Conor

Thinking back to a concrete pour I helped a mate with, I think four guys moved 7tonnes of concrete in about an hour. That's about 100 wheelbarrow loads, though a house and into the garden. Theres no point doing anything until you have a full design done. Could be wasted effort. Fyi that builder is taking the beeswax.

Where are the steels? If they've been waterproofed, then they are either embedded in masonry or on the outer leaf. In that case you wouldn't need to fire proof them. It would only be exposed steels within the building, that you wouldn't have painted. Pink boarding is completely acceptable, if the steels are fully covered by them. You won't be able to paint intumescent paint over the steels you've already painted with bituminous paint.

We got ours from Lithuania. Half the price of the UK or Ireland. Jonas something. I can look it up.

Lots of people do this. We had one contractor do the foundation, walls and steel structure. We then hunted down individual contractors for the rest. You save about 25% on a turn key service but you take on more risk.

Most places will take them back for a restocking fee . I've a small gym area on 50mm screed on insulation. It's bouncy and I would not trust a timber floor. I'd be going as nick says. And it'll be done faster and minimal price difference.

For a small number you might be best paying a day rate. 5 holes (from 63mm up to 200mm) half a day, two guys was £250.

The screed will continually release moisture for weeks so the humidity will remain high. A fan won't change things. The humidity might have dropped temporarily due to a curing reaction or something else entirely.

Yes. But it's made easier by the fact that our ground floor is effectively just two living spaces and a bathroom. Doors are rarely closed, if ever.

Most water companies won't allow sub metering, you'll need your own supply.

No, on our ground floor it's 70% laminate, one other room is carpet. Seven loops but operates as one zone. But no same loop under different flooring types, so just had to adjust flow rates and all works well.

We used 5mm wood fibre underlay with a tog of 1. UFH works absolutely fine. It gives a great feel under foot and dampens sound really well. I don't think this is something you need to think too much about.

It'll l fit in the chuck as is, no adapter needed. You might ruin the shank of the bit, but hardly a concern if it's once off use. Be aware with a bit that big (I've never used over 25mm), it might be bit of a struggle, and there will be a lot of strain on your drill. A clutch is needed.

Think this is probably something for Gus to comment on, I'm just an environmental engineer, not structural. Anyway... No, poured RC wall. Specifically a cantilever wall. With a height of upto 900mm, and that close to your building, I'd be tempted to get it designed by your SE. I'm also assuming that you are on the low side, and you're basically retaining the hedge? Propose to them something like 100mm thick 35N concrete with mesh, tied to a 500*200mm footing with mesh as well. Basically it will look like an "L" in section. general rule is you start off with a footing width half the height of the wall. But it can be much more complex than that. Ideally you'd run the footings below the depth of your drainage and other services, so the thickness of the wall or the width of the footings doesn't really matter.

Reinforced concrete wall with a wide footing is the narrowest option. What's the depth of soil to be retained and what's the height above ground you want the wall? How much room do you have for footings on your side?

For cooling just set the thermostat way way up so it never turns off. make sure all of your zones are open, diverter valve in right position, select a sensible flow temp (e.g. 12c) and see how it goes.

How deep is the void under the floor? Is there an option to rip out all the timber, lay and compact hardcore, a load of EPS insulation, then a screed floor with UFH? UFH on a suspended floor with only 100mm wool type insulation is going to be expensive to run.

The cheats way to grade is to set the bucket at the required position and track backwards. Works well if the ground is level in the direction you are tracking.

Have you tried a broker? We went through Kerr group and got a great price with LV, £350 I think.

Yes, UFH on both ground and first floor.

If you are altering the existing conversion, then the whole lot would have to meet current regs. That would include everything from the internal doors in hhe house (fire safety), stairs (access /egress) insulation, structure, ventilation etc. for pricing, assume the whole lot would need to be brought up to modern standards.

12c I think. Not used it yet this year.

We use our ASHP to cool our house now and again on the rare occasions temps are in the high 20s. It takes the edge off. Maybe 5c after a couole of days constsnt running? It's would not work at all in 35-45c. you need an air flow based system.

It's practice. I've hired machines on about 6 occasions over the last few years. So probably have about 300hours experience now. Not much, but Ive learned a lot on that time. Other tip I'd add is, the bigger the machines the easier it is to operate and the more stable it is. My approach when hiring is to get the biggest machine available for the job. A 5 tonne will do almost any job on a site, as long as you have the manoeuvring space.

If these are the architects own clients, maybe the issue is with the design of the build, not the ASHP? 🤣 You'll get dozens of replies endorsing ASHPs here, and few, if any for GSHPs.

That would be a huge amount of hassle for very little gain. And assuming this is facing the street, you'll likely not planning permission as it'll look all wrong.