scottishjohn

I put down quickstep 10 years ago - in entrance hall --still there looking great .gets more abrasive foot fall than anywhere else

cheapest std concreter tiles cost under £1 each --10 to the sqm --so you want cheap and wieght on roof not a factor. there are even some recycled plastic /slate mixture tiles at close to same price and they look exactly like slates.but much lighter than concrete tiles. plenty of choices for an economical roof. you just said it in your post about steel roofing "most durable coating" --will still not be as durable as concrete tiles or recycled plastic slate mix units.

I saw a different way which looked far more appealing .uses old mine shafts basically a crane which lifts huge barrels up from bottom of shaft and then puts them on a ledge -this is powered by excess power for wind turbine .etc when they need the power it hooks on the barrel and then drops it back to bottom of shaft ,but this time its generating electric from weight of barrel lowering down . Imagine a big mine shaft full of barrels and cranes --simple way to store energy with without new technology

one thing where d&g council is better then council recycling yard take anything provided you split it up and dump in the correct bin. I see local tradesmen there every time I go, dumping this weeks trash

yes it looks like the best quality blocks i have seen anywhere and far more selection of block types to choose from and I like the 0.5sqm per block .. but at same time i like the velox system for some things -- still away of making any decisions on final design due to local planning etc. and therefore way off getting budgets worked out for 2 systems i,ve spent hours hunting videos on both systems and people building with them . velox definately looks very DIY for russians + other eastern countries s etc out in the middle of nowhere with sod all tools + no heavy equipment-+ one man and his dog building team -which is a big positive in some ways . still not convinced on burying services in the walls on any system -pretty sure i,ll be going for service void and drywall.which could be filled with insulation before drywall if you wanted just seems simpler and more choices to alter spec as you go , I understand you fear the air gap with detract from thermal mass -- is this not more a case of decrimental delay --eg it smooths out speed temp changes? I like the way your builders have done the radiant flooring with the wood for doing final floating . that looks easiest way for self build small team --eg 1 or 2 people to do it if not going for finished polished concrete floor

I would have thought if you are not too stingy with the noggins and board the floor at same time then there is little chance of them getting out of shape

and thats sexist --i could be LGBT LOL

you mean you do not have to fit "dwangs" as they call them up here ,or noggins as they say in england

whats the attraction of them if they are more expensive?

but if thats what they ask for ,then are just plain wrong ,the whole point is to stop radon gas building up --so if membrane is in right place no need for a sump or anything else . rolling over to thier wrong decisions will make them even worse dictators

well i think dumfries & galloway can take that title here is a recent decison on a brick garage a man wanted to build on his own ground . house is within 30yards of river and garage had to placed slightly infront and to the side of house . then they changed thier mind and said no garage cos the footprint of garage would cause a rise in the water level when river was in flood !!!!!. now the river has never EVER been up that far to start with ,if it did the main street would all be flooded.to about 4ft so what was thier work around --fit 6 air bricks in bottom of garage exactly at floor height ,so if it did flood the water would come in and then run out again . now a 8x4 garage --will make sod all difference to river hieght if it did flood cos river by this time would be 10-15ft above normal level and twice as wide . beat that for stupidity if you can

thats why I asked if he was forced --cos they limit space under houses here --don,t like you having an area where the gas can build up ,which is a bugger cos who wants a crawl space under house --you want to be able to sit up at least . If i put that sump under new house here they would want a fan on a timer to purge it if you got they nasty BC man on a bad day lots you can,t even crawl under

were you foreced to have the raydon sump? i don,t see any purpose for it if you have a barrier under the whole house. theres no where for it to gather up in the foundations the way you have your barrier - .personally left to my own devices i would have put it below everything next to the compoacted sub soil and wrapped it round your nice insulated raft. the worry with old type founds was it would gather up below the suspended floor .or at least thats how i understood it round here its all granite anyway

https://econekt.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/ECONEKT.-ICF-Elements-Brochure2.pdf see page 23 --concrete funnel is available as an accessory . isodom also loks like good system -- certainly the system with the most different types of panels I hyave found from roof to foundations

wee suggestion . now you have basically sorted the 50% threshold problem .all be it a work around maybe some data logging to see if you do indeed continue to put heat in and raise pcm well above the normal cut off point ,do you get more heat loss and therefore not good use of extra excess pv? fitting more in cascade mode to always have capacity will increase capitol cost HOW many years then before it gets to pay back point ..

that,s to stop the lids bulging .LOL

thank you --that is my point -get it sorted before causing war

you just proved my point-- and saying you been there twice makes it even more important to find out the truth before doing anything. and if your title plan is not correct --then maybe now is the time to get that sorted you need to get this sorted out before declaring war on next door . by digging trenchs like the somme doing what others are suggesting could end up costing thousnads in legal fees if next door do ont agree with the boundary line

you better be certain where the boundaries are on the deeds I would be getting copy of land title and talking to your legal man before doing anything If you weaken the ground and cause them subsidence --you will be paying in scotland you cannot build anything with 1 m of boundary anyway

after a visit from sepa and sub soil ground testing --they would then tell you how many hundreds of tons of soil you would have to remove ,send to hazardous waste dump then replace with new soil -- but not before SEPA come back and agree you have removed enough . If not off you go again friend of mine had a petrol station --the tanker driver over filled one of his tanks by 4000litre many years ago --it ran off the forecourt and into gardens of houses behind . he sold the site to a major oil company .--at that time they did not insist on a ground survey --as in drilling holes down to 10m --if possible --and getting the cores checked for contamintaion. some years later this oil company wanted to sell the site -- buyer came along --wanted soil test ,which was done and the history of the spillage was known by local petrolium officer . site had a resale value of 3m--end result the site was then offered for free,providing who ever took it on accepted responsibility for clean up --as the cost to clean up the poisoned ground was estimated at 2m . so far the major oil company are still running it--but dare not open ground up to do any up grades ,cos that would trigger SEPA insisting on clean up . the big killer is that any pollution found in a ground test is down to who ever made the pollution if they are still in exsistance. the polluter pays !!!. so very important that when you sell anywhere that your legal guy includes that the new owner takes on any liability for pollution . A local couple found some land next to river --no owner could be traced after lots of searchs.so they bought it from goverment ,took out insurance in case a relative turned to claim it. thought they had done every thing right. problem was that neither council or solicitor checked to see what had been on that ground before so 3 years on and new house built --family getting sick. turns out there was a tannery+ horse knacker yard on that ground in the 1700.s, right next to the river they were growing own veg etc!!. scyanide +other nasties from tanning process found in ground so ok no one died ,all better now --but it just shows how careful and how you need to check the old OS maps you can find if looking at new ground. so house is still there --but a dull chance of selling it. so council started getting worried then and did core samples along the river bank --and found pollution around another 6 old cottages next to this ground . councils solution --dig out the gardens and concrete them over!! that took about a year to do. this is why you see so many old petrol stations not re-delevoped .possible cost of cleaning up the ground before you start--bore hole testing etc usually cost about 5-10k depending on ground SO BUYER BEWARE ON BROWNFIELD SITES --even in the country

durisol uses PIR insulation in their blocks . look at the different insulation values of the different types of foam .and you will then see the differences in thickness you need of a lesser foam to get same insulation value as PIR

our strap it out and get service void as well? an extra layer of insulation ,maybe but also another layer to smoooth any temp changes and maybe simpler service fitting any sort of plaster will increase insulation

shoot me down if you like but why are you putting first joist so close to end wall. spacing is 400mm I read . so why not use some of you old wall plate,as i believe you replaced the old ones cos they were too short for those hangers to add to end walls so floor can sit on them --then move first joist away from end wall bit more --then do your 400 centres plenty of space to swing a hammer then

LOL --especially the irish ones

I have not started my build yet --will middle of next year I,m guessing Do I think it wll have a great effect if we have a proper brexit to start with maybe . will it affect house prices --maybe in SE --but not in most of uk where they have not had the silly house price rises over the last few years . I just bought 2 house plots over looking the sea for £60k each each is just over an acre --so no only see it being a problem in SE -- building materials --if house prices drop --then the suppliers will need to sharpen the prices as there will be less slaes to go round so it could make for drops in material prices--ANYBODIES GUESS till it has happened and dust settled . It is probabe that if we do leave interest rates will go up -- that will suit alot of people with pension funds and could maybe help the home build market again its all project fear until it happens do not underestimate the effect Uk leaving will have on EU suppliers as well --they need our sales one thing for sure --they are not making any more land ,time marchs on and we are all getting older and politicans always lie and the media is always full of fake news and promote the worst effects of anything .