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We would if it was not for these Bl**dy internal trenches! They are just depressions in the type 1 that coincide with internal walls, 115 mm deep (I think) designed, we assume, to give the internal walls a bit more support. Our, experienced, brickie thinks they are a joke. They would cave in if we went near them with a whacker. As I said earlier the BCO did not know what they were so we could have done away with them as he, obviously, had not consulted the plans before he came out.

Thanks all. BCO just seemed to think we should tamp it all down more. To be honest he did not seem too bothered but just commented that where he was walking was a bit loose and deep. I have seen his report and it is not mentioned in it. Our plans have asked for internal trenches (115mm deep) across the bed of concrete that are deeper than the main slab. They coincide with the internal walls. So each internal wall has a deeper foundation than the main slab. This is making it a nightmare to tamp down! We had to level the whole area of crushed concrete and put a whacker plate over it and then dig out the these 115mm wall trenches and tamp them down separately. The BCO did not know what they were for! We explained that we were following the plans So if we use the whacker plate on the sand we will not be able to use it on these internal trenches. I suppose that we will be able to do those by hand? All being held anyway as our expert groundworker is a farmer now too and is harvesting

Has anyone been on this course, or any of their courses? Are they worth it? Hubby is a plumber/heating engineer of the traditional, time served type. Things have moved on since he was in the trade (knackered knees). Is it worth the £185 they are asking?

We have the foundations out of the ground and have infilled with crushed concrete. The next layer, to protect the dpc, is sand. We have laid sand over the whole of the foundations to a depth of approx 10mm it might be deeper in some places and shallower in others. The Building Inspector has just visited and told us that he thinks it is too deep. He did not say it in a way that meant we had to change it. What do others think? Is he saying it for something to say or do we really have to tamp it all down? What will happen if we leave it at that depth? I would have thought that the concrete pour over the dpc would do the job of flattening it down?

My mother bought me a garden design for my 40th Birthday (at my request) It was, probably, the best present I have ever had! It is the gift that keeps on giving. My designer asked me what I wanted. I remember saying I loved trees. Well, a year or so ago we had to take some of them out! Far too much shade and sunset blocking Other than that it has been great and I still have not finished it. I do have a large garden. I am going to do the same with the new project as I have a big birthday coming up. Mother is not around now but husband will just have to cough up whatever they charge now. I would never have thought of the plants the designer put together in borders. Our needs are different now. We will need much more hard landscaping and some raised beds.

Thinking about your step counter, perhaps you could design in a pulley system for your trolley whereby you attach a post box or a bin to it and haul it in ? Heavy bins are no fun. We are, probably, about 15 metres from roadside where our postbox is and that is annoying enough. There is also a security risk. We have had parcels stolen.

Needed to tick "notify me of replies"

Fount this https://www.koruarchitects.co.uk/natural-insulation-benefits-sheeps-wool/

I am a big fan of wool. It is a much underrated material for clothing and carpets etc. What I want to know is how good is it as a roof insulation? Anyone researched it?

The ground varies. It is chalky with clay in places and the odd bit of sand. Insulation was mentioned but he seemed to think his Civil Engineering boss used some sort of sleeve for ease of use.

Yes, that seems to be it.

In chatting to our, excellent, brickie he was telling us that the regulations state that underground pipes need wrapping in something like fibreglass insulation material. Does anyone know what this might be called. Mr Google does not seem to know.

What about something like kitchen carpet? It could, possibly, be glued down as it is in kitchens and would not absorb much water and so become heavy. Flotex is great and comes in designs that mimic oak plank flooring so would not look out of place.

We have nearly 1 metre of head and the flow never stops.

Thanks I have looked at the existing thread but they all talk about using a turbine. We are thinking of different ways as the water flow is about 1 litre per second so we were told by a visiting Anglian Water bod.

What about hydro power? We have a spring running through our property that is fed by a leaking bore hole to the North of us. It is quite fast flowing and we are thinking that it might make a good source of hydro power.

Friends moved into a house with ASHP fitted. They called out an engineer for some problems they were having and it was he who recommended running the immersion heater on a fortnightly basis.

We have been looking into ASHP. Should the domestic hot water temperature not be raised to 60 deg at least once per fortnight? This is what we have been told as it is to prevent legionnaires disease.

This way may work? 3607 BR01E - PLAN & ELEVATIONS (1).pdf

file:///C:/Users/patpr/Downloads/3607%20BR01E%20-%20PLAN%20&%20ELEVATIONS%20(1).pdf Thank you @SteamyTea I just tried right clicking in the bottom right corner, as shown on your link, and it has worked! I would have trouble even going in and finding "settings" to be honest Let's hope the link works now!

If anyone is desperately interested in seeing the plans I can forward them as an attachment in an email

Have no idea if it has a snipping tool or not I should, however be able to right click on things I want to copy. It is one of those sliding pads where I am used to have two distinct buttons. It all works fine except when I try to right click for any reason when it just does nothing. I have a techy friend who might come look at the weekend to see if it is me or not. I am finding my around all the other little changes such as rolling the screen around etc but just cannot get anything to happen when I right click.

We are still struggling with the title of this thread. I decided to go for the idea of a dressing room as a buffer between the en suite and the bedroom. There have been lots of plans flying back and forth and we are not there yet. Because the shower now has to be against an outside wall, to accommodate the dressing room, there is a problem with the window in the en suite. On one plan he removed it and put in a velux roof light. Now he has put it back but it is wooden and I do not want a shower next to a wooden window. I am close to giving up and not having an ensuite at all which was my first thought. So many people have shown surprise at the omission of an en suite that I got into discussion with the AT again. My thoughts are that removing the window means we have to have a velux window on an otherwise pristine roof (though we are not having thoughts of solar panels so that might change my perception). Should I go for the practicalities of the best configuration of the ensuite and dressing room to make sleeping better or for the aesthetic value of the window in the right place (to me ) and no velux window? I have tried to copy plans but am struggling with a new laptop that does not do a "right click" to copy and paste !

It is not just the big boys. We have just heard that one of the houses on a small development near us is going on the market. The owner's reason for selling is the poor quality of finish inside. This build was managed by the builder himself so he cannot blame anyone buy himself. How the house owner is going to sell now that the cat is out of the bag I do not know. I don't suppose the other owners are impressed at his whistle blowing!

But then if it is only 1989 here I might have to hitch the horse and cart up