ToughButterCup

Thats an interesting observation of yours. Can we imagine NOT checking: we've all of us been through - or are going through- the School Of Hard Knocks ?

And @saveasteading, of those who never checked, how many were self builders? This job of ours teaches caution at so many levels, and at the same time offers so many examples of the opposite

Hmmm... weighing the job up .... If I understand you correctly, you'll have restricted movement for your digger: that shouldn't be too much of a challenge, especially not for a 6 tonner - its reach will be sufficient. If not : consider popping the gate and fence out and replace behind you? Slinging the digester from the ground to (say) a meter above ground for transit might be an issue (?) Do a quick Risk Assessment. Nothing 'heavy', but walk it through in your mind and prepare accordingly. Ground conditions? Too wet? Hmmm. Too crumbly? Planking and bracing. Job achievable in one day ? If not who's gonna fall in, when, and how do they get out? 2 shackles - one for the digger arm, one for the sling on the lifting points of the digester ( proper - expensive- shackles correct rating) A couple of 5 tonne (five dashed black lines on the fabric) slings - different lengths if you can Check there are lifting eyes on the digger arm (my digger had strict instructions NOT to use the arm as a crane :>( ) or the back of the bucket A steadying rope, and a banksman while moving (Dont move it on your own ) Space for ground anchors in the hole (otherwise the tank might pop out of the ground when the water table rises) Consider using concrete to anchor the ground anchors in the hole How are you going to make absolutely sure the tank is perfectly level ..... perfectly level Inlet invert - outlet Invert and subsequent run to drainage: double double check. ( I lost so much sleep over getting this right ) Windy day? Wait. Planks ready in the hole to microadjust the tank - I used scaffolding jacks and old scaff planks - well oiled jack - smoothe running. Ladder to get in and out of the hole safely All good fun. Love to see photos when the time comes. Bestaluck !

No. One key issue that many overlook is the weight lifting capacity in relation to reach . Excellent. Step one achieved. Next : postitioning it accurately in relation to the hole. You'll have to think about where the digger will be stationed in relation to the hole - in other words , think about reach. My instinct is to suggest a 6 tonner for a day will do it (£300ish )

That was a really interesting post thanks very much indeed for writing it. My only wish is that you had made this post about eight years earlier than today full stop because I would have had another strategy for my 'made ground ' build

@MortarThePoint will know.... My BM was fine about exchanging one bag for another.

I'm glad the post was of use. Maybe you read about our BCO saying it was fine to duct some (half the) rainwater off a small roof (5 by 2) and into our digester ? .... Less than sensible. A whole days rain partially destroyed the bugs in the tank. And we all knew about it for a week or so. Its completely cleared itself up now with no intervention at all. While I now cannot (too much work) redirect the flow from that small roof to the pond, I can insert a diverter into the downpipe from the small roof into a water butt. Debbie wil now have have some rainwater for her delicate plants. Brownie points: just about enough to even things out a bit. When I get myself together (just been in Ze Vaterland) I'll put some pics together. An ill wind that blows nobody any good eh?

I looked at all the online help on swales and rain gardens - here - for example. The images are of more help than the text. Our roof faces North and South. The North face drains to a rain garden (in construction still : old plasterers bath, reeds and a bit of plumbing) and the overflow from that - via a sand filter bed - into an attenuation pond. The overflow from that goes then to the pond - itself built on an existing spring. I discovered the spring by getting our digger stuck on (in) it. The process of digging ourselves out of the area showed that the hole dug continually refilled itself. The attenuation pond has overflowed once in three years The rain from the North face is ducted straight to the pond (via another raingarden) with the 110 pipe hidden artfully with stones. That provides most water for the pond . Every time it rains, all the water goes into the pond. The pond itself overflows into some of our lower garden: an Alder and an unknown tree (beautiful red papery bark) loves it. Cost? 50 meters of 110 pipe, digger for 2 days, two plasterer's 'baths', odds and sods of piping and some cladding to hide the raingarden holder. Shown with pride to the BCO: who could not have been less interested.

Truth claims , unevidenced, damage discussion. When Moderators do that it damages both discussion and Buildhub. I make no claim about it. I merely present evidence. Here are all 191 posts I have written about the stuff.

I have never had any water ingress through Durisol ever. And it took a full year between building and covering part of the Durisol blocks. The outside of the most exposed part of our house - last few square metres - was rendered last week. That is four years after it was built. I understand Durisol is mostly air. Like - say- a pullover. On contact with water from the outside, water simply drains downwards. For water to travel through the substance, it would require external pressure to move it from outside to inside.

Right next to the sink, within splashing range? So just for the Hell of it , I connected SWMBO hair dryer. I survived. Ok, that's a pity. But... How is it that almost every German woman and every German teenager survives an electric point a few mm from the sink?

Visiting the Fatherland. I find this horror at the AirBnB where we are staying.... German chippies aren't perfect. Got a horror you found on holiday?

👍

Yep. Pull up a chair: here's a cup of tea. Cake? There's a copy of The Spectator over there, and there's a copy of the Daily Mail in the bog.

Now's the time for a dig around in the inside wall, and floor boarding. Get a damp meter and see just how damp (or otherwise ) it is. Here's a link to a series of choices of damp meter. (I assume you haven't got one)

It could be. Test it with a hose. I'm with @ETC above. It seems to me that the gravel is possibly a visual distraction from the reality.... All the front area is in effect a solid or semi solid surface. That said, the problem could be worse. Test that soakaway first. Run a hose on it for a while. If it backs up, then it's blocked.

And Gary ( @nod ) isn't the suspcious type .... so he must be right. He has one Hell of a Mother In Law by the sounds of things..... 😜

I wonder @Pollyanna, do you know if there is a soak-away for the surface run-off ? I'd like to scratch that really well manicured red gravel off and see what's underneath it. If its builder's rubble or MOT1 (builder's sub-base that compacts to form a semi impermiable layer) , then that layer could (stress could) be fairly dense and keep the water near the surface. Add @SteamyTea's point (run off from the roof) and you might have the cause of your problem. First job now - where does the surface and roof run-off water go? Hopefully a working soakaway. If NOT then bingo, there's your answer.

Ugh, yes @Temp . All zee Tschermuns are moaning like billio about the Fingerabdrueke (finger marks). Talk about first world issue. 😔

Right: you seem to me to be saying that the area round that corner gets occassional ' ... secondary ... ' flooding. There's your water-path then. Divert it somehow French drain? deeper splash strip? lower the splash strip to below the air brick? all three? Catch the water coming down the drive and route it somewhere 'safe' ? Photo of your drive / garage / water path? Please, if that's intrusive, a sketch?

Ha! See the air brick ....? It looks a tiny bit '... low...' to me. Probably doesn't make too much difference, but it might . The rest of the wall looks well maintained - recently well-painted, and there's a proper drip strip to absorb splashes. I'd try and clear round that corner - strip the carpet back. Take a pic and we'll all have a look. Thanks Ian

Go outside to the same corner as shown here. Take a photo of the wall - see if you can get the damp proof membrane in the shot, and post it here, please? Why? To see if the source of the water / dampness has anything to do with the level of soil in relation to the damp proof membrane - or not. It doesn't look to serious .........

How common ! .... How right !

Here's what the flush-plate looks like when it fails.....

And that well understood reliability is what made me buy Gerberit : and the disappointment the deeper. They replaced the failed part within 48 hours.