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And we're done :-) What a relief! O ly took 23m3 in the end. Had a hairy moment when I realised I hadn't shared up the door jambs enough but that was quickly sorted. Sheet metal deck roof arrives Friday but not sure when we will pour that.

We built a great one at Penwyllt, as the septic tank kept getting blocked up with "fat bergs " (a consequence of a few dozen cavers having fry ups for breakfast every weekend). In essence it was a deep brick built chamber (only built of bricks as it was right next to the old Penwyllt brickworks, so there were thousands just lying around) that had an inlet pipe around half way up it's depth and an outlet right at the very bottom, that led to the septic tank. Midway across the chamber was a weir, designed to deflect the incoming flow upwards. Above this was a suspended galvanised steel milk crate, resting on ledges just above the top of the weir. The low level outlet pipe went via an inverted U bend, made from 110mm waste pipe fittings, so that it worked as an auto-syphon. The way it worked was pretty simple. The chamber would fill with the kitchen waste water run off (the toilets and showers went directly to the septic tank) and the fat would float up to the top, and clog in the milk crate. The relatively fat free effluent would flow over the weir and when the level on the outlet side exceeded the auto-syphon height it would drain away to the septic tank. Part of the Duty Officer's job each weekend was to lift the lid and check the fat trap. We kept spare milk crates, so if it was looking clogged with a fat berg, it would be lifted out and put on the bonfire to burn off, and a fresh crate dropped in. Before adding this system we used to have to dig the septic tank out at least once a year, as the fat made it impossible for the truck to suck out the sludge. The indication that this was needed was from complaints from those camping in the field in front of the club house (below the septic tank) as it used to over flow across the campsite. Digging the tank out was a thoroughly miserable job. It was a long, rectangular, tank, with the lid made up from a lot of concrete railway sleepers. All these had to be lifted off, the digging party had to don wetsuits, boots and goggles, and climb in to break up the contents, whilst keeping the tank flooded with water so that the tanker could suck up the stuff that was liquid enough. As an aside, shortly after I got my explosives permit, I was Duty Officer one weekend when the tank had to be dug out. I definitely did not want to climb into it, so I made up a handful of small charges (around an ounce of plastic blasting gel in a small screw top aluminium pill can) poked an electric det into each one, wrapped them in electrical tape and pushed them deep into the solid mass at intervals, using a long stick. All the wires were connected up to the exploder, we all stood back, and the handle was wound and the button was pressed. All the charges went off, but they blew the contents of the tank immediately above them vertically, for a considerable height, smattering all the cars in the car park with some of the contents. We were hoping that we'd have fractured the solid mass (the inspiration was the "hot rocks" project in Cornwall), allowing it to be liquefied with water and sucked up. Sadly we had to climb in and dig it out as usual, and then clean up the mess in the car park.........

We had a very similar situation, in our case a 1950's detached 3 bed that had a bit of a refurb in the '80s but nothing since. 1/2 acre plot in a good location, on moving in 2 kids mid way through junior school. We toyed with extensions but bit the bullet and went down the demo and rebuild route. We have many friends who did various types of refurb, partial demo etc and spent almost as much as us with much less to show for it and a lot more stress. I'd never built anything more complicated than lego before .... A few observations : 1) rebuild from foundation level is 0% VAT - this makes a huge difference to your budget 2) you're not constrained by the current design / footprint / location on plot (subject to PP) 3) You can build a house that meets the performance you want (passive, near passive etc..) - this is not likely to cost that much more as it's mostly in spec and detailing. Easy to do from scratch. 4) you already have services (sewer, water, electric, maybe gas) this is also very expensive to do from scratch. 5) you wont have hidden costs arising as you strip back the original house or try and tie in old to new. The build should proceed fairly smoothly. 6) it will take you more than 18mo to figure it all out, get planning, discharge conditions, line up contractors etc so don't worry about the current redemption fees. Look to remortgage to a sympathetic self build mortgage (Ecology are great). 7) your kids are small enough to treat the whole thing as a big adventure - buy a caravan and live in that big garden (we did this for 18mo). Sell it when you're done. Just try and finish before they're teenagers . 8) you will never have enough money upfront but you'd be amazed at what you can do on a budget without compromising and being your own PM, sourcing materials, subcontractors etc (much easier when you live on site) 9) you've pretty much done it before so should not be too fazed. Personally I think you've already decided on 1) and are working your way there Took us a year or so to get to the same place.

And so is born the 'reasonably robust man' test.

Close the isolator above that circulation pump and see if it makes a difference..... There is a non return valve in that lot and it looks like it’s in the wrong place...

You're telling this to a man who drilled thru his footings with one for the new water main! Never thought it would end! Even with the home made extension bar:

Just going to say welcome. And as an engineer, a house is a piece of cake, they don't have to land at 180MPH, at night, in the wet, with a cross wind...

Welcome and a couple of observations: (Downer) Your toddlers won't be toddlers for long and they will soon be teenagers and then off to Uni or apprenticeship and won't need the new space you created for them 10 years back, you will have created your own millstone manor and have rooms you don't go in but you still have to pay for. Basically if you don't do it now the reason for doing it will go away to Uni! (Upper) Toddlers are remarkably resilient and if you keep them involved they will be OK with some hardship and provided you do it when they have the capacity to remember the build they will feel part of it. (Clincher) If you want / need a job doing just find a busy man & women who are organised, committed, capable and resilient themselves - sound like anybody you know. Our example(s): When we extended Millstone manor here in Kent I did it over three years by tackling a bit at a time while keeping the rest of the house largely intact and always wind and watertight. We built over the kitchen, without missing a meal, added a utility room - moved the downstairs toilet, added a downstairs wetroom built a double garage with and ensuite bedroom over and a front extension above the porch one section at a time. Our children were 9 and 11 when we started and they were somewhat involved but I wish I started sooner. Taking our time also meant we could do a lot out of revenue although we did also have a capital budget. When I was a boy (13) may parents extended their home, I as the eldest, along with my mum (who by this time had 5 children - hence the increase in house size) were chief hod carriers, concrete layers and general hired hands. (Dad was out at work but the brickie did the bulk of the work.) Dad fitted out the extension and then knocked through so my three sisters (I ended up with 5) had a room each until my other two sisters came along. My brother and I were already sharing - shame on the parenting standards of the 1960 and 70s. Both of which prove you can do it alongside a family you just need to think it through!

Have you looked at the pre treated new age Gris cedar from Vincent timber. It has a pre weathered grey finish, which given yours won't get much sunlight or rain, should stay the grey colour. It's what I ve used in mine if you check out my postings.

Only 3 observations. I doubt anyone can say for certain that you can use the existing foundations for a new build without at lease an exploratory dig to see what foundations are there. Take a surveyors estimate of build cost with a large pinch of salt. When we built our previous house we looked at engaging an architect, but the 2 who we met and discussed the project with both gave a huge estimate of how much it would cost to build. Way more than we had. We ended up building it for not much more than half their estimate (surprise surprise their fee was based on a percentage of the estimated build cost) Is the garden large enough to split it, sell the old bunglow with a small garden and build a new house on the rest of the garden?

It's pretty easy to build one, Ian. If a bunch of highly disorganised young cavers can build one in a weekend, out of materials that were mainly scavenged from within 100 yds of the clubhouse, and with none of them having a clue as to how to lay bricks, mix mortar etc (I'd say 90% of the club members were either students or science/engineering graduates, with few building skills) and get it to work pretty much first time (the only mod was adding the galvanised steel milk crate) then I'd say anyone can do it. Bear in mind that it helps if you can cool down the trap, so that the water content sinks and the fat and oils float more quickly. I personally reckon a brick or block built one, or one just made up from fairly cheap concrete rings, would outperform a plastic one, and be tougher and better able to take a bit of abuse if it did get really clogged up. 600 x 450 concrete chamber rings are around £20 each if you don't fancy a bit of brickwork. Making a trap with these would be a doddle, just dig a rectangular hole, pour a concrete slab in the base, drop three or four rings in, drill pipe holes for the inlet and outlet and pour concrete around them to hold them together. Fit the pipes, make up a catch basket (go scrounging for something that will fit) and top it off with a standard drain cover and the job's done.

If you put 200mm of ewi on the outside you could go straight over the soil pipe and never know it's there. Winner. ????????? on a serious note is it a possibility to make boxing out of Ewi and hide the soil pipe. ?

Just to add to the information from JSH. I don't think he mentioned how to check your pressure vessel. Once a year i power down the bore hole pump and run the water till the pressure drops to zero. Open the pressure valve to be sure there is no water pressure in the vessel. On top of the vessel will be a fill valve that is the same as your car tyre valve. Using a tyre pressure gauge check the pressure in the vessel. Now the pressure should be just below the pump cut in pressure. I for some reason lost all the pressure in a tank a few years ago and thought the tank bladder had failed but once i re-pressurised it it held. Could be worth you checking as above As JSH has stated its normally the filters that cause the reduction in flow. I run three in parallel and change the filters every couple of months. As for your borehole details. Your local council are now the legal authority and will have the details of the installation and initial testing( assuming it was properly installed.) they may wish to inspect and have a right to do so. However unless the borehole supply's more than one dwelling or supply's a business including letting the house you do not need to to have annual testing. We were forced to upgrade our borehole well head as we have a self catering cottage on the supply

Timber frame and eco joists give you loads of room for pipework and ducting runs. Use Aluminium cladding for all your Soffit and Verge work: zero maintenance and a softer look than uPVC. Ditto use AluClad uPVC doors and frames. Zero maintenance unlike wood. Continental-style windows (e.g. Internorm range) which open inwards for cleaning. Use a Hep2O manifold system for your plumbing. Put a small central service cupboard on the ground floor with the manifolds near the ceiling. No hidden joins in any pipes -- so no hidden join failures in later years. And you can isolate single appliances / sinks with a couple of turns of a valve in the manifold if you do need to do maintenance. In include your loft in warm space and have a proper staircase up to it. The MVHR can go on the floor in a loft room. That's just for starters.

Here we go! 27m3 to be poured today. Have 4 volumetric mixers and pouring with a 2inch line pump. Figured garage is too close to the road and the road too narrow to get it rigged up. Weather forecast - bloody awful. Wish us luck! Will try post updates as we go. . (we also have plumber, carpet fitter, towel rails and staircase arriving today for good measure. When taking a day off work might as well make it count!

Yes. The onewire architecture used by the DS18B20s is a bus architecture. You can daisy chain dozens of thermometers off a single IO pin. The protocol enables the master to enumerate all device addresses and then it can send commands to all, e.g. "start a temperature measurement" or individually "thermometer XXX, give me your reading". Each thermometer has a unique address. Likewise I²C is a bus architecture using 2 IO pins. The ESP can only drive 3.3V @ 10mA, but the Crydom relays need a TTL level at a minimum (5V 40mA) so I use an MCP23008 IO multiplexor to generate these TTL level outputs. This hangs off in I²C bus so this is a 4 outputs (in case) for 2 pins as well. I could drive 32 IO pins off a single I²C bus this way, but I don't need to. So yes, in fact a single ESP module easily has enough IOs to do what I need.

so did Kingspan change their specification over the weekend?

So that’s a 127mm core which I would really be doing very carefully with a big hired in hole drill. Anything up to 50mm you can do with decent cores on an SDS but above that you are into wrist breaking - or being thrown off a ladder by the torque ...

Bull by the horns, and do it. You'll regret it later if you don't, but then I'm not the one having to do it. Plus it'll extend the thread to a definite record.

Just keep thinking of that finished garage

The only comment I'd add about the two cheaper models, is that they don't have an easy way of getting the fat berg out. We added the old galvanised milk crate in the top simply to allow the block of fat to be lifted out in one lump. Before that, the trap had to be dug out at the top, which was a lot more faffing around. Anything that will stick into the fat and has a handle, or handles, to lift it out will do, so it should be easy enough to fabricate something from stout steel mesh to fit one of the cheaper ones. Make it of steel, as that way you can just stick it in a small fire to clean it off.

Enjoy ...!!! Looks like you will be pouring all day but at least it’s under control ...!

Tell us, do! What kind of car do you drive? A pantechnicon? Most of us would give our eye teeth for a garage that size. Good luck; I'm wincing for you....

You say he has full approval from the council, for what exactly? You say he has been renting it out, as what - holiday let (subject to business rates) or as a dwelling (council tax payable) or both? It sounds like the council tax chap has informed planning of a new dwelling, they have checked their records, and found no valid PP (hence my question about what exactly he has full approval for). 10 years would be the relevant length of time before the development was immune from enforcement (but still not authorised by PP). Paying council tax on it is not going to resolve the planning issue. More info required...

As a footnote to this thread, I've now got my cheap Chinese DS18B20s installed in my heating system, so for example I monitor the UFH and the slab by using aluminium foil to wrap and secure the canned DS18B20s to the PexAlPex pipes about 10cm from the manifold fitting, and then secured the foil in place with aluminium tape. I also cut an internal slots in the pipe lagging so that the Thermo is intimate the UFH pipe and surrounded by lagging. When running the water on loop without heat the thermometers all stabilise to within 0.2°C of each other, so the thermometers seem more accurate than my calibration process, Using the delta from the average circulation temperature as a trim adjustment seems to give extremely consistent results with the thermometers being agreement to better than 0.1°C.

Joe I am sure you mentioned having a holiday there 10 years ago, why you asked to use it again as it was so nice.

Well done! I feel proud of you! Not easy to have it out like that but it can be done and sounds like you managed it well and demonstrates that you are mot o ly responsible but are likely to h av e more knowledge on some things than them.

At the moment I have done stress & am now advancing rapidly on to full nervous breakdown Having suffered nearly 2 years of hostility & harassment from some of our neighbours who we had previously counted among our friends, we commenced our build last January. Just as we had finished the ground works my husband was diagnosed with cancer, inoperable & incurable but he has had some really intensive treatment & we are waiting now to find out if it has been effective and what the next step is. This has meant that I have needed to continue working full time as it is our only income. Along with dealing with illness, financial pressures, a demanding full time job and trying to manage a self build, when I don't really know what I am doing half the time, I am spread pretty thin at the moment. Still, it has given us both something to focus on. However, we have had to adapt and changed our method of building to a closed panel timber frame system. The timber frame company PYC have been great. They pulled our project in really quickly and have been so supportive. My husband really wanted to see the house built & as we may be short of time & I cannot thank them enough. The roofing contractor has not been great & has caused me a lot of sleepless nights over the last couple of weeks. Also the neighbours reported us to planning enforcement saying we had not built to the permission & had built in the wrong place, extended the footprint & built too high. Enforcement were very surprised how accurate our measurements were & wrote back to them saying 'The development as constructed is in accordance with the plans as approved.' I think we are now back on track. The windows arrive on Monday & PYC are coming to fit them & finish the airtightness detailing & a few bits of insulation that could not be completed until watertight. I think I will then be able to breathe again. I think the camaraderie & support on build hub is so helpful. It is stressful & there are times when you just want it all to go away. But there is also excitement & sense of achievement and knowing that lots of you have said it is all worth it in the end. Good luck to everyone!

They look pretty good and amazing for the price. I use various 3D drawing packages and Photoshop every day as an architect but couldn't compete with that price. Even if you get some poor student in college learning the program you won't beat that price. Great value.