PeterW

@Nick if you PM me your email address I have the construction manual for one of the major engineered joist manufacturers on my laptop. It gives some decent detail on how to do rim boards and other floor and roof details. Glulam can be as big and as strong as you like - 40m span is about the limit ..!

Thanks - that's what concerns me though about this one, he's making a design change on the fly and I would be really concerned if this is not checked by an Engineer. And when there is 20 cubic metres of concrete in the ground then its a bit too late...

Your BCO worries me..!!! He has no comprehension of the guidance in the British Standards or the technical manuals that define the depths and distances for building near trees..! This is the table from the LABC Technical guidance that shows the water requirements of various trees. When you have the plasticity index (or High/Med/Low if its an easily recognised soil type) you can calculate the foundation depth from knowing the tree and its proximity. As a broad guideline, most coniferous trees with the exception of Leylandi and other Cypress are low or moderate demand. This then dictates your depth and distance, which is not as onerous as you may think. I am building on a sandy soil with low clay - the result is that a Sweet Chestnut 2.3m from the foundation only requires a 1.3m depth with 50mm compressible material - in a heavy clay that would be entirely different ! This is the link to the calculator LABC Foundations near Trees

So could you not keep the boiler and run it as a mini district heating system from one flat with it boxed away ..?? You would need need to reroute the pipework for one of the flats but there are plenty of heat meters about that mean you could meter the supply accordingly.

Make a feature "shelf" on the walls and fit uplighters into it..??

No - trees are referenced for up to 3 years assuming they are "known about"... I've got both the LABC tech note and the NHBC one and both refer to compressible foam or a source of a heave protection down the inside of any foundation below 1.2m. I don't see how your BCO can ignore that as it has the potential to cause movement and it's against most of the guidance I've seen. You can use EPS40 as the foam - not expensive and easily installed but it needs doing before the founds are poured. I would also ask the BCO for his foundation design in writing - if he is private than god forbid if something goes wrong you have some sort of recourse..!

So how are you going to finish your plasterboard..?? Skim coat adds £££ and is not very DIY - add in double the fixings and double the labour time (even at £1/hr you cost something ..) and Fermacell starts to make sense. Its also much cheaper by the pallet through a distributor.

Leave a series of slots in the internal block work for the joists and then either fill them with foam blocks or just board straight over. Then just cut them out at a later date and insert the joists - leaving a 100mm gap in one cavity to push the joist into to get them into the walls.

Ok so I did a whole house with Fermacell on my own and it's easy to do and very forgiving. Much better than PB and it doesn't need skimming or finishing other than filling the gaps and some FST over the top. Its very DIY and they even do a 1 man board size.

Ok the clay is the issue there however at 1.2m for a moderate tree such as an ash, you still need heave protection at 2.1m depth ..! What has he proposed for the inner lining of the trench ..?? Block and beam removes the requirement for heave protection under the floor but that's still not considering the foundations. Have you got a warranty company involved as they may need something else.

Correct BRegs are at the point the foundations or first notifiable work was started.

Nope it's entirely irrelevant ..! They do the modeling on the mature tree size unless you can prove an exception (which I've done with a pollarded oak) as unless it's on the plans for explicit removal then you can't enforce someone to take a tree out. Soil type is the bigger issue too - shrinkable clays can be a mare as they expand and contract for at least two growing seasons as the soil water levels readjust. LABC warranty guidance on trees is pretty good.

Wouldn't matter if you remove it - heave takes up to 3 years. Three things you need to know : - soil type - tree type - distance to the tree From that you can use either the LABC or NHBC founds depth calculation to indicate the depth needed. That also indicates the compression foam requirement for the inner face of the founds as if it is 2.1m down then you need a minimum of 75mm compression void. And I'm not sure about the comment about being below 1.5m and suspended floor ..? Where is that from ..?

The best GD of all time for me is Ben Law's woodland house .... Beautiful house, ridiculous budget and proof you can build something if you put your mind to it ..!

Was just typing the same..!! go for 15mm Fermacell as it comes in large format boards too so less joins. Downside is it is damned heavy..!!

I would make the front 250mm at least 250mm deep and slope it back at 45 degrees. When you put the drain in, work out where the door will sit and ensure the back edge of the drain is behind the front edge of the door so any water running down the door ends up in the drain - easier than messing about with slopes and other ways to stop water getting into the garage. Don't forget that most garage floors are 150mm too.

Ok I would be very careful lifting that ..!! Make a box that can be lowered in height from the inside - hire a Speedy Lift and build something from timber but brace EVERYTHING ..! Couple of sheets of DPM on top of the box as a slip membrane then lower it from below very carefully. If you lift it by the step you could either snap the edge or delaminate the unit as you are relying on glue to hold 45kg of glass up ...

Why don't you replace them with something like this..?? LED Downlights

Sorry but BCO will say that as it's an easy cop out for them as they aren't paying the bills ..!!! Sprinklers for a 3 bed circa £1k Gate in a fence at the other side of the garden circa £50...

Whatever you choose you should ensure the edge of the concrete is thicker at the door especially if you are planning on using it regularly otherwise you can get cracking. Also put a decent garage door drain in, making sure it collects water off the door and the floor ..!!

Flat...? Sloping ..? What's the frame ..?? Usually anything that size is already framed (and as a minimum double glazed) and assuming its 6.4mm then it's laminated glass. The frame adds a lot of rigidity and then bonding to a second sheet makes it even more rigid. The key with any glass is protect the corners as that is where it is most fragile. The cheap way would be to do as @Nickfromwales says and create a box and slide it up onto the roof, the costly way is either a crane or telehandler with rotating vacuum heads ## Just thinking about that size it must be a double glazed unit as glass is around 2.5kg/mm/m2 which would make that about 40kg for a single sheet.

Thanks @Onoff ..! Just ordered 2m from fleabay of a round 8mm neoprene foam to see if that will fill the gaps and create a seal.

Depends where you need to get to ..! East Coast line is now commutable into London in less than 90 minutes all the way up to Retford and potentially Doncaster. If you sit between the A1 and the M1 then decent biggish plots can be had for £250k without trouble - bungalows again can be had for the same. The issue is when you want to be outside of the North Circular but inside the M25 on a regular basis as then the roads become a mare and public transport takes the same time to get 15 miles out of London as it has taken you to do the 140 miles in ...

+1 to a water level..! And some food colouring...

Hi Nick and welcome ..! I'm sure there will be lots of questions along the way - both from us and from you ..! Where are you plot hunting out of interest ..??