Temp

It will be a nightmare. Some self builders will have made a loss. Many will have difficulty proving the build cost. Why keep builders invoices if there was no VAT to reclaim?

Our builder had a permanent staff of two people. Officially one was a foreman and the other a chippie but in reality they did almost everything from digging foundations to tiling the roof. Other trades (bricklayers, plasterers, electrician) were subcontractors.

Sometimes you need some big washers or temporary plates to stop the heads and nuts can pulling into wood while tightening them enough to get the dog/spike washer embedded.

If the land owner will let you I would investigate this further. I think 1km of 50mm pipe would be about £4000.

In a previous house they were climbing up inside rainwater down pipes into the gutters then into the loft via the eaves. Fixing metal leaf guards to the top of all the down pipes fixed the problem. Rat man told us they mark trails so if you kill one in the house another soon follows his trail to find the same way in..

My son sections and inspects welds for a living. Took one look at the photo and said the bit done on site looks horrible and should be redone. He suspected some might even come off if you run a hammer down it.

I've seen pink SBR used before render/plaster but it's not that bright red.

So this is the joist that is now 7" from the wall? If this was a normal joist (eg one of a dozen similar joists crossing a room) then yes I would cut a 7x3 to fill the gap and extend into the wall. Then either sister josts both sides or use metal joist repair plates extending perhaps 2 feet either side of the joint. However I hesitate to suggest this in your case as the floor structure looks somewhat unconventional. Is this joist is supporting a wall separating the stairwell from the landing?

ChatGPT is pretty clever. If you don't like a long complicated answer you can just ask it for a shorter or simpler explanation. I frequently ask it to reduce answers to a simple list.

Sadly its depressingly low at just 0.7 bar at your property boundary.

Building Control Approval would also be required.

My understanding.. Unfortunately if your builder isn't registered for VAT there isn't a way for you or him to reclaim the VAT paid on materials. Nor to any subcontractors... So if your builder hires a VAT registered subcontractor, like an electrician, the electricians bill and any materials he supplies will be at 20% (to your builder). However if you were to hire the VAT registered electrician directly he can 5% rate everything to you that he supplies. This is because the 5% rule only applies to labor and materials supplied to the "final customer" by the person/company doing the renovation. If it had been empty for 10 years, and the builder was VAT registered, you could also claim the 5% back charged by the builder AND the 20% you paid on any materials using the self build reclaim scheme. Unfortunately I'm pretty certain this doesn't apply to properties only empty for 2 years.

When you say the float is "ON"... Is its internal switch closed (conducting) or open circuit? If ON corresponds to open circuit then there is another possibility... Switch and relay contacts can have a MINIMUM switching current for reliable operation. Switches designed for mains voltage or currents in Amps don't always switch currents of uA reliably. It's to do with the materials the contacts are made of and any plating like gold or silver. This could only be the cause if ON corresponds to open circuit.

Google AI said..

Yes the "plus" is different. I found this circuit for the plus which shows switch between 9 or 10 and GND pin 7. No pull up resistor shown.

Not if you follow that diagram. One side of the switch is shown connected to pin 1 L. (Sorry I called it VCC earlier.) However that assumes the float switch is literally just that, a switch. It may not work if the float switch is a powered device. Sorry for editing this post a lot. I'm waiting for a train and hate typing on my phone.

If the float switch is essentially just an un powered switch with two wires I believe it should be connected to pin 7 (or 8 ) and VCC (pin 1)...

Lot depends on the land it has to cross. Is the connection in a country road or A road etc

We installed a system even though our house probably isn't very air tight. Would do so again. Not for energy saving reasons but simply for the air quality improvement it gave us. First few nights it felt like waking up in a tent.

ChatGPT suggested.. But watch out for earrings and the like disappearing into the trap.

Modern wastes typicalpy have something in the middle of the plug hole to operate the mechanism and that provides more places for hair to get caught on. A good old fashioned plug on a chain type might work better?

What do the instructions say? May not need it. I suppose you could make a slightly runny mix of flexible adhesive and use a paint roller to apply it to the bottom of the tray. Regular mix on the boards.

I think cladding with something is the way to go. Perhaps fix pressure treated battens on some sort of non rotting stand off and timber cladding. Or that artificial wood made from recycled plastic?

Check the regs on overhangs. If that's ok and the weight is ok I think it will be fine. To prevent this put a strap around them to keep them tied together. In the past I have used a strong Tesco bag for life and duct tape!

Is the wall retaining higher ground behind it?