ProDave

My gates are much less substantial and a lot thinner than that. I could make a similar thing for them if I have to make it.

The one I linked to is the best looking "drop bolt" for my need but far from perfect without adaptation.

Can't find anything on HIS or Macgregors website, have not yet visited in person.

And as usual I can't find what I want because I do not know the correct name for it. I want to erect a pair of timber gates. I am looking for a bolt to join them together when closed. A normal short bolt is no good because the bolt only travels a short distance so does not "lock" the gates together, they would rattle in the wind. What I want is a bolt with a long travel and in particular it would slide into a tube or multiple fixings on the other gate so when closes the gates would be held rigidly in line. the nearest I have found is this https://www.screwfix.com/p/smith-locke-door-bolt-galvanised-458mm/8903x That is not what I really want but could form the starting point for some adaptions, if I had the bolt with the two fixings it slides in, and then 2 more identical fixings to go on the other gate it would do what I want. But before I buy something and butcher it, I feel the thing I want must be available, if only I knew the proper name to search for.

P.S I don't like your proposed new layout, it would force the living room into being a through route corridor and be tedious to keep going round through that to get to the stairs. It flows much better as it is. Utility is best left where it is as far from the living room as possible. You don't want a washing machine that close unless you don't mind noise. From my point of view it would devalue the house and make it less appealing to me, but others may differ.

I have never seen a stud wall built at 900mm spacing. That is extreme penny pinching and makes life awkward for the trades as already mentioned. What plasterboard was on that wall? Standard 12.5mm is surely not intended for a 900mm span is it?

Is this the SAME chimney already being talked about in your damp patch in the ceiling thread or a different one?

Another thought. Joist directions (and this is speculation) I would expect the joists above the living room to span side to side of the house as that is the shorter span. But the joists above the kitchen / diner would be a long span doing that, so could that wall you are wanting to alter be supporting those joists and they are running front to back? I would start by dropping the downlighters in the kitchen and having a look to see if you can determine joist direction in the kitchen / diner area.

Is the house detached or joined? The OSB cladding could be because the wall is rated as a racking wall, to resist wind pressure on the side wall (assuming it is detached)

How can the bubble on a Megaglow disintegrate? It is just a dome in the top of the cylinder above the waterline so as you fill the cylinder with water air is trapped in that bubble and compresses to take up expansion. It can lose the air bubble over time, in which case you follow the procedure to drain the cylinder and re fill it. No need to fit a separate EV. Since you have not regenerated the internal bubble have you checked your external EV has not failed? is still retaining air pressure in the bladder etc?

Check the tundish to see if there is any discharge. It sounds like one of the relief valves opening or closing. The megaflow tanks have an internal "bubble" for expansion and there is a procedure to regenerate the expansion bubble which would be my first thing to try.

As above. I would not have even mentioned previous animal waste. I would just have mentioned previous rainwater drainage that has proved satisfactory.

Are you suggesting to lay MOT in the trench, then pour concrete then build the wall? That is not normal. Normal is concrete in the trench blocks straight onto that. It would be cheaper to buy a few more wheelbarrows and get some mates or paid labourers to barrow it round. Preparation of the rout is important to avoid steps or other obstructions.

Oh dear. Why on earth would they cut continuous long beams? As others have said. Halt any more work and any more payments and get BCO and if necessary a SE to look at what has been done. In an ideal world it would all be re done, but now it has been built up on top of those joists the easiest solution is likely to be to get a SE to specify exactly what to do to make the present work safe and stable, and then watch them like a hawk to ensure they do that exactly, even things like using the screws or nails that the SE specifies, not what happens to be in the back of the van. P.S our joists also have more sections of I beam at mid span acting as noggins as well as those in my photograph above the bearing points.

I would be very surprised if the tanks are plastic. Most likely brick or concrete. Lift the lids and see.

This is how ours were done Short sections of I beam came with the kit to go in between the main ibeams where they rested on a supporting wall. They did not fill in the web, but that might be because our beams came made up as 11 metre long beams to span the entire length of the house resting on supporting walls on the way, so no joint between separate ibeams as you have in your case.

I did the same with our airing cupboard for a similar reason, but it was a pair of sliding doors so a sliding door closing up onto a wall with no door frame. It looks fine. If you are not happy with the look, an alternative is make that side of the door liner separate to the rest and retained with just a few screws so you could easily remove that side door liner.

Check the planning history. You might find the existing shed has PP

So basically they have not fitted the door and door liner?

There is something more fundamentally wrong here. That does NOT look like a load bearing wall, there should be a double header. Anyone else care to confirm that or tell me it is okay?

What does your building control inspector say? If (s)he says it is wrong, the builder might stand up and take notice.

What a static caravan brings to the party is a way to get over the permitted development eaves and ridge height limit. They have a different limit of internal ceiling no more than 3M high. And they are exempt from building regs where some large outbuildings might require that. They can also be very cheap in terms of £ per square metre. So there is merit in buying one and improving it.

Ditto for me. Except it was me with my rods that found the water main, not where it was mapped as being, when the Scottish Water subcontractors were about to give up and go home because they could not find it. someone that can do divining (that might even be you, go on try it) could follow the water pipe out of the garage to the well.

It's an optimistic name for the master bedroom.

This site is worthy of a look not necessarily to buy from them, but because they show a lot of different options. https://www.continal.co.uk/systems/suspended-floor We used the pug mix system, very cheap and easy, but make sure the joist are rated for the extra dead load.