks!

[@AliDymock]

Hi Patrick, I agree with Karen here. Its a good idea but battens are really pretty cheap and you'll save time and screws by just doing full lengths. each little piece would need two screws so you'll probably end up not saving much if anything.

[@adamandlorraine]

Ha I like the shot of the batten price. Now £1.79m for blue batten 25x50 I paid two days ago.

[@AliDymock]

Crazy isn’t it. All the screen shots of material prices throughout really show how prices have shot up.

[@Smoke.madraw]

i built something similar but went with screws all the way

[@danc8744]

Hi Ali, thanks for your videos, they have been incredibly useful. I’m going to have vertical cladding 18mm on top of 2 lots of 25mm batten (78mm from OSB)I’m planning on ordering the windows from the same place as you, with front of frame lined up with exterior of OSB. Do you think I can use the 150mm cill (giving an overhang of 12mm)? I could use the 180mm, but wanted to avoid 40mm sticking out from cladding. thanks in advance.

[@AliDymock]

So that would be 25+25+18 = 68mm right? I haven't looked at the sills for a while but just make sure that the drip-sill thing (pointy bit under the sill to shed water) is over the edge of the cladding. I think you could use the same sill as mine, as you'll be situating the window right up to the OSB. You could probably come out a little further if you needed to as the battens and cladding will hide. Just double check everything before ordering

[@danc8744]

@@AliDymock That’s really helpful, thank you.

[@nisarzaman]

Very impressive

[@kevsnell]

@ali - fantasitc job - I'm in the process of designing my garden office and your videos have been so helpful. Can you tell me where you got your cladding from?

[@AliDymock]

Sure Kev, composite is eurocell coastline, western red cedar from Southgate timber and the metal sheeting company was terrible so I can't recommend them!

[@kevsnell]

@@AliDymock daft question. Did you do the composite on the sides to meet building reqs and the Western Red Cedar just on the front as it looks nicer?

[@matthewlister8033]

Great 👍 video…. Cheers mate

[@c9311]

I'm currently building a garden room, I planned to use tyvek but I've not cladded the outside in OSB, will this be flappy and cause issues? Not all of it will be insulated as half will be a shed...

[@naj114]

What are your walls made of?

[@c9311]

They're made of 2x4 :)

[@jasonjayalap]

I've seen people do this. Why would it flap? It's stapled to the framing and the cladding is blocking wind one side. Some people even just use cladding and skip the wrap if they dont care about a bit of water getting in.

[@c9311]

That'll do for me, they're 400mm centres so with battens holding it taught I didnt see a problem but after watching this I had doubt

[@66gassy66]

@@c9311 Hi. I followed Ali last year in lockdown and built my garden room gym in September. As it turned colder I left the exterior just clad with Tyvek. Its still like brand new with no tears or faults and thats with the weather we get in Wales. We are still not decided on the style of cladding to finish off yet , so its going to stay like it for a while. Just use plenty of staples.

[@stephsherrington9547]

What sort of roof is best hybrid or cold roof

[@AliDymock]

A cold roof generally. A hybrid roof has insulation above and below the roof deck and if the insulation below is too thick then it pulls the dew point down to under your deck and you can get problems.

[@stephsherrington9547]

@@AliDymock is there a video I can watch on how to fit the down lights in the cold roof system how to cut the pir boards and pull cables through the boards

[@Brandon-no3vc]

Why do you have plywood blocking your soffits

[@AliDymock]

Because I did the fascias first so those little pieces of ply stood in for my soffits until I got round to doing them

[@jaroslawsobaszek3682]

What design software is this ?

[@AliDymock]

SketchUp

[@TrenellyOyster]

Hi Ali, love this video series. I’m building a summer house and your series has been my model. I notice that you used corrugated steel sheet as cladding on the back of your room. Did you manage to form some kind of insect mesh under this?

[@_babyjesus]

Nice.

[@newlinkdirect]

Always use a stud/cable detector when blind drilling/nailing !!! problem solved... (all electrics are protected RCD).

[@jasonjayalap]

13:50 Tyvek is not a vapor barrier in either direction. Additionally, DuPont recommends "don't use a vapor barrier in hot humid climates" in combination with Tyvek. "Always use a rainscreen" is now the general building science advice, my guess is that April balanced the lack of rain in her area (I'm guessing), the expertise she and the people around her had, and the cost, and just decided to do it without the screen. Or maybe she didn't know. You're right to say "just use a rainscreen" and that the use of vapor barriers in different climates is still advancing.

[@brunodasilva1891]

Hello Ali I always love to build my own stuff, and it been a while that I wanted to do an Extention but the building prices are insane, your videos just give me a boost a needed to go forward, even my wife finally agreed to build our extension based on timber that will save as quite substantial money and we can afford to use the best materials for building. I'm based in Manchester, I would love to get some advice from you. can you please DM or email me so we can chat.