ToughButterCup

Have you paid them yet ? Or did you have to pay in advance? If so, complain. If not, don't (pay). That'll draw attention. Is cable tape laid? Is the cable laid at the require depth (900mm ? )

Now that is interesting. Worst action because.....?

Now that's neat. Remember we want photos. Instinct tells me this is maybe a bit complicated (?) One factor will be the quality of the wood; definitely a case of going to the BM and choosing the wood yourself. German chippies would solve the shrinkage problem with foam😑

No: the opposite. Making it parallels learning ( for which read the 'errors' ) involved. That learning builds over time. And thus confidence. But most of all quiet satisfaction. And deep pleasure if only we ( I ?) allow ourselves to enjoy it. There's your opportunity right there. Excellent. Do it. Photograph it. Self-build-porn that'll become. I mean you might even get a compliment from @SteamyTea ( mind you it's not Friday yet)

Welcome. There's a whole winter's worth of reading here. Many of us have been here for years - and still find its worth the effort to waste time learning stuff.

Well @Pocster , hair won't grow round this one.... A quick look for a cracked foul drain scouring out the pipe trench ? Cheap, quick, easy.

They would tell you to do that. In addition to the quip about weight and blocks, the next thing they'll say is "Oh, don't worry about the rain and the chipboard - it'll be fine. " Birdcage - keep going

Grinder (shank bit) or drill @Onoff ?

For the sake of completeness, I thought I'd list the 'issues' I came across while doing the drilling; Here's one - I used AI to see if I could find an answer to the problem ( remove the broken stone stub ) . The answers - tap, poke, fiddle didn't work. Since I don't have a pillar drill any more, this ( below ) is what I'm going to try next ( 48 holes yet to be drilled ) The aperture of this drill is a good bit bigger, and there's a slot for a screwdriver to wiggle broken bits of stone out of the core. The narrower one above has no slot. I'm thinking of using the type of core 'drill' that attaches to a grinder (threaded shank) rather than a drill chuck - because I will be able to exert more pressure. But I'll have less control perhaps (?) Anyone have any advice?

😁 Naaah, the GPS signal is poor here - shaded by trees. Now if they did a robotic strimmer on the other hand

There's nothing incompatible with low maintenance and lots of plants and trees. The terms Low maintenance and plants and trees mean different things to different people. SWMBO designed our planting for exactly those criteria. Easy to maintain (self maintaining) trees, zero mowing, and no-faff plants. It took her two years ( or a lifetime depending on you POV ) to design it. There's a lot of fun in thinking about it and visiting places to get ideas. And lots of friendship in chatting to anyone and everyone about their ideas. My criterion? Zero mowing. ✅

Yes. I used one of those hollow diamond-tipped drills with wax in the internal 'hollow'. I dribbled splashes of water to help form a grinding paste - interesting to watch the water on and in the surrounding stone evaporate after a few moments - cue for another splash of water. I find myself increasingly using AI to solve little problems like this. Annoyingly, I also find that AI (Gemini in this case) just plain wrong. Hence the check-question to BH. Thanks everyone for your help.

Thanks folks, on my way to Screwy's as we speak

It's getting expensive now - any ideas how to do so without smashing the stone? I need to fasten some fence baseplates through capping stone ( Indian 'stone flags' 50mm 600 by 600) So far I've used a 6mm SDS with hammer action - might as well have used a pick axe used it without hammer - I want to finish the job sometime this year splashed a bit of water on the slab - better but still iffy.... Ideas please .....

Quite right. But, I'd like to have a go at making one. There's a couple of jobs that need to be done first (finishing off) but I have had a hankering to build one for a good while. It's an itch. And it's mine to scratch.