Mr Punter

They often use a rotating laser level to work out which corner is highest and build the others up to match. Below ground you can have quite a thick mortar bed and it will not show. If you have never done any bricklaying, building your own house alone is very ambitious. Maybe buy a pack of blocks and have a practice, using hydrated lime with the sand instead of cement so you can reuse.

I have done this several times and @CivilEng2020 has it spot on. Connect both to an inspection chamber near the boundary, the theory being that if the systems are separate in future yours can be piped accordingly. All the connections to the drain need a water trap.

BC will want a fair amount of detail for a full plans application (which is what you will need). They need full details of how each part of the regs will be met, shown on plans, with notes and calculations as appropriate.

The first floor landing is at the base of the arrow.

Thanks I see the plans now. I cannot work out how the stairs work. To make the plans easier to read it would help to have them all the same way round and an arrow on the stairs pointing up.

Grip It I once fitted some legs to an Ikea table, then found some 6mm spacers in the fittings pack. Sure enough, I turned the table upright only to see that the screws had gone through the top. I think they did the tops in different thicknesses and mine was thin! I sent it back and got refunded on the basis of a small chip in the corner...

I am interested to see the first floor plan. A protected stair would be loads better than sprinklers, but in reality would make little difference to safety if the kitchen / living door is left open at night. Did you consider another WC in the utility? There is lots of room in there. You could then make the guest shower room en suite so they do not need to access it via public space, plus you have an extra loo if the guest bathroom is in use.

If it is nice and flat I cannot see why not. Are you fitting it yourself?

I have a similar door to the roof terrace. We used a piece of hardwood decking along the threshold to make up the height and fill in the gap.

The Hybris product is very flammable - class F. There will be some spiel about it being fine as it is protected by plasterboard etc but get a sample and hold a flame under it for a few seconds before you decide it is what you want in your house.

+1 Strip one of them off, as well as the cill. They will probably all be the same. What insulation you can get in will depend on the windows profile. Even 20mm PIR will be better than none. All around. Fit the windows close the the insulation zone. If it is cavity wall, 80mm back from the outside of outer leaf.

Get a quote in timber frame. If you can't get access, how is your concrete going to get in for the ICF?

I have used some of the stick on seals with some doors. They seem fairly airtight and help with sound as well. You can get drop down seals for the bottoms.

It depends so much on the ICF, the building design and the reinforcing needed. Also bracing, lintels etc all take time. The ICF supplier could probably give an indication if you send a plan.

I guess they wanted exposed brickwork inside. Increase of cavity would be easiest. You could use Kingspan insulation. You are allowed a poorer u value if you compensate elsewhere.

Offer the £250 and go to £275 if you really want to. The valuer is probably more accurate than the agent, who thinks in asking price rather than sold values. Also the slope and access issues are not inconsiderable. If this is your first project it will be a big challenge and all trades who are any good are flat out and expensive.

I would lower the offer to £250k to reflect the valuation. The valuer is a professional and does this all the time, so assume he is correct. Is it worth doing if it costs you £650k total?

Can you make sure the end of the timber cladding are coated before they put the reveal pieces on please!

I like the house design. I would prefer a WC / cloakroom off the hall, so you can have you coat, shoes, go to the loo etc away from having to walk through the kitchen, but you may normally come in via the back anyway. Also the open plan family living room would not be to my taste, but I am not going to be living there! If you build it exactly as is I think you will have a great home.

Good please. No bad.

I have the rads about centred horizontally on the flex outlet and the bottom rung of the rad about 250mm off the floor.

For that reason I have a hood with a bfo remote external fan with 150mm ducting. Good for stir fries.

You could probably get one with a timer so it finishes when you want it to. I don't know if they have a setting where they just tumble intermittently at the end - a bit like a concrete lorry - to stop the stuff creasing? The heat pump ones are really efficient, but they take even longer. The ones with larger drums crease less. Putting the exhaust into the MVHR may overheat other rooms, but ask the supplier what they think.

With a vented dryer you are throwing energy straight out of the wall. You could get rid of the MVHR and just leave the windows open! Why the rush for quick drying?