PeterW

Clay breaks easier than plastic, and if you want really tough plastic pipe then there are products such as PolySewer that is reinforced. @AnonymousBosch you probably need to do the bedding first, then just put a bucket of bedding over the top of each joint once you have set your levels

@Russdl You get about 5 square metres to the tonne from planings so a 3m wide track 60m long will need about 40 tonnes in total. Prices vary from £7-10/tonne. £6-700 should sort your track as a JCB is about £100 a day, Bomag about the same.

Planings are ok if you get a big roller. You need a 3 tonne bomag or bigger preferably, a JCB to scalp the top off and then spread the planings and preferably a warm day ..!! If the planings are warm then they bind better and don’t move.

Ok so if that is brick and block, concrete tiles and nothing high end then I think you can get there for £100k but it will be tight. First thing you need to do is get an estimator to run the plans and give you the worst case number. Then start to scrub it. From that, start looking for trades. You cannot afford a main contractor as their margin will be 12-15% and that’s lost cost. Start looking for bricklayers, ground workers and joiners now, check for recommendations if possible and steer clear of the TrustaCheckmyRoofer type sites. How close to the site do you live ..? You’ll need to be on site every day, even if it’s only from 6-8pm to tidy up, sweep up and spot the problems. You’ll need to have a good grasp of google to buy at the best price, and make friends with your local builders merchant. As @AliG says, start looking all electric and an ASHP and UFH may be your friend. Upstairs will need Rads, even if it’s just to make sure it’s heated and you don’t have the money for OTT insulation. And above all, you’re going to need a lot of stamina and a sense of humour ..!!!

20mm base coat will work at 75-80mm but needs sealing if you’re not going to put a wear course on the top. It also needs edging correctly and if it’s going to take load of a wagon then it also needs to have a 150mm fully compacted sub base. 300m at 3m wide is going to cost you north of £35-40k done properly - what’s your budget ..??

OK .. so £100k is going to be tight, and that’s without knowing the design either. How practical are you..? And what can you and family/significant others do to help..? First thing is do you really need 4 bedrooms ..?? Can you get away with 2..? Then split when funds allow ..? Do you have planning permission and what for ..? Does it lend itself to a house of two halves.?? Exterior skin is going to cost money, can you go for block and render ... and render when you have the money ..? If you have plans then post them up - let’s see what you are up against.

No - a rest bend is a reinforced long radius bend with a full shoe. I wouldn’t combine the two stacks as you have them. I would bring the IC further down the side of the house, then bring the first floor stack in the utility corner down and into the IC main run. Then bring the utility stack into its own (potentially stub stack) built into a false wall and run that into the IC separately. Finally, the right side (stairs/store) stack as you’ve drawn it goes into the next IC connection, picking up the shower (???) in the utility. Means a single blockage doesn’t create a backup in the whole system.

Location ..? Budget..?? Access..???

Years ago (when VAT was 15%...) BDO did a paper on the 20/20/20 policy for taxation. It removed all personal taxes and charges such as NI and replaced it with a single flat rate 20% income tax from £0 with no limits. Likewise VAT and Corporation Tax pinned at 20% from zero upward. They calculated the country would be in the same position however the layoffs in HMRC and accountancy firms would be over 1m people ...

Floplast fittings can be a bit brittle and the ring seals a bit tight but I prefer Brett Martin if I can get it. Osma and Polypipe are much the same.

£23k won’t buy you a lot of batteries - a single Tesla Powerwall installed is £7k, you’ll need 6 in reality to give you anywhere close to the storage you need with 2 per unit. Thats £42k of batteries, plus a backup generator for around £6k with all the toys, and then solar on top will be another £15k if you factor in the installs etc. That is £63k to be self sufficient - I would anticipate that those units will use £3-400 of electricity each per annum, so your payback on this is around 33 years .... Are you building these as a business as you can’t reclaim VAT on holiday homes as a self builder ..?

So first observation would be that batteries and rentals don't mix.. people renting holiday homes don't switch lights off, and if you give them aircon too then they will use it. If you're going down that route then you will need very deep pockets as the power usage on aircon and the batteries needed will be eye watering.

If it is in writing and they have received it (may be worth following up by post) then they can’t dispute it later down the line.

if there is access to either side of the bridge, or via a field do not underestimate using a Bailey Bridge. They are surprisingly cost effective and as long as you publicise via CRT, you can ask for a canal to be closed for a couple of days so it may be worth thinking about that in your situation.

Go back to them on email to the transport department / accounts identifying that the delivery is short and asking for the additional items or credit. If it’s within 2-3 days then it should be fine.

A vaulted ceiling would infer there are purlins or ridge beams already in place ..? If not, you will need to put these in place to support the roof at which point it is all coming off anyway. Do you have the as built drawings you can post or any photos of the inside as it may help people visualize what you’re trying to achieve ..?

Before you go down the Heatmiser route, what do you want to achieve..? There are better brands out there

Because a lot of those countries don’t have the raw materials for concrete blocks - or fly ash blocks - and have a history of brick making. These are essentially hollow or extruded bricks so are fired in the same way as a brick.

As per @Mr Punter you could do this with 140mm medium density blocks and achieve the same for less cost and probably quicker too. The use of non-standard blocks may cause you problems with supply and also potentially mortgage companies who don’t like things that don’t fit their standard boxes.

15mm OSB then 9mm plasterboard would be cheaper ..? Doesn’t the CU still have to go onto a non flammable surface ..?

If you want ultra thin then look at Vacuum Insulated Panels or Aerogel. Both can do what you want at significantly thinner layers but at a much higher price. And is the SEng saying the floor is holding the walls up ..? Or that you can’t excavate down within a certain area ..? You could have the floor cut out say 300mm from the edge and drop the centre sections - again, not that cheap but not hugely expensive. £15-30k for underpinning a single storey building sounds a lot. How much wall is that..? Have you had quotes from anyone such as Geobear who do the injected resin systems .?

So reading that you need two dedicated supplies and one from before the meter ..?? What have the water company installed and where is the meter ..??

I would use a brass full bore 1 1/2” DCV with a pair of MDPE connectors each end. And what is the definition of 32mm from the mains for a sprinkler system ..? Need to see the spec but I can’t see how splitting underground is any different than splitting as soon as it enters the building ..??

Loads of 32mm Double check valves out there for MDPE..?? Not sure why you are struggling to find them ..?? TBH I would not bother trying to do this in MDPE anyway - terminate the house 32mm with an MDPE stop valve and convert to 28mm copper. Tee the copper into a pair of supplies, put a DCV on each and then a full bore lever valve and a drain tap, then reduce the house supply to 22mm and leave the 28mm to the sprinkler guys. House can then convert back to Hep2O or similar but you’ve essentially got a fireproofed supply at that point using standard parts.

Porotherm is probably the best known of the non standard block construction methods - think someone on here has built with them.