Ian

@cwr you can buy profiled metal roof sheeting which has a thin anti-condensation fleece pre bonded to the underside.

I got our plot free (inheritance) but it had no planning permission. It's outside any settlement boundaries and in an AONB so getting PP took 2 years inc an appeal. With PP the 1.5 acres of land, which is on a steeply sloping welsh hillside, is worth about £40k which works out at £7/sqm.

Rural North Wales!

We use bulk LPG and I'm currently being offered a deal to switch suppliers at 30p/litre (+5% vat) with a £50 credit for the first order. For a 1000 litre delivery that equals a price of 25p/litre (+5% vat) or £0.036/kWh It's a holiday home completed in 2017 to min Building Regs. We use the LPG for heating (UFH), hot water and cooking. For the last full 12 month period we only used about 400 litres. The tank holds 1200 litres which means we can go for the full 2 year LPG supplier lock-in period without needing to re-fill the tank.

It’s not just TPOs. Conservation Area designation also gives blanket protection to all trees with a trunk diameter greater than 75mm. You also need to be careful with trees in the grounds of a listed building

In England/Wales it is called the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) https://www.cscs.uk.com/ (it's purely a H&S scheme) All large properly-run building sites in England & Wales require you to show your CSCS card before they will let you on site. Some now also require you to prove that you've had asbestos awareness training. This one is simple to do as the training is on-line and only takes approx 3 hours.

@AnonymousBosch some types of flat roof (eg Sarnafil) can be tested electronically for leaks with good accuracy. (Not sure what type of roof you have?)

@scottishjohn I bought one of these which I've been happy with. Like you, I don't use a chainsaw often enough to get expert with a file https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00719HR0Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Build cost was £1875/sq.m

that SS trim will protect it from any splashes. (btw, does the trim have slots or perforations in the angled end section to allow for air ventilation up the cavity?)

Because option 1 has the potential to trap water against the bottom of the timber sole plate and OSB.

Option 2 is by far the better detail.

Scottish Power have a zero tariff rate called “Power Up” which is quite a bit cheaper than Ebico.

Mortar will stick to a brick with a rough textured face even if it’s oiled

I would imagine it’s because engineering bricks have a smooth non-absorbent face so the mortar won’t stick once they are covered in linseed oil.

No

Yes, I think you’re right. I’ve inspected a couple of commercial jobs where water had got behind the tiles and the underlying gypsum plasterboard had turned to mush.

@patp PP permitted development rules don’t come into play until you’ve finished the main house. Also in order to reclaim the Vat on the garage it would need to be shown on your PP drawings so it would be best to apply for the PP for the garage straight away

You normally only need to fire treat cladding if you are building close to the boundary. The closer you are the more of the cladding you need to have fire resistant (requirement is expressed as a % of the facade). BCOs in my experience will accept self-applied surface treatment but they may ask you to provide proof that the fire retardant product that you are using is certified for the purpose. Most BCOs will want a copy of the certification.

A 100mm thick concrete floor slab weighs about 240kg per sq metre

Sikaflex EBT + worked for me in an external application where several others had failed

I built a new-build 71 sqm bungalow to minimum building regs in 2016. EPC is C71. U values are 0.1 floor, 0.13 roof, 0.21 walls and 0.8 windows. No PV or other renewables. It's heated by UFH via a combi fed from an above ground bulk LPG (1400 litre) tank. It's in a very remote area of Wales with no close neigbours and we use it as a holiday home which is one of the reasons why I went with LPG rather than oil as its not as easy to pinch. The heating is normally set to a 'frost' setting of 12 degC and then I remotely boost the heating to normal temperatures on Friday evening when I know we are going at the weekend. The LPG tank was free issue. The last full year of LPG usage was about 420 litres at 33p/litre so about £140 + the £66 standing charge. Thats for all of our heating, hot water and cooking. I reckon about 90 - 100 litres went on hot water & cooking so about 330 litres costing about £110 was the cost of our heating. A full tank contains 1200 litres so lasts us longer than the 2 year LPG lock-in contract period which is handy as it means we are never held to ransom. We have 3 main local bulk LPG suppliers.

+1 I've got an Opinel and you need to use the locking ring if you want to keep all your fingers

Road planings - in N Wales last summer I paid £260 for a 20 tonne load delivered.

It depends where you are building in the UK. In my experience there’s a great deal more flexibility shown by BC Inspectors in England & Wales than there is in Scotland.