Mr Punter

We have done similar where we had some steel framework from the ground up to the first floor floor zone. We packed the webs with timber - shot fired - and face fixed the joist hangers so they could be levelled with the other ends of the joists which were sitting on a soleplate on masonry.

I have done a town centre project where there was a risk of fire during construction (before plasterboarding) and this could have spread to neighbouring buildings. We had a risk assessment carried out and a solution engineered for compartmentalisation, which included Fermacell (the timber frame firms choice of board) to the flanks, part of the front and rear and some of the party walls, fire resistant flooring in the end units, 2 means of escape from the site. At one stage we were also going to have fire treated joists but this was proved not required. The Structural Timber Association have some guidelines to follow.

You can get oak stair nosing with a groove at the back but I don't know if it would fit with your floor.

Windows are a frequent issue and annoying as they are on the critical path for construction. Specification and window schedules, delivery, unloading and distribution around site, installation, weathertightness and correct operation can all go horribly wrong, especially where the windows are large and made overseas.

I imagine the fitters are not used to installing glazing units - probably almost always install factory glazed windows and doors.

Makes me itch just thinking about it!

It may be. Do the owners of the other land have the benefit of the covenant? If the house has been granted consent without any objections from the other landowner, it may be difficult to enforce.

Hello Robert and welcome. What a pain with the other plot! Are you planning on doing any of the work yourself or do you want to hand the whole job over? Do you have a build type in mind (timber frame, brick and block, ICF)? Often the architect will have worked with a couple of contractors so this may be a good place to start. Passivhaus involves more than just gaining planning consent and a standard building regs application, so your architect will play a vital role. Make sure you have a good relationship and understanding of what both parties expect of each other. Have you seen examples of their work and talked to other clients? Also, do they tend to get repeat business? Demolish and replace is very expensive, so be very clear on exactly what you want and make sure that is what is delivered. I am a small scale developer in Sussex and will be happy to give you any pointers where appropriate.

38 x 50 is one of the normal sizes for treated external batten. You can probably get a planed untreated version about 4mm smaller.

I think that the Euro is not likely to rally if we leave with no deal, so there may be little change in GBP v EUR. I understand that the WTO tariff is 3.8% so if you import 65% of your materials it would add 2.5% to your materials cost. Assuming that materials are half the total, it would add 1.25% to your build cost.

I heard of someone who had a large number of oil heated greenhouses. Thieves came in and just cut away any copper pipe in all the buildings, leaving the oil to spill through the open ends. The cleanup costs were greater than the value of the farm and thousands of times greater than the value of the copper. Can you not use the oil for a diesel car or site plant? You may need to mix it 50:50 with proper diesel as it is often kerosene which is less lubricating. Also I note you are using a crane. Would a telehandler be more flexible and less expensive?

What are the resale values for the flats?

We have had PIR factory fitted but that was walls only - we still had to do rafters. You maybe could get the roof done if it was made cassette style.

With a zinc roof we had they used a membrane that had a layer of plastic sort of like thick pubic hair bonded to it to the zinc was not in full contact with the membrane.

On the basis that the tree weighs hundreds of tonnes, are they seriously suggesting they will be able to replace like-for-like?

I first heard of the weak mortar issue years ago. Sometimes it was 1:15. The solution proposed was to rake out and repoint. My concern would be the remaining 80mm of the brick and all the block also laid in defective mortar.

Rather than a tee, do a y and a 45 from the drain, so to temp connection is in the right direction.

The 10mm gap is really good on soil stacks as the expansion / contraction of the pipe can cause noises. Probably not an issue with below ground stuff though.

Put a tee on the main run, pointing up. Run your pipe to the tee with a 90 bend pointing down and connect the two. Cap off the tee when you disconnect.

And the cons of metal: Sharp edges Cable routes need grommets through studs Not structural - need timber around doors etc. More tricky to fix to More tricky to cut Can rattle Difficult to separate from plasterboard when demolished

Use a chop saw and finish the last bit with a slightly blunt hand saw.

Come on it is quite a good feeling of schadenfreude. I cannot see how this would ever have looked OK. Idiots.

I have brick and block on the ground floor and timber frame 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Same spec of heavy doors throughout. I don't notice better or worse sound transmission. If slamming is an issue you can get some strip that fits to the stops that dampens the final few mm and stops rattles and slams. For room-to-room, look at doubling up plasterboard if you go TF and seal the bottom of the board with mastic before you put skirtings. Strengthwise TF is fine. Make sure the frame designer knows what you are putting and where. A lining of 18mm OSB is usually fine for most loads and really stiffens up the wall.

You need a special PPN nailer for this to work.

I assume you will wait for planning before you commence demolition? Have you had an asbestos survey? It is worth making sure this is very thorough, as if any is present you will want to get it removed all at once, rather than piecemeal.