ProDave

Last time I tried standard "just screw together" door liners were never the right size. Last time I employed carpenters was to hang my expensive oak doors into the oak door liners I had already put in place, and 2 of them hung 6 doors in a morning, so about an hour per door each.

BC have not mentioned that here. They passed our plans with a stove without comment. Our stove is room sealed. The room (kitchen / diner aka family room) has both mvhr in and out (one at each end) and having just balanced it recently I made sure the inlet and outlet flow rates in that room are the same so there is no net flow into or out of that room. If you open the stove when burning no smoke appears to spill out, so I guess that is a pass for the spillage test then.

I suspect in our case it got a lot more traffic than an individual driveway would and it was clearly the wrong product for the job. Of course it could just have been badly laid in the wrong weather with poor preparation.

Don't. Let them do their job. It's what they are paid for.

I would strongly advise resin bound. The very first house I owned had the private parts of the roads were done in resin bonded, and it was hopeless. On the corners, the sidewas forces of a car driving around a corner was too much and the cars wore two clear channels through to the tarmac below. The builder re did it but the same happened.

@jened1 can you find the plot on Google earth (other satellite images are available) and grab a screen shot and post it here, suitably anonymised.

That is exactly what is at the bottom of the Toby on our boundary, except we are not metered so there is a blanking plug screwed in, instead of a meter.

Flow switch would be my first check.

I have done the same in my utility room as well, I don't want a washing machine leak letting water under the sub floor. Agree with others, tile the whole lot. If you are running short on tiles you can even tile under the units with leftovers or not worry about matching a pattern. Anything is better than nothing.

The purchase of a plot can take a long time, compared to a house. But it does not mean you have to delay making an offer. You just make your offer with a set of conditions, and it might take a long time to clear all of those. For instance when we found our plot it did not even have planning permission, so our offer to buy was subject to planning permission being granted, and we all then waited while the planning application went through.

I was going to suggest a cable tie or 2 Caravan fittings tend to be even cheaper and nastier than ordinary domestic fittings.

@jened1 if you get as far as making a formal offer, I can give you the details of the solicitor we used in Inverness who seems to be knowledgable about buying building plots and certainly found a few wrinkles to check that I hadn't thought of. I can give you the details by PM if interested.

Re Water, get in touch with Scottish Water straight away and request a quote for a new water supply. That will tell you exactly where the nearest water main is and the cost of connection. Don't get put off, there is a lot of work in getting a bare plot up to speed and a lot of things to check. I am not sure if you have made a formal offer yet, but if not, try to find a solicitor who is experienced in buying plots as he will know what is needed and what conditions to put in the offer to make sure it does not conclude until all hurdles have been crossed. A little cheeky tip to save a bit on the ground works. when I was preparing my site entrance I came across the fact that anyone working adjacent to the road needs to hold a minor street works permit. BUT if there is a fence, then working inside the fence does not need that. So I erected a very temporary fence right along the edge of the road and used my own digger to excavate and lay the MOT1 base for the road entrance. Then when that was done I removed the fence and paid a contractor to lay the tarmac on the base I had prepared.

What details do you have of this? This is as much, if not more of a show stopper if there is no solution. Is mains water available? If not what private source is proposed? Has it been tested? What is proposed for drainage? Have any percolation tests been done? It it vital that a solution to these is found before you proceed.

Like I said before, I would throw it back to the utility. Say you installed the new connection EXACTLY to their drawing and ask them to explain how you shut off the water to replace your leaky stop tap. You cannot be the first to make that call to them.

I would talk to your solicitor. It would be a LOT simpler if you made it a condition of your purchase, that the VENDOR prepared the visability splays to the specification given in the planning before conclusion of the missives.

If the speed limit is only 30, then I would expect the visibility splay to be no more than 60 metres. Look for other planning applications in the locality. If you can find another one that only calls for a 60 metre visibility splay you have a good case to get that condition varied and that might make it easier.

Hi and welcome. We are 20 miles north of Inverness building our second timber framed house. Where are you building your present one?

No 1, read the exact wording of the planning condition and understand it. It might as well as specifying the size of the visibility splay, say something like "must demonstrate control over the land" The EXACT wording is crucial. Then go and look at the land armed with a long surveyors tape measure. Measure it out on the ground. Work out what needs to be done to make the visibility splay. Trees cut down, fences / walls moved, bank needs excavating etc etc. Only when you know what is involved can you get an idea. Whoever does the work will need to be a contractor with a minor street works permit as they are working at the roadside. Depending on the exact situation traffic control may be required. What is the type and speed limit on the road? I am guessing national speed limit as they have specified 90 metres. And what could be the crucial part, who owns the land you need to make the visibility splay? are they happy for you to do the work? Do not complete on the purchase until you are SURE you can achieve this at a fair cost.

TIP. If watching, stand UPWIND of the man with the sucky pipe.

You still need a basic manifold to connect the pipes and let you ballance the flows. Arguably you can save the cost of actuators to turn on individual zones. And arguably you could dispense with the blending valve to set the temperature. Mine won't reliably turn down low enough so I just rely on setting the water temperature delivered from the ASHP.

But you are connected, why will they be coming back? You could always contact them, and say you installed it exactly to their design. Now your stop tap is leaking so can they please come and shut off your water while you replace it. Please post their reply.

Then I would go with the squeeze tool. BUT first buy one of these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/atplas-boudary-water-meter-box-25mm-telesscopic-more-than-ono-07712477650/153732276868?hash=item23cb286284:g:gK0AAOSwq~BdzDYx Then dig a hole big enough to squeeze the pipe, cut it, and insert the boundary box before unsqueezing it. Then you will have the outside stop tap you crave. That's a 25mm MDPE push fit connector each side. Don't forget the inserts. I actually have three of these, one feeds my outside standpipe, one feeds the static caravan and one feeds the house. Upstream of those at the plot boundary I have the very similar (different make) one supplied by Scottish Water. So I have two places outside I can shut off the water. To anyone reading this, if you also have a water company insane enough not to supply one of these as standard, then go and buy one and fit it before you get connected.

I am now confused. What is this for then? Is that not your outside underground meter and stop tap? If no outside stop tap, how did they connect your tail? Did they fit a stop tap where they made the connection? Go on humour me and have a look.

Are you SURE you don't have an outside underground stop tap, what we know up here as a Toby? Were you not seeking a key for one the other day or did I imagine that?