ProDave

Not this build but previous one, first self build 20 years ago. First house with UFH upstairs and down. Had planned bathroom layout (3 bathrooms) with normal rectangular 900mm shower trays and laid UFH pipes accordingly. I even drew on the floor boards where the UFH pipes were. But we decided 900 by 1200 shower trays would fit much better. Cutting the hole in the floor panel for the shower trap, yes of course in a different place than it would for a 900mm square tray, I suddenly wondered why there was a fountain of water coming out of the floor.

I had similar flow rate issues with my ASHP (different make and model) when first installed, and the only way I solved it was to buy and install an in line flow meter so I could see what flow rate was being achieved regardless of what the sensor said. In my case it was only an on off sensor (enough flow or not enough flow) and I needed a real reading to see what was going. on. I solved it by adding a second external pump to increase the flow rate above what the inbuilt pump could achieve. The fact you have an actual measure and it has been decreasing, suggests there is an actual problem. Which again is where an independant flow meter would help.

I don't know the law, but I would have expected the unresponsive owner would have sought legal advice. To remain silent may not be his best plan.

Are these new ones the same in all respects to the old ones apart from 2 vs 3 bolts? Or are the new ones also smaller section material in places?

You need to take this up with the bench supplier. The reason for the failure is not your concern, though you may want to enter dialogue with them to help them improve their product and understand why it failed. And if they were sold for domestic use they may reject any claim. Where they sold knowing they were for commercial use?

This puzzles me. The neighbour has an end of terrace house. You want to join on to his wall and insert another house making his a mid terrace house and in so doing devalue his house? And you just expect him to say yes with no compensation for the fact he will have more neighbour noise and a lower value house? Or if you can't seek agreement bully it through somehow? I don't know what the law actually says, but I do know I would not want to own a house where a house wall is on the boundary and so could be subject so such devaluation.

Pictures would help. but I think this is describing something I questioned. Below ground wall build up was done as "block on flat" as above, no cavity. I get that bit. But the bricklayer laid a course of blocks on flat, then a second row of blocks of flat exactly on top of the first ones, i.e. no bond. Then the next row was staggered creating a bond followed by another row exactly on top with no bond. So in other words the blocks were staggered / bonded every other row. Now I questioned this. It would have been no more difficult to bond every single row of block on flat and surely that would have been stronger? so why did he not do that? His reply was that is how he was taught to do it. So it is a question for bricklayers please, why not bond every single row of block on flat? EDIT here is a picture of what I am trying to describe, block on flat courses bonded every other row.

T&E in conduit is fine with the added advantage of no junction when going from outside to inside.

Just see how it goes with the sockets. Try unplugging anything that is currently plugged in, That will rule out a faulty item plugged in.

The basement will certainly have to be structurally formed as a basement and waterproofed. Others who have done a basement will have to comment if the insulation can be left until later. I see no reason it cannot be left as an empty basement with no details finished initially. Other money saving tips might be dirt cheap kitchen and rip it out and fit what you really want later. Outbuildings like garages and sheds can wait until later as can a lot of the landscaping.

We built the size of house we wanted. Previous house was 5 bedrooms that we ran as a B&B and we wanted to exit that business and have a normal 3 bedroom house. But we wanted ample sized rooms and we knew what rooms we wanted. Even so our 150 square metre "ordinary" house was not in the end very much smaller than the previous 5 bedroom house. Our key requirements were accommodation to suit our needs, and to be flexible, lower council tax, and lower heating costs than the old house. The site and available space on it led the basic shape and orientation of the house and which way was south and which way had the views (not the same) dictated a lot about the layout. Don't fall into the trap of building a massive house because you can. I wired a new build like that and when I went back some time later to do the garage, after the first winter, he was bitterly regretting building such a big house that he struggled to keep warm and cost a fortune in heating bills. Cost per square metre can be hugely influenced by careful purchasing and doing a lot yourself. e.g. a Howdens kitchen with a good worktop can be every bit as good as some posh German or Italian bespoke kitchen. But that leads into you can only ever have any 2 of the following : Good, Cheap, Quick. If you think you are going to be short on cash and might want to pause the build part way, one option our neighbour did was build a dormer bungalow but did not do the upstairs straight away. It was built with attic trusses so the basic structure was there from the start, but it was initially completed, signed off and occupied as a simple bungalow. It was some years later he then finished the upstairs and added the extra rooms.

Definitely separate the ring N from the landing light and make that connection safe in some form of junction box. Do that first and confirm the socket circuit no longer trips when you put the bulb in. then you have to find a N from the downstairs light circuit. A downstairs light fitting may be an easier place to find that if, it really depends on the house layout and construction and where is the easiest place to get a new cable down to from the landing light. It could even go back directly to the CU if that is easier.

Yes those are temporary supports holding up the back wall while they insert that big steel beam then it looks like they are going to knock out all or part of the back wall downstairs to join through into the extension. A structural engineer would normally specify that.

This is what annoys me about the attitude if this "electrician". HE should be checking things like that and he should have done so at least at the time of the board change if not before. His attitude of wanting to charge the customer £90 per hour to sort this out is making my blood boil. A quick check would be look at all the cables going into each rcbo, and if you see two of different thicknesses going into the same terminal, that would ring alarm bells. Lighting cables would normally be 1mm and socket cables 2.5mm, clearly visible as different sizes.

It's a tricky one. It has taken probably over 100 years for that end joist to rot out. A quick solution would just be replace that end joist having given the new joust lots of coats of wood preservative. you have solved all the easy problems on your own land. To do anything with that retaining wall is going to need cooperation with your neighbour and work on their land.

I thought the pink stuff was what goes in the flush water. The stuff you pre dose the holding tank with comes in green or blue, green being the less bad one. But it is years since I have bought any as it lasts so long. If you don't have drainage, you could always did a deep pit in an out of the way bit of your site and just pour it in there. Years ago that used to be standard practice on remote caravan sites, they filled it in at the end of the year and dug a new pit for next year.

Definitely sounds like he has borrowed the neutral from a socket circuit which is most unusual.

Buy the cheapest small touring caravan you can. It will have a toilet, a sink with running water and a water heater. You will need to fetch water to keep filling it's tank, but it will be far cheaper than hiring a portaloo and will give them somewhere dry to have a break etc.

So the hall light is switched from 2 different locations in the hall and the landing light is switched from ONE location in the hall and one switch upstairs? The issue I am sure will be in that switch with all the wires and tape. I am certain you will find it is taking L from the downstairs light and sending the 2 "strappers" (the 2 alternate switched L's) upstairs on a t&e. and upstairs, the landing light is getting it's N somewhere from the upstairs light circuit. That is the normal borrowed neutral scenario. And the solution is usually to take an extra N from the downstairs lighting circuit up to the landing light. BUT the fly in the ointment is you say it is a SOCKET circuit that trips when you put the landing light bulb in. Can you confirm that is really the case? Anyway if you want to test this theory, disconnect the N from the landing light and insulate the removed cable, then connect a temporary cable from the landing light N to the downstairs light N at the consumer unit.

Where is this third switch and which light does it control? the two posted above that appear to be the switches for the landing light?

That depends how competent you feel. At least you can point the electrician where to look if you want to stump up his fee to do it. It usually means rewiring the offending light, sometimes needing a new cable pulled through between the upstairs and downstairs light switches. If you want to have a go, post some pictures of upstairs and downstairs light switches with the fronts unscrewed so we can see the wiring, and the landing light fitting with it's cover unscrewed so we can see the wiring in that.

Do you want to tackle fixing this landing light fault yourself?

He has done a neat enough job of that board. So you have a "borrowed neutral" on the landing light circuit. The usual thing is the landing light get's it's L from the downstairs light circuit and it's N from the upstairs light circuit. But a socket circuit tripping suggests the original electrician was a bit more "inventive" with where he borrowed the neutral from. In any event some investigation and wiring alterations for the landing light circuit is needed. This will have been a pre existing fault, the only issue here is the electrician should have found this as part of his testing before the CU change. I think I would tell him to issue the certificate for what he has done, and find a different electrician to fix the landing light fault, one that is not going to charge £90 per hour.

There are several off there. Are they all tripping? Are they tripping individually or do 2 trip when you turn one thing on? Try and get a picture square on, and one with the cover removed. As it appears to all be "lights" that are tripping, I put my money on borrowed neutral (neutrals between one circuit and another connected)

Our cat flap enters into the sun room, which is an unheated room outside of the sealed envelope of the house. It lets the cat in to a relatively warm and dry place and we let her into the house through what is a good pair of external well sealed Rationel doors. One feature of an air tight house, is you can open one window or door without getting much if any through draught. So in practice but a sealing strip around the door from your utility room to the rest of the house, and you might find the fat flap does not swing wildly in the wind.