Alan Ambrose

Yeah, if you assume there will be all sorts of contractors, tradesmen, authorities, planners, neighbours etc actively trying to delay / stop / trip you up etc then it’s just business as usual. Self build seems to me to often (a) require the exercise of sheer bloody mindedness on the part of the self-builder and/or (b) being prepared to play a bit part in a Beckett / Brecht play. Sometimes this is just hilarious. We just received a letter from the local environment geezers, courtesy our delightful neighbour, touting ‘light pollution’ ‘cos we forgot to turn the site lights off inside the building one evening a couple of months ago. Guffaw and carry on…

Congrats, now for a good rest 😀.

Presumably your foundations, slab and drainage would stay intact.

>>> Thank you. I'm buzzing! Check that you’re not accidentally plugged into an outlet 😀.

>>> Was told by last 2 BCO’s to “fill it full of water” Then you time it and take pics of your phone for stop / start times. We did today and everything was good:) I still wouldn’t mind a decent testing kit for UFH etc.

Ah, as Dunc says there are some calcs - by and large they ignore the roof materials and sometimes the location/rainfall characteristics. Don't know how I missed those...thanks guys. e.g.

Yeah, used that for some 110mm drainage, but strikes me it won't really detect v. slow weeps? Does leak detection dye have any use? Also kit, for say pressure testing UFH or Hep20 pipe?

I see that even the janky £200 Rotherburger pump doesn't get great reviews. And the Bailey bungs and manometer I wouldn't give to a 5-year old. What do peeps really use and recommend? My pressing need is for testing some solvent welded 50mm MuPVC. It won't have any real pressure in it, of course, so just for leaks.

Yeah, my experience has been unfortunate in that the two pre-apps I have been involved in gave results at odds with the later planning application. You might be luckier, but some LPAs treat it as non-serious and non-binding work for the junior planners. +1 for getting a quick heads-up from a consultant.

We did above and below - XPS is much better than EPS but still absorbs water a bit and thus loses it’s value as thermal insulation.

@MortarThePoint - can I ask (as I'll hit this subject soon) what you plan to soften and what you don't?

Neighbours are often confused about when the planning process starts and stops. I know mine are - they're still bitching about everything even though permission was granted 18 months ago. As long as you build to the approved plans, the discussion is over when the permission is granted.

BC won't care a bit about them and no need to tape the ends. At some point you'll want to terminate them and plug them into a big hub/switch. But until then, yeah maybe some fire stopping implications for the penetrations(s).

OK reporting back: after trying out lots of options, we cut the angle with a Proxxon Thermocut 650 and a home made jig. It lacks a bit of oomph and was fairly slow, but the flipside was that it didn't burn or smell much. We made the straight-through cuts with a big-assed circ saw - not crazily messy. You can get bigger hotwire cutters than the Proxxon and specifically for insulation, but we wanted to specifically cut 200mm deep. p.s. the wire is very thin and breaks quite easily. Although it comes with 30m of wire on a little spool, you might want some extra.

Yeah, OK I've learnt that while some windows suppliers are keen to claim they 'offer the open/close contact option' - when you ask them 'great, so where should I place my cable ducts then' they go all 'errr, nobody here knows, I'll have to check with the supplier'. So, my advice is to start this conversation v early.