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without belittling the project i am struggling to see the complication, you have 2 steels sitting on top of a column with another column sitting on top of that??? I can't see where any structural welds would be. only to hold the plates in the right place. how well do you get on with your LBCO? I asked similar questions (about certified welds, not so much being CE marked) when i was looking into my steelwork, turns out not many people cared, as long as the steels being used had been specced by a SE, the actual fabrication and purchasing of the steel never got questioned, as I'm sure you know in the end i welded and cut all my steel myself and i have still not been asked where i purchased it from,

As we approached our move in date, our tiler was unfortunate enough to come down with a bug that was doing the rounds. He had to take a couple of days off (and I think probably came back before he really should have) but it did have a knock on effect on the plumber, who couldn’t get all the sanitary ware fitted before we moved in. On the morning of moving in day (and to obtain our Temporary Certificate of occupation) we had one fully working bathroom. At the end of moving in day we had both working. We sourced our basins and toilet pans (Ideal Standard) from Germany. Doing this saved around £300 (even after delivery was taken into account) compared to the best price I could get in the UK. Other members of the forum have found that buying from Europe can generate savings however this is dependent on the prevailing exchange rate. We sourced our bath and shower trays locally, simply because there is no saving to be made by importing from Germany. I was also concerned about the likelihood of transit damage to the bath and wanted to ensure that a local supplier was responsible for delivery and able to resolve any issues that arose. Taps, shower valves and concealed cisterns were sourced from: https://www.plumbingforless.co.uk/ We went with Grohe for the lot. Generally speaking, we are very happy with them and certainly happy to have a 5 year UK warranty. The only disappointment is the pop up waste lever on the basin taps. It seems relatively flimsy compared to other taps with pop-up waste that we have had. We’re very impressed with the showers, good flow and a large shower head means a very luxurious spray of water. I’ve measured the flow from the shower at 16 litres per minute. Whilst this is slightly extravagant it does make for a luxurious feeling shower and is not something I intend restricting – it’s a cost (in terms of DHW) I’m willing to bear. The shower screens were also sourced locally, which turned out to be a very wise decision in view of a fairly significant oversight on my part. When ordering the shower screens, it never occurred to me to check the height. Virtually all of the shower screens on display in the showrooms were 1950 or 2000 mm high, and in previous houses we had always had trays which you stepped up to get into. It was only when the shower room screen had been fitted and I stood next to it that the issue was highlighted. Being over 2000mm in height, the problem with a 1850mm high shower screen on a low profile tray is self-evident. Fortunately the master en-suite shower screen door was still in its packaging when I identified the problem. A quick visit to the plumbers merchants and they agreed to take the unopened screen door back and replace it with a different shower screen. That screen arrived a couple of weeks later and was subsequently fitted by the Builder. The shower walls were finished with Multipanel rather than tiles, simply to make cleaning easier. Picking the right colour / finish of panel was a little challenging, although I think we managed to achieve a pretty good match in the end. We went with a simple L-shaped aluminium trim to finish the tiles for a sharp clean look. The bulkheads, which conceal the cisterns allowed us to raise the basin height to 1000mm. There are two removable tiles, one for the basin trap, one for the cistern. A larger flush plate was an option for the cistern however we preferred something smaller and stuck with the push button supplied with the cistern. We fitted the flush buttons so that they are behind the raised seat, forcing users to close the toilet before flushing. A couple of reasons for doing this, firstly it prevents any flush spray into the room, and secondly to ensure the toilet seat is left down (this saves a lot of grief) which in turn encourages users (or should I say children) to wash their hands after use. The bath was fitted into a tiled frame, the front panel being removable if we need to get access to the trap. The taps are connected to copper pipes with long flexi pipes. We’re really pleased with how both the shower room and en-suite have turned out, and both feel it was worth spending a bit extra on porcelain tiles to get a nice finish. Next entry: Heating system and DHW

I sense a bathroom dig again? My excuse at the moment is I don't want to do anything in the house noise/dust wise so as not to distract No.1 son from his A Level revision. So I'm getting away with the tree house, playing with cars etc. I did drag him out yesterday to help change the wishbones on SWMBO's Pug though. We have to be careful with him in strong sunshine in case he bursts into flames though! I love shouting "Stick to the shadows!" His last exam this week so I suppose I'll have to get back into it!

Most pleased about this week... Think I've fixed my mower. It's a V-Twin B&S and looks like the diodes in the kill circuit have become heat sensitive. Official replacement part is £45. New diodes cost me 10p (plus postage). Edit: Oh and I fixed the dishwasher. Bit of scale caused the heater to blow.

Hard sell nick ; hard sell ! ?

This has to be one of the most hilarious threads of all time. Nick certainly has a way of calling a spade a %^% shovel !!!! We used to call them "turd choppers" I can certainly agree they are noisy, and like a waste treatment plant with moving parts, I would not volunteer to service one of them. Ever considered a composting toilet for the basement?

You would need to get the foam with no foil on it as the glue should really bond timber to foam. Most SIPs are made from controlled expansion of foam between the sheets creating the chemical bond and splines are just cut down boards of a slightly thinner profile. Any reason for not using the supplier ones ..?

Yup, wood just isn't ever that straight. Plus you should have kept it vertical, and rotated it lengthways by 180o so as to correct the squiff back to the third checkpoint. If marking a long wall with a spirit level you always do the same. Never keep using the SL in the same direction as any inaccuracy in the SL will just keep you heading up / down hill so you keep flipping the level round for each length you mark, therefore correcting it as you go.

Sorry for the delay. It's about the use of materials to form walls and the use of Thermoplastic. I see no reason to think you cannot do what you want. The relevent sections are part B2 section C. Table 1 para 3.2, 3.4 & 3.8

regarding the outside tap i always fit the tap to the through the wall fitting first. then you fix the back plate after so you can always make sure its vertical.

Got a Rexon bench drill that lives at work and thats really good At home the weapon of choice is a 350W Rolson cheapo, by Christ has it done some work! I treat it as a portable tool! No guard anymore and the NVR switch died so I had to cobble one up with a spare enclosure, 230V contactor and couple of buttons (simple hold on circuit). I've drilled 6mm st/st plate with a 70mm Starrett before on it. I've also got this Ajax 3 phase bad boy given to me as a set of parts. It was apparently intact but the previous owner took it apart with the intent of converting to single phase but never did. Appears to be all there. (Yes my garage is like my mind !)

At the moment I am pleased because I received news of my local council enforcing on a landlord for letting out property with an F level EPC. By all accounts the chap is in something of a frenzy because they seem to be looking at the entire 10+ portfolio. Small steps but a start. Ferdinand

i have lost nearly two stone since September and can eat like a horse.

That the pain has stopped. 2 long years of nearly killing myself took its toll on my back, knees , elbows and every other joint. Now it doesn't take 5 mins to get out of bed and straighten up. I can sit out the back now in this great weather and finally enjoy living in it.