Dreadnaught

Hi @Ktelobb, I feel for you. I don't know if it will be the case with your local council, but with mine (Cambridge) validation is done a by a separate team (Application Support) before the applications passes in to the hands of the planning officer proper. And, yes, the 8-week clock started at validation. (And in the end mine took more than five times the limit.)

Fortunately there is no CIL in Cambridge (nor thankfully, did I have S106 mention in my planning permission). Always good to re-iterate that pitfall. Thanks @Temp.

Once its in @Visti, I'm looking forward to hearing your real-life impressions of the acoustic performance of such a build-up. It looks thorough.

Welcome to the forum! What types of drainage calculations? SUDS discharge rates? Falls and IC positions for drain runs? Something else? The reason I ask is that I have some helpful advice if it relates in any way to a flat roof, which it probably doesn't.

You may

@vivienz, in the unlikely event that your impeccable taste would accept something like this, this is what I had been considering before. Its possible to buy the various chromed metal parts from AliExpresss and have the toughened glass made here. Unobtrusive, probably quite cheap, probably easier to mount.

Following this with interest. Building regs mean I might need a canopy too and nothing has been specified so far.

@Moonshine, I am no expert, but how would any moisture in the timber frame exit, on one side is a VCL and on the other PIR, both vapour impermeable? Rule-of-thumb I learnt was to have increasing vapour permeability of materials from the inside to the outside (or to the ventilation void in your case).

Yes, at my plot, I went around taking photos of the pipes-in-the-sky on all the neighbouring buildings. I am hoping to avoid an SVP on my build too, just AAVs. Fingers crossed that BC will agree.

Thanks @vivienz. You don't fancy a day out in Cambridge do you… plant identifying? ?

Thanks all. Makes sense. Want to have floor sockets under the sofas for table lamps. That will need a conduit as you all describe. But what about a former in the concrete for the actual socket in the floor?

Thanks @Jeremy Harris. The other end seems to come up in your double-stud wall. Am I right? Why was that?

Oh, is that image in preparation for the pour of a screed?

Thanks all. I am going to re-read all this advice and have a think. I am now wondering whether instead of me just attacking the veg with a pair of secateurs, instead to combine the vegetation clearance with a scrape, all done by a man with a (small) digger. If there is to be a scrape then there is also the question of levels. I am starting to think deeply about levels. The plot is far from uniform because of the old greenhouse foundations. And raft will be thick so I will be wanting to push the no-digging requirement a bit if I can so that my final-floor-level does not end up being too high in the sky. (The foundations will be thick as I need a 225mm heave protection as well as I want a concrete raft, which will be 300mm EPS and the 200 mm raft. Some 775mm in all). I need to think this through. If I have a digger man on site for a vegetation scrape as you all suggest then could I just as well ask him to flatten the site to me chosen ODN datum too, all in one go. All while ensuring my tree officer and arboriculturalist are happy too. Hmm, time to put on my thinking cap.

Its a good idea but I am rather worried about the preserved trees might then keel over. The local tree officer would then kill me.

What does it mean to site scrape? How deep should I go? Could that fall under the heading "normal gardening" or will the local tree officer be after me with a pitch fork? As mentioned, I shouldn't dig across the hole plot because of tree roots. I have a soil survey report. It is made ground for about a metre. Clay of various types beneath.

Another thing I forgot to mention is tree-root protection. About half my plot is a tree root-protection area (fortunately mostly not where the new dwelling sit) so I should not really be digging down. I think the guidance is that normal gardening is OK but anything more dramatic is frowned upon.

Another great question. Site is 17m x 17m. Plenty of time available. Can be on site all day every day if needed. No other job to get in the way. Cash-wise, willing to spend any amount but keen to use my own DIY ability if I can. Squash playing 50-year old, can wield a spade (I think). Elsewhere on the plot? Until mulched? Or taken to the tip?

@Cpd good question. Yes. My new dwelling will cover about half the plot, on screw-pile foundations, with heave protection and an insulated reinforced concrete raft foundation above. Also hidden amongst the greenery are the foundations for an old defunct Victorian greenhouse (bricks and slabs), etc., just visible in the photo. Was wondering how to clear that. But that's for another post I think. Vegetation first.

Basic question if I may. Anyone with an MBC-style raft will be able to answer in a flash I expect. With an insulated reinforced concrete raft foundation (200mm concrete over EPS), how does a conduit run to a kitchen island (or, for example, to floor sockets in the sitting area) for electrical cabling? Possible answer 1: does the conduit penetrate all the way through the raft and the EPS into the soil beneath, like a service penetration, and then re-emerge elsewhere in the build next to a wall? Possible answer 2: does the conduit penetrate laterally throughs the raft spanning from a wall to the island without penetrating the EPS?

I am going spend a couple of days clearing my plot of vegetation. I'm not a gardener so any advice would be gratefully received. The photo gives an indication of the job at hand, taken last September. Its a rear garden plot so fill of small shrubs, bushes and paths, two small trees (which I can remove) but no grass. Thinking I will clear it now before the spring growth. I have no garden tools at all. The plan is to borrow secateurs from my mother, who has a shed full of vintage (non powered) tools. How to do it? I will be working alone. Snip all the stalks and pile the branches it to a big pile. Hire a chipper and convert everything into mulch? Or buy root membrane and pegs and cover the soil? Any ideas? I can't have a big bonfire as I am in the centre of town and the neighbours would throw me in the river. Many thanks!

Can you define a realistic outcome that you wish to achieve as a result of getting "formal"? Be as specific as you can. Work backwards from the outcome you want to decide on the course of action to achieve it. For example, do you want the current installer to go away but still pay you compensation sufficient to pay for a third-party to come-in, investigate and fix? Or are you looking for a way to pressure the the installer to come back and re-do the job again but properly? Or something else? The answer will define your course.

If you happen to be on a Mac and assuming the feature stands alone and does not overlap something else that you wish to retain as visisble then you can do it in the built-in Preview App using its annotation tools. Block-out the required feature with one or more white boxes. Print the document as a fresh PDF. Done.

Is there such a thing as a domestic doppler scanner (to detect fluid moving through the pipes)?

I thought the same, so it being work ideal for me. I asked a sparky if I could do this on my build and he was reluctant, saying he wanted the whole job.