ProDave

Originally the design was for the OSB joints to be taped and the OSB to be the airtight layer, but I decided a proper air tight membrane was better. Some of the OSB did get taped first before I made that decision but I consder that a waste of tape.

Mine is between the OSB and the batten that forms the service void.

Check it's weight. If less than 200Kg per square metre, buy some of these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EX-DEMO-Versadock-Low-Profile-Floating-Pontoon-2m-x-1-5m-VERSADOCK-APPROVED/292409877779?hash=item4414fca513:g:aIcAAOSwxKBZisXi Do you need PP to have a cabin / houseboat floating on your lake?

Hi and welcome to the forum. It sounds like an interesting project, probably best not to divulge the exact location until you have secured it, if not done so already.

If you go to one of the established TF suppliers, chances are they will do the building warrant submission for a very reasonable price. If you are happy with a "standard" timber frame construction that may well be the best approach to this. We wanted something a bit better and none of the standard TF companies would do anything other than their standard make up, one even refused to talk to us. So we employed an archtectural technician and structural engineer to design it all and then got a local firm of builders to build it. Building control are a whole lot easier to deal with than planning. If they encounter an issue they will talk to you and work out a resolution, they will not normally just reject it. They will hapily give you a list of items that need to be altered and you just work at it until that list all gets ticked off. You will need to know the heating system for the design SAP assesment but you can change it later as long as the as built SAP is still a pass. If you make too many changes as you build it, then BC may want an amended "as built" set of drawings at the end.

My wood shed at the old house has those (from B&Q perhaps theirs are better?) and after nearly 10 years they are still fine (outlived the roof felt on the other shed) with no sag. Supported horizontally every 2ft.

Ah rack and pinion or lead screw?

Electric or pneumatic actuator?

I would never ever ever use "roofing felt" for a shed roof again. Miserable product with a very short life before it starts leaking. Corrugated bitumen impregnated solid panels is my choice of shed roof now.

As I suspected, it was built to the portable building / caravan spec so would have been exempt from building regs. In that case it should be possible to separate the 2 halves and move it again. You might even be able to sell it, so I am sure you could give it away. Take lots of photo's and put it here in the market place and on somewhere like Gumtree It is in effect a "twin unit" mobile home, but quite possibly built better than most static caravans. It would make someone a good temporary home while building if nothing else. How far are you from @Nickfromwales ? Crane hire and 2 low loaders. Worth getting a quote? Would a large hiab lift each half? have you looked underneath? are you sure it's not on 2 mobile home chassis with wheels?

Does it HAVE to go? It looks too good. I would be trying to retain that and build on a different part. It would make a smashing workshop / shed / man cave, plus temporary accommodation while you build. I had the offer of something similar, but I had nowhere to put it and the condition for having it free was I would have had to remove it. How was it built? is there a chance it was a sectional prefab? in which case it might be possible to remove in sections with a crane and low loader.

The usual sequence is: You peg out the house footprint on the ground "That looks tiny, make it bigger" You dig the foundations and lay the dwarf walls "That looks tiny, make it bigger" The timber frame goes up "Oooh it is quite big isn't it.

Reasonable yes for 10 man days, but avoidable for a DIY install, so still a premium you have to pay to get the FIT

Have a look at compriband expanding tape. Now is the perfect time to install it, while it is cold (keep the roll somewhere cold until you need to use it) In this cold weather it takes a long time to expand, so plenty of time to unroll it and slide it into the gap then it will gradually expand to fill the gap.

My 2 pence worth. This thread highlights, if you want it done properly, do it yourself. At least you would have got the gap you wanted. Having said that, the unit is fixed to the wall with 2 (or more) brackets, so I very much doubt it's doing much more than touching those pipes, and not putting the full weight of the unit on the pipes.

I'm off to start the CPL (Caravan Protection League)

The big issue with dot and dab is the risk of creating a "plasterboard tent" with the top of the gap open to the cold roof space. There have been plenty of thermal image pictures posted before about this. If you are going to dot and dab, then parge coat the walls first to seal any air leaks and then pay attention to seal any gaps along the to edge to the roof space. You could consider the modern method of making a service void. Screw 50mm by 25mm battens vertically to the wall and fix the plasterboard to those. It really makes running services easier. Use 50mm deep battens where pipework will run. Again seal the top to the loft space. A service void avoids the need to chase the walls for cabling and socket boxes and makes future alterations a lot easier. Whatever you do, get the plasterboard skimmed for a better finish rather than just tape and fill the joints.

I presume you bought it with the intention of extending it so agreed to the uplift clause and expected to pay the uplift? What matters is the wording of what you actually signed nor some previous draft copy.

Hi and welcome to the forum. That looks fantastic and all self done, even better. Get those questions rolling.....

But my point is why do they need proof of ownership for a transfer? That was already proved at the setup of the FIT account. The long running saga I was reading about, the new owner was arguing ownership transfered to him as "fixtures and fittings" when he bought the house, but the FIT did not accept that.

Speaking as a fellow caravan dweller in this cold winter, I would say the best thing we did was fit a wood burning stove in it. It has been running continuously all November and January so far. Having enough free firewood obviously helps that situation and we put coal on it overnight so it stays in for the night (usually) That on it's own mostly keeps the caravan warm enough and we use electric convector heaters in the bedrooms overnight. Electricity bill running at about £80 per month. LPG should not freeze. You are using Propane aren't you, not Butane (which will not off gas much below 0) Upon installing the 'van I added more insulation to the pipes, insulated under the floor and panelled in the gap between the 'van and the ground. Nothing has frozen in this cold Highland winter, not even when we went away over the Xmas / new year break and left it to it's own. Re Windows, have you tried Rationell? For me they were the cheapest of the quality window suppliers and I am very happy with them.

Well done I can never understand why this should have been so difficult. You wanted a replacement dwelling so that should be straightforward, not as though you are trying to get permission for green belt land in a national park......

I would not rate scaffold boards as being durable enough for outside decking without decent timber treatment, having suffered several rotten boards with my Kwikstage. The best I could find was 50 boards for £350 so £7 per board for sound but used boards.

One thing I have observed. A "normal" build where the frame goes up, the services go in and the plasterboard goes on, as quick as possible, seems much more prone to issues like this as the frame settles. Our frame has been standing for 2 years now The first plasterboard went on last year and then a while later the plaster. It is my perception that the frame has done most of the settling it is likely to do now, so cracks are less likely. There are advantages to being slow.

I was reading on another forum of someone trying very hard to transfer a FIT contract to the new owner of the house, and it had stalled because the FIT provider was not satisfied about "proof of ownership" of the panels. That is one thing on the original application, but you would have thought there would have been a simpler transfer process? Do you think he has given up trying? or just ignorant if the FIT and not ever bothered?