TonyT

To be honest your builders are pretty rubbish given the standard of work shown in the photos, so are pricing to not get the job, and if they do it’s been a high price that they know will make them a lot of money quickly- the term extras used to be a thing, price tight to get the job, client will always change their mind and this is the extras charged at a premium rate( generally good builders agree these rates before so you know mark up on materials, plant etc best to stop get the job repriced and get some reputable trades that do care about doing a good job, they are out there but you will have to wait, anyone able to start pretty much short notice raises a red flag for me..

Get someone to stand bedside you with a torpedo level on the drill bit before you start. they can look at the drill bit to ensure it’s going level if you aren’t confident drilling

Your builders can hire lifting equipment, from most hire shops that make lifting heavy steel safe and manageable

Best make sure the architect didn’t give the SE the wrong info, just in case you go in with guns blazing..

You drill from the outside in…

SE over spec to allow for piss poor builder to ensure there isn’t a claim on their insurance..

Plus 1 for above, I hate coring holes, horrible clutchy drill. Especially anything over 127mm

Scaffold though you aren’t doing that off a ladder!

Do you have any faulty rain water goods on the other side of the wall? soil on the other side of the wall? the existing wall may have been able to breathe out the moisture before the new wall was built?

I would have a 3 kW immersion rather than a 10kW boiler….. solar diverter for a start 2 immersions giving back up.

Nice

Does the cill have a drip detail?

Use a pencil snot a sharpie, as emulsion doesn’t cover sharpie pens without a stain blocker

Glad to hear positive news! for anyone else in the future, can you give more info on how it was resolved

Buy a humidity/temp sensor to record info to see if the highs correspond with any activity

You could derate the RCBO rather than the cable depending on the load?

Yes and the old foam makes a handy template!

Common around my area for capping to be fixed back with cable clips, it’s a masonry nail and the plastic clip helps with a larger surface area. clout nails also common

No point in paying for 2 RCD in series. They only Have a 7% failure rate🤪

I think it costs £50K for persimmon to build their ‘homes’. Online article so take that with a pinch of salt.

I use both, MK master seal and BG, I generally find people can’t figure out how to open them and damage the lid. one you show them to press where is says press the light bulb moment is there

I had an agricultural building with a ‘porch’ that had this, chains are now in the metal skip. Plan for a better solution than a chain, water ingress isn’t something I wish to deal with

I’m sure Velux sell a foam sealing kit with shaped foam, remember seeing it a few years ago pretty sure they have a pencil that comes with the kit to push it into a pre cut slot…….

Only brazing if you are joining pipework, copper comes in large coils so you can specify no joins in the fabric only in accessible positions.

100% worth going 50mm its in the top ten of things to do right the first time to safe grief later