ProDave

In Scotland for certain it has to be a double check valve. I argued this point with the Scottish water inspector. The single check valve in the SW supplied toby was not sufficient. Nor was the single check valve in my own toby that followed that. And nor was the single check valve built into the tap on my standpipe. So to keep them happy, in addition to the THREE single check valves on place, I had to install an in line double check valve. Only then would they make the connection.

Yes this is just symptomatic of the way mass market builders throw things together with no proper thought or understanding of the details. What's the chances the top of the wall is open to the loft to let cold air down, the classic plasterboard tent? Sadly the OP is thinking a 5 year old house will be "built properly" Penny pinching and not even using foil backed plasterboard for the ceiling about sums up the level of understanding that went into this build. I guess it is going to be a try it and see solution. Start by taping the joint, see if the problem goes away. If it does not, or gets worse, cut down both sides of the membrane close to but not touching the joists (so you can undo this trial if needed) and roll the membrane up back as far as you can to expose that ceiling and see how that goes.

If we are doing digger pics, this was mine. That was digging the hole for the treatment plant, almost at full reach down into the ground, a smaller digger with less reach would have struggled. And on the subject of maintenance, the astute will notice a steel bar forming a temporary pin for the boom. It had just sheered it's original pin and this was the best I could muster up to get the job done until I could replace the pin properly. It was somewhat floppy like that!!!! It was a very old 3t Komatsu. Not what I was really looking for but it came up on ebay, and I put in a silly low bid and won it for £2500. It was old and worn but it worked, did everything I asked it to and I sold it for £2500 when finished.

To save your time, stress and anger levels don't bother. Just search the net for stories of people with real structural problems unable to get satisfaction from NHBC, a few spots of mould in very cold weather, you would just be wasting your time and increasing your stress levels as you bang against a brick wall. I would ask why does the vapour barrier only cover the edge of the ceiling? So it is a vapour barrier in the wall lapped over the top above the plasterboard. If done properly you would expect it to either be continued over the whole ceiling, or the edge where it finishes taped to the plasterboard. As it is any moisture that gets under the membrane is trapped. So I would start with making sure it is dry under what you can see of the membrane then tape the edge to the ceiling. Ideally with air tightness tape, but even something like gorilla tape would be good. then put the loft insulation back ensuring it is well laid and no bare ceiling is exposed anywhere. Then see how it goes.

Indeed it does, I knew someone would know the correct name. More information here. https://retainingwallsolutions.co.uk/king-post-retaining-walls/ It would be my choice in this situation.

We have very similar in a recess in a wet room. except 900 deep 1200 wide wet room shower former sitting in a 400mm deep recess. Next to the door is a little fixed 300mm panel just to stop water splashing the door. It does not need to be a perfect seal, so we bought an "over bath" panel set 100mm above the floor and the top is about head height. It does the job nicely to stop the door getting splashed. Everything is so much easier and more spacious with a wet room.

Be careful how you phrase things......

In my case it was the house designer, an arcitectural technician who specified all the insulation build up and did the intersitial condensation analysis. My original design was for just 25mm wood fibre board over the rafters and 200mm in between them, but I increased that to 100mm over the rafters.

It is making the noise with no water coming out? Does the tap still deliver water? Is there a pump in the system somewhere?

With proper design input you might be able to make it a hybrid roof with not very much insulation above the rafters to minimise height build up.

First thing at this stage is the roof. Think really really hard before the kit goes up, if you can find a way to do the roof as a warm roof. This will make the build far easier, and far better from so many angles, easier to detail air tightness, easier to detail services like MVHR etc as they will all be in a warm space, and not to mention you will have a nice warm loft for storage. To make it a warm roof, once the trusses are up, you insulate above the trusses and then membrane and battens etc. You often insulate between the rafters as well. you will need some proper input from your designer and might need to speak to planning if you are on a tight ridge height limit.

You ignore them and build your own slim design of retaining wall as already suggested. I fail to see what other option you have. without it getting very nasty, very expensive and taking a very long time. And you don't want to fall out with them if you might need a party wall agreement at some stage. Your choice.

The time to replace them is before the PSU dies completely, there may be more wrong with it now.

Care to take the cover off one of the failed back plates . psu's and post some photos. I have just fitted 8 of these to the local village hall. Looks like I need to schedule replacing them again in 10 to 11 years......

As long as it is an old school storage heater no problem, but not one of the current ones with electronic controls. Have you taken the cover off the iboost to see what went wrong? I have repaired a couple of PV diverters (not that one) and the construction does not seem that good, one was a fly lead burned out because it was under sized and the other a PCB track burned out. Some seem engineered rather badly.

Personally I would take the bath out through it's own pipe at the front (bottom of picture) with a drain run along the front to merge with the one from the back.

I am starting to question if the plot is big enough to build on. I would certainly want at least a 1 metre walkway between the house wall and the boundary. At least 2 very slim retaining wall options have been posted that would not take up much of the 1M walkway and allow the build to proceed without dispute. It now seems you are implying you need to build up to the boundary, so you really are into proper retaining wall that will also be the foundation of the house. You would expect that to be built on your land and I would not expect the neighbour to contribute to that. With a PWA that could go right up to the existing wall and you could end up with your house wall on top of this new retaining wall very close to the boundary, if that is really what you seek.

That was a LONG time ago they were that cheap. Last time I looked the plots there would cost more than my entire build here including the land.

At a junction, or house driveway exit, you need visibility from a point 2.4 metres back from the road edge to the road surface a certain distance along (distance depends on speed limit of road) So work on the basis you need to leave 2.4 metres all round the garden for visibility. Would that give you enough enclosed garden? If you are doing this with hedges, you don't seek planning permission, you plant a hedge and wait as it grows to see if anyone complains. The planning law on fences is now open to so much interpretation. In the old days anything between the house and the road would need PP. Now a fence over 2M only needs planning if "adjacent" to the road which is very subjective. If I really wanted a fence, I would just put it where I wanted it, leaving a space between the fence and the road for visibility, and if you do get enforcement action, then it is not going to cost you much to move it back further. In line with the corner of your garage and parallel to the house wall would be a good starting point. Squaring it off like that would probably double the area of enclosed side garden. The fence would go from the corner of the garage to about where your sketch shows the hedge changing angle. I bet that is more than 2.4M at that point. and it would leave an area outside the fenced garden next to the drive that would be easy to turn into additional parking if you ever needed more parking (all the parking on the road suggests that would be a good idea) EDIT: The blue shows where I would put the fence.

I had a 3t digger, it was just what came up locally at the time. I would have preferred bigger say 6t. The larger machines say 13t would have been too big for my plot. I had a few trees to take out and the 3t digger struggles to get the stumps out. If you have not done this before leave a good length of trunk on the tree and use the digger to push / pull it over after loosening the ground around it

Interesting plumbing though, a waste "flange" set into the floor onto which you just lower the pan.

In view of who you are replying to, you might want to re phrase that..........

No. just no.

I rewired an old cottage a few years back that had subsidence issues. It was in danger of sliding down the hill. But that was not my point, there was also a similar height retaining wall between the cottage and next door, same situation next door was higher. The solution in this case was a new retaining wall was built on the land owned by the cottage but right up to the existing leaning wall. But the system they used was not what we conventionally know as a retainig wall, but a system where big piles were driven into the ground, and then the concrete sections making the wall dropped in behind the piles. Does anyone know of such a sysatem, it would seem ideal for this case, easy to install and would not take up much of @PXR5 garden. EDIT here is a picture from streetview of the wall I am refering to: That white wall with the house name painted on is the new retaining wall, see the steel piles driven into the ground and the concrete panels lifted in. Behind the new wall is the old failing retaining wall still in place, still with the neighbours planting and fence just where it was.

But the controls don't need to be so complicated. Simple changeover relay that is energised by a tank thermostat to swap the PV diverter output to something else (the storage heater) if the tank reaches maximum temperature. But I wager there will be very few times this happens except in summer when you won't want it.