Ian

Best thing I’ve bought for sharpening chainsaw blades was this electric one from Clarke https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00719HR0Y?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

white chippings would be the cheapest soloution as @joe90 described. Commercial projects use 'Big Foot' supports or this kind of thing https://www.roof-pro.co.uk/flat-roof-accessories/roof-walkway-system/ but they're overkill for your problem.

The Secoh pump on our treatment plant is sited about 10M away in an above-ground enclosure with no issues. It's been running for over 3 years with no problems. [Edit - just looked up the model of pump and it's a Secoh JDK-S-60]

A rule of thumb is that a bungalow will cost approx 15% more to build than the same size 2 storey house. link to good explanation: https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/how-form-affects-build-cost/

@Dust Raker Vapour barriers come in different grades. For a domestic swimming pool you would need something like the one in the link below. https://www.icb.uk.com/file-uploads/Visqueen_HP_Vapour_Barrier_Datasheet_24_05_2013.pdf

A good vapour barrier across the warm side of your walls and ceiling insulation is critically important. If attaching to a house try and make sure that you have the pool room negatively pressurised compared to the rest of the house to avoid the humid air migrating outside the pool room Chlorine rich humid air is highly corrosive so you will need to choose materials carefully for the pool room. Also, water sloshing around on the floor needs careful thought especially if you go for a level-deck pool design.

a sh!t load of concrete poured into a hole

@AnonymousBosch If you are DIYing the whole thing then it's likely that the design will be a bigger issue than the construction. Eg: that initial flight of stairs from the Building the Dream house in your photo doesn't comply with Part K of the Building Regs in numerous areas of its design. The risers & goings are all different from each other as well as being different from the timber section of the stair. The riser can't be vertical like that but should be angled as the diagram below from Part K. Also, the landing width is made non-compliant by the way in which the sides of the timber stair bears onto the concrete landing, obstructing the full width of the stair. The handrail is also non-compliant for numerous reasons but that's a separate issue.

Concrete blocks achieve 4 hours fire rating

@AnonymousBosch Ian, whatever you decide to use for the connection I'd recommend from personal experience that you use a long length of pipe as your final pipe into the tank rather than a short stub. The reason is that the backfill around your Biopure won't be as well compacted as your main drain trench base. You don't want any localised settlement right under a joint in your incoming sewer pipe.

Great idea! 3 years ago I built a 2 bedroom 71sqM bungalow for £96k. Fully completed inc UFH and ceramic tiled floors

some examples for timber frame construction here: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20141202161423/http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/wood_frame_illustrations.pdf There are other examples for different forms of construction

@Moonshine Check that you are using Accredited Construction Details (to do with thermal bridges). They will make a big difference to your SAP score.

@Tony K Given you’re painting the timber so can control it’s appearance then the real budget option would be pressure treated timber.

The most obvious alternative would be imported Western Red Cedar. (I don’t think the UK grown WRC is as durable as the Canadian timber) Also, if you are painting it then one of the modified softwoods such as Accoya or Thermowood.

@ProDave its a while ago (3 years) since we did our Vat claim but we successfully claimed for work done in the 3 months after the date on our Practical Completion Certificate.

@BotusBuild @Conor There's a useful NHBC design document for basements here: http://www.nhbc.co.uk/NHBCpublications/LiteratureLibrary/Technical/NHBCStandards/filedownload,58385,en.pdf

@Alslo be careful you don’t mix up K-Values, R-values and U-values when doing your calculations. If the K-value of timber is 0.15 and you have a 380mm thickness as in your 15” thick timber logs then the R-value will be 2.54 m²·K/W and the U-value will be 0.39 W/m²K

@nod That's obviously toughened glass. The most common cause of it failing is contamination by nickel sulphide inclusions in the glass. For commercial clients and in areas where safety is critical (eg overhead glass) we always recommend specifying that toughened glass be heat-soaked which gets rid of most of the glass which has nickel sulphide inclusions. https://technical.iqglassuk.com/technical-advice/nickel-sulphide-inclusion/ Typically (non heat-soaked) toughened glass which has nickel sulphide inclusions will experience increasing rates of failure the older it gets. We've had them failing after 10+ years.

In 2016 I built a small holiday home in Wales to minimum building regs. The EPC is C71 and the EI is B81. It is timber frame construction with timber weatherboarding. The area weighted average U value for walls roof & floor is 0.15 and windows are 0.8 (3G). No renewables and it’s heated by bulk LPG. We’ve been using the building for 3 years now and the average annual LPG usage for all hot water, heating & cooking has been 475 litres at an annual cost (excluding standing charge) of £155. To put that figure into context our annual Council Tax Bill is £1,870.

The last time this happened to me it was the small 5amp fuse in the UFH wiring centre

In a situation like the one you described I successfully used a system called Ondutile without any problems. Building Control were happy to accept it. It was on a 25sq.m lean-to extension where I could only achieve a low pitch but wanted to use a clay tile. We lived in the house for another 5 years after doing the extension without any issues with the roof. https://onduline.co.uk/products/ondutile/

I’ve got the same Biopure and the pump is 27W

With above-ground plastic soil pipes it's very easy to push the joints apart by rodding them - one of our clients did just that with a 1st floor toilet blockage. The joints of the pipe separated and they ended up with a load of sh!t soaking into the plasterboarded ceiling of their main reception.

No, as @joe90 said, you'll need good cross ventilation from eaves to eaves. That shouldn't be a problem if you are not heating the garage. If you are worried about keeping the wildlife out you can install insect mesh at the eaves.