Mr Punter

Good to see you making a start. Make sure that digger is very well secured. They are well sought after by certain light fingered types.

I had a garden designed a few years ago and was really pleased with the results. She really know about plants and we ended up with lots of things we would not have otherwise chosen. My one regret is not doing it sooner as by the time we had finished the new garden was only 4 years old and we had the house for 15. I saw some pictures of it on Rightmove recently and it looks great now it is mature.

I fitted one of these into a basement: https://www.sumpsandpumpsdirect.co.uk/acatalog/Sewage-Pumping-Station-Compact.html#SID=20 No noisy macerator and uses heavy duty 2" ID pipework. I sunk it halfway into the ground and brought insulation and flooring up. Located in a services room behind the WC.

I am waiting for Building regs signoff. Just had pre-commencement planning conditions approved but we need a new application to alter a condition and remove another, which holds up the building regs as we need a relaxation on part M4(2). It is a fiddly infill site and we are building 3 flats. I think the Dritherm 32 and the platinum poly beads are the same thermal resistance.

I am about to start on a project with brick, 150 cavity, med agg blocks and render / set finish. Using Hi-therm lintels mostly. Not sure whether to use the Dritherm 32 or graphite polystyrene beads.

I would recommend 7.3 N medium density recycled aggregate blocks rendered and set finish. The aerated type blocks are horrible to fix to. If you have plasterboard on dabs the blocks will not be airtight and there will be outside air blowing around just under the plasterboard. If you visit a house like this on a windy day you can feel the cold air through the electric sockets.

No that is a poor design. Maybe get your architect or whoever is doing your Building Regs to add this in because if you don't get it right it can be a real pain.

You have used over double the number of screws needed. It won't make it "work" any better. 28 per board on the walls (4 x 7) and a few more for ceilings is fine.

I think if you have a shortlist of, say, 3 architects and their overall hourly rates look acceptable it may be worth asking each of them to spend 1.5 hours on a rough sketch proposal and paying them at their hourly rate to do so. You will need to give them a short brief saying what you want to achieve, together with some existing plans.

That is just silly, especially on a wall backed with OSB. Screws only tend to pop on ceilings.

The overhanging gutter is trespass. Building up to the party wall is acceptable. You can do likewise your side.

Love the translation of some of the reviews of the thing @Nickfromwales linked to, such as: "the previous model was much better. This does not properly evacuate the faeces because the water flow is insufficient. You have to do it twice. On the other hand the command button is hard. Finally, the shape of the outlet has a circular relief like a collar. In short, Disappointing for the price."

The ones I have seen are wired to a their own breaker on the CU. They have a double pole switch above worktop height with a cable outlet behind the cooker to wire into.

Don't get a macerator, get a small pump station.

So this is an existing party wall built on the boundary and he has built onto it? Did he serve a Party Wall notice? A bit late now as the work is done but for others you could have obtained a High Court injunction if he refused to stop work, although you would be at risk of costs if you did not succeed. Which bit did he build that encroaches on your property?

I really would not want a massive cut-out in my worktop just to accommodate the food waste bin. We just have the bins integrated into a Vauth-Sagel pull-out unit.

Yes. They often put a retarder in it so it lasts for at least a couple of days.

Nice work. Why on earth did you not just block off the lower stairwell to give yourself a safe working platform when you were erecting the top flight? Some joists slipped through the spindles and a couple of sheets of ply would not have taken too long.

This is one for your engineer to comment on. Do you have a simple / cheaper proposal? Does the joist hanger not provide restraint? You can hire the Hilti / Spit gun to fasten to the steel it is simple to operate. How many joists are we talking?

Thin screed on insulation will crack up. If you want a really thin layer above underfloor heating pipes you can use some of the interlocking cement board products like ScreedBoard20.

Oh well, you can always render or pebble dash if it looks crap!

Yes you could fully fill your 200mm with Platinum EPS beads.

On top of insulation it needs to be 50mm liquid, 75mm sand cement. The thin layers of self levelling would just be for evening out existing concrete floors.

It may be good to dig a pit and expose the existing foundation. Unless you have experienced subsidence the single storey extension foundations could be made the same.

The ashlar quoins and window surrounds look very posh. I look forward to seeing these completed.