Mike

Then it may be worth going for the resilient bars and the extra plasterboard...

They don't look great, but timber grading does permit timber with surprising large splits (shakes) to be used. But it's too long ago since I had to argue over that with a supplier to remember the details.

Resilient bars reduce impact sound. Extra plasterboard reduces airborne sound. Which type of sound transmission concerns you the most?

Most flat-pack furniture uses nailed-on hardboard, so 6mm ply would be an improvement on that. But it depends how robust you want it to be.

No, it's not OK. I'd apply a couple of coats of liquid DPM for (Aquaseal Hyprufe of similar) for 100mm or so above the slab, thoroughly sealing along the DPC, and along the edge of the slab itself, so that the DPM laps with that. Make sure the joints between blocks are pointed first if they're not already 100% full. This is something to discuss with your Building Control Officer as it's a stage they should be checking.

I'd normally specify a depth of 600mm, including the door thickness. However the room that I'm currently in has wardrobes with a clear hanging space of 520mm and it's OK, even for a couple of winter coats. From the other perspective, what's the width of your hallway? Presumably quite tight if you're concerned about saving a couple of centimetres.

If you had a much bigger wall it might be worth it, but not for 1m². See Trombe Wall (Wikipedia).

I had a similar-ish situation years ago - the neighbour owned the garden wall and was quite happy with it, despite its poor condition and being topped with barbed wire. I ended up erecting a fence on my side to obscure it.

I bought mine, but it's not something to do lightly - you do need to know the rules to buy, erect and maintain it. You also need to be prepared for when it turns up, with people to help unload (especially if it arrives loose) and somewhere to put it (scaffolders would erect it direct from the lorry, you'll need to unload it all). Potentially a good idea. You'd probably need them to specify what to buy too. There is also a requirement to inspect and record the state of the scaffolding at least weekly - more frequently if there has been adverse weather or if the scaffold has been modified - and to remedy any problems. I'd suggest getting yourself onto a scaffold inspection course if you want to pursue this.

That's normal and is required by NHBC. They also require a bed of mortar on top of the DPC if the building is over 3 stories high. Personally I always do both. More at https://nhbc-standards.co.uk/6-superstructure-excluding-roofs/6-1-external-masonry-walls/6-1-17-dpcs-and-cavity-trays/

Mosquitoes.

Yes, this.

That depends. If the wall is brickwork with poorly jointed perpends (vertical joints), and if it's an exposed wall in heavy wind-driven rain, you can get a constant flow of water down the inside face of the external leaf and looking for somewhere to go - which could be a big problem. If it's rendered and sheltered then it's unlikely to be a problem.

The minimum fall is 18mm/m, so 3.8m x 18mm = 69mm 69mm fall + 110mm pipe = 179mm. That's not going to fit through a 140mm void. In the correct part of the span, by can notch 0.15x the height of the joist, so 0.15 x 100mm = 15mm. Which is not enough. If the ceiling joists are oversized that would give you some leeway, but if they're only 4" x 2", then from the picture that seems unlikely - it would need to be a very short span to get away with less. It wouldn't comply with the regs to use something smaller. Not unless you use a pumped 'macerating' WC - which come with some issues (typically visual appearance, noise & maintenance). No, it just makes it harder. Possible options include: The macerating WC Running the pipe below the ceiling in a boxing. The void therefore becomes irrelevant. Replacing the ceiling with a lower one to provide a bigger void Replacing the ceiling (or part of the ceiling) at the same height, but suspended on a metal framework instead of timber joists. That would easily give you the void you need. Reinforcing the relevant existing ceiling joists - for example with metal plates - to enable you to make deeper notches. Technically you'd need a structural engineer for that. The soil pipe would need to turn vertically up the wall next to the WC and be fitted with an 'air admittance valve'. Otherwise flushing the WC would risk breaking the water seal in the WC and letting the sewer gasses into the room.

I'm renting a place during my renovation where one room has Legrand wireless switches (think they use Zigbee) and I'm told that they've been temperamental for a few years. Two days ago they tripped the circuit breaker when I tried to switch them on, and they're now not working at all. I'll be sticking to wired switches.

I've a rewire coming up in France, where radials are mandatory. Power circuits are either 8 sockets on 16A, or 12 sockets - the maximum number permitted on one circuit - on 20A. A double counts as 2 sockets. Apart from the hob on 32A, everything else is 2A, 10A, 16A or 20A. That's 24 circuits in total, but by the time circuit breakers, dimmers, contactors, power supplies, load-shedder and other accessories are added, plus the 20% mandatory 'unused' allowance, I need a 72-way consumer unit for a 1 bed apartment! Together with the space for the meter and master switch, plus the mandatory communications connection unit & space for the internet box, it's not far off a full floor-to-ceiling stack.

I agree with @Jenki - a flexi pipe is guaranteed to cause problems in the future. You need a standard smooth-bore pipe laid to falls of at least 18mm/m. If it needs to go through the floor space then multiple short lengths glued together would work or, if you have an outside wall, cut a hole and feed a pipe through from outside. Fixing the pipe to the wall above floor level is another option, even if this does mean reconfiguring the room.

Why would you agree with him? You'd rather pay unnecessarily high heating bills than require him to do a good job? What other corners is he cutting?

It's a known fact that if you built 1 turbine / m² over the entire Earth's landmass, the planet would stop spinning and slide off the back of the turtle.

If he does have insurance, it may well include a legal advice line that he could call.

I've never come across a particular word for them in the South - I'd just talk about a parapet gable / gable parapet.

It will happen. Technology adoption follows an S curve. The first domestic microwave cost $1295 in 1955 - roughly $14,000 today. The question is how to speed up progress along the curve. It could be by Government mandate, but typically it's by subsidies. Not necessarily UK subsidies - often the UK prefers to wait for other counties to subsidise and develop new technologies, then import them (and then wonder why we don't make them ourselves). See also the development of the wind turbine market in Denmark in the 1980s & 1990s.

China's position on coal is confused, but their proportion of electricity generated from coal is declining. And they already generate more from solar and wind than either Europe or the US, and are installing more of both much faster than Europe & the US. Reuters: China widens renewable energy supply lead with wind power push Reuters: China's new coal plants set to become a costly second fiddle to renewables

It's climate denialism presented by the Environment Spokesman of the former* minor far-right political party For Britain. *According to the Wikipedia page the party has disbanded, though their website is still up.

This suggests that @Iceverge's solution is worth a try: Install a water hammer arrester and see if that fixes it. Various inexpensive ones available, such as: https://www.bes.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=hammer+arrester