BotusBuild

Mid/Late 70's - Some Genesis, Beatles, Dire Straits, and making mix tapes on a Sunday evening from the Top40 countdown

I was reminded recently when going through old family photos, of the time when I was 14 or 15 digging by hand the foundations for an extension. Had to go over 9ft deep to go underneath storm and foul drains, wrap them in EPS, install more rebar than I care to remember, and then mix and pour all by hand. The BCO said afterwards that we could have built a 5 story block of flats on what we (I) had done. And all I got was a new stereo !!

1mm should do - BUT - what do the instructions say? Dare I say RTFM 🙂

Only if the stove is in an alcove. If its out in the open, let convection do its thing

I like simple solutions 🙂 How about leaving out one side piece of the insulation to let any water flow away naturally? Then put it back in place in when you are ready to perform the concrete pour.

My architect is submitting the garage as a separate application for similar reasons as yours has suggested

Riddler, @Jeremy Harris's comments notwithstanding (which I agree with), your proposed approach to installing the ground pipework first and then connecting when you are ready is a very common approach. Some comments:- Try to avoid putting them under anything that will end up as a solid surface like "the new concrete pad for the stable", just in case there is a problem in the future and you need to access it (unlikely, but it falls in the "you never know what might happen" category and you state you have plenty of other ground to work with anyway) Regarding the tank in the Bosch unit, I am assuming that is the hot water integrated tank? For your underfloor heating, you may need to consider a buffer tank as well. I recommend that you do not go by the rule of thumb for the coils in the ground - get someone with experience and the right design tools to determine what it is you will need. Fo this they will need a good set of plans and details of build to determine heat losses of the dwelling. Welcome to the site and good luck with your build

Thanks Peter

I have a quote from South West Water for a new connection that includes VAT for 3 items under the heading "Non-Construction" - an Application Fee, and Administration Fee and Contribution toward general cost of Water Regs Inspections. Can I ask them to zero-rate these items (total VAT amount is £29.80)? FYI - the other £1,356 of the quote total is zero rated.

Thanks - that confirms my worst fears - childhood trauma's of touring caravan holidays and being the eldest sibling (therefore apparently in charge of doing the emptying). And why was every holiday timed to coincide with the wettest weather the location had seen in the last 4 millenia?

What has anyone done when no mains sewer is available and the planned sewage plant/tank has not been installed? We are at the very beginning of our build.

Any Yorkshiremen want to extend a welcome 🙂

My approach FWIW - Try once on fleabay, gumtree or your favoured selling site. If they don't go, then fling them.

Yasir - your budget will not come from the lenders - it will come from knowing what you are going to build, which itself comes from your design. This can be a circular process until you settle on a design that you is acceptable both from a "needs" perspective and a "I can afford that" perspective. This is a balancing act. I like to keep in mind the builders triad (at least that's what I call it) of Quality - Cost - Time. For quality don't think just Good vs Bad, but think Need vs "Would really like". Also within that triad, think which two are moderately inflexible and which one can flex most. For me the big flex is Time with cost and quality being only partially so - you can't afford to be completely rigid on any of them IMHO.

I see three "valves". Could you explain the one in the middle (the brass one). I assume the upper and lower ones are simple isolating valves.