Triassic

Don’t forget that’s only for the panels, you’ll need a roof kit of some sort, an inverter, isolators etc.

I offered to show him a sample of the alternative slate, but he wasn't interested. I'm currently taking advice about the anti-competitive aspects of the planning condition, in that, the planning authority should not require the sourcing a building material from a geographical area, if that results in a monopolistic supply situation, as in this case.

Just got this email from Sunamp. Looks like they're appointing local distributors/installers? "You were recently in contact with our Sales Specialist, Andy Trewin, who has now retired. Andy had submitted you a quote - please find this attached. Is this something you are still interested in? Please let us know and if so we would be happy to pass on your details to one of our distributor/installer partners in your area."

I've just realised that "DIY Kitchens" is an actual company and you've not actually built your own kitchen!!! Dare I ask how many base units you bought and cost?

To ensure a satisfactory standard of appearance of the development by the use of traditional materials in accordance with the saved Policy BE1of the Lake District National Park Plan (1998). I've takes to the Planner and he sees nothing wrong in the condition as it stands. Looks like I'll just have to suck up the extra £7,000 the roof will cost.

I've found a suitable slate, the same colour and texture as the one from the local quarry. What concerns me is the Planners attitude, he saw no reason why the National Parks Authority could dictate a monopolistic supplier. £7,000 is a lot extra to pay, but I may not have any choice, as cost can't be used when applying for a material amendment. I'd hate to pay £236 for a Section 73 application and get nowhere!

Can you search for such things on the LA web site?

If cost can't be used as an issue, (the local monopoly suppliers slates are £7,000 more!) then what ground should I focus on?

I've now talked the three people within the local Planning Department, the first two were clearly paid to field question as best they could within their limited knowledge base, I was finally put through to the Head of Planning, who contested that the condition was sound and that I would need to apply online and complete a Section 73 Form, requestion a variation to the planning condition, at a cost of £236. Not happy to have to pay £236, however, it does save me around £7,000.

There is no requirement to submit a sample. looks like I need to investigate how easy it is to get a condition removed or varied! Anyone got any experience of the process?

I’m well past the six months. I wasn’t even aware there was a time limit.

There is no requirement to submit a sample. I assume that as they specified the only quarry in the Lakes, they thought that was good enough.

The local supplier suggested the Spanish slates, as they're the ones the majority of local new build companies are currently using, consequently, the local Planner is familiar with them. Looking at the Cupa3 Heavy, they look very similar in appearance and thickness to the Spanish Kentdale slates. Looking at the technical details they both come from the same region of Spain, 12km apart.

I have a planning condition I wish to have amended. It states that my new roof "shall be covered using slate quarried from a source within the National Park". This type of planning clause was deemed to be anticompetitive under EU legislation, as the council cannot express a specific local supply preference, in this case, there is only one quarry operating within the National Park supplying slate. I have no desire to open up a can of planning worms, but at the same time by changing to another supplier I'm likely to save a significant amount of money. I have no desire to use the alternative and then get into a tussle for not meeting the Planning Condition. How is this issue best approached? Is there a Planning Condition appeals process I need to follow.

As the regulars here will recall my Planning Approval calls for the use of a locally supplied slate, which on the face of it is very expensive. so to move things forward I've got a couple of quotes for the roof. The area involved is 245m2, at a pitch of 37 degrees and the location is listed as severe exposure. The planning approval calls for random width and diminishing course. The first quote, for Birlington Quarry, Blue/Grey, Strongs, from a local quarry, is £17,925. I asked for a cheaper alternative and a Spanish slate was suggested, Kentdale slate, same blue/grey colour as above, 7mm thick, £10,680. Technical details:- Burlington - https://www.slate.uk.com/app/uploads/Burlington-Blue-Grey-EN-12326-1-2004-test-results-UKS1.pdf Kentdale - https://www.slate.uk.com/app/uploads/Kentdale-Blue-Grey-EN-12326-1-2004-test-results-UKS-REF12.04.16.pdf Has anyone got any experience of using Spanish slate, what's the quality like? Which product did you use and who was the supplier.

Wouldn’t provide the shared drive, it’ll only be trouble in the long run.

I wouldn’t

We've completed all the concrete work now. Luckily I managed to borrow, free of charge, a full set of ICF wall props, thus saving me around £300 in hire costs. I popped the walls as recommended by the ICF manufacturer, but added extras made out of recycled floor joists and bits of off-cut timber. I wasn't taking any chances !! Sat here pondering the TF arrival! I need scaffolding, but my local scaffold companies are a bit slow in pricing for the work.

I'm only 4 miles from J36......M6. Maybe you should ebay them!

Particularly if you're going to fill the walls with cellulose, as the Larson Truss effectively eliminates cold bridging.

I've just had a price for sufficient Kwikstage to scaffold around the 80m perimeter of my build (3 lifts) and it comes to the grand total of £19,282.62 inc VAT. I talked to five scaffold companies and two have come back with prices, £6,600+vat and £4,900+vat, for six month hire period.

Rather than I-Beams why not use metal web joists, so much more practical when running cables and other services.

I'm doing exactly the same, I started with two non-negotiable woodburning stoved, I've managed to get that down to one and a Bio-ethanol feature fire! It's work in progress !!

Welcome to the therapy group, in six months time you'll be far from inexperienced! You're amongst friend, in that, a number of us have demolished old bungalows and are building to near Passive House standards.

Because our site was on a slope we always envisaged having a walk-in basement, that’s a basement surrounded on three sides by the slope and open at the front to a lawned area. The architect recommended a structural engineer to design the basement walls, what I hadn’t realised until it was too late, was that the design would be way over-engineered. His design is for a 200mm thick steel reinforced poured concrete wall tied into the basement slab. The slab and retaining wall contains about 52m3 of concrete and 3.5 tonnes of steel. The only saving grace is that it sits on an insulated raft designed by Hilliard Tanner and has UFH pipes cast into the concrete. So here we are just about to start pumping the concrete into the insulated slab. Next, the ICF basement walls were put together, a bit like Lego. Here you can see the completed walls braced and ready to receive 26m3 of concrete. Finally, the lounge section of our insulated raft foundation was done to complete the three-stage foundation project. In this photo, you can see the insulated raft and its steel ring beam under construction.