Nickfromwales

That's where the extra 1/2 pint of water works wonders

I'd also tie the left end into the wall with both timbers, not as shown with one stopping short?! That will prevent the timber from naturally wanting to roll, and this arrangement will need less 'help' from noggins then. Very odd to see that detail tbh.

You can AB&B an annex? Your next port of call, afaic, is to now employ a QS to get at least a rudimentary bill of quantities done, to get a reasonably accurate, and realistic price this project, from A-Z. Timber frame with a rendered external rain screen is prob quickest and simplest approach, possibly a brick or brick slip if planners get shitty, and keep it as simple as possible. A TF company can do the frame and roof (with the room in roof) in one sitting, and you've got the lions share of the work allocated to one contracting company (easier to control). Decent local general builder to then take it to completion. Each of these 2 parties will then project manage themselves....in an ideal world, with the general builder in at the outset for groundworks and foundation etc.

Ouch. My biggest worry would be about the bund between the useable garage and the 'new' residential half of the garage, as that's supposed to prevent fuel spills from interfering with the habitable part of the home (hence the step down from the existing house into the garage).... Also, I'd be worried that fire regs weren't observed and the plasterboard etc creating the dividing wall was (is) insufficient to provide a fire barrier in the unpleasant event of a fire. Sorry to pee on your chips btw, but at the very least I'd be sure to fit a 30 minute fire door where you enter the converted bit from the house. Insurance claims may be a bit interesting too, if none of the conversion is kosher / recognised / has BR approvals... The estate agents / surveyors should have flagged this surely?

That looks a bit like you've removed loose stuff and polished the stubborn residue? Have you tried a scraper on that polished bit vs where it appears 'matt'?

It's not blunt it's the hard reality! The cost of this needs to be calculated vs the payback time from rent (minus all the taxes and deductions / maintenance / repairs / refurbishments). Obvs also include anticipated uplift in value over the next 10-20 years or more, and THEN work out if this is worth doing; or should you just leave the money in the bank and enjoy the rest of your years.....and that's if the tenant isn't a nightmare and you get the rent paid religiously. Or, if it has independent planning and the plot is a title and deed (away from your dwelling) then put it up for sale and bank the moola, adding it to the pension pot for tax benefits. Depends on whether you're happy to suffer the nuisance of a new neighbour. It is, and always will be, disproportionately expensive to build something small (tiny), so you really need to see if this is worth even beginning to think about. And that's if it all goes well. If you're a tradesperson who could do the foundations and stick build this in TF then we would be in a different place, but then there's also your own personal time / worth to be considered there if you're not retired etc (or are fit as a fiddle and have time and energy to input). It may all go deliciously well and be your ticket to freedom, of course, but this needs a pragmatic approach and a reality-check at least, IMO.

Are you constrained with ridge height, as adding a bedroom in the roof space (so 1.5 storey or ‘room in roof) would get you the extra m2 GIA in the same smaller footprint.

Ok, thanks. So what was used to lift the original garage floor up to get it level to the house floor?

Timbers like these always have a ‘cup’ to them and you need to have these noted. Lay the wood down, lift up one end, and look down the length. You’ll note a depression and these need to be marked so all the depressions are ‘down’. Once installed these then need to be turned to be upside down so they deflect upwards, as these will then settle when weight is applied; weight from intersecting joists and flooring, plus stud walls etc. Use crown washers, upon final assembly only, and it’ll be fine. Remember to only tighten these bolts initially just enough to get a firm purchase, then jack and level with vertical batters off the floor at the mid-point of the span (one on each side so it doesn’t cause the timber to rock) to get it all ship-shape. Once happy with the level, tighten these all up snugly. I then go down the timbers each side with 90mm ring shank nails (NOT bright nails) and nail the shit out of them. 3 nails per row and repeated every 450mm from both sides, all down the entire run. Be sure of things being in place, because once you nail this, any thought of further tweaking goes out the window. Getting these in is probably a well educated 2-man job or a 3-man job, if you wish to retain any sanity and avoid getting smashed in the head by a timber. Usually 2 men on muscle, one running for fixings and stuff you drop when you least need it to (tools / nuts / bolts etc) so don’t be brave, be clever, get as much help as you can. My 2 cents is stop being tight and buy the 6m timbers obvs, as they can’t be THAT expensive?? Compared to the grief vs results, plus the cost of fixings and logistics / manpower, that has to be the sensible option surely?

The only caveat with Festool is you have to have the obligatory yuppie trade van, the VW transporter, to accompany all your top shelf tools lol.

Is this gypsum anhydrite?

Is it a drain back system?

Oh, and get some tanking solution on top of that tanking strip!!!!

@LiamJones "if I were to do it again (I’ve got 2 more formers to do), I'd sacrifice a dead level room, to reduce build up at the edge of the former. The former is designed with built in falls, and by building up, I’ve destroyed this. I could have also gone 2-3mm lower with the self leveller and still achieved a level floor, given 3mm adhesive would still be applied over the top of the bare UFH in places. what a nightmare!"..... First off, a bloody commendable effort mate, just dust yourself down and get ready for the next one. Firstly, don't use rapid set adhesive you mad bar steward!! Standard set is your friend for intricate stuff like this. Secondly, my thought as to where this went wrong (imho) after it was all going so right is as follows. When you set the former into place on the woodwork you missed one vital step, and that was to put a 6mm (or x mm) layer of plywood down first to raise the former to meet your (predicted) top of SLC, that simple mate. On the next one, work this out to the mm and fit either ply or insulated backer board / whatever works, and then the world will seem a happy place and the tiling will be a doddle I fit the UTH wire with the suggested tape etc, but it then go around after, painstakingly, and mitre bond the wire flat to the floor everywhere it doesn't want to lay absolutely flat, and then you can put prob half the SLC down. Lesson learned for the next one, third ones a charm 👍

Correct, sir. If you find that hard water outlet is a bit aggressive / noisy with 4 bar on it, then you can fit a flow restrictor in, if needed of course. Trial and error jobby tbh. https://www.bes.co.uk/flow-regulator-ball-valve-cp961-15mm-17527/

Can you try that one again, plz, lol. Not clear at all what you mean there sorry!!

Looks to have passed the O-ring and not to have breached the hydraulic body as such. Prob because string / rope was used not PTFE tape....

Pretty much. A.4 - balanced cold output to the cold manifold comes off the dedicated port on the CG at the UVC. Assuming you know that, but just adding to for clarity. The 4 bar will give a 4 bar feed to the kitchen sink tap. The hot will have 3 bar from the CG at the UVC, and there's your 1 bar fight Solution is to put a single check NRV on the hot feed at the kitchen mixer tap, and a 22mm NRV on the hot outlet of the UVC, to be fully compliant. TBH, if you have a 3 bar "PRedV" (:rolleyes:) at the stopcock with 7 bar available I doubt you'll have any issue with dynamic flow rates being choked, and on paper that would make the 2x NRV's redundant (but they'd still be requisite as failsafe for G3 afaic).

If its a deep concrete garage slab then is there still the obligatory 100mm step down into the garage from where you've knocked through?

Or just lock you in the cooler with pocster.....

Another unpredictable digression. We’re a diverse forum., if nothing else 🙃

Are you a mad cat lady?

Last GC I did we simply self levelled the original concrete slab to get it flat and level, and then put 2 layers of PIR insulation down over a DPM. DPM needs to be done neatly and tidily with the joints / corners tucked in and taped so the insulation lays perfectly flat. Cut the insulation about 20mm too small to create a gap all around the perimeter for foam, and use the P5 boards (before laying them) as ballast to weigh the insulation down while the foam cures around the perimeter. Over that went 2 layers of 22mm P5, 1st layer parallel, and 2nd layer perpendicular with both screwed together and just glued joints. Worked a treat, including an en-suite with a shower tray on legs and a WC, all with zero movement, so no need for screed etc afaic unless you want wet UFH? That won't be cold, but you can get low temp electric UFH kits for use with engineered flooring if you want a bit of extra comfort for the 3-4 months of winter. EWI is only any good if you've dealt with the cavities and draughts, otherwise just do a minimal IWI so all of your room interior is an insulated surface.

We all needed our heads examining....lol....as my 1st 42" plasma was £4-figures too. (I'm too embarrassed to say what I paid for it ), died pretty quickly and was buried at sea

Unlimited throughput, rest of info I will try and link in a bit I've got the bumf just need to find it in the mountain of emails I have!