Big Jimbo

I have fitted about 20 DIY kitchens in the last 2 years. Nothing wrong with them, and good value for the money.

If it was your only residence, I thought that no tax was due ? My belief was that if you keep doing it HMRC get miffed ?

Planning can really get you down. I would rather see a definitive distinction between old and new Architecture. Council want everything to look like something that went before. Sad mistake in my opinion. Our lead planning officer simply refuses anything that the PC object to. Make his life easy. Sad little twat has no mind of his own.

Not a problem, the heat will hit the bench seat and be forced out into the room. Just like a rad box without a front.

As the boards are made up from timber fingers they just cover themselves incase when cut into, or put a curve on the end, you might encounter a really light or dark bit of grain, which is common with Walnut.

Been a while since I saw some of those glass blocks. I kinda like them in the right circumstances.

I would just cut the cable with a nice long pair of loppers. Good to have the information. Thanks for posting.

Main electrics are going in detached garage. I'm going to need a sub main run to the main house. Going between the garage and the house, I will bury it 450 to 600mm deep. Once inside the house can I lay it across the ground to the other side of the building, under the block and beam, or do I need to bury it. Thanks

Sounds like a great result. I would be interested on a cost re your floor area. Best of luck getting finished now.

I am going to be using aerated block. 1 Lime, 1 Cement, 6 sand, for mortar. Any recommendations for render over that @nod

I can be quite a farter, so I also generate a fair bit of energy. Obviously, not a technical as @SteamyTea's method.

I just couldn't get through it. When you are five minutes in and nothing has yet been said, my mind tapered off. What is the device ?

Looks great in the pictures.

@DazRave to be honest, it was more about sticking as much as possible on the roof while it was being built.

I'm sure it was you that told me to fit as much as I can while building the house. I would defo get bits of shading to each of the 3 elevations from some tall trees. I'm happy for any suggestions.

Thinking further, I would need some ac/DC safety cut off switches, an inverter or two ? Some sort of diverter to send power to the immersion. Some sort of diverter to an electric car charger. Got to find some more time to get into it. My total budget is 12K so with what else I still have to get, I doubt a battery will be included.

My plan so far is to fit 17, 435w solar panels on the roof using gse trays (only ones I can find) fit 17 optimisers. I would like to fit these in the loft, rather than under the panels, so they could be got at more easily in the future. Run however many cables I need from the loft, down through the house, and duct them under the block and beam floor and into the detached double garage about 4 meters away from the house. Run a fat wire back from the garage in a separate duct to under the stairs, for potentially powering an immersion on the unvented hot water cylinder. That's as far as I have thought so far. I haven't had a chance to think about inverters etc so far. The above should be achievable DIY for about 5k. Hope I'm not missing to much so far.

Most of the Muppets out there still don't understand air tightness and thermal bridging. We are all here to help. Best of luck.

The weight of the screed will help, as would a full size snooker table. They will have been designed to have a maximum deflection.

To be fair to the chippie. He is booked to do a job. Turns up, and this is the position he is in. He has tried to get over it, but just badly. It would have been better if he had said, mate that timber in the web ain't deep enough. We are going to have to sort that before we start hanging joists. For future reference, i always get posi joists over length for trimming. Even if You are using the metal web one's they will put on a trimmable end if you ask them.

How much better does that look.

The wood within the web of the steel is simply not deep enough. It should be at least as deep as the web, and in an ideal world, extend a few mm beyond. The joist at 90 degrees would then be fully supported in the joist hanger. Don't accept that crap work under any circumstances. If the wood in the web is not deep enough, and needs a packer to bring it out clear of the steel, ply would be fine, but I would expect it to be glued and screwed onto the timber behind, and specified by a structural engineer. No problem using packers, but they have to be done correctly.

Then that will be fine, and much better than cutting into joists.

As the two front rooms are offset, I wonder if the water could be getting in at the top. Was a cavity tray fitted ? Either that or could it be something to do with the wet areas on the other side of the wall ?

Not seen that type myself. If it is hard water scale it will take some shifting. I would be taking the bowl out to make life easier. Its why I have never used the built in the wall ones. I have never fancied trying to change whatever through the hole in the front. Best of luck.