PeterW

So the quick way to get E7 for free is go to one of the big 6 on a standard tariff for a month. Book the switch to a standard tariff - call them and ask for the E7 meter install. Then as soon as it’s installed do a switch and 28 days later you should be on your new supplier.

You will get some who actively help too. I had one where the rafters had to be deeper to fit a wider gap after a steel was raised - he went away and came back and suggested how to do it without increasing ridge height. The flip side being I had another one who basically said that I needed to come up with the solution and fit it, and he’d sign it off if he found it acceptable ........

Nothing ... You get plans approval ( in England and Wales) based on the regulations in force at the time of the submission for building control approval. If you take 10 years to finish, it’s irrelevant.

Flooring should really just be glued with D4 - if that is done correctly then the joists and floor move as a single unit. Fairly easy to do, and you don’t need lots of screws or nails which is actually what squeaks in the first place ..!

Open the valve all the way, pump on high and let it run for 1/2 hour. Then close down the valve to the correct setting and turn the pump down. It should clear it.

Is it just me that looks at the use of a ratchet strap as a way of holding a panel to a scaffold pole slightly scary ..??!!

Do you have a floor plan as this isn’t that big and you could get a decent air to air heat pump that would do 99% of this. It would also help with cooling in the summer. The self fit pre filled ones are change of £700. Electric shower, under tile heating and an electric towel rail sorts the shower room. As @ProDave said - point of use for hot water is the key. If you did go UFH, then a 5Kw ASHP would be fine - run it at 35c and just change the spacing between the pipes to get increased output. If you’re looking at one of the rubber floors such as the Armstrong ones then it will be no issue as they are only 4mm thick at best. If it’s rubber crumb then it could cause problems unless you go with 100mm pipe spacing.

I use Fischer or Reisser for standard screws - normally get them from either Howdens or Toolstation as they have them on silly offers. Where the screws aren’t in danger of being accessed, I use torx head Spax too - got mine from the same link that @bissoejosh and @Onoff gave.

Check with the insurers as ours covers lost water. And also speak to rhe water company as they may make an allowance on the sewerage part of the bill if it’s a known leak that wasn’t going into the drains.

Avoid Howdens tbh if you can - planners have elastic tape measures ... ikea do a good online tool, and DIY Kitchens do the same. Great for realization of ideas and as @ProDave days, it makes you think about end panels etc and the bits you forget that can soon add up.

A cheap shed is easily made sturdy with a couple of panels of OSB screwed to the inside. If you make a bench of 3x2 down one side you can put storage boxes and boots etc under it, and it really makes the shed stronger. Last one I bought was 8x6, door on the side not the end and was used by 3 comfortably - easily moved if you put it on skids of 6x2.

A cheap shed. With a heater, a kettle and some chairs. Who’s tools are being stored ..? If they are yours then they may be insured but only if locked away properly. You will need either a VanVault or similar otherwise the insurers will not cover them. If it is contractor tools then they are not your liability and you can’t insure them unless you have hired them in.

About 5000 BTU or 1.5Kw as 70-80% of the heat goes up the chimney

Sounds like you have a couple of options. You’ve talked about a Rayburn - is that existing currently and what fuel ..? It’s an existing build - is it being replaced or are you looking at improving or extending it ..? In line with what @Ed Davies has said, I’d look at using mains rather than DC, but also if you have a “power house” location then I would combine everything there. Batteries, generator, PV and hydro feeds and then feed this via a single SWA cable to the house. In terms of heating oil, there is nothing stopping you moving the oil yourself when it’s been delivered - I’ve seen on one farm an oil line that’s inside an MDPE pipe buried across the yard and it pumps uphill to the house about 120m away. The house has a separate 250 litre oil tank and there is just a simple timer and float switch from memory that activates the oil pump from the lower tank.

I’m against wall units as they aren’t the easiest to use and aren’t that big. Consider making one wall of the kitchen full height floor ceiling units and you get double the wall unit depth plus the additional height.

Big ones yes, micro ones no. I saw inside an AP Micro and most of the back of it was anodised black aluminum as a huge heatsink as they are designed to sit behind the panel on the roof. Last time I checked they had one on test for something like 4 years 24x7 at 200% load and it was still going strong. As @JSHarris will attest to, this is more about decent components such as capacitors and removing any superfluous moving parts as that is what breaks first ....

You don’t need a lot but beware that you could bleach the oak slightly so may have to do the whole truss ..!

Thornes sell small amounts. I’ve bought from them before. https://www.thorne.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=7434&gclid=CjwKCAiAhp_jBRAxEiwAXbniXc3zm9-UWhJQDzVfbd61UnUI_AyyV6EydWI_IQ2Rq4fEWKnVhRAGKBoCOV0QAvD_BwE

Unless he was subsoiling its unlikely a plough has hit it as most farmers have gone min-till these days and even when ploughing you're only in 8-12" at most.

That is extruded polystyrene so 25mm is just to stop an element of heat loss. Shredded paper or blown cellulose would need 100mm or more.

@JSHarris @Nickfromwales Didn’t SunAmp look at using Aerogel in their units instead of the VIPs on the side panels ..??

Idea for wrapping steels etc so you get the thinnest insulation possible and don’t make steels huge.

Only if you have pockets that are very deep and very large ..!! Aerogel is eyewatering in price and only really used for insulation of complex or high end systems - think NASA..! It is available as a standard insulation but from memory it’s £100/m2 or more.

There is the nub of the issue. Impact drivers were designed to drive anything you throw at them. Concrete screws, frame fixings, you name it. They had the torque and more importantly the clutch systems that mean you don’t fry your nice 18v drill driver which is designed to do something different. Its a choice of cost vs value - I don’t use mine 8 hours a day but want one tool to pick up when a screw needs to be placed - I don’t want to decide whether it’s Impact A or Impact B... it’s the impact driver ! Over 15 years I’ve slimmed down the tool collection and usually it’s now just the Makita drill driver and impact, and the Fein multimaster that make it into the car. Having specific tools for each job just doesn’t work when they are £120-150 each.

Impact driver as in cordless for putting screws in ..?? You don’t use them 8 hours a day continuously so buy what the trade use - Makita LXT or Dewalt. Just pick your battery ...