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Day 2 sneaky peek...

BANG ON!!! Thank you. That is exactly what I was looking for!!!

I'm doing a bit more than that actually. Once the groundworks guys have left, we will have MOT1 laid over an area 1m beyond the house footprint. The surveyor will then come back and mark up exactly where each of the corners of the slab will be. They have already marked levels on site, from which the dig and MOT1 are measured

The groundworks (site strip, level, dig, MOT1 etc) is all done in advance of MBC turning up - MBC will just lay the blinding layer and then the EPS (then rebar, UFH etc etc)

Correctamundo! They start on the 26th.

At least as a starting point, cheers!

Some of it is a bit incomplete though, which is the problem - this is from United Utilities: Trenches: These should be lined with sand or selected soft earth, not rubble. They should also be wide enough for the pipework. Please keep a minimum distance of 350mm away from other services such as gas, electricity and at least 1m away from trees, lamposts and lighting columns No mention of BT for example, so it's open to interpretation

I'm sure there was a resource somewhere that stated how far apart and to what depth each of the utility companies' pipes/ducts must go. Does anyone know where it is?

Nice! http://www.hansgrohe.co.uk/articledetail-axor-showercollection-showerheaven-970x970mm-with-lighting-10623800.html?fsid=0x00000033000074C9&pageid=e8715959-54d2-4025-9e39-5ebe29c5854b&q=

I think 'blog' is the wrong word. 'Blurt' is probably more appropriate! Not sure if it'll be much help as really it's just a story to myself for many years from now

Just added today's little episode: https://selfbuildnoviceblog.wordpress.com/2016/09/05/groundworks-begin/

@TerryE The type 1 was specified by MBC's engineer, although it will only be about 250mm thick. Below that is sand We've had the dig area only marked up at the moment, but once the type 1 has been done and the groundworks guys go I'll get the surveyor to come back and mark the precise position of the slab - I'm guessing they'll use profile boards. It's all planned and in hand (famous last words)

Cheers guys. I've no idea what direction I'll go with it but I think it'll end up more like a diary of sorts, hopefully with a few pics thrown in. I do have a very short attention span though so it may well go off-piste every now and again! lol

I've decided to set up a blog. For now it's Wordpress only as I want to retain control but I may well duplicate it here if I get the time and people are interested. For those that are interested, it's here: https://selfbuildnoviceblog.wordpress.com

Wow! Great news, Hugh. Bet you're excited

Well, it's been done! At this point I've just had marked out the dig area for the MBC slab (slab plus 1m all round) and it looks mahoosive! Roll on Monday!!!!

@Tennentslager - you think that's bad? Groundworks start on Monday, the same day that I start a new job!

Friday 9am - setting out! Woo hoo!!!! I've waiting a long time for this and to say I'm VERY excited would be a massive understatement. That is all

@Onoff

I need to work out my ducting requirements pretty pronto (MBC on site in 3 weeks!), so a few questions then: What colour duct would you put Cat5/6 cables in (wanting a run from the house to the detached garage)? For the run from the cabinet/meter to the house, should you use the flexible ducting or the rigid polyduct? If I want to run electric cables to a few points in the garden (lighting and power), can they all exit the house in one duct and then split off outside of the slab or should they be separate ducts from the house? Similar question to #3 for water I know everyone says put more duct in than you think, but any tips from those that have done it before gladly received!

So, it's: black for electric; blue for water; yellow for gas; grey for BT/telecoms. @Onoff Why green for CCTV?

110mm was just what he quoted. Happy to use smaller if acceptable though

I need about 50m of 110mm ducting for electrical cable - SP Energy have quoted me £93.24 including VAT. Who have you guys used?

I did look at getting a caravan but most I saw were pretty crap and certainly insecure if you wanted to part use them as storage. In the end I'm getting a 50/50 office/storage container for 25+vat/week - decent space for the guys and secure storage for some gear. Delivery is 125 each way

Attached is a photo of the road - our plot is just on the right. You can see the electric pole which is just past the end of the plot and the trench just has to come along the pavement. As you can see, it's a very busy road FPLane.tif