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We had cedar cladding on our last place and the wasps chewed it, but didn't do any damage. Where we are now they chew any unpainted wood in the garden, but as there's so much around it will take forever to do any damage.

@Nickfromwales In the photo layout I've shown the drinking water and garden tap branching off before the PRV. Is that a good idea or not. It has occurred to me that some some kitchen sink taps may have a maximum working pressure that could mean it wants to be downstream of the PRV. A high pressure for the garden tap feels a good idea as it will help with the garden hose etc, but I guess there could be a similar issue there. What would you recommend?

Also not sure why... But if it's anything like a lot of other things when you are selling a property, your solicitor should be able to get indemnity insurance to cover this - which is pretty cheap.

Can I ask why?

We have untreated Siberian larch. Wasps definitely use it to build their nests - up close, you can fine marks where they've scraped the top surface. They haven't managed to damage it much after ~11 years, so I'm not that worried about it. I assume a well-maintained coating would deter or stop them.

They are not eating the wood, just using the fibres to make nests. If it is coated you should not have any issues as the wasps like the weathered stuff.

Last week I was stung on the hand by a wasp, which made it swell up like a balloon. It wasn't a lot of fun. It must have been stripping wood from a fencepost that I put my hand on to help me lever myself over the fence. It got me thinking about timber cladding - do they chew that as well? I know their nests are basically wood-mache - I've watched them stripping wood from an old outdoor table before. The last thing I want is to construct a large wasp buffet box. The types of wood cladding I am looking at are Scottish larch or that Japanese method of burning wood (shou sugi ban) to preserve it. If I use larch I would seal it as I don't like it when it goes all grey. I'd use something like Ronseal clear wood preserver rather than something naff like varnish though. Anyone got any experience of this? I am not asking re cavity closing mesh etc - just wasps chewing the external cladding.

Why do you need a grease trap? It seems you just need more robust detail on the drain you have to stop soil entering and blocking it?

I picked up a load of Millboard composite decking for free off Facebook Marketplace. About 20m². It had apparently been in place for around 15 years by the main back door and was being removed to be replaced with paving. It quite grotty with ingrained dirt and a few green bits. It cleaned up quite well with some bleach, hot water and a stiff broom. I haven't noticed any wear on it. In fact we were a few boards short when refitting it, so bought two brand new boards, and after about 6 months they blend in very well with the old stuff. On that basis, I would recommend Millboard if you want long lasting composite decking. But... Having seen the price of it when buying the two new extra boards I would probably just pave the area properly if I actually had to pay for it.

I've heard this concept from a lot of people on here and discussed at length with our builder and architect/designer. In the end, went with UFH on both floors as I hate rads and would not have them. In the bathrooms, gone for electric towel rads with a shelly relay wired in. The thing that swung it for me was a question from the builder - would you buy a property that did not have a heating source on the 1st floor where you and your family sleep? You may trust the solution where heat from downstairs keeps the whole house warm but a subsequent buyer will not be able to wrap his head around the concept and simply look at it as something that needs to be fixed/money that needs to be spent to clean up the mess.

My personal experience on the matter of RAMS.. The build is being managed by a main contractor, who runs a very professional site and has taken on all the responsibilities. Keeps all documentation up to date and everything that HSE might need to so - no complaints. Any subbies that come onsite through him are known to him and he makes sure they are properly inducted, checks their insurance, gets a copy of the RAMS etc. All good - but the one thing I've noticed is that his subbies for different things are a little on the dearer side. Not surprising but we get a very smoothly managed end to end process with no headaches. The one or two occasions where I've tried to get alternative quotes or bring my own team to come and do things cheaply - all went well until the point where they were supposed to start on site. Asked for their insurance and to fill out the relevant RAMS forms and they quickly decided that there wasn't enough meat on the bone to warrant the headache, so walked away from the job. To be fair, I had negotiated hard (about 10-15% lower than the quote from the main contractor's subbies) - but in the end, went with the known quantity to avoid the hassle.

Two thoughts: 1. If designing from scratch the additional cost of adding cooling will be minimal in the overall scheme of things so put it in at the start. 2. Why on earth would anyone building a new house in 2026 NOT want to add cooling?

We moved into our new pad just as the first heatwave hit. We are epc A, well insulated, good airtightness, mvhr, ashp that cools the ufh (downstairs). We passed part O (overheating) with flying colours......our experience is that we should have put WAY more thought into our cooling strategy beforehand.....we are in the process of changing track ...(a2a rather than fan coils from ashp), so not sure whereabouts you are but..........

Haha so literally, the architect omitted about the need for plant room space, but when you suggested your ideas for heating he rubbished those plans and asserted the need for something else that requires more plant room space? Smh There's a really awkward circular dependency you need to pick your way around. Ideally you get the eventual installer in before tender pack is created, as heatpump installers are trained (and obliged to provide) design services as part of their industry certificated supply and install package. But obviously you can't tender the work until you have a tender pack. And if you're going for a single principal contractor to run the whole build (this sounds like custom build rather than self build so i very much assume you will), many principal contractors have their own tame subbies they much rather work with and will slap a hefty P&A surcharge on dealing with anyone else you foist on them. (And/or use it to play the finger pointing game when issues occur). My own suggestion would be to specify the thing that's cheapest in professional fees that you could definitely live with if the install price is right, e.g. UFH everywhere, and be very upfront during tendering that you're open to engage in constructive value engineering on anything that is adding undue build cost, and flag that as one such candidates. A good builder will come back with their own suggestions or loop in their preferred installer to participate in that decision. And yes, you'll have full SAP figures by then so it'll be a more substantiated discussion. To your other points, 1. ufh can work fine with thick carpets, so long as all the building exterior is much more thickly insulated, and you run the ashp low and slow (as is best for it anyway) the ufh heat will warm the fabric of the building and make its way to where you need it rather than being lost outside. 2. Even if you're 100% set on not having cooling, I'd still recommend running the numbers to confirm exactly what your overheating risks are, do some stress testing of it based on increasingly warm summers, and also do a little bit of future proofing thinking on what you'd do if retrofitting it proves necessary in the future. Considering window placements and external shuttering to minimise overheating is even more important at the earlier design stage than stressing over active cooling.

Some thoughts on the cost of safety … - If you think safety’s expensive, try having an accident (quote from process safety guru Trevor Kletz). - There’s often a benefit to set beside the cost. Think about how we used to do work at height off ladders and now all the handy equipment like portable scaffolds which not only make it safer, but also easier to do a better job. - We don’t have any choice about regulatory compliance, like implementing the CDM roles, but when it comes to choosing how we work, we’re only required to apply solutions which are reasonably practicable. Regarding working with trades, I’m early enough in my self build not to have first hand experience, but I’m hoping that a bit of hand holding with writing RAMS will overcome any reluctance. I have had experience of this in an industrial setting and have found most contractors are happy to cooperate.

That's interesting from what I have been reading etc, cost of UFH was considerable more to install upstairs over rads... Still got the thick fluffy carpet issue though too!!!

Nothing has been mentioned about airtightness or insulation yet. Presumably as only at first drawings and he wasn't going to put a plant area in, that this emerged about the ufh/rads. Is it worth getting a contractor under my belt around stage 4 for the construction drawings rather than let the architect go all the way through to the spec/schedule stage 5? From what I understand by their stages the SAP calculations etc won't be carried out til near stage 4 anyway?

Thanks, not interested in cooling though

We haven't gone into this fully yet as only just started with design. No cooling, Rads under window as frees up other walls that will be utilised with furniture. Children may or may not be in there other than to sleep, they have a playroom/study planned downstairs. No secondary heating, don't like wood burners etc. We obviously haven't gone fully into the solar side yet, planning back roof to have as many panels as possible/affordable due to sun all day. Simple system, not worried about zoning etc so much, most ground floor is open plan.

The architect telling you rads won't work is essentially the architect telling you they're going to design a shit house that needs more heating than you would like. Did you talk about levels of insulation and airtightness? You're doing mvhr so I'd start there, figure out some heating (and cooling) demands then decide if you need. IME architects will often speak a pile of bumkin about what is and isn't possible in terms of heating. In most cases this is based on having one bad experience and wanting to have themselves future hassle. Passivhaus/ AECB qualified architects are sometimes better, but they can swing the other way and under specify. Also in my experience you can spend many hours and pounds on iterating this at design stage, only for the eventual contractor that gets the job to rip up those plans and do something completely different. Case in point my current project (BMS for a london town house reno), I suggested ashp for heating+cooling, architect said it's not possible in a Victorian terrace, client paid M&E consultant who specified system boiler and multisplit Aircon, that was all thrown out in value engineering and re-tendering (not to mention planning application refusal), eventual contractor is now installing a single Veissman ashp to do everything via a mix of UFH, fan assist and even cast iron rads.

issue will be if and when you sell, you will need an MCS cert.

fancoils over UFH for 1st floor / bedrooms all day long. free air con.

Is agree. UFH all the way in 1st floor. We bought towel rads as well, still sitting in their boxes. As we had concrete and screed 1st floors, cost of UFH on 1st floor was minimal, 500m of pipe, pump and manifold. rads would have coated way more and compromised the rooms.

It is a lot more complicated than it first looks. Will you want cooling? Why place radiators against a potentially colder wall Wil any of the bedrooms be used for other purposes i.e. children doing home work in them. Will forced ventillation be fitted, with, or without heat recovery. Will secondary heating be fitted i.e. a wood burner (just don't fit one). How is the house expected to perform during the day and different seasons i.e. solar gain, or lack of it. How simple do you want the system. How controllable do you want the system. Do you want to take advantage of different, and potentially unknown, time of use tariffs.

Read some examples of HSE prosecutions. Its a good idea anyway to get a feel for how things can go badly wrong, but you may also be shocked at the leniency. Trainee working alone killed - £30k fine for example. You have to have done something really bad to go to jail, act sensibly and you will not. I'd argue that things like CDM are a help because they give you a framework to work within and put obligations on the professionals, before CDM you probably didn't have too many options as a homeowner or self builder looking to ensure contractors worked safely (including not endangering you). One measure of whether you have the right attitude to safety is if you are willing to pay more for it. Safety costs and the client sets the tone for the site. If you employ the cheapest person who hasn't spent any time considering safety then you have some responsibility if it goes wrong. I had a basement contractor who didn't want to be PC, despite being the only contractor who would be onsite at that time and taking over from a bare site. I felt I could have done the PC role, and probably better than this contractor given their apparent attitude, but could I defend myself if anything went wrong and I, an amateur, was controlling the site part time rather than the experienced professional doing the work? Clearly it wouldn't have been right and their refusal to take a responsibility that was clearly theirs ruled them out.