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So how long would you allow for 55mm to 60mm of screed to dry. Let's call it 60mm. Is 70 days enough?

Thanks, very reassuring. Do you think it will be ready for floor finishes by early to mid December (so 60 days after pouring) or is that a bit tight?

Our sand and cement screed was poured 5 days ago (about 55mm to 60mm worth). I noticed yesterday two things that made me wonder how screed cures and whether the conditions on site are okay for it to cure nicely without cracks etc: the builders are storing many boxes (tiles, toilet frames, other stuff) on top of some wooden battens that are resting on the screed; and big industrial heater is blowing hot air onto part of the screed in another room. I didn't think much of observation (1) as the wooden battens, although only about 2cm high, are probably allowing enough air to circulate and I'm not even sure screed needs air to cure - doesn't cement cure underwater? We are expecting many more deliveries in the coming week, and the builders are very behind schedule so the delivered items are unlikely to be used in the next month or two. Could covering more and more of the screed with boxes be an issue for its curing? What about the area of screed directly covered by the battens, that will have very little air. As for (2), this is potentially concerning. It's not particularly cold on site (we're in the South East and the last week has been mild) so I'm not sure why heating would be required at this early stage in the screed's curing. Whilst I can't imagine heating will do much harm if it was uniformly applied, but given there is only one industrial heater and about 80m2 of screed it is unlikely they will be able to apply the heat evenly, even if they move it round a lot. I asked the foreman what the heater was for and he said it was to move the air around in the ground floor a bit "to help with drying". Should I ask the builders to make any changes or am I worrying unnecessarily?

Luckily they also sell through Amazon Prime here in the UK. Free returns.

The plot thickens, just found an ever so slightly smaller sink, which given the info you've just found @MJNewton might just be the ticket! Never heard of the manufacturer (Mizzo) but they give a lifetime guarantee on the sink whereas the Abode comes with 10 years, so presumably they are comparable? They also publish their tolerances as +/- 0.5mm, which sounds pretty accurate to me. Here's the sink and dimensions diagram: https://cofaro.com/uk/mizzo-linea-kitchen-sink-1-2-7040-undermount-flushmount

I have not ordered the sink yet, but the exact dimensions are shown in the picture in my OP. My interpretation of that picture is that the sink has a lip all the way around which makes it 750mm wide, but as the internal width of the sink is 710mm, the lip itself must be about 18.7mm in depth (assuming the thickness of the stainless steel which the sink is made of is 1.3mm thick). If that is the case, then this should work but there won't really be any wiggle room. Discussing it further with my architect he said that he's designed set ups like this before and if necessary we could easily build a support for the sink to support it from under the bowl rather than from under the lip. So I guess I'm going ahead and ordering this sink!

Brilliant idea. If only I knew someone who had plenty of walk on glazing they needed to get rid of...

Very funny. About twice my budget.

It's not a Quooker. It's a 98C one. Haven't chosen it yet, but probably a Clearwater Magus like this: https://www.qssupplies.co.uk/bathroom-furniture-shower-taps/284449.htm The reason I am soundproofing the wall is because on the other side of it it's a utility room where all our laundry machines are and the kitchen is open plan to the dining and TV lounge area. The soundproofing is being achieved by having two sets of metal C studs with sound proof plasterboard, mineral rockwool, sm20 rubber and probably also a tecsound 100 membrane. Just seems a shame to pierce through that for the sake of a waste pipe. What is a tundish and why does this mean I can't just have an empty-able reservoir under my boiling water tap? I have enough space to make it 1L in size or even a bit bigger if necessary.

I've only just realised that my architect designed our plumbing layout in such a way that the boiling water tap in our "drinks station" corner of the kitchen does not have a waste pipe. We had never intended to have the boiling water tap over the kitchen sink, as we rather have a separate drinks station, but I just assumed there would be a tiny sink or at least a drip tray that fed into a waste pipe. The reason providing a waste pipe is tricky is that we would have to route it through a sound proofed wall and that would lessen the soundproofing. Is this a problem? There is plenty of space under the worktop where the boiling water tap is mounted both for the boiler unit and a large container to catch drips. So i could have a 300ml drip tray sunk into the worktop and if that's not big enough i could also drill through that and link it with a pipe to a bigger container in the base unit below. I would then just have to remember to empty that container, but that shouldn't be a problem as it's right by the coffee machine which I need to empty every few days anyway. I'm more concerned that a BCO might object to it not having a waste pipe. Is that a legitimate concern?

Maybe this question will get a better response than my last: Anyone bought a Clearwater Magus 3-in-1 U boiling water tap from Clearwater, like this: https://www.qssupplies.co.uk/bathroom-furniture-shower-taps/284449.htm How does Clearwater do in the hierarchy of taps/brassware yeah or nay?

If it's illegal, it's for a good reason: The clinical features range from skin and throat irritation to hypotension and death. Severe GlySH-surfactant poisoning is manifested by gastroenteritis, respiratory disturbances, altered mental status, hypotension refractory to the treatment, renal failure, and shock.[1] GlySH intoxication has a case fatality rate 3.2–29.3%.

There's also this from Amica: https://markselectrical.co.uk/AWC601BL_Amica-Wine-Cooler.html which I liked and is only 1dB noisier than the Cavin linked above, but one thing put me off: the bit in the manual that says to avoid damaging the compressor you should not switch the power off and then switch it on again within 5 minutes. But one can't always control that, e.g a sub-5 minute power cut.

In my search for an affordable dual zone 60cm wide undercounter black wine chiller, I've come across a Cavin Polar Collection 51. This is about 30% cheaper than the equivalent Siemens or Bosch (although it's actually a bit smaller than 60cm, being 55cm wide, so not properly equivalent) and appears to have good reviews. I emphasise the appearance of good reviews, because the only sites that provide reviews from actual buyers for this wine fridge just have one review, so hardly enough to give me any confidence. E.g.: https://www.winestoragecompany.co.uk/product/free-standing-wine-cooler-polar-collection-51-7450 It meets my requirements of not being too noisy (39dB) and holds 37 bottles which is probably just about enough. I would prefer a 60cm wide fridge as I have space for that and it might look odd to have a couple of cm either side, but it's on a somewhat hidden side of my kitchen island, so probably won't be that noticeable and maybe that extra air gap will prolong the life of the fridge. Any other recommendations in the sub £600 price point?

Bar some genetic mutation that makes them resistant to Fairy liquid, it's not worms that are causing your casts.

If your hot water tank or boiler are in there, then definitely insulate it. If MVHR is in there, also worth insulating. What you insulate with will depend on how much space you have available and what you are willing to spend. For example, can you lose internal room volume? How much?

I spoke to my stone supplier and this is what they emailed me in response: If the sink you have is a undermount sink, the correct support must already be in place and it must sit level with the units. So if I understand this correctly, they will be expecting it to be supported by the base unit and wooden frame. I need to figure out what the smallest width unit is that can accommodate the above sink, because my alternative is to buy a bespoke undermount sink which will cost me about £375 more than the £200 sink linked above. Obviously rather get a bespoke 760mm base unit than a much more expensive bespoke sink!

Last time I bought an integrated freezer, the choice in terms of frost technology was: a normal freezer which would build up ice/frost and so require defrosting at least once a year; a clever "frost free" technology that meant you didn't have to bother with this. There now appears to be at least one more type of tech called "lowfrost". Siemens and Bosch seem to suggest that their lowfrost freezers have internal cooling elements within the cabinet sides and back which have much less ice build up. Does anybody have experience with these lowfrost integrated freezers? Are you happy with it? How often does it need defrosting?

I’m surprised the BCO agreed to chop off two courses of Corbels. My SE was relaxed about chopping one off, but said I needed to underpin if I wanted to chop much more than that. Although maybe your situation is different.

When I was at school I remember doing a biology lesson where we had to count the number of worms in the school field. We did it by using a mixture of fairly liquid and water. I think the ratio was something like two drops of fairy per litre of water. It worked a treat.

Reading this thread is putting me off buying an induction hob. Are there any steps one can take to reduce the risk of such chips? I know some induction hobs come with a stainless steel frame, but we aren’t keen on that look. Anyone know if the framed ones come in any other finishes, such as black?

Nice idea, but doesn’t this introduce a lot of grease into your MVHR system?

Thanks @SimonD, but just to clarify, what issue might I face with this build up that combines 140mm of wood fibre with a much smaller amount of PIR? The RICS surveyor has been very good and introduced us to a lot of products that neither my architect nor I were familiar with, so is surprising that he might have got this one so wrong. What problem could I have from having this build up? (By the way, I haven’t shown the full build up - there is also a tyvek breathable membrane, Barton’s darling board and clay tiles.

I want to order it all now, but it’s bugging me that by the time we move in and start using these appliances we will be 4 months, maybe more, into the guarantee period. Also, Kitchen not being installed until December, so won’t really be able to test it’s all working until then. I guess I need to order it Noir anyway and but the bullet.

So what was the lead time on your Bosch?