ToughButterCup

Not at all jealous. Not one single ...spit ... bit

The liquid either runs out of the IC - or not. If it does : tea and medals. It would take a large amount of energy to move a chamber or rather the top section of the chamber ( - hit the top section with a three tonne digger ?) I managed to drop a huge stone into an IC from a digger bucket, jamming it in the top section of the IC. Nothing much happened to it

Yes: within limits. Your image is of the 'bare' ( no IC lid) Inspection Chamber (IC) top, correct ? If so, then you're highly likely going to put a casing of sorts round that - the thing that contains the IC cover. Correct? If both the above statements are true, then you more than likely to be able to hide that much 'out-of-level' in the IC cover casing. Or get an angle grinder and make it level? That groove visible in the photo will help you mark up the correct level.

Over 2" stone , loosely compacted driveway : the bogie wheel digs in Over 20mm stone the bogie wheel digs in too. Up a 20% slope loaded with two wrigglers giggling their little heads off - OK as long as they moved their weight over the drive shaft I'm thinking about 'age-appropriateness' in terms of keeping myself out of the NHS's hair.

Well, I bit the bullet : 1 tonne moved a hundred meters or so . Ladies and gentlemen, I give you The Age Appropriate Wheelbarrow (Branding deliberately removed by AI )

One element of your build calculus appears to be missing from this thread. It's what I fell over multiple times on ours. Networks. Knowing who does what well and who is available when Knowing who knows someone who has experience and dealt with [...] before Knowing which other trades person knows the tradesman you're trying to contact - and failing. Because his phone appears not to be working. Knowing where that tradesman drinks. It's as restrictive a network as the so called Upper Classes, or the Landed Gentry. The White Van Class makes or breaks selfbuilding. It's taken me 10 years to nurture a core of solid trustworthy people. They're pure gold. They lower blood pressure, soothe the psyche, provide military grade one liners. So, since today is a Friday, get down the pub - about 4 ish- because they will be there, swapping war stories, oiling wheels, making stuff happen. How do I know? My son is a chef and runs a local. Why 4 ish ? Because by 6, they've all gone home for their evening meal. Her indoors oils wheels too.

Hmmmm, all the Polish plumbers have gone back to Poland - there were a few around here, but, according to our son's Polish girl-friend, post Brexit they found that they could earn more money in Poland.

Hence our passivhaus-adjacent build. In addition the fees payable on the way to certification are substantial. And there isn't (or wasn't when I did some research ) any real need for it. Germans like me love our certification(s) But in a for-ever home there's no point because we are not intending to sell. In addition I've seen many argue that certification doesn't ( or didn't back then) command a premium price. @Gema, we really love the way our house is full of daylight - what I hadn't expected was the effect of full moonlight streaming through the house.

We worked hard on that, especially on our Winter Garden (at the back , partly hidden in the photo) I fantasized about variable geometry (incidence?) baffles on the brise soleil. Snapped straight out of that into reality when I realised exactly how much that was going to cost. On a really bright, summer's day for an hour or two, the baffles aren't enough when we sit outside in the Winter garden. Inside the house is fine. It's a small problem - solved by a pair of sun glasses

Ditto. 2016 Welcome! Fast Forward 10 years: 1 disaster, two new hips, endless (expletive deleted)ety(expletive deleted)ety(expletive deleted)Ups later (most detailed here) we have - Passivhaus adjacent plenty of south facing glass (cleverly covered by our intelligent, thoughtful architect) still some solar gain less hair than I started with more entertainment value from BH than I could ever have expected no money Deeply grateful for all the help I've been freely given here

The guy who built our boundary wall didn't attach the capping stones , he just plonked them on the top and presumed that gravity alone would be sufficient. Well normally thats OK - until (as they will do when they're 8 ) grandchildren walk along the top and then ...... FFS So I need to fix the capping stones properly. That means I need a sharp sand mix. I haven't got any sharp sand left. But loads of builder's sand. I've got some 10mm limestone to spare. Is it OK to whack some of that 10mm into the mix to sharpen the mortar up? I will of course butter the bottom of the capping stones. Yours - Disgusted of Lancaster

Not quite the end as Clive ( @Onoff )suggests. But nearly. We have 2. Care needed with the mechanism that actuates the flush. Its so super- adjustable that its easy to over - or under adjust it. Our Botticelli washer-upper broke (the solid-state circuitry failed) : Geberit came and fixed it, and tried to charge us. One tart email later, silence was the loud response.

Made of sterner stuff in Scotland eh?

How do you manage the water flow (piping) through the roof membrane(s) ?

I really hope I've missed something here. Please excuse the directness of the response below, I'm merely trying to help. Nobody needs sign off from Building Control to apply for a VAT refund. Yes, nice to have, but as far as HMRC is concerned - not required. How do I know that for sure? I applied for our VAT refund years ago (2 + ?) without ( to this date) sign-off from BC and have had my refund ( and already spent it) Forget Building Control Ring up your LA Habitation Officer (Valuation Officer in some authorities) and ask for a visit to your property. Here is the official guidance. The LA will contact the VOA Pretty soon you'll have a letter from the National Valuation Office ( here's the official guidance ) saying your house has been added to the list for Valuation, and the LA will start charging you Community Charge. Keep that letter. The HMRC will need to see it. Their clock starts ticking - you have 6 months to submit your application FROM THE DATE OF THE VOA letter. Thats very important. Complete your VAT return. Make a copy. Send it Registered Post Wait. Spend the refund. As I say, my apologies if I've missed something that explains why you can't contact the LA Valuation Officer in this thread. You do not need to see him or her. They come to your site and do their inspection whether you are there or not (And that - to some - is controversial, I admit)