WWilts

roof joists 1.6m short side 3.2m long side

Lean to in the recess formed by 2 existing walls. For various reasons, it is exempt from BR. Outer skin (side wall) will be stone masonry, tied to the posts. Cavity 25mm with breathable membrane. Front elevation largely glazed, for various reasons. Roof covering OSB3, breather membrane, counterbattens & battens, slate. Any obvious flaws in the design? Is it crying out for any changes (eg, more purlins?) Would you insist on structural calcs? Would a 450 x 450 mm trench fill foundation suffice to hold up the stone outer skin, 2.6m tall? (soil texture is sandy gravel, good load bearing) How would you fix the timber posts to the foundation concrete?

For various reasons, a stone external skin is required for a stick-build timber frame lean-to. How to bind the stone masonry to the timber posts?

Initial quote from DNO was around £10k. Called their quote person and had a chat to understand what options might be possible. Then wrote to them saying we were interested in whatever we could get by jointing into the cable(s) at/near the front of our property. Minimising or avoiding the digging up of public footpath, because that seemed to drive costs way up. Eventually quote came down to around £3k including about £1k for jointing on to a relatively new cable that was put in to supply neighbours. We took it. 3 phase too. In our case the softly softly approach worked. But if victory is relatively certain then challenging their quote might work as well or better.

Just commenced enabling works. Electricity connection due soon. 3 phase 46kVA. No idea: 1) Where is best to put the 3 ph distribution board. In the kiosk? And where to put the kiosk? (It is as far from the road as SSE offered). What else to put in the kiosk (eg., switched fuse(s)?) 2) How to provide power to builders. What gadget(s) to use. Novice here, so pls assume zero knowledge. 3) How to take power to the new build in due course? Keep the 3 ph board in the kiosk and take single phase supply to the new house? Use SWA? 4) Where to put EV chargers eventually. And whether to put in some cabling at this stage in preparation. Grateful for any advice.

Considering this supplier. How did the cable enter the kiosk from the ground? Don't the kiosks have a GRP base too?

It seems 3 phase distribution boards are available for under £200. If the distribution board is the main cost difference, and wiring costs are about the same, then it seems 3 phase to the house is sensible instead of single phase. Does the distance from the distribution board to the EV charger(s) matter much in electrical terms?

My understanding as a layperson is that 3 phase electrical wiring is much more complicated and expensive than single phase wiring. However, we managed to get a quote for 100A 3 phase supply (46kVA) at reasonable cost. Intention was mainly to future proof for electric vehicle (EV) charging. Question: Can we still supply the house with simple single phase? Eventually we will have EV charging, near the external meter box if necessary. That is the time when 3 phases can be used. Are we on the right track? We don't want to incur huge costs unnecessarily (eg 3 phase wiring to house which might be overkill).

My layperson guesstimate is that 16mm2 SWA cable will do the job. Open to education. Distances are 37 m from mains cable to new backland dwelling. Up to 25m of that can be cable provided by SSE within their connection price. That leaves about 15m or less of SWA cable to reach the new dwelling. OR (if the meter box is located near the mains cable) about 37m to reach the new dwelling. Question: 3 or 4 or 5 core SWA cable for the bit from the meter box to the dwelling? One option is to have the EV charging near the meter box and run a more modest domestic supply cable to the dwelling.

Sounds promising. Two phase supply connection coming up. SSE said they will provide 25m of cable (presumably armoured cable). What ducting is suitable? (diameter, twinwall or single, colour?) What size of external free standing meter box would do the job? Would this size of meter box work: Width: 530 mm Height: 800 mm Depth: 245 mm PS Intention is to have consumer unit in the box for builder supply, then later introduce own fuse and run cabling to new dwelling (about 15 m distance from meter box).

Self build What is the correct rate of VAT for site clearance services? for services installation (trenches and commissioning)? for drainage installation? (supply and fit) Main contractor being used. Agreed zero VAT at start. Some works not included in that contract (above), but a quote from the same main contractor stated "plus VAT". So correct VAT rate is important

How do you insert a drawstring into perforated gas ducting? Non-perforated is easy (suction or blower)

Wales & West Utilities info says "Ducting must be laid in a straight line with services running perpendicular to the mains pipe. Ducts must terminate a minimum of 1m from the service entry point to allow for assembly and installation of the service entry fittings. An open excavation must be left at this point" Pits must be left open at intervals of not longer than 20m to assist the insertion of the PE pipe. Additional pits must be left open at any bends in the service pipe." Route A was the proposed plan sent to WWU. Builder's groundworks man proposes trench in the middle of the reinforced grass driveway. So that large lorries will straddle the trench. (routes B and C) B and C are not completely straight lines. Should I chance them?

Is the solution as simple as putting in a new brick with mortar around it?

Demolishing attached garage tomorrow. Original external wall will be exposed. Problem: One brick is completely loose in that external wall. It can be picked out, and anyone can peer into the cavity of the wall. Brick inner leaf seems ok. The loose brick is also damaged, with a chunk missing. There is no mortar at all on any face of the loose brick. It just sits on the brick below, as if on a shelf. Don't know the origin of this problem. What's the solution?

Footprint area in sqm x 0.35m = (roughly) cu m of hardcore for footprint Can use for any area, to get ballpark figure 1 cu m of crushed concrete hardcore = 0.7 tons Once you work out the cu m required, (say x) you divide by 0.7 to get the number of tons you require

Demolition of garage. Options 1) Crush (noisy for neighbours, crusher hire charge over £600 for 2 hours). Use the hardcore on site or 2) Disposal, followed by purchase of hardcore. About 22 tons can be used within footprint What would you do?

For those going down this route, it appears that Google spreadsheets has a Query function that can automate what I wanted automated. But it's taking a bit of time and effort to learn.

Does anyone recommend particular spreadsheets or software that will: Track part completion of each build stage or build activity Track invoices / payments Track expenditure vs budget (already have detailed quote / budget) Without having to enter any info more than once. I set up a simple google spreadsheet and form to enter invoices and payments. But I still have to go in manually to copy the amounts across to the expenditure vs budget sheet. Would be great to have it automated within some software (free or affordable)

Private BC inspector. Builder & groundworks subcontractor have considerable leeway in rearranging sanitaryware and underground drainage. BC will ensure compliance with regulations. Just trying to understand the pros and cons of options/alternatives.

Understood now, thanks. How about connecting a sink or shower drain into the underslab WC drain (after the invert)? Is that allowed?

1.3m max?

Do the underslab drains go best in the hardcore layer or the ground beneath, or partly in each? Maximum distance 11m to get the drain out of the footprint. Would you use one concrete lintel for each leaf of cavity wall or one wide lintel spanning both leaves?

re underslab drains, Building regs approved doc H (drainage) says flexible filler and at least 75mm of granular material between the top of the pipe and the underside of the flexible filler below the slab What can serve as the flexible filler?

Is it reasonably easy and quick to swap out a pump?