Conor

We ha da ICF build, but wanted another 100mm EPS on the outside to get to passive house stnadard. The builder used 50mm PIR instead for the lower floor. So I over boarded those sections with another 50mm EPS. Used 100mm EPS on the upper floor that wasn't in the builder's scope. You wont be able to render onto the PIR. Options are to fix cement (render) board, or a thin layer of EPS. You'll need mechanical fixings. No need to take the PIR off.

You can get a 7kW charger for £300-£500. Virtually all EVs have a type 2 socket, and that wont change any time soon. Only exception are the 1st generation Leafs, Zoes etc, so no worries about compatibility. Your spark has done all the hard work, dead easy to install the actual unit.

About a third off.

Do you use the garage? If yes is there scope to build something like this outside of the bungalow? I'd move bedroom 2 into the garage, widen hallway and put the bathroom in the middle. You can then move the ES into the old bathroom, make bedrooms 1 and 3 larger. Also look at repalcing conservatory with a proper structure. All depends on what you want to gain and how much you want to spend.

That's a good price. 0.002% of your build cost....

You can move in whenever you want, just check with your insurance company. Our self build policy allowed to live in the house, and only lapsed once we got approval, then immediately got normal house insurance.

Pretty much how we did our ramp/steps, well compacted ground, a good thick mortar bed. Down a year an dno sign of movement. BUT... make sure there is drainage out through the side walls or else any water will make its way up through the pavers.

We've four bathrooms, only one has an opener, it's never opened.

+1 for sticky stuff remover.

Yes, 5mm poles are too flexible for going through a ceiling void horizontal. Max 2-3m before the tip drops down and gets snagged on the ceiling bars / insulation. I'd get 8mm if doing it again. And drawstring didn't work. Cable kept getting snagged. Better way was to attach the cable directly to the rod with tape. Installing the charger itself was easy. Project EV Apex 7. It's literally one cable, three connections each end. My consumer unit already had a 32amp RCBO installed with common neutral for the charger, so was just a matter of pulling the cable in and wiring it up. The Apex 7 doesn't need it's own earth, has lots of built in fault detection functions, so I'm confident it's all as should be and safe. Main motivation of doing DIY was not money, but time. We bought the car last Monday, only way to charger is at public fast chargers at ~65p/kWh. Couldn't get an electrician round any time soon.

Well, charger is up and running. About 8hours work in total, with plenty of faff on my belhalf. Can't figure out why the spark was looking £600 labour only.

Did this today.... Went as expected, tho I needed an extra hole in the ceiling in the hallway. Fiddly and uncomfortable job. Hopefully first and last time!!

Can go any depth. What you want to do is work back from the lowest point in the system (connection to sewer, septic tank etc) and work your inverts back from there. This ensures you have enough fall from your highpoint (bottom of rest bend) to your outflow. You need to ensure enough cover for you pipes. We laid our under slab waste pipes within the MOT type 3 layer. So was under all the membranes, slab etc. you don't really want the pipes in the slab. Another thing to consider is, how does the pipe get through the footings? If it's in the tench pour, you want to put it in now. More commonly it would go through the trench blocks.

Hi, a few parts to this! I need to bring a 6mm2 cable across from the consumer unit to opposite side of the house though the basement ceiling void to wire up an EV Charger. Was originally meant to be on the same side of the house as the consumer unit but, alas, things change. Consumer unit is prepped for the charger wiring, and the charger itself only needs the three core cable. The ceiling is all boarded up, so I want to minimise entry into the voids. The image below shows the locations, and the red line is the route I plan to take. There is an existing cable tray and I hope to get the cable in it (bonus). The walls are cored out where the trays pass through. Yellow squares are where I think I need cut into the ceiling to be able to push/pull through. Ceiling is suspended with about 150mm total space. I'll drill through the external wall from the outside, and hopefully be able to hook on to the cable and pull through. Really want to minimise opening and not have any in the hallway. Total cable length ~13m. Is this feasible? Any tips using a fibreglass rod? And Do i try and pull the wire itself or a draw cord first? Thanks

In roof panels and trays for that size will cost about £2000. Can be fitted easily and you can get the expensive inverter etc at a later date. And you'll save £500-£1000 on slates/tiles. Doing it after you complete the build will cost £5k+. Get a slightly cheaper kitchen if budget dictates.