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If I understand correctly, it's just XPS with a thin hard layer on top of it? I'll be floating click laminate or LVT, rather than gluing tiles to it, and none of these are officially compatible with click flooring because it spreads the load differently from glued-on ceramic tiles? And does the XPS act as a DPM in itself? Apologies, I might be asking very daft things here.

Seems rather odd that the water utility would have their water meters installed on a private main ? It sounds like maybe the same thing needs to be done with the water companies as was done with the sewerage companies when they were made to take responsibility for public (i.e. shared) drains on private land.

Ahh, i see. Yes, makes sense. Thanks.

You need Posis designed to hang on the top chord instead of resting on the bottom chord. That way the ledger's "inside" the Posi joist.

I know nothing about this. I thought you were not allowed holes for joists through to the cavity any more? Having googled "ledger boards" how does one "lose" the thickness of the ledger board on an interior wall?

yes. under a heating mat under tiles. and it's no bother. they are a good compromise of insulation, strength and general robustness.

is the garage on or near a boundary? I will assume you have already committed to plywood. Does the BCO say what the purpose / danger is? They are right that vertical timber can burn vey fiercely once ignited, as the flame races up the preheated wall. But in an isolated and unoccupied building there is miniscule risk to persons. So you can get advice ( phone Envirograf, where a real person will advise, and they will have test results) on whether they can supply a surface retarder that will satisfy the requirement. If it needs long term protection then it gets expensive. Lots of layers then a sealer. If you are near a boundary then you are required to stop any fire affecting the neighbours (who might build close). A clock wall does this so the internal surface should not matter. The alternative is to put plasterboard over the ply. not ideal for a robust space esp if you want to hang tools. Other paint suppliers are available, and merchants will sell you the stuff without any query, some with a diy certificate. But I've only used the one (Envirograf) for decades, and they are expert and not one of the big companies.

Not done this (and think @Oz07 has) but one of the advantages of ledger boards was that I thought it was easier to ensure a level floor. More room for error/fiddling bedding in joists on a masonry wall than putting up the ledgerboards.

I'm not sure why UKPN would need to know. Only the first phase inverter would be grid connected. The other inverters would share a neutral but not be connected to the mains line voltage at all. Agree finding an electrician who is comfortable might be challenging. But maybe look up what’s involved in doing it as you might want to keep the option open for future and that might impact the design Why limit yourself to one inverter on grid? Nothing to stop you having multiple. Just need to be setup the right way so they honour the export limits. (There are simpler and less simple ways of doing this depending on design). And what you propose isn't complex? I think it's worse. Solar only wouldn't work. You need the battery (or live connection to grid) to smooth solars variation. Many car chargers can be set to limit output to approximately match what is coming in via solar while still being connected to the grid, so just use one of them with a normal grid tied system. I think you should step back, start from the basis of sizing the inverters to be big enough to power the house + be able to export the maximum allowed/generated. Any bigger than that is pointless. Ensure you have enough MPPT's to enable proper segmentation of the roof (limit shading impacts). If there is a mismatch look at alternate systems/arrangements (eg, Victron that decouples MPPT's from inverters - also sells combined models). Work out the amount of generation you expect from the solar at the darkest time of year. You have an awful lot planned so it's likely that you will still generate a meaningful amount. Direct attention to areas that may lower demand to match this winter generation as much as possible and then look up data to see what to expect in terms of multiple cloudy/sunless days in a row and determine how much battery you need to ride through that. Get a car charger (and immersion controller) that can adjust output based on solar generation. Obviously your plan doesn't make much financial or environmental sense, but if you want to do it that's the approach I would look at. I should note, that if you plan to own an EV and keep it relatively charged up then the need for big batteries diminishes if that car has a built in ability to export it's energy. Many cars these days can output 2-3kw that could be directed to a generator input on the appropriate inverter (if it exists) or a battery charger direct charge from the car into the house batteries (easy if 48V system, likely not possible on a Sigenergy system). Having said that, I think Sigenergy are one of the few companies that claims to be able to directly interface with the DC side of the EV battery so could take charge that way. It is both cheaper and more environmentally conscious to use the EV battery as the long duration emergency backup as it saves oversizing the house battery for the extremely rare case. The car doesn't need to be able to support the max load of the house. Just trickle (3kw) charge the batteries over many hours. That should get you through most extended outages when combined with even limited solar output (worst case scenario you conserve energy a little to extend the time). Advantage of intentionally building such a setup is that you end up with a very large portable battery. So in the extremely extreme event you have the potential to get in your car and drive somewhere else to charge it and then drive back home where you can use that energy.

Yes. I wanted to hear the case for holes in the walls vs ledger boards. Thanks for explaining.

>>> The boxes are basically the same Yeah, told you I was being a ..... What about mini grid stuff? Anyone have opinions on those?

>>> Battery and inverter I would investigate if you are running on a cloud and walk away if you are. Good point - looks like Sig needs a connection every 90 days. >>> Have you done a decent usage analysis yet? Ah, ROI is not the objective - the objective is to be as nearly off-grid as possible. >>> If you plan a workshop with potential for 3p machines then an alternative setup would be to use inverters to generate the 2 other phases (all connected to the same battery). 1 inverter is connected to the grid, the other two phases purely rely on solar/battery (inc charging from the grid connected inverter). Yeah I do have a 3P lathe :) I wrote off this option though as, possible technically, but too tricky for UKPN / my chosen sparks to get their head around. >>> Firstly, with a 100A connection why start with the premise of only exporting 12kw? Good point, I believe the max on 1P is 17kW. I think Sig's max 1P inverter is only 12kW though. >>> A 24kwh battery is not enough to fully charge a car Yeah, I was planning on only charging direct from PV - it seems overly complex and expensive to me (I know that's ironic) to charge a static battery and then use that to charge a car's battery. That means either charging from the sun during the day or from the grid when the sun's not shining. That means having the car charger connecting either to the off-grid inverter or the grid via a (probably manual) changeover switch.

And the floor area? Over 40m2? Usually under 40m2 walls and ceilings need a spread of flame classification of D-s3,d2 which your plywood could well achieve. However, like in many cases you can't actually prove it. If there are manufacturers details on the boards you may be able to ask them before you spend your cash

chipboard to spread the load of the click flooring? Tile backers description reads like they might be OK but has anyone here used them for flooring?

That plan sounds right to me. Lay and fix the floor backer board first, then bed the tray on top as the maker says, fully supported with no hollow spots. On the walls I'd fit the backer board after the tray, as you're thinking, and bring it down so it sits just above the tray lip and overlaps the upstand rather than sitting behind it. Water running down the wall then ends up in the tray, not behind it. Leave a small gap there for a flexible sealant, and run tanking tape over the tray to wall junction, the internal corners and all the board joints before the tanking coat goes on. Screw the floor board at the spacing the maker gives, onto a bed of flexible adhesive so it's fully supported, and tank at least the area around the shower. With posi joists there's always a little movement, so use flexible adhesive and grout throughout and a silicone joint at the floor to wall junction rather than grout.

The garage is concrete block, reinforced concrete slab

It’s not connected to the house

not necessarily. we need to know more. location re house and boundary. construction, why ply?

Is the garage integrated with house? Or is it a separate building?

My building inspector tells me that I must paint the stud walls and ceilings with a fire retardant paint to comply with building regulations. Has anyone got a recommendation for paint that will do the job and be compliant? Thanks in advance

Take a look at this - I found it to be very useful back in the day and it does seem to fit with your request. Ignore the figures, they are 8 years old but the layout / format may assist. [Although details are included, the passage of time should cover any actual information being established and considered inappropriate.] Running costs to date.xls

@JohnMo @Nickfromwales @JpManning @stevenlee thanks for all the advice. Just wondering if you have thoughts re above? Currently thinking; Stone resin shower tray tilebackerboard floor and shower walls direct onto egger (with peel and stick removed) Taped and tanked joints Tiles on floor and shower walls. Assuming that works then wondering about backboard before or after the tray… inclined to go after. Thanks again appreciate all the insights.

I'd not bother hunting for anything clever, a plain spreadsheet does the job and you'll shape it to suit as you go. What worked for me was one row per invoice or receipt with columns for date, supplier, description, stage (groundworks, frame, roof, first fix and so on), net cost, VAT, gross, date paid and where the receipt is filed. Then a pivot table or a SUMIF by stage gives you a running total against your budget for each stage. A few things worth doing from day one if it's a new build: Keep the VAT separate and flag whether each item is reclaimable under the DIY housebuilders scheme. HMRC want proper VAT invoices with your name and the site address, and the claim has to go in within three months of completion, so file the paper copies as you go rather than chasing them at the end. Add a column for anything your builder or subbies have zero rated so you don't try to claim it twice. Take a photo of every receipt into a folder named by stage, as till receipts fade. Google Sheets is handy because you can add costs from your phone on site.

Assuming you appointed him correctly and he hasn't resigned then I would expect that legally he is still the PD. You could appoint someone else, or yourself if you wish but if the changes are minor then i'm not sure you are really going into PD territory. If he refuses to sign off at the end then you could appoint yourself as PD and sign yourself, it sounds like you probably have a better overview of the build anyway.

You don't really need the additional manifold as you can manipulate flow with the individual loop flow meters.