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So at the weekend we celebrated a year of PV generation. 2970kWh not so bad eh?

How about a couple of concrete sewer rings on top of each other. What sort of size is it.

So here is a rough sketch layout of what I think you need. I would start by using this to work out the height that the shower ends up and that the WC connection is possible. If that doesn't work you will either need to dig a new drain or look at a macerator..

A little on the high side compared to what we'd pay the mains laying contractors on a typical frame work, but not too bad for a one off job.

I've just joined this forum after getting the name from a FB group post. I'm Jill and my husband and I are just starting on a barn conversion. This is going to be a real self-build, probably taking many years as time allows. Luckily we live in the house and owned the barn pre planning. Glad to meet you all. Jill

well, if you haven't provided a drawing to show it, or explained anywhere in the information you have given them to price it on - then I think you're hard pushed to say he should have known it was stone cladding on the reveal!

I'd be surprised if the rain was penetrating through the bricks. As above; rake out the mortar and replace with a decent sealant. I'd also repeat your hosepipe test on the decked area whilst keeping the wall/roof junction dry to rule out alternative routes in. Water will track along any joints and gradients and can appear on the ceiling some distance from the source.

I have a fancy buff brick blend prescribed for my new build which is in the centre of a conservation area village, this is unlikely to match any GRP brick finishes. When I started my build I assumed the non working chimney would be a non masonry stick on false chimney stack. Recently I got a quote for an unclad false 1.8m tall chimney which was not far short of £2k. Even when clad with only 20mm slips this would have been too heavy to manually lift into place which meant asking my brickie to clad it insitu with some very expensive glue. This cladding process would have required 45 degree bevel cuts on the outer corners. Mounting one of these is not trivial particularly given the free standing height. My understanding is that the weight of a full brick chimney provides the lateral stability to resist window force hence in the absence of much weight in a false chimney some chunky fixing mechanism is needed. After thinking through this option for a week I decided to go for a full brick chimney sitting on a corbel. When my brickie, building control inspector and retired builder advisor all said a corbel plinth would be up to the job, it was simpler to follow their collective wisdom. I think a grp chimney would make sense when the chimney is short and mounted within a gable end and conventional ridge.

Try ecology, they are pretty flexible and didn't bat an eyelid when I went from fully time to part time after we signed with them.

yes Iwent looking for them inlocal bulders ,thinking the same -but no luck

I got two from my local BM..... I spotted them at the back of the yard and as they looked like they had been there for some time I offered them £50 for both. They were happy to be rid of them and gave me a lid as well ! They have Built in ladders ... My plan is to use them to make a plunge pool outside my sauna fed from my spring....... all still to be done but hayho I have the basics and they were very cheap.,

I used some 1200mm rings for my well before the borehole was drilled. The only problem is they have a couple of lifting holes in the side but I plugged those with concrete. I core drilled a 127mm hole for the 110mm soil pipe.

I have managed to return my manifold and pump and I have a new low temperature mixer from IVAR coming with an IVAR manifold. Supposed to be the rolls Royce version. @Nickfromwales it’s all your fault. ??

What I am considering is that there must be versions of big chambers with pre-made inlets. Gonna be difficult to drill, and I am sure I have seen things at my local Buildbase Civils. Ferdinand

Why not a plastic tank and backfill with concrete. IBC WATER TANK dig a hole 300mm bigger in all directions, drop in tank and concrete all around. But time you buy the concrete you could go and collect two sewer rings. Do you have a trailer ? if it was me I would go to local concrete pipe place and collect a couple of damaged ones.

Thanks for all your advice. Here we go with a quick change

Jolly expensive and I doubt the neighbour would chip in half. Posts often are first to fail, timber or concrete. For a quarter of the price you could get pressure treated timber. 15 year rot guarantee. Should last a while. https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Pressure-Treated-Overlap-Fence-Panel---6-x-6ft/p/145608

It’s not like it’s spoiling the view

I don't think your tank will be properly waterproof if you do the base and walls separate. On big sites I see they do the concrete structure then fit purpose made liners when doing things like sprinkler tanks. Liner needs periodic replacement. To do it your way, even with waterproof concrete I think you need to be incorporating waterbars. For example: https://www.arconsupplies.co.uk/waterproofing/swellable-waterbars You could do it in one hit with a big shuttered and braced box inside a box then pumped concrete.

looking at uk site -its £20-£40 a bag depending on which ione and it looks like you use it neat --so that would be a lot of bags got to look at diverting the water better I think

Ideally you would run 110mm pipe from the new bathroom out through the wall to the drain that runs from the inspection chamber to the Septic Tank. I guess that's difficut given the concrete floor and stone walls hence your question.. I'm not sure why/where you need that particular branch connection but they are called corner branches... https://www.google.com/search?q=110mm+corner+branch&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiW0KCLydHqAhVCPhoKHaitBLYQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=110mm+corner+branch&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzICCAAyBAgAEBg6BggAEAcQHjoICAAQCBAHEB5Qr8MEWNfPBGCq0gRoAHAAeACAAUmIAdADkgEBN5gBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1n&sclient=img&ei=6ywQX9auDcL8aKjbkrAL&bih=795&biw=1329 They are called macerators but I would avoid one of these if at all possible. https://www.screwfix.com/c/heating-plumbing/macerators/cat831614

https://fosroc.com/product/show/conbextra-uw I have used this on various jobs in Australia. great product

Yes, I have had a mixed experience with this company. We have undertaken a new build and approached ESP at the NSBRC in Swindon for all our energy products, that is MVHR, Ecocent Hot water, Heliotherm ASHP and lastly, but the most painful, a 10kw PV as in-roof array. All in all we have spent over £50,000 on energy products. The "internals", UFH, MVHR, ASHP etc were all done professionally and as I would have expected by a competent company, the PV array however was a different story. The installation was done poorly, has taken over two years of constant communication with the chairman, Harold Wilson, re trying to fix poor paperwork, noisy inverter, mismatched panels, buckling flashing and lastly but not least, failing our 10yr warranty for the PV installer puncturing our roof waterproof membrane no less than 150 times with the fixing screws through the battening for the panels. Oh, I nearly forgot, we paid for a 10kw array and shifted from a single phase supply to three phase as the best way due to the limit of 3.4kw on single phase by Western Power. Our reason for 10kw? Because we knew that the british climate meant we would struggle to get a full output throughout the year but at last we should get enough for home use during cloudy periods too with such a size. Our roof could take it and the cost was double but the output was treble. Unfortunately I had to find out myself that our 10kw array wasn't in reality a 10kw array but split into three over the three phases, which meant it was an impossibility for us to charge our electric vehicle via our purchased 7kw charging point without drawing from the grid as the max we could get on a bright sunny day was 3.4kw over that phase. When I approached Harold with this fact that we had been left with something that was not what we bought, he started quoting warranty and taking it up with the PV installer (subcontracted by ESP, which I was never made aware of, and subsequently gone bust). All in all, totally unhelpful and not what I expected, considering the excellent work done on the other aspects of the energy work. To date over those two years of complaining, we have had the inverter exchanged for the obsolete model installed which has no fans, much quieter, but have lost the remote internet access we had with the former inverter, the incorrect paperwork was never corrected, the mismatched panel, never corrected, the buckling flashing, seems to be fixed after third visit and intervention of Nick Hales from ESP, but we await the hot weather to see, the incorrect design (split over three phase?), still denial from Harold, the latest 150+ punctures to the waterproof roof membrane?, no reply whatsoever from Harold. As you can see, this approach from Harold Wilson of ESP has left a blight on an otherwise dream build which is still ongoing and looks like it may well have to go to court to be resolved. Would I recommend this company to anybody? Mixed. I would deal with Nick Hales again as he bent over backward to help with any issues with the ASHP, UFH and MVHR etc. Would I deal with Harold Wilson? Absolutely not and I would definitely NOT recommend this company as he is the chairman.

No advantage to fixing timber for acoustics Res bar would be a cheaper and quicker option With a layer of 15 mil SB

I can't see it giving you any acoustic advantage as the noise is transfered through the structure, if anything it might transfer more noise? Plasterboard is much better for acoustics, two sheets would definitely outperform osb and 1 sheet, resilient bars would be the rolls Royce ceiling here

Random thought. But checkout local companies that do directional drilling, could work out cheaper if it's a suitable job for them. E.g. https://www.trenchlesssolutions.co.uk/installation-of-25mm-water-pipe/ Btw, do you own the road or somebody else?

If you can't find what you need, then you can get a pack of 2 15mm fullbore isolation valves from SF, then you a plain 1/2 -1/2 tail or 1/2-3/4 whatever you have on your taps.

As mentioned above those valves will be restrictive along with your flexible tails too possibly. Otherwise don't be too hard in yourself it looks a nice clean job. Well done.

I was quoted 60-120 per metre for digging up a B road and laying a 35mm mdpe from the main. 120 was excessive but as a budget price it included permit from LA and traffic lights, relaying tar road etc. I needed to go 400m....so I'm now getting a borehole at 12-20k....? So for me...114 seems excessive..but its all relative...I'd bite your hand off for a 4k connection. Its a short length and tbh in my opinion youll not save much going elsewhere unless doing it by yourself, so if you are confident just go for it. I've basically said....it seems too much but go for it in the same post....?

Yep, @PeterW explained it well. Garage ACOs drain direct to soak as does overflow of the RWH tank. House and garage roofs drain to RHW inlet. As we have the basement as a full footprint, there is no need for drainage around the house as it's one giant French drain. Land drain at external perimeter of basement which also goes to soakaway.

Haha yes ? it's a lovely canal - I'm bias though. We are in Shropshire close to Whitchurch and the staircase locks which anyone who has travelled on the Llangollen, especially in a boat will no doubt have memories of, they seem to cause chaos for a lot of tourists. Hopefully when the house is finished and funds allow we will get a narrowboat at some point, when we bought it the house didn't have mooring we applied and got it granted so that's definitely a future plan....

In future, best way is run all in 22mm and then reduce right at the taps. 3/4 to 1/2 hexagon reducers are pennies.

Exactly it really isn’t worth the risk Two Christmases ago we tiled a 200 m2 floor for a Barrister On a screed that had been down a matter of weeks With a bio boiler that was commissioned the day we finished Tiling the floor I pointed out that he would be mad to take a chance on a green screed He just said they needed to be in for. Christmas and would take full responsibly We used Ditra and got away with it As above All commercial have matting on most floors regardless of UFH It really is marvelous stuff cost £4m2 Ditra Adhesive (flex) £1m2 Labour £3.50 m2 My wife laid the 80 m2 in the kitchen area while I was Fitting one of the bathrooms Rollered to an inch of its life

I'm glad we've continued with our architectural technologist, it was fixed, staged pricing and I don't think it was expensive. He manages the contract with the builder, signs off the interim certificates, keeps us on the correct side of the regulations and has handled all the planning and warrants. It's taken a big amount of stress off my shoulders, mitigated a chunk of risk and to be honest I got to the point where I just wanted the bloody house built. I take my hat off to the folks on here who have gone full on into the self build journey and taken on every aspect of it. It's not for everyone.

Very good advice on the thread - it is bespoke to the situation. You can probably identify a list of things that REQUIRE professional input (eg report to bank for stage payments?), and a list of things that I term WIBNIs (wouldn't it be nice if...) that you would LIKE to have your Archi-wotsit available for. Then - also depending on eg other stuff such as whether your design is well-frozen or may change, your own condfidence in your own competence etc, you use your skill and judgement to come up with an arrangement - which you are more likely to get right because you have thought about it carefully. F

There's a couple of things to consider imo - how complex is your build, and are there any real technical or aesthetic choices you've made so far? If you aren't intending on having a contract admin or any one tracking variations, what is the builder proposing to track and charge for changes? (the last thing you want is a bill for extras, three months after you've moved in) Do they have any checking process for changes, so for example, you say to them, I fancy moving that door way, or I want that door to open inwards, not outwards - who checks that it still complies with the building regs? I've been on site recently where the client wanted to install a shower tray which was 200mm bigger than I had shown on a drawing and the builder said it was fine - I got them to mark out the shower tray and the activity spaces required for the room on the ground and they could then see that it didn't work, but unfortunately, someone had to pay a restocking charge! What you want to make sure is that your risk is managed, I always say to people, we'll upset the builder so you don't have to! It's fine when the builder is moaning about the architect and the client is moaning about the builder to us, rather than having a direct confrontation between client and builder...

I think it was a few things. I had a few architects come around at the beginning and one who had some experience of renovations of this type suggested a concrete floor for cost reasons and after a general assessment of the house not being too damp as it was. He also pointed me in the direction of cheaper woodfibre boards than I was considering. (he was Charlie Luxton from a programe called 'Building the dream' if that means anything). I think it is undeniably cheaper to use a concrete floor as it uses more conventional materials (I was comparing limecrete and expanded glass sub base against concrete slab and type 1). Also I had quite a large area to do so used a pump for the pour which might be possible with limecrete but not as straightforward. It did also leave the floor finish more open as you don't have to think about permeability of tile/floor finish. In fact for a new extension to the house I ground the concrete slab down for a polished finish which wouldn't have been possible with a limecrete slab. I also read up on some issues with UFH and limecrete floors. I would say that my place isn't in an exposed situation so that is to my advantage. I ended up with 60mm steico woodfibre board and 20mm on window reveals. In theory the 60mm of woodfibre board doesn't meet building regs but my thinking is that the more insulation the higher the risk of interstital condensation. I suspect this wall buildup performs much better in practice than theory might suggest. Room size is also a consideration when using IWI. MVHR is another thing that I wasn't 100% I was going to install but the more I read the more I decided to go with it. Also I think the architect had the assumption that it would be necessary. I did go pretty overboard with airtightness detailing in the end and got a reading of 1 ACH/hour so I am glad I went with MVHR. Overall I have been very happy with the results - house temperature remains very stable without much heating needed and we have barely used the radiators upstairs.

I don't think this is true. My stone walls have lime render (as flattening layer and airtight layer), wood fibre board, lime render, limewash. Breathable both ways and airtight. I also went for a concrete floor with 200mm EPS below with a DPM under this. Also some French Drains around the perimeter. Initially I had looked at limecrete floor (and in fact did install a small limecrete floor in a small outbuilding) but was persuaded not to. Seems to have worked well.

I'd suggest getting a 6' piece of 1 1/2 x 1/4 steel bar, place one end against something solid and give it a good push at the other, report back.