PeterW

I'll post a pic later but all I do is make a copper feed bar with 22/15 tees all soldered then use 15mm Hep2O isolators onto the Hep2O feeds to the separate rooms. So this is one to a bathroom, one to ensuite and one to downstairs WC/Utility/KItchen. Only the last one has isolators on the pipes just before the taps for obvious reasons.

This is my experience too - we looked at a plot on the edge of a canal and our engineer advised to redo the sheet piling along a 12m section of bank to ensure stability. Contractor (approved to do CRT work) price was around £4k. Spoke to CRT about wanting to do it, came back with a quote of £19k for the same work !!! That included £3k for surveyors fees, £2.5k for approvals, a bunch of other costs and £9k for the piling to exactly the same spec that the contractor had specified...

Tried technical support ..? They are really good. Geberit don’t sell direct but will give you Tech advice over phone or email

You say this is draft ..? Is there any access onto the roof without the use of ladders..? It sounds like whoever has written that has taken it from a commercial build not a domestic property.

I’ve seen a couple of TF purchase contracts and I’m pretty sure there is a clause saying that all drawings are provided for the construction of a single dwelling only. Past that it becomes a copyright issue.

Don’t use a timer - use a PIR in the bathrooms and run the feeds to the kitchen / utility in 10mm as they don’t need the flow.

unfortunately most of these rebate or subsidy tariffs come with those sorts of ties. @JSHarris managed that without a huge amount of solar and it was with good air tightness and uValues. Before you go down the renewables route, get the fabric values down and see what you need to achieve.

Only if you think they are of value. They allow you to meet bare minimum building regs and are poor in a lot of places as they define their own best practice ... the LABC guide is similar and is in some places at odds with NHBC - so which is correct ..?

Why would you have a combi..? If it’s just hot water then you want an instantaneous gas heater.

I write snagging reports and trust me, what I see - even as minor problems - can be underlying issues that are significant. For example, I did one where there were nail pops on a ceiling - sounds innocuous ..? It was in a line, all along a single joist and the contractor had been and used filler to the holes, and repainted it as a fix. Two weeks later, same issue, contractor said it was “fixed”. I checked the ceiling and there was some give in it - camera through a downlighter hole revealed that the plumber had drilled a series of holes - some with no pipes in them - along with some notches for heating pipes and and wastes from a bathroom and en-suite above. That required a new kitchen ceiling when the joists were repaired including having to sister up two of the joists that couldn’t be repaired as there were a dozen or so holes with pipes and wires through. First thing that I use is a 6ft level... it’s amazing how many times you will find floors and ceilings out by 10mm over 2m, walls that have significant bows and doors and windows that aren’t plumb in the openings. I’ve had one successful claim against NHBC for significant issues with drainage - this was for rainwater pipework completely missing underground and that involved a remediation contractor taking out paths and driveways and completely relaying the whole lot with new pipework. Cost was in excess of £6k

I’d also want to know if the design is capable of meeting the Ecology standards. It may be that the house is designed to meet building regs standards but uplifting the design to meet what Ecology might require is prohibitive or requires significant changes. For example, the insulation in the cavity may be only 100mm, for Ecology you may need a 150 or 200mm cavity to meet the uValue and this will not fit on the current foundations if they are only 600mm wide.

Welcome if the footings are already in then you need to ascertain what has been done for building regulations, what is paid and what version of the regs the build was started under. I would also check very clearly that there was no CIL liability or exemption registered, as that could be a very expensive finding at the end. Not sure on the VAT position either - @newhome is there any guidance on what could be classed as a golden brick plot..?

I plan to make or modify a filter housing to take one of these. At £10 a shot, changing every 3 months won’t be an issue, and they are not a bad size to fit the standard housings. Active carbon plus pollen should be pretty good.

Going to 215 will lead to a very thick floor if you’re considering any insulation and screed as you’ll be up to 350mm or more. Other option is use something like Thermofloor and get an EPS / Steel insulation layer with reinforced concrete above.

You need a mix of materials. Cellulose is good but very thick - 400mm in a roof to get decent values. I’ve used a mix of Rockwool and PIR/PUR for sloping ceilings. 190mm full fill of Rockwool followed by 2 layers of 25mm PIR internally gives a decent vapour barrier from the foil, decent uValue and a fairly long decrement delay. Sound reduction is also pretty good too.

It’s resin which would put me off. Twyford do something very similar in porcelain for about the same price.

He said he saved £100k by doing a lot himself so £335k and it was around 130sqm from the footprint I would expect means a pretty eye watering £2,570/sqm

I would.... split it the plot into its constituent parts and register them separately apply for PP with reserved matters for both to identify if planning is viable convert the PP on the plot you want to keep to what you want, apply for CIL exemption and lock in by starting run the utility connections for both plots sell the 2nd plot as a serviced plot with outline PP and an approval clause so you don't end up living next to something you hate CGT will be limited to the value on plot 2, plot 1 will be absorbed when you sell the main house as primary residence.

@Big Jimbo have you got all your CIL paperwork in then..? Or are you CIL exempt..?

@Pigsfoot the flooring designer will tell you the minimum end bearing which will in turn tell you the minimum thickness of ledger board.

You're into 9" solid brick so I would expect that 12mm studs drilled to 150mm, resin glued and washers/nuts should be fine at 400mm centres however on a 10" ledger board I would stagger them at 50mm from top and bottom of the board.

You can wet cut slate if you want - tend to use a slate knife and a square bit of wood underneath but no reason you couldn't use a wet bench

Melton BS do land and build as do the Mansfield BS. Mansfield is direct I think, Melton has to go via a broker

Don’t forget if you’re having a row of boxes, or boxes above and below each other then you need a decent spacing. 35mm is good - happens to be the depth of a back box too so spacing is simple ... Just make sure the noggins and socket locations have enough space for them

Apologies if I’ve said this before but the Wickes and Makita 10v stuff is remarkably similar. They both use the same tri-lobe Samsung battery pack, and the mouldings are the same for the drill case. Only difference seems to be the colour and the rubber inserts on the handles. Makes me think that Wickes own brand is a contract mould and manufacture by Makita.