Carrerahill

I was asked to attend a site earlier this year to help iron out a design issue on site, long story short, contractor made a big mistake on electrical cabinets, wanted me to save their bacon as it was going to be 8 weeks for the correct sized units to arrive and site hand over was about 4 weeks from where we were. I eventually agreed to head to site, I said I'd be onsite at about lunchtime the following day, pretty fair. I get an email back, "site induction is at 08:00". Now this really did not suit at all, I said I would not be able to make it for 08:00 and that I could be there at 12:00 etc. and did I really need to attend an induction as it appeared to be a contractors induction. Apparently everyone had to attend. Eventually they agreed to induct me at 12:00 - 45 minutes it was going to take! Guy comes in, takes name, details and asks me to sign a form saying I had been inducted... I am now thinking, oh right, is this how it is, make me sign this form now. So duly signed the form and sat down, a VHS, yes, VHS video goes on and I watch the most stretched video/sound I have ever heard and the guys ups and leaves, so did I. Later on the sparky asked me how I got out so quickly and I told him, apparently the main contractor would be billed for that induction by a 3rd party site safety firm! I just about spat out my coffee. It's such a sham and a total mockery of the whole system. The main contractor is big, everyone on this forum will have heard of them and that is what they are up to but worse, that is what a so called H&S company are offering as inductions.

I did some of those too, I was late for them all.

Who exactly is giving this course? Which self proclaimed "expert" has decided they are now the expert on social distancing given that it's only about 2 months old? ALL these courses and certificates of this nature can be replaced with one course, but only for those who lack it, "Common sense"!

It's a money making scam these things really isn't it. For a while I seemed to collect pieces of paper that had cost me or an employer £100's - I couldn't tell you what half of them are now and I don't think anyone has ever even mentioned or required any of these certificates in professional dealings. The sooner people begin to reject these courses and seminars the better!

If all your BM's are shut then maybe only B&Q bulk service? Do you or anyone you know have a trade card? If you need 9 pallets you may also find that you could get one of the manufacturers to sell you some on a house account pro-forma.

You are not bending it around stairs if that is what you mean. I put the 30 year warranty version down about a month ago and it wouldn't be getting bent and glued around anything. Whenever I have seen LVT on stairs it is with a nosing detail/cap.

OK then I'd ask myself has the spec been created by an architect who is clearly therefore not a civil engineer (or even better, a water engineer) doing a design which mitigates any liability by totally going overboard?

Who did your soakaway calcs/plan? Does it take into consideration more factors than the others such as ground make up, rain fall, flood risk, size of roof, existing situation etc. Might be that the 6.8 takes into account more than other do. 2m isn't really that big, that is 2 IBC's - a big catchment area could soon fill that, or a small catchment area in a poor draining area could soon overwhelm that over a rainy period such as we had at the beginning of the year, soakaways need just that, somewhere for it to go, waterlogged ground equates to no soaking away!

What do you gain at the widest point? 900mm? - less if you take into account the fabric of the wall. You need to work out if it is worth the additional headaches and costs associated not to mention all the difficulties it creates, you will need to order more carpet for the diagonal end only to bin a large piece, or you will need to cut every piece of laminate/wood floor at an angle which means you then need to cut it straight to then use the off-cut at the opposite end for the next run, so more waste there. As for the roof, you will nor be able to use a standard verge detail and a gutter would look stupid to try and catch the rain water so really you would need to just to a angled wet-verge or something. The only way I would contemplate it would be to have a hipped roof at that end, but that adds extra work and cost. I think I'd just leave it as it is frankly. I would be thinking about more windows.

Avoid. I intentionally use suppliers who do not require a smart meter.

How long is a piece of string? First thing is first, what are you building the stairs upon? Are you replacing existing, or are you digging into a slope to add stairs? Can you post some images and or a sketch of the proposed and I will give you some advice and qty's. In generally terms a below ground mortar would be 3:1 so 3 buckets of sand to 1 of cement, above it can be 4:1 but you may stick to 3:1 for strength. Obviously all measuring can be altered, i.e. 3 cups sand 1 cup of cement for a small repair, or 3 bags of sand 1 bag cement for a mixer load type thing. Lean mix is just a lean concrete used as a bound back-fill, say between the brick structure etc. etc. Lean mix is really just a weak concrete that serves no real structural purpose. I'd use a 9:5:1 (aggregate:sharp sand:cement) and always use the least amount of water you can for mixing these, more water = weaker. Mortar is often made using building sand, concrete is ALWAYS sharp sand, building sand is simply a filler and does nothing. Sharp sand is angular and binds up with cement to make a strong mix. If I was going to build a wall of say 20 concrete blocks, I'd expect a little under half a wheelbarrow full of mortar would work for my bedding (bottom layer on concrete foundation) and joints. That is probably about 1.5 builders buckets of sand and about 1/3 bucket of cement, some plasticiser too (makes it so much easier to work with). Then add a little water at a time, get it wrong you will end up with slop, then you need to add heaps more sand and cement and will have loads of waste. Even a cup too much water could trash a 1/3 barrow mix. All depends how much you want to go for in one go. I always tend to mix a mixer load for projects I am doing but a barrow mix is good for small bits. Watch/view these: https://www.diy.com/ideas-advice/how-to-build-garden-steps/CC_npci_100146.art

You need mortar in there and probably some lean-mix to keep it all in place or you will have a mess. You will really need to build a structure for the stairs, probably on foundations of some sort, the cap them, the other issue is the slabs, they need to be solid and if a lip is being formed then the slab can tip if not locked in properly. This is probably a little more work than you had imagined but do it correctly and it will last a lifetime. Think about ground quality, if very loose you need to tie it all up even more so.

Looks good.

@jack would you be willing to give indicative costs of what bits cost? I assume you invest in the central building control hub and then scale to suit. Would you have an idea what a central hub plus some lighting, some blinds and some security modules would likely run? I am thinking of this stuff just now and to be honest I think I can do what I need with things like Shelly and some clever linking between units and run the Shelly's using free home automation software on a basic server which I think could be done initially for a few £100.

Crack on! The issue here is you have applied a domestic approach to this, if this was a developer they would have told them to walk and I guarantee you no one would stop working. By slowing down your progress they are only making things take longer. If you make lots of noise for 2 whole days people get over it and are pleased as it then all ends, if you however make noise for 4 half days then people start to think its going on too long and that impacts people more.

Best piece of advice yet.

This isn't what you will want to read but as I see it there should have been consultation with the neighbouring landlord at planning stage. This is the issue with the bureaucracy that is planning in this country, it seems to totally neglect certain very critical details and issues. Given that this tree is a pivot point for the whole build why wasn't it fairly high up on the list of things to resolve at the beginning of this process and if unable to be resolved the building altered to suit. There are clearly many options here, but the only option I would currently pursue is making contact with the neighbouring landlord and hope he/she is a nice person! Possibly you are going to need to setup a meeting, and their number may be obtainable from the tenants.

Should cost about £10-12 a tonne from a quarry. I got a quote from Tarmac of £12 a ton delivered in an 8 wheel tipper so a full wagon load will be about £450 delivered. You would be paying £31.14 a tonne at that price! Even dropped loose in 2 tonne loads from my local merchant it is only £21.00 a tonne. Other options are 6F2 of which we got a lorry load of too. A quick search just to see what is out there: https://www.littlerbulkhaulage.co.uk/shopprices/prod_1872758-Mot-Type-1-SubBase.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwhZr1BRCLARIsALjRVQM6s6R2Aqomf641FSoqdIYC6c6Yxn6OZCHonvbK-0W8irIgzPMvDVgaAilwEALw_wcB

Please. Stop the bus, you are looking far too far beyond where you need to be looking right now, this isn't a weekend warrior gardening project. The issue is the removal of a substantial volume of material from the front of your property. So many factors will impact the structural suitability of the house with this material removed. You might have a basement, with deep foundations for the house, sitting on good ground, in which case this is likely to go quite well, your house, probably sits on a fairly reasonable, but not serious foundation, on reasonable ground. Start to remove the mass of material on front of the house, and possibly not next week or the week after, but 6 months, a year down the road after seasonal ground changes, some wet weather some dry weather, things can start to move. Worst case scenario the front elevation falls down, best case nothing happens, however in-between those two extremes is a plethora of outcomes from structural damage, cracking, bay window settlement with large gaps opening up and potentially a house you can never sell. I say this as the partner of a multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy, albeit I am not a structural engineer, I have co-attended plenty of kick-off meetings and site visits to know more than my own professional skill-set allows to a level suitable enough to know at least the basics here and in some cases (concrete) the advanced stuff to. Many many members on the forum are highly knowledgeable, highly skilled folk and from the limited reading of this post I have seen multiple warnings and advise strongly, that you take heed. This is a front page Daily Express article in the making right here!

500? What are you building? Multistory carpark? 250mm sounds more sensible, I think what you have missed is the cost in 500mm of concrete vs. 250mm!

Long radius bend: https://www.drainageshop.co.uk/110mm-drainage-pipe-fittings/GWPTE320.html

Could you not use a rest bend on its side or something, rods will easily go around that, it is just your shower so in theory should never block unless it was a backup and then you could always back rod from the IC. I know this is not perhaps by the book, but I see your predicament in filling the place with IC's and rod points.

When it comes to my Makita tools, I always go genuine, I know a builder who bricked a brand new battery in a dubious charger, the batteries have chips in them, that I can confirm, I don't believe this bit though, but I was told 80 full charge cycles and then they stop taking a charge, as I say this figure seems too low, a tradesman could easily kill a battery in 40 days then, I don't know, maybe if he is that busy then £35-55 for a battery is just seen as an expense. I have Makita 18V stuff and always just go for the 4Ah batterys which are not bad, never felt the need for the almost double the price 5Ah battery. I could maybe see it if I was using a big SDS drill or circular saw all day but for impact, 1/2" impact, drill the 4Ah has more than enough capacity - I still like corded, the rest of my Makita is corded - the grid has good capacity! The first time I bought a Makita tool it was a bare unit, I then bought a £120 drill from Screwfix just for the charger and battery at the time it was the cheapest way to get the charger and battery. I have since nearly bought another whole set just to get more batteries as I see you can usually sell the bare tool for about 50% of the whole kit price.

I could, I have a roll of 10mm copper and I am actually tempted but the work to get it in now would be a pest and I am not sure where I'd put the manifold - the house is now sort of split with water at one and and water at another, I've already run in 15mm copper under the floor for the new kitchen, but I suppose these could just become the supplies to the kitchen off a manifold with a bit of a reshuffle. I will also be bringing in a new MDPE pipe in under the new kitchen and moving the stop cock to the new kitchen, however I am now tempted to move the stop cock to the service cupboard and then run off my feeds to each area from there on a manifold system. Hmmm. I wonder if I need to be thinking about altering the whole system now.

Nope, my build is a rear/side extension so it's an existing water system that I am adding to.