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@Thorfun let it go for today - no rush …

Yes, Too important to get wrong. I bought some last year for a job and the drill size was specified on the box. @nod will tell you the best ones to get 👍 (back to my mince pie and cream 🎄)

These are specifically for concrere I hope. If so, then I'm sorry but there is something dodgy about structural fixings without instructions. These are hitech products and will have precise requirements. Too big a hole and they won't grip...expensive collapse? Too small and they won't fit and may damage the thread. Perhaps buy some new ones.

We have a slate effect tray and I don't like it. I much prefer a plain white one. Far easier to clean. Our plumbers put them on sand/cement and as it turned out some gravel too. Made a complete balls of it, bouncy and hollow. Next time I would use a Mira tray (bedded on Tile adhesive) with upstands or else make a wet room style floor.

A leaf blower is good for cleaning out the ducts, watch out for the dust that will fly out.

OK, supposing in December you use 90% of your proposed 40,000W / 175A supply. There are 744 hours in December, so that’ll be 744 x 40 x 90% = 26,784 kWh. At, say, 20p per kWh, that’ll be £5.4K for December. Maybe £30K of electricity a year given that you’ll be using far less in the summer? Is that what you’re expecting? No? Why not? So, perhaps you won’t be using that much electricity and maybe you don’t need that big a supply. Search for ‘Veyron’ on the forum and you’ll see related discussion around this subject.

How much cash are you putting upfront before you even see a shovel in the ground? The problems I have with putting the process in someone else’s hands is that your money is going into their hands too. Rare I know, but company’s going in to administration with big chunks of money paid to them happens. Self managed, pay trades as they complete, more control of your money. That’s the only way I know.

For what its worth, before we bught this place, we looked at a place a few miles away that was off grid. Was running on a ramshackle collection of old gennys, some lead acid cells etc. That would be no use to me. I rang these guys. https://www.energy-solutions.co.uk/applications/off-grid/residential At the time, £40k, all in, solar, batteries, generator, control system etc. Completely automatic. So long as its filled with diesel. The cost of a connection would far exceed that, and if you take out the capex on it, your actual cost per unit of electricity was way way lower than the grid. I thought it was quite a sensible solution. Didnt buy the house though. The one we did buy has an 11kv pole directly behind my barn. I wanted 3 phase in the barn. Still came in at £17.5k plus VAt with me doing the trenching. Im sure that the minute they think you might spend money, they start adding in loads of extra stuff, that would normally be "maintenance and replacement" and get you to pay for it instead. I dont have 3 phase. It does mean, however, with both a house and barn needing heating, oil remains my only sensible option as otherwise overall load starts to get to high if ASHP's were to run both along with everything else. But, tough, not paying £20k. To have higher priced electricity than a domestic supply. Its a good thing that back in the 50's when they were connecting houses to the grid for the first time, they operated in a rather different way!

I must admit despite my plasterer saying noggins are not required at joins I tend to screw an off cut of ply or flooring to the edge of the plasterboard just put up then screw the new plasterboard sheet to it. Not a noggin but just keeps the plasterboard edges in line. Probably OCD but I have no cracks in my plasterwork after a year ?

I know the exact drill size required . But I’ve got turkey and wine to consume .