Bozza

I used these to drill porcelain tiles last year, with tremendous success. I did that thing where I crammed the drill bits with water soaked sponge. Was able to drill very close to the edge of the tiles. if you use them be aware of the tendency for them to slip until your get a groove created, I found going it at a slight angle, create a slight half moon shaped groove, then bring drill up to 90 degrees to create the full circle then obviously dril through. If that makes sense. As you only have one go as the tiles are they fixed you may wish to consider creating a timber drill jig. If you wish to use them. Better still buy a similar single porcelain tile sample and practice to get your technique. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07DTHGN5N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Agree with @Conor option 3 far better solution.

Yes agree with @Alan Ambrose that little kerb is retaining the tarmac drive. Leave it. so what to do is: 1. Remove / scrape out all the old stones and weeds and crap. Go down about 2-3 inches below the level of whatever the area is bordered by eg kerbs. 2. If you still have weeds dig them out and spray with weed killer if need be. Backfill any holes with the leftover debris to make a level area 2-3 inches lower. No need to wait. 3. Put down your landscaping fabric. Any will do but often comes in 1m rolls but you can get it in larger folded dimensions so it would be ideal to get some that means you wouldn’t have any joins/overlap. If you do need to overlap it yes just overlap it by a few inches. Your area is not a driveway so it’s just decorative so don’t waste your money on expensive stuff. Tips are not to do it on a windy day and to have a few rocks/bricks or whatever to weigh it down and keep it in place. At the edges I tend to just underlap any excess as if you cut it it can fray. Start putting in your stones they will weigh down the fabric and just remove the weights when you reach them. very easy low skill job to do. Calculate volume of stones required by length x width x depth. Speak to your building merchant they will tell you bag volume. But big bags are 1mx1m - the depth of bag fill can vary tbh. But maybes 80% full approx. If your calculations result in you needing eg 1.2 bags then if you can just dig lower to use more stones, or offer your leftovers on Facebook someone will buy them off you.

Be very careful. A few years ago neighbour in my parents street built a modest two storey TF extension, maybes 2-3 metres wide. It ended up uncomfortably close to the neighbours boundary / house than permitted. I think the reason was the extension was stepped in from the front elevation but for structural reasons when building they had to move if forward a bit more than expected and because the two houses were at an angle the extension front corner ended closer than planned. By about an inch or two. my understanding is that is was resolved with planning dept as an amended or retrospective application that was granted on the basis that the “victim” hadn’t objected. This was because the applicant had compensated them with an huge amount of money comparative to the cost of the extension. The applicant has no choice because if the neighbour had objected they would have had to demo it, and probably abandoned the project. I believe the error and compensation costs double the cost of the extension. it does look bad TBH as on the eye it’s is uncomfortably close.

Just scape out all the debris, weeds old chippies etc. make sure you get the weed roots out. spray if you wish to. landscaping fabric (toolstation, screwfix or whatever) down up to the edges as best you can. Then your desired stone chipping on top. Very easy / cheap low skill required. Weight of stones will keep it in place but you can use pegs if you really want to. Don’t skimp on the depth of the chippings go down enough for maybes a couple of inches Nothing worse than membrane showing through - the landscaping equivalent of a VPL. alternatively same as above but put down some topsoil and turf. Again easy DIY job. if I were you I’d try just loose laying the stepping stone, and if that doesn’t work just scrape back the chippies (or turf) and get some ready mixed mortar and mortar them down. Turf would look far better IMHO but the stones obviously less maintenance.

@nod has reminded me that this is exactly what we did our main garden for our self build and I forgot in my original reply. We have a large manhole cover in a prominent place in our lawn and this is how we dealt with it. It’s not like access is going to be regular, only if there is a problem. Would probably not turf it in though until after the build is complete due to higher likelihood of build debris getting in initially.

I agree entirely with @Crunchynut. Is it an access chamber, or a smaller rodding point that is required. When you say it’s in the middle of the garden can it actually be located where it is more discreet eg not in the middle of a lawn, perhaps in a bedding area where less of an issue. Why does the access point need to be in your garden. Is there a reason for that. It sounds like the pipes do need an access point and your best bet would be to work with the builder to find the most discreet location / least worst location.

Jail do made to measure MDF doors. They also do shapes. What you haven’t mentioned is your skill level and your budget. If your carpentry skills aren’t great I’d be tempted to design something with less angles, keeping everything square. Or are you looking at the cheapest way to get someone else to do the work. £30k is obscene. agree with other comments the likes of DIY kitchens may be a good idea as they do carcass colours other than white so less kitcheny. But they don’t do angles doors. you would definitely have many more more cost effective options if you’re prepared to compromise on the angles doors.

I’ve got a Bostitch one, no probs with it. Battery & gas. I was a jammy git, a few years back Homebase was in trouble and were closing stores and getting rid of stock. I got mine for under £400 I think it was £180 thereabouts. Brand new. I’ll probably get most of that back when flog it second hand.

If you’re going for the on site caravan option, and thus saving £thousands, maybes suggest, especially during winter months, a regular night away in a hotel, even an inexpensive Premier Inn. If scheduled ahead will give something for her to look forward and will do you the world of good to get away for a night and rest the aching body. Would also suggest, if your site allows, sectioning off the site from the caravan and spending just a few quid making it much more homely and more of caravan holiday home as opposed to a caravan on a building site . Even a bit of turf or whatever, some temp fencing or whatever. is there an option to do a detached garage first that you could in some way even if for dry storage or a temp shower etc.

1. The posts in this forum. They raise issues, problems, challenges, solutions you may not have thought of. It’s an Open University of self build with a combined genius of many. 2. Existing self build planning applications on your respective council planning portal.

You’re about to embark on an exhausting, demanding and stressful period in your life. Last thing you’ll need is having what would be an unhappy wife within a crappy caravan on a muddy building site and putting you under additional stress. Happy wife = happy life. Agree 100% with @Dave Jones, rent a property close to plot. Downsize if necessary. We went into a tiny flat for our build, and I remain happily married. Agree 1 drive hour each way after a long hard day on site wouldn’t be fun & potentially dangerous and fuel costs would eat into your budget. totally different if your wife was happy to live in a caravan on site of course, but she clearly isn’t.

I presume they mean a wall or a solid fence with acoustic properties. I’m pretty sure you cannot enclose an ASHP. They need a minimum space around them.

I meant dusk to dawn bulbs. That you can fit to most outdoor lights.

How about dawn to dusk led lightbulbs, and a simple on/off override switch in the garage ? Would that work for your needs?

Tidy job. Looks great. Which solution did you go for.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/may/13/are-heat-pumps-more-expensive-to-run-than-gas-boilers

You could leave it / chance it but at your own risk. there appear to be a gap between the tray and the timber on the right hand side. So it’s not even sitting on that. To place it on a plinth without using the correct plinth kit it would have been better to use ply sheeting on top of a frame thus creating a false & level floor. Then bedding it on that. Warranty would have been good. if he’s given a reason for not rerouting the plumbing “in case there’s a problem with the boiler” that sounds like a nonsense reason / excuse TBH. I bet he’s on a fixed price for the job. his solution is the cheapest and easiest for HIM.

Slate ?

From the pipework picture there appears to be room to reroute the pipe work closer to the middle joist thus allowing the correct low profile installation of the waste pipe & tray. But that would depend on what’s to the right and where the waste would run to. so either (a) it was impossible to reconfigure the pipe work or (b) it was possible but he either can’t do that level of plumbing or didn’t want to do that work and it’s easier to put it on a plinth but having decided to put it on a plinth, he’s decides to fabricate one out of softwood rather than a proper legs & plinth kit. I’m not a plumber nor a tradesman but fitted a low profile tray for my parents house and had obstructive pipe work underneath which though time consuming even I was able to reroute. If I had been unable to re route and had to raise the tray, there is no way I’d have done what he’s done. I’d have got the correct plinth & legs set and replaced the chipboard with marine ply for enhanced stability. id be asking him why he didn’t reroute the obstructive pipework, and why he didn’t utilise the correct plinth kit & legs. I can guess the true answer may be because it’s easier for him to do it that way.

Well for starters the manufacturers warranty wont be valid. That appears to be a slimline tray ? I can only assume it’s been placed on a timber frame to make it easier to run the waste pipe above the floor boards ? If so that’s lazy work. I am not a plumber but did my parents bathroom and installed a slimline tray and lifted the flooring and waste pipe noticed the joists and laid 18mm ply and bedded the tray into that flat surface which is I’m sure the proper way to do that. why has the installer done it that way ? You’ve posted elsewhere regarding the dodgy screen support arm. Is your installer a professional plumber both these things are raising red flags for me I’m afraid. Sometimes waste pipes may need to run above the floor level, in which case there is no point in buying a slimline tray that’s why deep trays exist.

That’s seems a really terrible design of shower screen support. Just buy a normal one that goes across to attach to the wall with the window. A bit of work to fill the holes and colour match the filler for sure but it being a marble design you might get away with it, or get in one of those smart repair people who are very good at that sort of thing.

If it were me I’d have it removed entirely. Otherwise they’d be unable to assess the soil conditions below. It might expose soakaways or pipes that you didn’t know about, there may have been a house there prior to the 60s house. I wouldn’t risk putting a new house on uncertain foundations. I doubt any foundations engineer or builder would either. Don’t underestimate the value of your disassembled 60s house. Timber, roof tiles, cable etc all has a value even if it’s free for collection on Facebook. We demoed our property at zero net cost, and probably ended a few ££s up. Soz if you knew that already.

Nice. But your apex glazed elevation (lounge) + south facing = big overheating risk . look at my profile pic & my south elevation glazing much smaller than yours. Our rooms there overheat big style. Fine if you are happy to wander around the house butt naked. You can open windows but if your site is elevated & windy…..you may have problems using that room. Roof overhang or reducing glazing will help.

Just as well my username isn’t Tig or Mig.