Conor

Yes, just use the edge of a trowel or scraper the etch the wall to give a good key for the adhesive. You want to make a X or diamond pattern across the whole wall, and remove any areas of flaky paint. Go good and deep.

Recirculating hob extractor and a double flow rate extract point is fine, no issues here anyway

For door frames, before boarding. Not the end of the world tho. Soon as you can and before skimming / taping.

I did similar in the soffit in my shed. Just drilled holes in the soffit (weatherboard) and had a few small deck LEDs on a string and simply clipped to the roof joists. Made a star light effect. Can get them on Amazon for very little. I had mine wired through a separate motion sensor / timer.

The depth isn't important as much as how compacted everything is. 100mm would be the default as it allows you to get away with an uneven ground below, e.g. if you are on stoney ground you don't have to worry about picking out every protrusion. We dad did ours 20 years ago, we just put 50mm of quarry dust on the (rock hard) ground, and it still hasn't moved. Hire a vibrating plate compactor and make sure everything is firm.

I'm assuming that the gravel is for drianage? If yes, then just replace with something chunkier that won't get kicked out as much. Other than that, then your in to a whole other world. How did the neighbours do this?

We've just got a mortgage with Bank of Ireland, just needs architects sign off cert. A painful 3.69% tho 😭

If this is a new build with screed floor, why is self leveller needed?

We used the glue that the panel suppliers sold. Yeah, a few quid more but it was only a couple tubes and the joiner that fitted them said it was the stuff to use. Don't use screws!!!

We went for herringbone laminate laid on wood fibre underlay sheets. Love it. Was half the price of engineered wood and we don't have to worry about damaging or water stains. It's a very large (70m2) continuous area with only a couple breaks it in. We've not had the heating on but have had the cooling on (12c) and it's been exposed to a lot of direct sun and temperature changes. Not the slightest hint of movement or buckling. So glad we didn't go for engineered wood. Most people warned us away from wood, and seems they were right. You're instincts about them not wanting to lay the herringbone is right... our joiners said no, and we had several people say no as it can be a pain and you need to know the knack and tricks. Our guy was brilliant and worth the money.

Brick slips won't work as they are put on a flat surface with a thin bed of adhesive. Also, that's a retaining wall, so there is always the risk of water coming through and pushing off any render or adhesives. I'd get the pressure washer out and give it a good clean. Some other suggestions, new coping stones would be easy, consider a contrasting colour to distract from the blocks. Or, you could use strategic planting (climbers or overhanging plants) to camouflage the wall. Lastly, you could fix timber to it and paint.

You'll need the earth with inspection cover, your main fuse &, switch and meter tails. They can't install a live connected meter with nothing coming out of it.

There's no reason to delay, you can still get lots done over the winter. If you break it in to different chunks, no reason why you can't get a ground works company in to sort the site levels and do the founds and services. Then bit the ground running in the spring with brick/block work. Another factor is your finances, with high rates and uncertainty, you should factor in these increasing costs to the project

@Mr Blobby your instincts are right. If you treat a house build like a single big project, it'll cost big. And if there is any uncertainty, contractors will either run away of just make up big numbers, which is happened in your case. Your architect should have your best interests at the fore... We did a few small contracts, one for ground works and drianage, and the main one for all the structural elements. We then sourced all other trades, windows, doors etc ourselves. I think we've saved £100k. But still not finished.... But you have full control and insight in to everything that happens. You'll get things wrong, do them in the wrong order and get let down time and time again. But you'll get there. We've come in just a smidge over £1k/m2, but by the time we get the landscaping done, it'll add another chunk and bring that up a bit Welcome to call round again anytime for a chat.

Then you'll need a kiosk to the DNOs specification and room for a full sized back board. You can buy prefab GRP boxes that are the right size. I built mine.

As above, I extended a ring from an external socket using a pair of 2.5mm SWA cables, laid in a tench wihbhazard tap above. In the shed, I had a simple junction box and a fused spur for the lighting. Worked fine.

Are you building a temporary kisok for this or is it to be mounted in a cavity wall?

We had this. Joiner ripped sheets of MDF to make full depth door stops that finished flush. Then architrave.

You'll have to take the roof off, doors, windows etc and no kitchen. We had quite a battle to convince ANDBC that our house was detalict, but ended up just having to wait until we started demolishing it.

How we did it: 4x2 timbers rather than 2x2 and fixed in with angled nails at either side of the timber, so 2 nails forming an X at each end. Think they were 75mm nails from a framing nailer.

With the sliders you won't have the same clear opening area as the patio doors, of that's an issue for you Also, 7.5m of full height glazing on one elevation is a lot. You'll want to get triple glazed units and good airtightness or else you'll be making yourself a world of trouble.

Could you get a silicon tube nozel in there? That would work better than the foam and if you can get at it from the top is should work. Or you could drill a 20mm hole right through, fully fill it with foam/silicone, then tape back to the membrane. Airtight paint is also a good job for this kind of unforseen detailing.

I'd take a full year off work, and not have a new child arrive half way through. All the obvious other things apply, finalise more of the details in advance, don't change minds, do networking in advance and have good trades sussed out and booked in well in advance.

In theory, 86% here according to the inverter. Not checked it for real but I've inverter limited for G98 compliance anyway.

Get a full kit from the likes of mid summer whoesale or ITS. The in roof trays (GSE) take a bit of figuring out to get started (location of the battens is key) but fairly straightforward. If you can do the physical install yourselves, any electrician should be able to wire the panels to the inverter etc.