PeterW

That’s fine - 150mm is much better as you get some wriggle room. Is that a 762mm door going in then..?

Crack on then - but 150mm end bearing is ideal.

Load bearing 140mm internal wall ..?? Nope, but buy it 1350mm and give yourself a better beating end if possible.

Better hope it’s more accurate than the Manufacturers tolerance of 0.25 degrees on vertical ... or 10mm in 2.3m....

10mm in 5m plumb is in one of the technical standards (NHBC/LABC) but not got either to hand, that's for brick and block. 20mm out on ICF sounds odd, that’s quite a kick. Is it for a large area ..? Base coat and a straight edge may help smooth it but not if it’s a big slow curve.

About 5 years ago I nearly bought a disused water tank and wanted to chop into the top very similar - downside was insulation was going to be horrendous and since I watched last weeks Grand Designs I’m so glad I didn’t ..!!

Jeez...!! No wonder you get cracking .... 6:1 is fine for screed, dryish mix as you don’t want it too wet as it takes 1mm per day to dry properly.

So why are you building brick and block..? MMC (Modern Methods of Construction) is taking off in the industry and it was above 20% in 2018 and heading higher for 2019. Barratt and Persimmon in 2018 invested a significant amount in offsite panelised systems. This from the NHBC Foundation makes interesting reading - https://www.nhbcfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/NF82.pdf

I reckon your steel cost will be £12-1500 when done as it will need fully bolting on site. Engineer will add another £3-400 depending on location. You'll also need to do either an NMA or a new planning application.

Depending on what’s above, you’re getting into the realms of very big steels - 254 or 305mm depth is not unusual and even more than that, the UC columns will become 205 or larger. These require a designed foundation pad and can be up to 600mm square and 900mm deep depending on ground conditions. Not cheap, and very heavy to deal with - upward of 45kg per metre and you potentially need two side by side for a cavity wall. If it’s taking the floor joists or a perpendicular load then it could be even bigger. If you've asked an estate agent, it means you’re doing this to sell..?? If so, ignore what they say and put in a set of cheap 3m bi-folds, spend the extra on a bling kitchen and walk away with £20k in your pocket. Asking an estate agent about whether you should open up the back of the house is like asking a Labrador to tell you the football scores ...

Just checked and apparently my merchant is a stockist so will get a price and compare to multipanel.

Odd as I thought a corner needed one ..?? Or are they still saying a 2 or 3mm CT1 join is enough ..??

Paint the ends that are going in the ground then paint the rest when it’s up.

Round here it’s not unusual to see the bulk bag of gravel lifted into the whole, bag and all ..! Terram over the top and the BCO is none the wiser ...! Also had the opposite though when I “found” a soakaway that was basically 150mm of 20mm gravel over a metre square with a pipe seeming to disappear into it.... shame that was it and the soakaway was basically the sand under it ..!

Depends on the NMA. I wrote one to add a chimney to a build and add additional Velux windows. The words were along the lines of - Chimney, as per surrounding properties, external brickwork to match. Velux windows to increase natural light in the property and reduce use of artificial lights. Worked as they got them through without a problem.

Reading this, your overhang is purely an architectural decorative feature, is that correct ..???

Nope ... O Levels and CSEs ran to 1986/87, and then there started a move to some exam boards doing a 16+ for one year before 1988 where it was all GCSE. It combined the O Level and CSE and you ended up with a “pass” being A-E, rather than the A-C that was O Level with a grade 1-5 on CSE... add to that a Grade 1 CSE is equivalent to a C at O Level and you can see why it was simplified ..!!

Red oxide paint isn’t expensive and it would only take you a couple of hours to paint the lot. 5 litres will cover 12-14sqm by brush so you would probably only need one tin and it should be £20 at most. Buy a pack of gloves and some disposable brushes too.

Toe and heel on a uPVC door is a very different thing to one in a timber frame. I wouldn’t have a panel that big in an ordinary timber door - engineered possibly but that is sadly asking for trouble. The DG unit in there probably weighs 30kg all up, there is no way a glued joint will hold that, and the reason the joint has gone is down to the weight of the unit pushing on the bottom corner. Was it pre-glazed before installation ..??

The only caveat on mixing whiteware is that white isn’t always white ..! Worth choosing a brand and sticking to it for WC and basin if they are going to be side by side.

If they are moveable and will fit, get a sand blast cabinet. They can be had for £65-75 and it stops sand getting everywhere. Hooked up to a decent cyclone and hoover they will also stay pretty dust free.

That’s a fire and smoke strip - they do a fire strip which is just the plastic without the brush.

So that is a full brush smoke seal, not an intumescent strip. 2p piece all round is ideal but an intumescent strip will expand to 6-8mm at least anyway In the event of a fire.

Tote boxes - they are very heavy duty and not too expensive and can be sold on afterwards These are only down the road in Ormskirk

It has a class one air break in it, quite clever as it essentially flows from either the left port to the tank, or if the tank somehow overflows then it flows from the right as an overflow. Still a a lot of money for a couple of bits of plastic and a valve ...