willbish

@Russdl This thread is worth a read. With regard to SE chose one who is experienced with the type of construction you are going to use. Im building with ICF and have gone with the ICF company's recommendation. So far so good... SE doesn't have to be local either which was news to me but makes sense. No need for expensive site visits if not necessary

It was mentioned in this thread that it would be a good idea to sleeve the waste pipes to allow for some wiggle room should the position not be spot on 50mm wastes don't need the same accuracy as 110mm but i thought running them in a sleeve might offer some protection. What is the correct fitting if using underground? They don't do underground short bosses. Just use one of these instead?

Im just planning how and where my soil pipes are going to poke up through my slab and I'm wondering what others have done for their 50mm waste connections. Always keen to save space and as I know where everything will go could I just have 50mm wastes poking up for every appliance and sink? If I use a strap boss from the soil pipe underground is this a bit stupid if it ever fails? Seems like it might have less chance of failure down there than surviving being beaten around by rebar and concrete. Either way can I get 50mm elbow into ducting? or is there no point even ducting the horizontals as the only wiggle room required will be horizontal..

I heard someone mention power washing the face, I think what they were trying to achieve was a good key for the next pour to adhere to. They were going to power wash when the concrete was still soft enough that it would blast away some of the fat and leave the aggregate exposed. I think this is totally unnecessary, your ICF walls aren't going to slide in any direction.

While other companies are reducing prices Tesla are quietly raising theirs https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/tesla-quietly-raised-the-price-of-the-powerwall#gs.4K90G1U

No wouldn't have thought so. I moved my water supply and meter to a temp position at the boundary. The DNO moved my electricity supply to a temporary box which will need moving again. If you can get the utilities moved just once to their new permanent position that is excellent and a decent saving to be made

No not at all. Perhaps include a line in your method statement 'Services to be removed from existing property and positioned temporarily in garage'

Are you under any obligation to use GTC?

@Nickfromwales nice idea. What other tools are already in the scheme?

@Onoff Appreciate your scepticism, I guess time will tell. From what I can see the company already has a proven record with several villages already connected. The guy who popped his head over the fence, head of community engagement ? Everyone loves a flashy job title!

@Onoff Not sure your negative results are accurate, The FB link is to an American company which looks totally unconnected with True Speed UK Second link finishes "Otherwise TrueSpeed appear to be doing an excellent job and we look forward to seeing their network expand.” The writers only gripe that the guaranteed speeds are not compensated if they happen to drop below the stated figure. Seems pretty reasonable to me

A guy poked his head over the site hoarding today offering FTTP. This sounded interesting.. He's from a small company who have brought fibre to homes in other near by villages and is now recruiting in my area. Apparently just 13 more sign ups and it's a goer, well 12 now! Having already been around the BT/Openreach circle twice (New housing development - unable to place order - bronze matching address service Aaaaaaah ?) this is a welcome development. There is no upfront fee, but an 18 month contract which you start paying only when you start using. It's not cheap at £47.50 a month but guaranteed 200mbs up and down at all times. The company is Truespeed, there may well be something similar happening in your area and a welcome alternative to the BT/ Openreach monopoly that I could tell was going to cause me a load of headache for a crappy copper drop wire!

Thanks for the break down. Is that for 115m2? You said 23m3 of concrete req'd and 200mm slab thickness. Volume of steel will make it a bit bigger footprint, so maybe 118m2?

Great work! Must've saved yourself a packet there

Who supplied the insulation in the end @Triassic? By the looks of things you didn't make your own L shaped perimeter pieces although Im sure it's possible

Outward opening door on the first floor? Steps down, walkway, zipline?!

Yep thats the plan stan

Thanks for your input. A second prop on the mid purlin wont be a problem. Im not worried about the rafters sliding, they have battens on top. The ground underneath is about a foot of old sandstone scalps. Was thinking i might chuck down a piece of osb to spread the load but I don't think this is necessary

I need to prop my neighbours roof while we demolish and rebuild a knackered section of the party wall. I've come up with a propping arrangement but both my neighbour and I want a bit of reassurance this would be sufficient. My structural engineering has passed the buck claiming his insurance does not cover him for temporary works. Im not after calculations just a nod that what we've proposed will stand, and stay standing! If there's keen 'hubbers who could take a look and offer any feedback that would be greatly received. Photos and .pdf attached Propping arrangement.pdf

Thanks all, @ProDave no problem at all, just want more choice! Adpol have also advised that they do 3G aluclad french doors with a choice of timber, oak, meranti or accoya. Has anybody any had any experience of this company? No mention anywhere else on the forum

I am looking for near passive standard aluminium clad french double doors, but am struggling for suppliers, can anyone help? There are many window producers to chose from but so few for doors. Considering ditching the alu-clad and just going for timber to get more choice.

Tax doesn't have to be taxing! But it is, and needlessly causing trades to lose work. Seems a shame after agreeing scope and price of work for the deal to crumble just because one party doesn't understand their tax obligations.

Yeh this is true @vivienz I did consider taking the approach of @newhome and getting him to do the work but paying the invoice ex vat but I think these sort of games might do me no favours in the long run. He's friends with a good chippy I'd like to use for other work, i don't want a dodgy rep for not paying. It's hard enough getting quality trades as is!

Thanks for the advice. I wasn't able to convince this guy to do the correct thing and zero rate the work. He tells me he has had complications with zero rating work in the past and that I should just reclaim the Vat instead. ? So unfortunately Ive had to look for someone else.

The chap I have lined up to demolish the last of the cottage is questioning whether he can zero-rate the work because he is an agricultural contractor and not a builder. I've read the rulebook (again!) and cant find anything that would mean he cant zero-rate. Does anybody have any experience of this? Thanks