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Automatic fire suppression systems aren’t ridiculously expensive (mist vs sprinklers) so if I had a building like this for storing / working on vehicles or storing significant amounts of ‘stuff that goes up real good’, then I’d fit a mist system. For all of my domestic clients projects I specify a 3-core cable from the house smoke detection system to both attached AND detached garages, so anything not smouldering / smoking / on fire is immediately obvious to the occupants, eg it is flagged as early on as is possible. Fitting a (wireless) ‘locate’ button in at least one strategic position within the house is also something that I spec (recommend), so basically upon hearing the smoke alarms all going off, every one of them in unison, where you’re possibly awaken, startled and worried, you simply hit the locate button; this action will silence every smoke detector except the one(s) that was triggered, meaning you can then make a bee line for the problem area to tackle the cause. If the house falls entirely silent, that’s your prompt to get your arse out the door, el pronto, to the detached garage / outbuilding where you’ll then hear that one wailing. Most modern homes now have plant rooms, attic plant areas, detached garages and out buildings, so it’s far simpler to have this ‘locate’ facility imo, so you can find the issue in seconds vs running to every room / space that (you can remember) has one. I recommend installing one inside a kitchen cupboard unit too, as with large homes with vaulted ceilings, if you burn the toast, you then don’t have to climb on stuff to press the ‘hush’ button on the detector (giving a 7 minute mute) as these wireless units also allow you to hush and test.

A while ago my next door neighbour locked themselves out of the house. After a while it was decided to break a window at the back to gain entry. I was voted for the job. It took over 5 minutes with a hammer to get through the triple glazing.

That's my understanding of how the DNOs operate. Our second system, sat in parallel to an older FIT system, had 8.5kw of panels but SPEN were only interested in the additional inverters rating that was much lower than the panels rating.

If a fire is about to flame-grill you, you’d be out the window like a 21 year old. I have advised exactly this for one of my current clients, eg that they stash drop down ladders in each of the FF bedroom fitted wardrobes, the type that hook onto the window frame and unroll to give a ‘rope ladder’. For £55, there’s no reason not to have at least one of these on the FF. I’ll take that over a pair of broken legs all day long.

It's a huge difference affecting ease of building and fire specification. Normally reduces foundation size too. Fire still applies though so do check it out.

This is such a no brainer! @Kevan Marshall, move it over 400mm and save all this feckin about!!!! 🤷‍♂️ Iirc, the 1000mm rule would be the absolute dimensions, so remember to allow for overhangs / gutters and downpipes etc.

As @Conor says, moving it just 400mm will be simpler and maybe a bit more neighbourly too? It's going to be a substantial not very attractive building that it sounds like you might cut corners on and you don't want close to your own house - they probably don't either!

Our dno is ukpn. We were relatively early in our area to add solar, 4kWp fit ages ago, + 4kWp V2g in 2020. They haggled the V2G from 6kWp down to 4, giving a total of 8kWp. Since then others around were granted 5kWp total. We swapped out our V2G for more solar a couple of years ago - they were happy to allow us 4kWp (+4kWp fit), matching the removed v2g. I was impressed by them, they didn’t just say ‘no’, but tried to accommodate. And the process is free, unusual this day and age. Nb: our ‘extra solar’ is a 3.6kWp sunsynk hybrid inverter+16kWh battery+10kWp of panels just for it - it charges the batts while exporting as well. Ukpn didn’t care about the battery nor how many panels, just the inverter.

Can you move another 400mm away from your neighbour?! That would simplify things greatly.

Mid sections of pipe runs not haunched? To prevent deflection. Foreign objects like a 1/3 of a patio slab or a house brick, visible when migrating the spoil and back-filling.

I cannot comment on the sewage as we have a sewage treatment plant, but we simply requested the water company installed a new connection to a temporary building supply. They came along and inspected the trench a water stand pipe and then connected us up. Once that was connected you can then take a T off the supply to the caravan and then when ready connect up to your house supply.

The inverter is what connects to the grid so DNOs would want to and do regulate inverters and any generator connected to their system. Where have you heard DNOs are interested in panel capacity??

Rest bends haunched. Pea shingle layers done as described. Picking out obvious foreign objects impossible.

Have you haunched with a sand & cement mix, to set the pipes in situ? After that you should have 100mm of pea shingle under and 100mm over, and only pick out any obvious foreign objects.

You can’t bring them to the frame. You’d normally put a slot ACO drain in and then lay up to that, so a linear slot drain deals with rainwater runoff from the doors. You’d need to add an ACO (if you aren't on very permeable ground) and that sits at the end of the sill. Then pavers get laid to that.

Are we all supposed to have emergency ladders stashed in every bedroom ? In theory a fit person in their twenties might be able to climb out at first floor level, hang down from the window ledge with their hands, and drop 6 feet onto concrete without killing themselves. However I don't fancy my chances of making such a move at an advancing age. It'll be shouting ''help'' out of the window until the elderly neighbour arrives with a step ladder and a barbeque knife.

Agreed on the pointing. It looks like a churn-brush finish in the picture — slightly open-textured, with the aggregate exposed, giving it a rougher more traditional looking finish than you’d get from trowel-pointing.

Hi All - I need to tackle the patio behind the extension in the next few weeks and am looking for some advice on how something is usually done. The origin site shows you just laying a paver directly onto the cill which I cannot believe it an okay way to do this. There is supposed to be a weathered threshold between the internal and external floor with about 10mm difference. I am going to come down a bit more than that, say, 15mm to make sure the riddculously oversized doors don't have any clearance issues. What is the right method to bring the slabs right up to the door frame over the cill here please? Not sure if heat related expansion and contraction needs to be considered for the aluminum cill as well. Planning to use large format porcelain pavers. Any advice welcome. Thanks, Paul

We have been given a bit of leeway with one of ours as it is higher than 1100mm from the floor, bco has stated due to the amount of furniture in the room egress through the windows could be gained easily by using a piece of furniture to stand on.

Not a chance it has to be an openable window. i would not fancy your chances smashing triple glazed windows with the outer pain in laminated glass.

As Temp says above: the window needs an opening which is at least 450mm in either direction as well as being at least 0.33m2 in area - so that negates 450mm x 450mm. The dimensions relate to the opening which is why some upvc window hinges do not comply as they do not allow the window to swing fully open. The bottom edge of the opening should not be more than 1100mm off the floor. The idea is to allow someone to climb out of the window, hang from the bottom edge and drop to the ground outside - hence only being allowed for first floor windows.

One of the very few places online that will list Ajax prices and let you buy direct - Ajax Smart Alarms – The CCTV Store For the others, lots of different websites will let you view prices online so I won't paste links - easy enough to google. Best thing to do is sit down with your floorplan and mark out where you want the sensors, PIRs, external and internal sounders, keypad/control panel etc to go. Then sense check with ChatGPT/Claude and ask it to create shopping lists for your chosen products. Works fairly well and will at least give you a baseline for the parts cost when looking at or comparing quotes from installers who will want to charge labour and their profit margin on top.

Are you having a battery also, if so you need a strategy of what you are doing, as big is better to a point. You maybe better over clocking the inverter with loads of panels, so you have max output for longer periods during a day, and get battery charging as well as max exports. Lots of ways to do this even with a G98 limitation.

I’ve heard that some DNOs also want to restrict the size of your array / inverter output etc.

@nod >>> I use Venetian polished plasters Clayworks etc Without wanting to disrupt the thread, I would love to hear more about that finish. Do we need to search for a specialist who knows the material? Are there useful differences between the various options? Would you be willing to start another thread to give us all a basic primer?