Leaderboard

Hi Peter.. yes pin! Ive got just about enough/ 2" to go in ground. It has a metal 2" tube ( & small mystery plate w' hole in middle in packet).. so I assume this is set in the concrete thingy area Ive got to do as last job. Anyway, all that time measuring until my brain hurt seems to have paid off:

https://www.fsp-law.com/planning-permission-and-commencement-of-development/ Some councils will tell you what they require you to do. In some cases this is digging foundation trenches, getting them inspected by Building Control and filling them. The problem is that you have to pay a fee to Building Control to get started and some will close a file if progress seems to have stopped. If the council won't tell you then it is possible to do some work and apply for a certificate of lawfulness to determine you have officially started. Wind farm developers sometimes do this while they wait for the grid to be upgraded. Problem is the fee.

"Do you mean that a shifty supplier might have mixed nasty stuff in?" I do. "Otherwise, in what way have times changed?" Well I mentioned "happy days" Back then folk were not that daft, as are folk here are not too. In the happy days if someone had mixed broken asbestos sheets, fag packets, big lumps of bitumen, dead fish into the road planings, you will, even as a lay person be able to see it and say "hang on". But one thing that can be hidden is this. Generally modern bitumen planings are fairly benign. But up until the mid 1980's coal tar was used in roads and that contains a potential nasty mix of carcinogens that are more mobile. In other words they can leach more easily into your plot and start to contaminate your land. Now, when they are planing an old road they may take off the modern top layer (bitumen based), and a bit more.. the bit with the coal tar. So the top planings go to recycling, the last load (with the coal tar content) goes to you cheep. Back in the "happy days" we had little idea or knowledge about hydrocarbon pollution. "Have even used it under floor slabs, with BCO approval." Yes we did! For me if you have bought a plot or doing up you house why risk introducing an additional pollutant?

There is a danger of making what is really complex sound simple. As every project is a one-off there are infinite variations. There have been correspondents on here who think it is easy, and will cherry pick the bits that suit, while not seeing the consequences...and the building may fall down. It is for none of us to take work away from experts. So i agree, simple blogs on terminolgy , function, principles. Not "you dont need an expert, just read our blogs and diy"

Worth having a grown up chat with the builder, away from other workers. Ask what is the problem really, and see if a slight increase will suffice. He may come clean that eg his workers want more or will walk. But if he goes into take it or leave it mode, best let him go, as it will happen again.and again.

I don't think the loss of end cover woild matter. The slab should all be within dpm so won't ever get wet. The 50mm mostly makes it convenient to place.

I supplied 90% of materials for my self build and never heard of this 10% charge on materials. From your post the materials supplied appear to be fairly standard and would be difficult to understand how they could justify a cost. I'm assuming here that they have been positioned at a spot on site which would require no extra work for them. The plant by the hour seems expensive to me. Depending on the size of the builder I might even expect the plant to be included in their charge unless it was stated at the start of the job.

Never heard of this 10% thing and cannot see any logic to it unless it includes offloading and handling and they do not charge their time. For supplying themselves 10% is low unless wastage is your cost.

Doesn't sound like you have any other option unless you are willing for the build to stop and wait for someone else. How about you go back and attempt to negotiate an agreement for 10% on own sourced materials from this point onwards.

Eh! Say I have 1,000 blocks delivered to site, unloaded by a hiab by the supplier to the nearest location to the build as possible. Same for cement, insulation and sand. If my brickie told me to he is adding 10% onto my invoice for client supplied materials I'm telling him to jog on.

Can't go wrong with hardi backer. However, no-one on mine wanted to use it so up went green board. I used 3 coats of the Everbuild wet room tanking system on all wet areas - simple paint on application.

Let's put that one in perspective. Cats actually top the list when it comes to annual bird deaths in the United States. (Image courtesy of National Audubon Society.) https://www.evwind.es/2020/10/01/the-realities-of-bird-and-bat-deaths-by-wind-turbines/77477 Similar data for the UK: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48936941

Exactly. Which is why the micropolitics of Planning matters. It really matters.

If this is a case of design then your architect needs to lead this and absolutely needs to establish "what would make the proposed development acceptable" even if what they come back with is unreasonable to you. This gives you a strong base from which to then work towards an approval - whether it's via amendment or a new application doesn't matter too much. If, however, it's a fundamental case of planning policy (i.e. you want to build a house or rocket factory where it's not allowed by policy), then the architect will offer little help I suspect and you need a planning consultant.

I think your thinking is on the right lines, but I'd add the following: 1. Overnight (or during day if you have a high static mains all day) the accumulator will equalize with the static mains pressure (eg. 3.5 bar). The volume of water in the accumulator will be dictated by the difference in pre-charge and static mains. 2. When an outlet is running, the dynamic pressure from the mains will drop, depending on the flow rate available and the pipe run to the outlet. Eg. from 3.5 bar to 1.5 bar. 3. The accumulator pressure now exceeds the dynamic pressure, so water will exit the accumulator boosting the dynamic pressure initially to 3.5 bar. This will be a curved graph where initially the boost is much bigger and then slows over time, until eventually the accumulator pressure matches the incoming mains dynamic pressure, and you no longer get any additional flow rate. 4. So in the above, your outlets will gradually decrease from 3.5 bar down to 1.5 bar, depending on the flow rate required and the capacity of water in your accumulator. This should be sufficiently sized to give adequate flow rate for the duration of one or multiple showers.

The design and aesthetic is poor but the headline's a bit clickbaity - fundamentally there was a building of some size there previously. I thought this person had just knocked up a house willy-nilly, on the sly, but there's a fair amount to work with here both in terms of sq floor area and mass. It might be with some judicious design edits and removal of windows this could get over the line via repeated planning apps and working collaboratively with the LPA. Worth noting that the fact that the council said No is the very, very start of the process. This could end up being a 7-10 year enforcement job a la hay bales man, at vast expense to the LPA. The problem in these cases (and I speak as a person in a diet diet diet coke version of this right now) is that it's not as simple as saying: "the rules are the rules". Because the rules aren't the rules, are they? What constitutes "unacceptable bulk" to one planning officer is acceptable to another. Taking the same case of "unacceptable bulk" a step further....what is unacceptable to one inspector from the Planning Inspectorate is acceptable to another. The grey areas are large, and significant. There are lines, yes, and those who really take the p*ss deserve what they get if they step over said lines, but many LPAs behave disgracefully IMHO and need to be challenged, and challenged and challenged some more.

It is nowhere - and that's one of the factors that contributes, I think, to a Stuff-The-Planners approach. At that location, think desert with wind in it. Others who live there follow Planning regulations I sure . But if everyone in a remote location felt they could build without hindrance, many would. That road over the moor is stunningly pretty (when there's no mist and rain). Walkers regularly get lost on the ridge paths (in this case it might be The Burnley Way) - before you know it, you are in some steep-sided valley and completely disorientated. It's lonely, can be moody. And living up there means high dependence on neighbours. That in turn means strangers are viewed with more than a quizzical eye. I can quite see where the "Well aaahm jus' gonna fookin' doit, sod em" comes from. The point made by the Planner (in this case and in general) in terms of sustainability (the development is in an unstainable location) seems to me to be weakening. For those whose job is desk-based, we can all (even there) now connect to the Internet and get our food delivered.

Here is the planning application https://publicaccess.burnley.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=QUHAIZDTFH400 It seems that the site had a ruined house on the site, and maybe the applicant wrongly assumed that because a house was once there a long time then planning would grant a new house at the same location. There are some more images in the officers report, in my opinion its going to have to get torn down, as i don't think the appeal will be successful. FUL_2021_0339-OFFICER_REPORT-326625.pdf

Coming down off that ridge (via the Long Causeway) into East Lancs, its easy to imagine why the builder hoped to get away with it. The valley is deeply incised, full of hidden almost secret nooks and crannies. Beautiful. Living right next to someone who is doing the exact same thing - he built a house INSIDE a caravan (the Inspectorate are on the case) - the common aspect seems to be to the desire to shut out the rest of the world. I have some sympathy with that desire. But not quite enough to condone breaking the law.

That's not right. Boosting dynamic pressure (and therefore flow rate) is precisely what an accumulator does (it accumulates water and releases it as required).

Should not be, your imports and exports are treated differently, separate accounts with whoever you want.

@Temp there are nos two switches on the left. The furthest left of the three switches is now unused (middle of the five). There is now no longer a red wire connecting the two face plates. And don't worry I trimmed down the red wire on the left. Everything appears to be working as should.

http://hwlwindowsgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/RESIDENCE-INSTALLATION-GUIDE.pdf

Just outside Ramsey. Good luck with yours. Give me a shout if you are stuck for trades - I have had some great people through the site. Only problem has been the tiler - he does great work but is hardly ever there. Starts at 10 and disappears at 3 on the rare occasions he does rock up.

Yes, my designer initially wanted extra foundations to support sleeper walls for intermediate support of the downstairs joists. I said no. the first floor joists can span that gap without intermediate support so the ground floor joists can as well.

I've recently placed an order for various breather membranes, Intello, tapes, gaskets etc. I estimated around £2.2-2.3k's worth if purchased over here. Once it's arrived and I've paid our VAT, duty etc I'll try and pull a breakdown together and see how it all compares. Delivery time etc. Ben

I would just get a joiner to build it on site

Pity they didn't hide it in a haystack.

Many thanks for all the replies, just had a very good chat with structural engineer on phone, all previous meetings had been on site with builder present, he ran the measurements and fails the deflection check, he recommended removing the noggins, then screwing/bolting another 170 joist to existing joist cut tight to wall and then putting back trimmed noggins - seems a good solution as doesn't need any block work just additional timber and labour that I will inevitably pay for somewhere else in the build. Can't picture the other end on the steel as not there at moment and can't remember if joists rest directly on steel, think there is at least one layer of bricks , now have SE on my side can approach builder and see where we go. Great forum, Many thanks, Lawrence

Saw this in my FB feed. The best comment was the one that said 'Woo - Free shoes!' One of their reps confirmed there was a 50l capacity with 25 mins recovery time. They are also being very coy on the fused spur requirements as 'it depends' but other commenters said 32A which could be an issue for retro fit.

Firstly, being your own project manager can increase the costs if you’re not experienced. As @TonyT said, get it all on paper, work through it again and again, every socket and every switch, the location of taps and doors and then move nothing. It isn’t hard to do, volume housebuilders do it all the time. It just takes the ability to say “No” when your other half wants to change something mid build. And shop around. Buy in the sales, get showroom kitchens, and pick up a bargain or two but make sure it’s all there when you do..! And finally, keep it standard. Your 650mm wide worktops may look nice with that “designer overhang” but was it really worth the £500 extra..?? Do you need shadow gaps, or bespoke architraves ..?? Was that £1000 lighting controller really needed..?? Spend the extra money on the things you touch such as door handles and taps, that is where an extra £20 a door makes a difference.

How much you can draw down is dependent on the valuation at the time. You can request the valuer out at any time, you can then draw down 80% of the increased value, as long as it's less than 80% of the build budget total. £250 fee I think. We'll get the valuer out once we get to first floor level. Hopefully he'll value works arly £100k so we can get £80k, which will be enough for wondows, doors, first fits erc. When I spoke to him when he valued the site, said there wasn't much of a point getting him out again unless there was substantial progress... E..g in relation to my basement, he saw little market value in a big hole in the ground with a tanked slab... Even though I'd be out of pocket by £50k by that point.

Yes. A 180l tank with an indirect coil and a PV element hooked up to an Eddi diverter. Had there been the space without knocking quite a few things around I'd have gone for a larger tank. That being said I have only been in trouble for a bath running cold once. We've used it in a few ways and am slowly refining what the lasting solutions will be. The following will be too interventionist for many and for me too in the longer term but right now I'm experimenting. First: Electrically heated only, after had made the wondrous decision that hot water and no heating was a suitable time to move back into a building site. No smart meter and thus no cheap rate at this point so, rather than heating a full tank, by checking the hot water contents indicator you could see if you had enough for the next draw. I do not recommend living this way but then we also had an 8m2 hole in the back of the house at the time so.. Second: Electrically heated overnight on Octopus Go tariff, typically to 100%. Set to maintain min 20 max 40% via the indirect coil through the expensive electric part of the day if we got down this far. Upped this to 50% after a few 'complaints'. The ability to select which sources should be used at which times is useful here. So if I see the tank is at 30% and want more for a longer shower I can press the button to select the desired percentage (in increments of 10). It will then trigger the heat source I have said should be used for that time period. Thirdly: Baby 2 imminent and thus hot water not being immediately available wasn't a player, Solution: Look at the weather forecast for the next day and either set it to charge to 100% overnight on the cheap rate or let the sun do its thing or a mixture of the two. Fortunately March and April this year were atypical British weather months so all well. Clearly it doesn't have the heat loss characteristics of the Sunamp but it does let you know where you stand with hot water availability and has a host of available measurements and options. Happy to answer any questions (if I know the answers) but please accept my apologies for any delay as a newborn is running the show.

I put an 40-50mm EPS upstand around the edge. Thicker in some places as the room was about 3"off square and there was an old doorway to bridge etc. It wasn't straightforward as there were footings I'd squared off to go around. I would hold the upstand in place and square with a board and a few blocks then use low expansion gun foam to hold in place. My DPM went over the 25mm EPS on the floor. 150mm PIR onto the DPM, spray glued where it comes up against the EPS upstand. Then expansion strip on a roll that was like corrugated cardboard with an EPS backing. It has sort of a pre fold in it and it sticks down to the foil. There's another self adhesive strip on top if you have a membrane between foil and screed/concrete.

I have reached the end of my patience with my timber frame supplier. They promised it would take 12 days and we are now going into the 10th week. They have made a catalogue of errors, forgot to order crane, ordered wrong size crane (twice), "let down by crane company" and no crane arrived (three times), sent goods on vehicle which is too large to get into site (lost count), delivery lorry failed MOT at 6 am on the day of delivery. You get the idea. So the frame was finally "completed" last Tuesday but with a number of items needed remediation (over 20). I gave them 7 days to do so but that has now passed and there is still a lot outstanding. One of the dormers was 21cm out, they came today to fix, now it is only 11cm out of alignment. (they were due to fix on Friday but contractors van broke down, then Saturday, then Monday (but "no materials" on site). So I think they are in breach of their contract as have failed to deliver to service to a reasonable standard. I don't want them back on site as I simply can't trust them, and need to get cracking on the build as have lost so much time. My follow on contractor is happy to fix but obviously I need to pay him. I have already funded £2000 of work of which they have promised to deduct half from my final invoice (£5,000), but I have had other costs such as scaffolding which I suspect will be a few thousands for an extra two months, a license agreement to use my neighbours land for access (£400 a week). I think there is another £2,000 - £3,000 of work to get it up to an acceptable standard. So guess, total costs incurred would be in the order of £10,000 vs a final bill "owing" of £5,000. Never mind the countless hours I have spent organising the shambolic bunch of jokers and the associated stress that goes with it. What are peoples views on where I stand contractually on this?

Imo the best low carbon back up space heating for a heat pump - especially in a victorian house - is a log burner. Probably a bit more motivation this year if lighting the fire will save on the electricity bill...

10% on handling client provided materials is pretty standard. It pays for the moving it, unloading it, reading the manual to install it etc.

it depends how you stack it

She used to be married to Trump.

Old work mate of mine had an Austrian Mother. They ran a taxi company. One day she asked "vot is a vanka?

Oh no they won't. They'll drop it right next to one of their feet. Tread on it, trip over it repeatedly, fall over it , grind it into the ground, look at it while drinking tea. They won't give a flying fookety fook about it. Not one. Not even half a one. (PS, Written with feeling - can you tell - , not to say annoyance, #ucking lazy bastards)