Conor

I did my shipping container in planed 150mm fence boards. Ripped them in to different thicknesses, 100, 70 and 40mm I think. Still need to sand down and paint. Don't think it could be done cheaper.

Cut off the socket on the clay pipe and use a flexible coupler.

We tiled directly on to our cemfloor, no issues. No grinding, no decoupling mats. Tho our drying time was a lot longer, 3 months for 50mm. The general rule is 1 day per mm, for standard adhesive directly on to screed. You can use green screed adhesive and tile within days.

Nobody can really give a useful option without knowing more about the roof in question. Photos would help a lot. Is there sarking? Are the nails copper? what condition is the timebr underneath? What aspect is the roof? How exposed to wind is it? What % of the roof so you intend to cover? Is the building in any way protected or in a conservation area? Lots of factors! If timbers are in good condition, but slates iffy with corroded nails, my instinct would be to strip the roof, refelt and batten, and install in roof trays, keep the best of the slates to do the remaining roof. if everything is generally iffy and near it's end, wouldn't go near it.

I don't think there are any set limits or ranges. It all depends on local context, and local policy. We set our ridge height slightly lower (150mm lower!) than that of the nearest house.

The line is quite simple, a professional service provides advice, expertise, design, and reports/documentation. A contractor makes /modifies stuff.

You'll need one for mortgage or selling the house. There are exceptions, some lenders just require a professional completion certificate if the project was overseen by a qualified professional.

I'd run a steel beam across between the two piers. Something like a 178x102x19.

You should run past your solicitor and inform your mortgage lender as this will have a theoretical impact on the value of the property and sellability. We had something similar for a storm drain and our solicitor dealt with it all and the utility company paid the fees.

A 15mm sand and cement scratch coat would do the job.

What's on your planning drawings? If it doesn't specify a colour / style, you can use whatever you want.

We had a wonky wall and instead of dot and dab we used the gyproc rails on the walls. Allowed us to get it perfectly flat and true.

Yes, I used MDF and painted with intumescent paint.

Let nature do it's thing then deal with it when you need to. Save your time and energy. trust me, you'll need it 🤣 Or buy a 1kg box of wildflower seeds and cover the area. That's what I did. Looks good for one summer at least

Can't comment on the main issue, but as you are now building a new buildings make sure everything is zero VAT rated and you keep receipts of materials you buy for reclaiming.

We had a bullet list of 10 issues that came from the conservation / heritage officer. We put a counter argument against all of them and the planning officer agree with us and closes the comments. Read the conservation area design guide and make you know how your proposal aligns with the guide so you are giving yourself the best chance and able to argue back. Our design ended up with a a very simple frontage, with the design focus at the rear, which the planners didn't care about.

Backdrops are ott for just surface water drains. Only really used for foul and combined systems. Just adjust the fall on each pipe so they all come in at the base of the chamber. Steep falls are perfectly acceptable over short distances.

I noticed a dropoff with the dust. About 10% loss. No way of cleaning ours. We did a fair bit of landscaping and gravel work so that didn't help with the dust levels. Anyway, as of right now, May has been the most productive PV month ever (4 years) here at 691kWh. Just pipped June 2023 record. Another few days still to go so should get to 750kWh unless it's really dull.

Neat job, well done.

It is. It means you'll need protected escape route for all other rooms.

This is a question for your structural engineer. We have several large openings, 2x2m corner window, and 4.5m wide bi-folds. The 2x2m was constructed with the ICF and extra rebar in that area, plus a corner post. The 4.5m opening needed a custom made steel box beam with welded plates and a thicker column to support.

Nice. Couple practicle suggestions. You'll want the stairs separated from the kitchen somehow. Where's the front door? At the stairs I presume? You'll need a second door as can't have means of escape through the kitchen. Again, come back to the issue of the kitchen not being closed off to the rest of the house. Hate the idea of a toilet in a kitchen... Swap with the cupboard and have the door coming off them under the stairs.

I did biodiversity, RPO, site management plan myself. Planting scheme done by architect. The lighting and water efficiency is usually a note on your drawings telling the contractor what specification to work to. So a lot will be copy and paste for your architect. Rest you can do as there are examples online.

It happens all the time, we did. The important thing to bear in mind, is your new design, when completed, likely to be lower in value than the one in place? I.e. smaller foot print, fewer bedrooms? If so, that could be an issue. How are you funding the build? Do you need a mortgage for both land cost and construction? Near in mins the funder will only release money in stages, based on the value of the plot at each draw down.

Between broker and Legal fees, £1500 - £2000