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So, after the last entry - we had a clear site, filled with many, many tonnes of compacted hardcore. All was well. No more digging, the wobbly wall hadn't fallen down, angry neighbours had been pacified with cake. Onwards and upwards! Well, not quite. We still didn't have our building warrant. We had applied for a staged warrant for foundations and frame, naively thinking that this would be quicker that going for the full thing. We had submitted the MBC plans, MBC engineer drawings/calcs, SAP calc, double checked Scottish engineer drawings and the engineer certificate that is required in Scotland. We were ready! Our local council gives the building control department 20 days to respond to applications. 20 working days. We had worked with a chap in that department before on a previous house who is very nice, helpful and reasonable. He had been giving us informal advice and help throughout our nightmare planning process. Surprisingly, our application didn't get assigned to him. Nevertheless, we were optimistic - it was early February, and we had a provisional date with MBC of the 18th of April for starting the foundations. Everyone thought that was a reasonable lead time; helpful BC chap, the architect, the planner, the engineer, MBC..... After all, we had the SER certificate, everything had been checked and triple checked, and we were only asking for the Stage 1 warrant. I could say a lot more about this process, but I will restrain myself. Let's put it this way - towards the end, my husband and I gave up using words in text messages and communicated about the build solely in memes. We got a list back of queries (after the first 20 days). Fine, we were expecting that. This consisted of points such as why some documentation was printed in A4 when it should have been in A3, a page numbering error, the mention of a standard detail in the MBC drawings that is not standard in Scotland.....the list was 3 pages long. And not in an unreasonably large font. So, we responded to the points. All of them. Another 20 working days pass - we get a response to the first point, and another question. We send the answer back. Another 20 days - a question about the second point arrives. You can see how this went. Frustrating is not the word. There aren't really words to express the level of rage that existed within our house during this time. Hence the memes. We got our warrant on the 6th September. We eventually worked out that there had been a mix-up somewhere and our application was being assessed as if it were non-staged, hence all the seemingly irrelevant questions about electrics and MVHR points. So, the staged warrant was reissued as a full warrant on the same day as I got confirmation that I'd got a new job after redundancy. That was a good day, and the hashtag #ginforbreakfast was born.

I think you have your answer but if you want my 6 pence worth - is 6 pence still a thing, then you don't need them (it) however nice she is, unless she is very nice in which case you still don't need them cos you will have to sell up when the divorce proceedings commence and so will no longer be the owner of your lovely lighting wiring although presumably, and as long as an even nicer lady (or person of another gender type depending) does not come along trying to sell you the built in hoover, you will have a hot line to some more for the next house you build.

As a tip from someone with three of the same taps, replace the cross head centre screw with a brass one. The brass coloured one in there is brass plated crap steel and will rust like an anchor inside 6 months. IIRC, a standard brass countersunk M4 screw fits a treat.

That's me out of ever doing it then. I'd go postal on someone.

@8ball, in your calcs above its 30% of full load not "remaining". Appreciate it's still nom 13A! Don't discount the Christmas dinner effect when considering diversity!

Simple answer is the total load would dictate a 50A circuit breaker which is way over the size you can use for a 6mm cable. Also the Manufacturers Instructions for the oven probably say to use a 16A circuit breaker If you really cannot re cable to the consumer unit, then it would be acceptable to feed the 10mm cable with a 50A mcb, then fit a mini consumer unit where the junction box is, with a 32A circuit to the hob and a 16A circuit to the oven.

I would be running a 10mm all the way to the hob, and 6mm all the way to the oven, on their own circuits from the CU.

With our ASHP's built-in compensation control this is actually how it works - the difference between set and actual temperature is part of the calculation for flow temperature. So raising the stat will boost the flow temp and heat up the room faster. Hot water circulation causes heat from the DHW to be emitted by the hot water pipes into your house. Which may be useful in winter, but I would not recommend that as a valid approach. Maybe put the circulator on a simple timer that comes on when you are likely to need hot water - e.g. morning and evening. It should be off 80-90% of the time. I agree with @ProDave, we leave it on all day between 8.30 am to 8.30 pm. The setback for night is 1 or 2C lower - so in case we get a very cold night and the temp falls the heating will come back on. Still experimenting with this - last winter I left it on 24 hrs and let the logic in the controller work it out. Also think aboutin the human response. I find we can get away with a cooler house first thing in the morning compared to in the evening. e.g. 20C morning is fine but would be too cold in evening. I cannot explain this, but maybe we have less "sitting-around" time in the morning or perhaps body core is really warm from sleep under a duvet? In terms of timing of these events, if you have PV or an ASHP then think about these as well. ASHP is going to be more efficient at the warmest time of the day and PV can also lift some (or all) of the load rather than export to grid.

I believe you need a check valve on garden taps to stop back syphoning but why not just change the taps for ones with built in check valves?

Here's the draft checklist for comment 1. Drain runs: must be downhill and straight 2. Spare conduits: draw strings 3. Soil Pipes 4. Copper pipes 5. MVHR runs 6. Hep2O 7. Electrical backing boxes 8. Electricity cable 9. Data and Audio visual: printer, HDMI cables, speaker cables 10. Telephony 11. Socket location 12. Security 13. Fire alarm 14. Normal pipes 15. Door bell 16. Door frames 17. Pocket door frames 18. Stair well: floating / cantilevered? 19. Leave floor boarding unfixed to enable new cables to be fished across 20. Photograph everything, measure and mark with a sharpie as needed ( but not on Plaster Board) and/or take notes. Make allowance for finished floors & walls. 21. Sound insulation 22. Plaster Boarding 23. Support (noggins) for wall hung items such as cupboards, sinks, mirrors, TVs, What have we missed out?

It’s called the Approved Inspector scheme and you can get a lot of decent ones, and some are not so good ... just ask @curlewhouse..! You mention mortgage - do you need a warranty too ..?? If so, a lot of the warranty companies do a combined service for warranty and building control inspections. It’s what I have and the provider of the inspections (Meridian) have been brilliant

So we have a dummy thermostat in a building I manage - you turn it up and hear the “click” but it does nothing .... and no-one ever says it’s cold..!

@Hecateh I put the postcode into Google. The thing about preserving the *opportunity* for further access to potential plots is to keep options open, which is often easy, and that it actually uses far less space than most people imagine - I have a modern (less than 20 yeas old) development nearby where the access cul de sac is less than 5m wide for about 5 houses. If allowed, I think the minimum width for emergency services access is around 3.5m at a narrow point for up to 5 houses (varies by County Authority - it is I think a building regs matter not planning). Looking briefly at your PP before I forget where it is I think you have room for such an access through the new front parking space, but I would take perhaps 1-1.2m extra off the back garden of the existing house in that corridor when you sell it compared to the plans just to be sure. Boundaries are not a Material Planning Consideration, so the Planning Authority are very unlikely to do a thing about it and once in place it will not be expedient to do so. You will lose nothing, and will have kept the option open for the future. IMO in 15 or 25 years that site (ie next doors' gardens) will be crying out for a small retirement development of 3 or 4 bungalows walkable to town. Personally I think that - given the lack of housing land and ageing population we have - access to future potential plots inside community boundaries should be a material planning consideration, but currently it is not the case. Ferdinand

you clearly didnt watch my videos about the chainsaw mill did you, if its wood it will be either oak or ash, (probably oak) and iv got both available by the forest load

Temporarily I'd open the window in the bathroom while having the bath to limit/avoid the MVHR going into boost? It must have a moisture sensor to know to boost? You could override this but you still need to deal with the moisture build up. I doubt reversing the ensuite to a blower would be a good idea either. You've already outlined the best solution if it exists. Contact the supplier and manufacturer to see what they recommend / would upsell?! That or you'll have to take a shower only in the ensuite and see if that counterbalances the boost effects there.