Conor

Structural elements need to be protected from fire if they are supporting a habitable area or an escape route. A roof ridge beam does neither of these, so does not need protecting whether timber or steel. I think some over zealous BCOs insist on this applying to roof structures.

Sleeve the pipe in steel over the culvert, or encase in (hard, not lean) concrete. Standard practice for shallow pipes. And put in ducting for other services over the culvert now, even if not installing. for the rest of the run, make sure the pipe is nice and deep, and a good 300mm lower than everything else. So say 1200mm, then your water at 900mm, electric at 700mm or whatever.

We just call using WhatsApp or Teams.

Render it all

Not needed unless you are on an untreated private supply. 45c is fine for how water of you have a big enough tank.

Loopcad

Yes, mindful of the soffit and ridge height limits for PD. 2.5m for soffit where I am for example.

I get paid for grid export, no FIT.

Look in to the details. For example, my economy 7 night rate is basically the same as my PV export rate (15p ISH). I used to run a diverter to heat water, but it doesn't make economic sense. I instead run the heat pump off peak, with a COP of 2, it's twice as cost effective as a heating with solar diverter. And in the summer, from 7am-9am, I could be generating 1kW or more from my PV, making it even cheaper. Also, there's a limit to what you can store, and use. Yes, you could put a massive tank in and heat it to 70c. In the summer that just means additional overheating woes. Finally, I don't see he point in two immersion heaters (just lower) and a legionella cycle is NOT needed. ,

Only habitable rooms need an escape route. The Kitchen / dining area are one room, and have their escape routes. As the kitchen is not seperated from the rest of the house, all rooms will require their own escape routes. The Pantry, utility, wet room etc are not habitable spaces so do not require escape routes. The Study and Family rooms are definitely habitable rooms and are in effect "rooms within a room", with no protected escape route. Not having a door wont cut it, they are distinctly different spaces. They most definitely need escape windows. You're watching a movie, fall asleep, woken up by smoke alarms. Open the family room door to be greeted with a wall of flames from the kitchen. How do you get out?

The right way to do it is to rip it all off and start again. Definitely defective materials and/or workmanship so I'm hoping there is an avenue for you to claim off the developer or insurance. What condition is the render in? Hard, or powdery and will hollow "bubbles"? When was it last painted? I think I see some effervescence? If the rest of it is sound, you could get away with cutting out the beads and redoing those areas. But you'll always see the joints between old and new render. Again, Nod will be along with a professional opinion.

You're wife is right, you clearly don't pull your weight in the kitchen 🤣

Ecology were happy with a list of line items on a bit of headed paper. We took the QS estimate, modified some things, architect checked it and put his logo on it, job done.

Was thinking the same. Woven weed membrane.

Trying to do anything on the outside of that structure will be a nightmare. Do all damp management and insulation on the inside.

My spark charged 20%, basically wiping out the VAT saving. For labour rates, most I paid was £200 a day, £25/HR including breaks. That was knocking on the door of two years ago tho. £33 now is probably reasonable.

It'll likely outlive all of us, looks well made. Only issue is the lack of water proofing that's causing the leaching, it won't weaken it. Of it really bothered you, you'd need to dig out the gravel, install a dpm, and fit coping stones to the wall. Hard work.

The solution is obvious to me and I'd be pushing the developer for it: There is adequate land to the right to move the whole road 1m+ to the right, then install kerbing all along the LHS against the building to form a 1.2m wide walkway* and provide a physical barrier to traffic. Anything less is a bodge. The gas meter is also a balls as it should have been a cavity box set at the right height. That will get smashed someday. *Obviously with consideration to the DPC

Welcome. Demolish and start from scratch 😁

Nope, not allowed, generally. You'd need to contact them and go through the usual hoops.

Ground movement will be seasonal, not progressive. No reason to expect the ground to subside significantly. It's a seasonal problem that won't go away, unless you want to start watering the tree with 1000s litres of water every day in the summer 🤣 Joking aside, has the makeup of the ground (and therefore surface water movement) changed in the last few years? E.g. with lots of paving, and surface water directed to drains, will mean the tree will struggle to get water in the drier months, and instead take it from the deeper clays.

We originally had a spec of 150mm PIR and 100mm s&c screed. Changed to 200mm insulation (150mm PIR and 50mm EPS) and 50mm liquid screed. No price difference and have less heat loss. And the neostats are shite, stay away.

Oi!!!!

The latter. You'll need a full analysis and appropriate strategy. It'll cost you a good £800+ for the report and strategy. Oil contamination can often be dealt with biological treatment or even simple exposure to the elements. The latter was what we did, as the contamination was deep, it was dug up and left isolated on the site, tested a year later and the hydrocarbon levels had dropped in to the lower category. Either way, no need to panic yet.

How are the walls built? That's quite a roof. If it's block built you'd want a steel beam running the length to carry the joists so the span is halved.