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Maths , how many muck away lorry @ £xxx + 22 ton hard-core delivered add the 2 together minus £600 +labour ÷ which method is the path of least resistance = answer ?

we had a very similar situation so we took the following approach: 1. clear 150m driveway of vegetation as agreed with Arborist. Install the tree route protection zones. Link the zones with type 1 and driveway is ready and compliant for the build and future use of the property, bar the finishing layer 2. We connected the water pipe using a company called Pipeline logistics. They did 100m across our garden away from the driveway in two days. Had the ground been clay they would have completed the work in one day but it was stone so we had to have to pits along the route to change direction. All good. No mess and no damage to the ground. They relaid everything perfectly 3. We purchase the heras fencing from someone finishing another job. It does not matter really what you pay because you will sell when you have finished. The difference in price will be nothing like what you would have paid if you had hired. With the Covid delays the heras would have cost me a small fortune if I had hired because of delays etc. Any further questions let me know

I was going to say that you can argue the fact that it is a single dwelling with low vehicle movement and state a smaller fence will do. However I thought the cost of buying posts and wire would outweigh the cost of buying and then reselling the heras panels.

LPA's are all tossers......Full Stop. Whole system needs a re-vamp. Whole system need putting in the bin and starting again from scratch. Burn down the council offices i say. that will get some attention. A hooker and coke normally gets the planning officer on side. (you have to take photos)

The kitchen people supplied a 670mm wide cupboard for our laundry room that the washer and dryer are inside. The cupboard was also deeper than normal and all the other cupboards had to set a little away from the wall, so you do lose a bit of space. It looks tidy when not in use, but I actually find the washing machine door behind the cupboard door to be a bit of a pain and often wish that there were no doors on the cupboard. Basically I don't like the way the washing machine doors bangs into the cupboard door when open. Also the cupboard doors are a bit in the way when loading the machine. You can close the door when the washing machine is running, but if you have a heat pump dryer it requires ventilation so the for has to be left open. One thing to watch is what side is the door hinged on and make sure that the cupboard is hinged on the same side, unless you have a split door like you have shown. One thing that I don't like in our room is that the washing machine happened to be hinged on the side closest o the door, I don't think it would be so annoying if the door was on the far side as you come into the room, whereas the door is between you and the machine in our layout. TBH I am not sure it is worth it, it is after all a utility room, no surprise to see a washing machine in there.

Just to update everyone on progress: 17 days after my last post and I'm scratching my head to try and work out what's been done in that time. The remaining slab has been poured. Drainage trenches have been dug up. Second floor of posis has gone in. They are almost ready to start tiling the roof at the back and the windows have gone in (though this last feat has nothing to do with my builder). So they are definitely making progress. Trying to take a more relaxed approach as suggested by many on here, but it's difficult. Happy Friday everyone.

Footprint area in sqm x 0.35m = (roughly) cu m of hardcore for footprint Can use for any area, to get ballpark figure 1 cu m of crushed concrete hardcore = 0.7 tons Once you work out the cu m required, (say x) you divide by 0.7 to get the number of tons you require

There are trade associations for one. My arrangement is with a particular tradesman I have used for a couple of decades, and my dad used for a decade before that. He has always had an "in" at one particular place. There are various useful comparator threads on the forum which may help you judge. As ever the aim is to get the reasonable price on the quality of product you select. Focus on that. You do not save by browbeating, which makes them cut corners and hate you, but by optimising in a way that works with their grain. That might be finding ways to save their costs and make their job easier, but it is also climbing as far up the supply chain as you can manage. I'm saving more than half of the cost of fencing pales tomorrow by getiting it direct from a rural sawmill and cutting 3.6m lengths in the car park, compared to my local (famously cheap) timber merchant.

I'm not even building a house, i'm putting a toilet in a porch, that used to have a toilet in it in the 1970s, which was removed. Now I want it back again! I could have knocked it out in a weekend but instead i've got to create a cavity wall with sheathing and breather membrane built off of the brickwork, with 4x as much insulation as the rest of the damn house. Can safely conclude, moving a toilet = moving a mountain at least.

For safety you could apply for a certificate of lawfulness on the grounds you started work before it became a conservation area. Include copies of any drawings and dated invoices you have.

We had most of our PVC windows from https://www.gap.uk.com/. These are the guys that lots of builders and small double glazing firms get their stuff from. I've also had lots of people rave about https://www.sevenday.co.uk/. The windows are fine, mechanisms all feel substantial.

If you put any hardcore down go for mot type 3 rather than type 1. Type 3 is water permeable. My builder used type 1 and tree officer not happy.

on the plan the purple hatched area relates to a no dig drive - can you find a route for the water that will not disturb any routes that their tree office will accept? looks like there are some route options that you could explore and if you do need to touch a root protection zone make sure it is a c category tree...

Hmmm sounds odd - did they explain their reasoning? Also 6cm / Meter = 1 / 17 while 1:60 is between the BR 1:40 and BR 1:80

Make a scale model to get your head around it all.

We had our tree survey back for our next two plots With all the usual diagrams showing how to put the herras protection up held in place with scaffolding We found that the protection recommended wasn’t practical and took most down and replaced it with mtre high plastic on a roll fencing All the trees survived

This is, indeed, the nub of it. There just aren't enough penalties, deterrents and other nasty sh*t waiting round the corner for poorly operated, poorly managed, poorly administered LPAs. Central government needs to come down much harder on them, there needs to be all manner of penalties both financial and in terms of powers being taken away, than presently. I think even the most cavalier of us (me being one) recognise the need for planning dpts, planning laws, a process, a system etc but what we've actually got is a farce, with these miniature, £30k a year, graduated-two-summers-ago Hitlers wielding their power with absolutely impunity and no regard for homeowners, homeowners' vast personal investments in the regeneration of buildings and areas, and only through-gritted-teeth regard for what the Planning Inspectorate ACTUALLY TELLS THEM TO F*CKING DO. How many signatures are needed to get something discussed in the commons? It's actually good/bad for my blood pressure and circulation to type-rant about these absolute weapons-grade numpties.

Facebook for the panels. Just last year I had a new main moled in, 75m two lads did it in a day, no mess , digging the trench wouldn’t have been any quicker.

My planners wanted professional arb. Statement. I rang the councils Arb. Guy and said I proposed sheep fencing and he agreed it would suffice, when I submitted my own proposal using sheep fencing I included “their” arb. Guys Email. No argument (and saved me a fee ?).

Long distance directional moling isnt cheap, but a simple straight short run pit-to-pit job is straight forward and requires little plant and equipment. Tree protection can be fence post and rail type fence or even post and barrier tape unless there is likely to be a lot of vehicular traffic to warrant mechanical protection.

second hand heras fence at £10 per panel £700 sell at the end for £600 to allow for a couple of scrap ones. Mole the water pipe it’s hardly any difference in cost to digging a trench.

it's okay, we have just spend a small fortune underpinning those foundations. The wall is damp and the damp surveyor (who is a RICS surveyor) recommended that part of the damp mitigation strategy was to improve the drainage of the walls. For the last 20 years or so, it's effectively had no drainage because the previous owners messed about so much). But maybe a shallow trench filled with pea shingle is sufficient for these purposes.

I hate cavity closers, they will give you more thermal bridging than what you have and worse draughts and they cause cracking where they join the blocks. if you are doing dit and dab then draughts will be a massive problem I did something similar to you and used thermal board to close my cavities, (normal plasterboard on my canted reveals) then wet plastered everything, no problems 11 years on

The white seals are usually PTFE, Nitrile should be ok but rubber will grab when dry or with water.

I can’t understand BC saying that You will need to fit a standard CC Tack in place then silicone around the inner edge prior to the windows beeing fitted

My BCO suggested we connect one short bit of rain gutter to the foul drain to provide a small amount of flush to the pipe. Works well, I think.....

It used to be said that too steep a gradient could lead to fluids flowing fast and leaving solids behind, but I think this has been re assessed hence it is now not of concern.

Either way, its looking good and i love the plot, great backdrop with all the trees

i think he means I beams

My trenches were fully lined with a geotextile membrane, and I'm on clay.

There’s nothing in either the British Standard or in the Building Regs that stipulate a maximum gradient so you’ll be okay when the inspector visits.

But I think the OP wants line, not level.

Perhaps veering into a different subject but...new v old surveying. Modern equipment and methods are very easy and precise. So on this post it would be feasible to get a land surveyor with a fancy machine to mark your points out for half a day's pay...£300. You should be in attendance for banging posts and any decisions. But it is much more fun and satisfying to do it yourself, and in doing so you might also notice any quirks in the landscape, and change your mind where to put this new boundary. Walking the land and doing the work yourself is the way of understanding the possibilities and challenges of a project. Why do I resist modern methods? I don't, but they are so easy to use that they are used by some people who don't really understand what they are doing , and mistakes are missed. Expensive mistakes if not spotted. Everything needs to be looked over, just by eye and perhaps pacing to check for anomalies. For example here, if the satellite guided positions of 4 posts don't look straight. Laser levelling can go wrong too. The modern groundworker uses them, but doesn't know the principles of levelling. So if it is out of adjustment, and using long and short sightings, big errors can arise. Best way to check if a building is a rectangle? Measure the diagonals, by pacing then with a tape. Best way to pour trench concrete level? Not with a laser level and staff on the wet concrete imho. And most importantly, know your stride length. This costs nothing. As for water levels recommended above They are invaluable in confined spaces. I spent 2 uncomfortable days under a Boots pharma factory, but there was no other way with 4 ft headroom. For the cost, everyone should have one. This one is £10, and if you fix it to timbers, as the following pic, you have control .You can get a hydraulic oil version with digital readout of level difference for £400.

I did this when I emailed the head of planning on the 27th May. What I didn't expect is that the planning officer would not actually do what he said he would do in the response to that complaint. There is also the issue of being somewhat at the mercy of planning which is an arbitrary process. The architect was extremely nervous of me complaining and then the planning department becoming more awkward or refusing planning. This makes it much more stressful than a business transaction where you can take your business elsewhere or can exert pressure via social media complaints and so on. I think this lets councils in general away with acting in ways that no business would ever get away with. I am sure I am not the only person told not to complain in case it goes against the application.

I used Iko Bitument paint. K Kaps look cool, but could not find any stock and probably they make sense when dealing with 10s or 100s of beams and time saving is measureable.

I don't know City of Edinburgh Council at all but from my experience of/in various local authorities (including our largest city council) I would politely contact whichever of your local councillors is a member of the administration and advise them of your concerns and let them go to bat with the Head of Planning and DM manager on your behalf.

If it is you who built the garage, turn it into a workshop or a snooker room. And don't be so silly next time.

It's the inconstancy that gets me. Our original one was a nightmare. Our site is ringed by a lot of trees but mostly scrub and whins in the middle. He could not be bothered to go on site or even look on Google maps. Just looked from his car and decided it was densely wooded ground. He sent a scorching letter to our architect saying he was disgusted that we would even consider asking for planning. Everything was an issue. You would have thought we were bulldozing Stonehenge and replacing it with a giant knob. We ended up with a new planning officer who was very helpful. Took a practical view on things, was fine about taking out some trees as long as we planted some more, absolute night and day.

When I was sorting my levels (almost flat land but needed to know any fall for the drains etc) I used an indoor laser at night on a tripod 1 meter above ground level, wore goggles and a pole with a tape nailed to it, and was able to look into the beam at 50m and measure how far above/below the 1 meter mark the beam was on my pole!!,!