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If the wires are in place then that’s that, unless you want to move them. most of our isolation is in the pantry all flush fitted. however the isolation for the two oven is as you describe a 47mm surface box in the back corner of the cupboard. cut a square of osb and fit it behind the cupboard where the switch is going. 47mm in a 600 deep cupboard isn’t exactly taking up a lot of room.

As it 'threatens' the sub station, maybe with a suitable bit of blarney the electricity utility company might take them down for you ? Also check with council that you can cut and remove them - sometimes you need permission granted which avoids any friction if someone were to complain about your unapproved tree work. Some places are conservation areas where you can't just cut trees down, also there can be tree protection orders. (Warstory: We had a beautiful mature and healthy tree at the bottom of our garden on the edge of a nursing home property. Provided screening and looked fantastic. One day I came back from work to hear chain saws buzzing - thing had been chopped down. Some old bloke in the nursing home kept complaining to the warden about the tree, eventually they got a tree surgeon in that proclaimed dangerous fungus found at base and chopped it down for a large fee. After local complaints the LA have now put tree protection orders on all the nursing home trees.)

I think the building control specs I posted earlier are based on 25kg/m2. 10-11kg/m2 sounds quite light ??

Now, had you used habito plasterboard...

Please can I get some advice on fitting grid/isolation switches into a kitchen. We did discuss this with our kitchen company and the plan is to fit the switches inside a suitable kitchen cupboard. So now I am wondering how exactly this is best done. The kitchen company have said the electrician should fit a surface box onto the backboard inside of the cupboard, which is a 3mm back board. Is this the common approach and does anyone have any photos of this achieved in practice ? Fitting an electrical box onto a 3mm board doesn't seem that robust, neither does it seem great aesthetically, a 47mm box would be 2 inches of box obstructing the back of the cupboard for example. It may be too late to do that much about it given the wires are in place. But what is normal, does anyone mount the box onto the wall behind the cabinet and then cut an opening around it ? Or reinforce the board from behind with timber ? We have one wall run of cabinets with Oven, Microwave/oven, Warming Drawer, Induction Hob, Extractor Fan, fridge freezer, and a smart switch for opening the rooflight. And a kitchen island with D/washer, wine cooler, quooker. Would be really good to see photos of what others have done. I will discuss again with the sparky, but sometimes trades have no criteria other than quickest for them, whereas we will be living with it, and looking at it for 10-15 years.

Nah...looks off to me too. More like an a 'artist's impression', particularly as one of the kitchen above-counter sockets appears double-up through the photo montage...

Thanks Dave, so I’m basically gluing the plywood onto the flimsy hardboard then screwing through both into stud? Never even thought of that to be honest. Much better than seeing a batten inside cabinet

I’m a bricklayer. Just had planning approved for south Scotland. Was told rigid boards (PIR) is the standard with 50mm air gap. I sent a email over to building control about having Dritherm 32 fulfill along with the BAA certification. They replied saying I can go ahead with it as long as installed to manufacturers standards. There was no way I would do PIR. Even on my own build taking all the time in the world it would be a nightmare to install. Looks great on a drawing but it just don’t happen in real life and when the bricklayers not getting paid much to take the time you end up with a right mess as shown in photos above. It repels moisture too so won’t get through the cavity, even in exposed locations like mine.

XPS poly beads, every gap is filled around the whole building, any damp gets in the poly beads allows it to drain away. Easy

This cavity slab from URSA available up to 175mm & 200mm.

After the debacle of the last builder, who just couldn’t admit his work was rough, I decided to get https://www.tmcoatesjcbplanthire.co.uk/ back in to dig down the oversite ready for the next brickie that we have managed to get on board. Tim is an absolute legend and goes above and beyond when it comes to excavation tasks! here is a picture of our site (I’ve demolished the abomination left by the last incumbent)

For a PRV? When I've built a whole Nudura house without being a qualified builder?!

I would cut a sheet of 10mm ply to be a snug fit in the recess behind the cabinet, fixed there with your favourite gap filling adhesive. Fix the cabinet with the official fixings into plasterboard fixings, then two screws through into the studs one top one bottom, going through the flimsy back and your 10mm ply

Bringing this back up, significantly in the good way? Or stay away from. Currently being advised on a 150mm cavity partially filled with 100mm PIR. Reading on here suggests I should opt for dritherm 32 at 150mm and fully fill. But I have scope to go to a wider cavity too.

Wow that’s shocking. Can you help what wool batts I should be looking at?

The Dritherm 32 slabs are easy for the bricklayer to fit, easy for wall ties, decent u-value, don't make a mess if the wall gets drilled and easy to clean up mortar droppings. EPS beads are good too but you said you are not keen on them.

Proper rough job. It would still be rough without the rigid insulation, which elevates it to farcically bad.

Correct . Thanks.

Which ones? I suspect 'put boards' should read PIR boards.

If you've got a reasonable head for heights and are willing to take your time and be careful you can do it yourself. Tree surgeons are charging around €1500/day near me for 2 men and a chipper. This was I think €175 per day. It's 12m reach but that's pretty much straight up so it's hard to chop anything higher than 9-10m without it falling near the base. For your situation an 18m machine would be ideal.. Keep the cuts reasonably small and you won't go too far wrong. Get tempted to reach out cut something big that you can't quite control and it'll bite you. Trees are dangerous, we all know that but don't be too swayed by the "can't do that mate" "need a pro mate", "Need to pay a weeks wages for a days work mate". If you're sensible and confident have a go yourself.

I'm guessing that this isn't the case given my waste is a sewage treatment plant exclusive to my property. No mains anything here.

Forgot the link https://voltaconsolar.com/products/gaia-10-degrees-rubber-self-ballasted-mounting-system-for-solar-panels-east-west?variant=52708205461838

I’ve about 10mm at the back. I was thinking of just fixing a batten on the inside and fixing through that? or would 10mm plywood be enough to use at the back

If the flimsy back it recessed a bit as is often the case, fix a more substantial backing board behind it.

Just an example of my inventive DIY tree felling. These 2 trees, the right hand one had failed at the roots and was leaning over onto it's neighbour. All the tree men that looked seemed to suck air through their teeth, but all agreed both need to come down. I suspect none really knew how to do it. To fell them in one go, it was likely the tops would reach the house or static caravan. I suspect nobody wanted to climb a compromised tree to take the tops off. My inventive solution was put up a scaffold tower next to the trees and working from that with my extended pole saw I cut the tops off. That now just leaves the two mostly bare trunks to fell. Now short enough that they won't reach anything they can harm. Again not advice, just how I did it myself. I would really really love a mini spider cherry picker for this sort of work, but silly money for something I would use once in a blue moon, so the scaffold has to do, even though it is a lot of work to put up for a 15 minute job then take down.