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Yes I would, because people make mistakes. Presumably the pins are in the ground at the exact spot, so you measure to that, or to a spirit level up from it. Also check any critical distances, for example to an existing feature or a boundary. I would also do as I said earlier and take references, but it is up to you. This is in case a pin is knocked over. It is simple to place offset pins or pegs. Project the wall lines you have, and put a mark in 1m (typically) beyond, at each end. If using a peg, put a nail in the top. You then have 8 pegs. If you wish , tie an orange stringline between them and you have your rectangle, increased by 1m. Then the digging can all be within that, and you have an immediate check. you may also be saving a visit or 2 from the total station.

You just need to keep simple, otherwise you will procrastinate and never get any generation up and running.

The way I read the diagram it’s to reduce the cold bridging at the sole plate. Otherwise cold air gets behind the plinth bricks. I assume there will be wall ties linking the walls and the plinth bricks. Not sure how that will work with polystyrene sheets.

Listen, I’ve watched Guy Martin so I know all about air tests… Being serious I figured it might help identify problem areas in the airtight envelope. My thinking was that we would either raise or lower the air pressure inside by sticking either the blow or the suck nozzle through a hole in the temporary loft hatch. Then, by lighting the odd smoke match, we’d get an idea of any significant holes by watching the drift. My intention was to leave the flue open to see how well or otherwise the smoke matches identified issues. Then, having bunged that up, we’d wander round lighting matches to see what we could see. Yet another idea discarded in the ‘didn’t allow time’ dustbin.

It’s called modern art. Honest. 😉

I'm wondering if this is a scenario where stepping the blocks and making up the diagonal difference with mineral wool is the massively simpler and no worse performing solution. What's it for?

Or use several layers of thinner stuff cut square. Will the small voids actually matter?

I did come up with a mad idea to pivot all 22 panels and then join together using car track rod ends ( i can get the really cheap). Thats probably the easy bit. Walking down to the array several times a day to adjust would wear thin rather quickly, so automation would be requitred. That gets complicated and involves electronics, so a non starter sadly. I think i will adopt the johnmo approach!

Excellent! Thanks for that. Might have to copy that. Though with 22 panels, could still get expensive!

Now you have your pins in place you could set up your profile boards if you want, you can mark external wall and internal then see it all drops onto the foundation. are you going 600 wide or 700. im sure something changed recently regarding regs.

If you go with Wood-fibre you could go to a merchant which offers (dynamic, more accurate, condensation risk assessment) WUFI for free. Building Control depts are very variable. Mine used to be quite hard to get a conversation with, so if you were doing anything with any element of doubt you just had to go with your gut and hope the BCO agreed. Since they may only do 2 (or even one) visit(s) you don't, ideally, want to wait till you have done something (based on your best researches) to get a BCO opinion on whether you've done right. They should have no problem with an area-weighted calc, and should also be OK with you not quite achieving 0.3W/m2K (0.3 with WF may be an IC risk). I used to use the WUFI calc to back me up on that. On the other hand some merchants do a cost/benefit trade-off and suggest even less than I'd use. Not sure always how you get that past BCO. My feeling re WF is that if it functions without a VCL then you don't have a VCL to get wrong. Just go tight as a tight thing and stuff any gaps with 'fluff' (cutting 'swarf' mixed with water). Always use a (lime, in my view) parge coat. Views about gypsum as an under-layer vary. As I say, I have used PIR when the client cannot pay for WF, but I'd much rather use WF.

Did you have a contract of sorts in place with clear scope/deliverables? Then, did you request any changes/deviations to the deliverables agreed in the original agreement, and were these formally documented? You can work with people/companies in many different ways, but you need to tailor your approach to suit the framework that’s in place.

If that's the case, I will do this as I can get round the pipe.

But surely the hole will be in the right place

That looks a good theory.

Can you get around the soil pipe? Id go for one of these, that clips together at the back, and solvent weld the lot in then. 👍 You can buy these with solvent reducers. Just a pic of the fitting for an example

Would you still check even though it was set out with a total station? some of the pins are not vertical, so that will skew the diagonal measurement.

Why not use mineral wool then zero cutting?

Hi Redbeard, Thanks so much for the detailed replies—and for the correction on the dew point! That makes complete sense. By adding thick internal insulation, the original brick gets much colder, increasing the interstitial condensation risk if moisture gets through. Your point about the shutter boxes is exactly my fear (creating a massive cold bridge). I am definitely planning to use a high-grade insulant there to stop condensation. I'm looking at something like 10mm Spacetherm WL (Aerogel) for the reveals and shutter boxes. As you mentioned, it won't hit the 0.30 U-value (Thanks for the correction on the U-values!) but hopefully, it warms the surface enough to prevent local mould. This brings me to the Building Control aspect you rightly pointed out. Because I physically cannot hit 0.30 W/m²K in the bay windows without destroying the functionality of the integrated shutters, do you find that Building Control is usually open to granting a 'waiver' (or accepting an area-weighted U-value calculation) for these kinds of original/fixed features? Regarding my original question about the exterior pebbledash: my main concern with using Kingspan/PIR on the flat walls isn't just that the bricks are leaky, but that the existing cement pebbledash is highly impermeable. If any moisture gets into the brick (or gets trapped during construction), it’s sandwiched between PIR foil on the inside and cement render on the outside. Does treating the pebbledash with a breathable hydrophobic cream (like Stormdry) mitigate this risk enough to make PIR a sensible choice? Or, in your experience, is Wood Fibre (with no VCL to get wrong) really the only 'fail-safe' option for a cement-rendered solid wall? My main concern is that my builder has no experience with wood fibre or lime plaster, and I'm worried that a poorly-installed breathable system might be more dangerous than a standard PIR system he knows how to install correctly. Thanks again for your time—it's incredibly helpful!

Looking good. Don't have a go at the bananarama girls. I fancied the dark haired One, way back in the day, but didn't have the bottle to ask her out.

One of your problems will be getting any other electrican to sign off work that they did not do. I had this once on a fair sized extension. i explained to the BCO that i could not get a sign off because the bloke had dropped dead. They accepted an EIHR in that case.

I am sorry you have had a rough time. I picked up on the words 'acting as my electrician'. Are they one? If it were me I guess I'd be looking at the terms of the original agreement (which might be the 'feel' of it if it was verbal). Did any particular thing precipitate the decline of the relationship? Have they done of not done anything which might be of interest to Trading Standards? Oww! 'Multiple more thousands' sounds painful. I don't know much about the Small Claims Court but is there a clear breach of what you thought they intended to provide?

Thanks that makes sense. I'll have a think on it

Don’t fit 32mm, 40 min and reduce to 32 under the basin.

Hello folks. I'm after a bit of advice, someone I was working with took on the electrics for my house. They have made it clear by their actions they do not wish to come back and I was left with a mostly first fix house minus a few rooms. I've reduced the scope multiple times and they agreed to this. But are still not coming. I've been waiting 3 months and still had nothing besides infrequent replies and or various reasons why they can't come back. I mostly paid upfront with a very small outstanding payment for full first and second fix. I'm now having to get another electrician involved probably going to cost me multiple more thousands to get it all resolved. Any sensible fair recommendations since I dont know what to do.