markc

Hi, has the BCO stated what they have an issue with?

good morning and welcome, lets see what you are upto

All good advice above. Assuming this is a relatively small building contractor, keep the dialog open and refrain from letters and legal threats. We all have cash flow problems at times and its much easier to communicate properly in person or by phone. Letters and emails are notoriously bad for being misread and causing aggravation where non is intended. Be fair, but dont be taken for a mug. If the contractor is short of cash they will ask, but its either you or them that ends up paying to borrow so look after yourself while staying on good friendly terms.

No, balancing refers to the flow going through them. Water like anything under pressure likes to take the easy route and thats usually the shortest. When you balance a system you restrict the flow through the easiest rads forcing some water to go the hard route and through the highest or furthest rads. Rad temp varies with material, colour, thickness and how much air circulates around it so very rarely do rads measure at the same temp.

very nice

Many organisations use the fear of Asbestos to print money. Last big building we took down had around 8 tons of Asbestos cement roof sheets. A word with HSE and we were told it was low risk asbestos cement, but we couldn`t flame cut or grind the old bolts off as these cause dust. We had to hammer the bolts through the sheets and place all the sheets in a covered skip for transport by the registered waste company.

a couple of battens across will deter entry and support the tarp.

Hi, I prefer the all plastic hammer in fixings similar to this https://www.tcfixings.co.uk/product/timco-m8-x-70mm-plastic-insulation-fixings-pif70-100/3361?gclid=Cj0KCQiArvX_BRCyARIsAKsnTxOjHautPssmd4i97G29ik_A4Ud8gGM4flDqSvSo8oC7w3JygGyDKA8aAk4REALw_wcB Ordinary frame fixings cam be used, i just stayed clear of the metal inserts when i needed to fix insulation to cellar walls

You could use expanding foam or similar as an adhesive and leveling compound prior to drilling and fixing. I wouldn't use frame fixing due to the cold bridging of the screw/nail

Use hammer in plastic fixings (Hamnmerfix) etc. makes the job really easy and maintains the insulation.

They are just shakes and quite normal and expected. Cascamite is far too rigid and hard for a job like that - fantastic adhesive inside a close fitting joint. Expanding glue could be used but wouldn't make much difference as it would really act as a filler. If you would feel better with something being done then i would go with screws.

This isnt straight forward, if you stick a pressure gauge on the end of the pipe it will give you the max pressure available, but you are looking for potential pressure drop with both showers on plus a washing machine etc. will the showers be electric or boiler supplied?

The raised shower drain wont get clogged with hair

If the inlet and outlet are marked i would say there is a good reason. Im guessing the outlet is restricted to prevent a siphon effect or air trapping

Are you looking at using the reclaimed bricks as a feature? I.E. exposed brick instead of the plasterboard? damn! Mr Punter bet me to it.

Good morning and a very warm welcome

To pile or not to pile - that is the question. As above it all depends on the ground and the structure. A heavy structure on poor ground will need support, a light structure on rock will probably need holding down to stop it rolling over. Piling can be very cost effective over traditional founds in some situations so don`t be afraid to explore options.

Big difference between CE marking and quality assurance. Just as there are coded welders who have passed the coding test but cant weld to save their lives and there are welders without any qualifications who can weld in any position and pass Ultrasonic testing with very few inclusions or defects. I do agree that the quality of some steel (and to a lesser extent aluminium) sections is a real concern and should be monitored. 45 years of working with steel structures and i have never seen a failure of a section or welded joint in a building structure. I have seen several on construction machine but they are due to heavy handed operators.

If the laser unit is showing a strong beam then its ok. i woulkd check the cover / lens for dirt as this can scatter the beam and detectors cant see it against daylight

Potential self build plots (certainly around south/west yorkshire) are selling for much more than the valuations which will cause problems for most self builders looking to mortgage the site. Ive recently lost out on two places simply because they made far more at auction than their realistic surveyor valuations.

Airflow is good, draughts are bad. The obvious ones are windows, doors and chimneys, but there are a lot of draughts under skirting boards of suspended floor houses. But sealing a building will just lead to damp if it is not adequately ventilated

An proper arch doesnt need a lintel, however although its hard to tell from the photo, this looks like a fairly low arch and therefore unlikely to be truly self supporting and structural. A better pic from further away would be useful.

Around £35K for a 13m CTE machine. We sell tracked spider platforms upto 43metres

good morning and welcome, experience is the best teacher.

EEEk, As the bathroom and en-suite are likely to be fairly small, fixing the toilet pan down is unlikely to cause much of a problem with movement, however, even engineered flooring does not fair well in bathrooms unless its a show bathroom that never gets wet. water gets into the joints (even when fully glued) and caused edges to turn up etc.