epsilonGreedy

Last week was going well until I noticed a lurking OpenReach surveyor looking at my plot. My BT connection is all sorted and will be underground when the house is built. The new problem is that a nearby property has requested a BT connection and OpenReach is saying that flying the new connection over my plot is the simplest solution for the new connection to the other property. The cable's aerial route will cross the whole 45m width of my plot and the total span from pole to the gable end of the other property is 61m. The surveyor initially told me the max span for a cable was 55m then after measuring the distance he amended that claim by saying "we will use a special 2-core cable designed to span up to 68m". The problem is the cable will pass 5m south of my house wall and I fear it will be very conspicuous. We purchased the plot because of the southerly orientation of the house and patio. The other property that has requested the new connection is actually positioned 2m away from the verge of a public road and another cable route is feasible along that public road though it will require one extra telegraph pole. Reading up on this subject I gather OpenReach has broad statute rights to route cables over a property providing the cable does not drop below 3m or pass within 2m of part of a property structure. Does anyone know how low this proposed cable might drop? The starting point is 5m high from a wood telegraph pole and the other end 61m away will be a metal gantry bolted onto the gable of the other property.

Peel Clean Xtra... I did not know such a product existed. Did you select this first floor boarding because of your winter build timing? https://www.egger.com/shop/en_GB/building/product-detail/PEELCLEANXTRA

My house will have a similar grey footing and then buff bricks above the dpc. Have you tried to obtain any specific mortar colour for your build (particularly the buff bricks)? Re. Adverse weather... I have followed a build next door to my plot through the summer and they lost a few days due to high heat. Even a scaffolding lift was called off because of the heat one day.

I feel the bed chamber of the master bedroom suite is small relative to the overall scale of the house. If the ceiling is open to the roofline that would help. If I was tweaking the design for my preferences I would dispense with the bed chamber door and have an open aperture, about 50% wider than a standard door, leading to the dressing area. My suggestion was based on a projection of the landing when standing at the front door, that image is embedded further up this thread. I remember thinking "interesting semi glazed door leading into the master bedroom suite". Your latest update showing the recessed doorframe is exactly how I imagined it, I feel it provides a balance to the view of the galleried landing because in the update both sides of the landing lead somewhere. In general as houses get smaller there is no opportunity to create any layout mystery, at 1000 sq ft a landing is often windowless and presents a crowed array of doors. At 2600 sq ft and with a few tweaks you are half way towards your own Downton Abbey.

I imagine the OP's children are currently young cherubs and anticipates them raiding the cookie jar via the secret pantry's hallway door. My concern is that 12 years later in their late teens the same door will offer access to covert swigs of the household gin bottle. ?

I like the concept but how do they deal with the potential drumming noise of a washing machine spinning at 1400rpm on a wooden first floor?

In Lincolnshire we had double the average monthly rainfall in both October and November hence some chance the weather gods will deliver a dry'ish December and January.

Lower/upper left? Is this the master bedroom suite? If so then a 4 bed 2600 sq ft house that features a master bedroom with difficult access to one side of the bed is surely a design black mark? On the point of the master bed suite entrance door, I would step it back 600mm left to create some balance to the view of the landing gallery when viewed from the hall. I also think it would create some layout mystery was a visitor's eye ponders "what is around that corner".

Any mention of a guaranteed residual capacity after x thousand charge cycles?

But I won't loose 2 pounds of winter flab picking up the phone ? I will remember the tail end load tip next year however at this time of year the pouring/set time window is short, for the past week on my plot this has been 12pm to 3pm because of overnight frosts. I wrapped the trench in a quadruple layer hessian ground blanket last night. A small test tub of water placed under the blanket remained liquid through the night even though the car displayed -2 (c). Last night I was reading up on cold weather concrete handling techniques and read that I should have used warmed water to accelerate initial hardening.

Yes nearly full, the limiting factor is my ability to tip the loaded barrow over the trench which is about a 100kg barrow load. I am not sure of the water volume used, all I know is 17 seconds with the Gardena hose nozzle on jet is about right for a mix a touch more moist than a kerb mix.

Your calculations look sound. If the the dry materials have a density of 1.6 tons per m3 then: 87 / 1.6 = 54 litres and 9 x 54 = approx my trench capacity which increased to 0.45 m3 after the shuttering was pegged in place.

I think this large 2600? sq ft design has too many features with excess space sub division in the front half and this leads to a compromised entrance hall as identified by @NSS My previous house 1400 sq ft had more flow space between front door and bottom stairs step and I thought that was compromised even for 4 bed house squeezed into 1400 sq ft. The double height of your hall will help overcome the foot print problem to some extent, the 3D hall projection is very appealing. I like to see a pantry but the space is not used well because it doubles as a corridor. I would loose the dumb waiter unless this is a key life style need and dispense with the hall to pantry door unless this is a fire egress planning building regs thing here. Even so the downstairs toilet needs an extra foot in length pinched from the pantry. A single parking space is a major problem for a property of this size. Think of people visiting and children growing up and learning to drive. Ask an estate agent how problematic this would be. The house looks too large for the plot, are planning ok with this or is it the done thing in a city location? I like the flow in the main living area, very trendy and the nook should work when the cook needs a five minute rest. Your screen in the study will suffer reflections from the window behind, think about angling the desk around the corner.

A part load "tail end" concrete order, had not heard of that. I assumed ordering such a small quantity would be a daft price. Makes sense though as my garden develops in advance of the house the post delivery wagon wash-out would involve killing green stuff.

Today I had planned to fill a shallow trench with concrete. Some simple sums suggested it would require 0.4 m3 and when estimating the job I thought as my Belle electric mixer has a 130 litre drum then 4 to 5 full loads should fill the trench. I seem to be out by a factor of 2 or 3. Would I be correct in thinking that the rated 130l capacity of a mixer drum is highly theoretical and relates to the water capacity of the drum filled to the brim when sitting upright on its axis in a rain catching position? I have re-calibrated my concrete mixing capability and reckon that when working solo and filling a trench 30m away from the mixer I should allow 4 hours per 0.5 m3. How does that compare with others?

Thanks. Having been mixing and filling for the last 30 minutes. I have mixed a touch stronger than 1:6, my theory is I am up against the clock and the freezing overnight weather so a stronger dryer mix makes sense to me. Not sure that is conventional building trade wisdom. Got loads of hessian sacking to keep it snug and warm overnight.

Once the sun burns off last night's frost I intend to fill a shallow trench across the entrance threshold of my drive. The dimensions of the trench are 5.5 meters long 300mm wide and 225mm deep. When the concrete is semi set I will bed down a line of granite kerb stones laid flat on the surface of the setting concrete, these kerb stones are 75mm thick by 150mm wide. Given the vehicle traffic passing over I assume a strong concrete mix is recommend and I have a pile of 10mm ballast left over from the cavity fill operation. I understand that a strong mortar has a 3:1 mix but since the lumpyness of ballast equates to less aggregate surface area to bond, a strong concrete has less cement. In another thread @PeterWsuggest a 4:1 mix was strong but I might not have mentioned I was using ballast. The advice at the site below suggests 1 part cement to 6 parts ballast will equate to a strong concrete for paths and drives. The same site also says 1 to 8 would be good for foundations which is counter intuitive to me. https://www.allmix.co.uk/much-ballast-need-mix-concrete/ Anyhow after that preamble what does the panel recommend? I am thinking 5.5 or 6 to 1. He is my other thread discussing the need for the driveway entrance "speed bump".

Ah I was unaware of the associated carpentry step, will this be a tenon joint or 45 degree mitre at the corners? I am thinking temporary board because I do not want the daily anguish of watching the job overrun while puddles of water sit on proper boarding months past its rated exposure period. They are talking big daily lay rates in theory the house could be up to gutter height in 3 weeks. Their preferred approach to the job is to bring the outer skin up a full blake profile in height and then the inner block wall up to match, he did caution that is wind related.

It might be a weather related factor but brickies seem to be looking for work which leads to my question on what needs to be agreed when dealing with a 2+1 brickie team for a whole house (10.5k facing + 2000 medium weight inner blocks). A 4 stage payment schedule has been suggested "above splash" roughly equating to each scaffold lift plus wall plate and chimney finishing. They will only lay at 2 degrees and rising. They acknowledge industry standard tolerances. 2.5 tie per m2. English bond is specified as is a particular mortar colour that requires white cement. We have agree on the local quarry that will supply the sand to provide a consistent mortar colour. I will state no further sub contracting allowed, i.e. the 2 brickies I met will be expected to do the work. Cavity batts will be fitted as they go and I will be onsite every day to check this. They are aware that two working class one chimney flues are part of the spec plus one false chimney. What little things need to be specified to avoid arguments later on? For example the brickie team working on the self build opposite fit a mini cavity tray around each airbrick vent. Do brickies typically fit the wallplate timber? Who fits the first floor joists? Maximum tolerable delay in the arrival of joists. Required pointing finish. When will artstone cills be fitted. English bond header courses to step up/down a course at corners. Avoid English bond header courses intersecting with the corner of a window or door aperture. Ensure wall plate does not sit directly on a header course. Toilet provision. What is out of scope? Chimney flashing? Art stone cill fitting?

The tape worked after some delicate keyhole surgery to install it. Reckon it is a 90% fix and I have a cable tie ready if it needs backup.

This would hide the fix and still allow for height adjustment, think I will try this first and it it fails use cable tie idea.

That would save me a trip to the storage containers to find a jubilee clip in my boating junk boxes.

Today I am fixing the static caravan rather than building a house. The clamp that holds the shower head at a variable height has been slipping down the chrome plated rail for months and Swmbo is demanding a resolution. This morning I have removed the rail and dismantled the clamp down to its smallest parts and nothing is wrong, i.e. the clamp thread is undamaged. The clamp action is a simple cam which pinches a plastic sleeve which should bind the holder to the rail. Does anyone have a tip for servicing this clamp? I am thinking a good clean to remove any oily shower potions and then rough up the surface of the plastic clamping sleeve with sand paper. If that does not work I might have to resort to a jubilee clip around the rail to prevent the clamp falling below a minimum height.

That would reduce the size of the concrete cap. btw the concrete cap is a substitute for the regulation depth of standard fill over the top of the crates which is 500mm as I recall. The underground crates have to be positioned near the entrance of the drive to maintain achieve a minimum 5m distance to my garage footings and also a neighbour's garage. Because of this location I cannot discount the risk of an HGV using the top of my drive for an unplanned 3-point turn. Yes this whole headache is mandated for storm attenuation. I was going to ask for a description of the inverted T option but as I was typing my question I got it. I like it and I should be able to reduce the concrete cap to 1 m2.

Just what I was hoping to hear, in fact I was digging outside in anticipation of your answer until rain stopped play a few minutes ago. Hmm yes the inlet pipe height differential, that will trigger some difficult gradient calcs, I am struggling to maintain a viable gradient from the outlet to the pond. Think I might have to raise the crates 300mm and cap them with 100mm of reinforced concrete otherwise I will end up with a strange hump in the middle of the driveway.