ProDave

Hi and welcome to the fourm. Sounds like an interesting project and you will get plenty of help and advice here I am sure. I would definitely fit triple glazing (I just did) and choosing the correct type of wall insulation will make a big difference to soundproofing.

Brown and blue are L an N to the motor to activate the valve. Green / yellow is earth. Orange and grey is the contacts of a microswitch that closes when the valve is open. Used for feedback or to turn a pump on in a typical heating set up. If you have no use for them, ignore them.

Yes but what is the qualifying length of time before you can claim lawful use?

2 port or 3 port valves? Very different wiring depending on the answer to that.

Has your neighbour actually formally applied for a certificate of lawful development? If not he should do so immediately without further communication to the council. There appears the be a nasty clause that you can't apply for a certificate once enforcement action is in place? What Re council tax. If it is a holiday rental, I believe business rates may apply not council tax? If it is let to someone on a longer term then it will be council tax. The same would apply if (as we are) you bought your own static caravan and sited it on it's own plot. It should be put in Band A for council tax. From your perspective, if your neighbour gets that application in ASAP then they won't generally take enforcement action or evict you while that is being processed. It does indeed sound like your neighbour does not currently have PP for residential use of the 'van. We will be in the same position once our house is complete as we have the planning condition that residential use of the 'van will cease upon completion of the house. That was a compromise to allow our 'van to remain and become a studio and workshop, and be treated as a garden building. What " full approval from local council" did he have 14 years ago? it sounds like it was like ours, not for residential use?

I think it's only the big 6. I had to sign up with SSE on the standard tariff to get the meter then transferred to ebico. I was on that zero standing charge contract for nearly 2 years.

Re a pre owned house that does not meet expectations. This has always been my philosophy. When buying a house it is important to get the things you can't change correct, like location, access (meaning for off road parking etc) views etc. Once you find the right location, it is of secondary importance if the house is right, because if it is not, you can change it. No point buying the perfect house and then complaining there is no off road parking, no view, the garden faces north and never gets any sun, because you cannot change those things.

That is strange re Scottish Water and Road crossings. All our services had to cross a single track road. I got a price for a road crossing from an independant contractor, most expensive. Then I got a price from SSE for the road crossing, a little cheaper. Then I got Scottish Water to quote and they were by far the cheapest for the road crossing. So we got the water connected first with SW (or rather their appointed sub contractor) making the road crossing. Before, or rather as it was being filled we laid in ducts for electricity and telecoms then they closed up the road and resurfaced the road. So definitely go back to SW and ask for an "all works" quote. The road crossing added £1000 to the water connection bill (which was similar to yours) but everyone else wanted nearly twice that for the road crossing. It took 2 guys with a mini digger and a concrete breaker half a day for the road crossing so £1000 is still plenty for that. No road closure order or traffic lights needed, just a steel plate they could slide over the trench when someone wanted to pass.

Do NOT use a DPC on a garden wall. On the occasions I have seen a brick garden wall blow over in a storm, it always topples at the DPC which created a weak bond to the brick. Probably not an issue with ICF a you would be filling it?

And THEN make sure the builder puts them in the right way round. A house I wired last year, 2 steels were both put in backwards, meaning the nice row of holes opened up into a full height void space where they gave access to nothing, and there was only one hole where it was of any use. They had to get the steel guys back on site to cur some more holes.

Don't mark with a sharpie on plasterboard. You WILL curse when you try to paint over it. (updated, Ian )

The rain water harvesting is interesting in the context of comparing it to Australia. Rural properties there routinely get all their water from rain, and store it in huge above ground tanks. My In Law's place in Queensland collects water from the roof of the house and the roof of a big barn, stored in 4 large above ground tanks. They can select with valves which tank to draw from to feed the house. About the only criterea is the tanks are light proof. They prefer using the water from the two corrugated steel tanks as these have been encases with a concrete skin so deliver much cooler water than the other tanks. All the time I was there I never got ill, the water tasted nice and it was clear. In the dry season if they run short on water, they buy in a tanker of water to refill one of the tanks. I suspect the reason it woks there is the weather pattern. They have a wet season where it rains a lot and I suspect they collect most of their water in a short period. I don't know if they have a system of letting the initial rainfall just run off to clean the roof before collecting it, but it would make sense if they do. Another factor is they have moistly tin roofs, so they probably wash clean and then deliver fresh water a lot quicker than a typical moss covered concrete tiled British roof would.

Only a few weeks ago, Howdens were offering a single fan oven for £120 and a non fan oven even cheaper. I would be asking them first what deals they have.

I really can't see you "using" your rainwater to flush the loo is going to make much of a dent in how much has to be disposed of. If your land can't absorb it in some form of soakaway, then I can only assume before the house was built, you had standing water sitting as a pond on your plot?

You seem to be offered a package for under £5K When I looked at getting an architect to design our last house (note I only wanted a drawing package not a project management package) I got quotes north of £20K. I didn't use an architect, but if one had offered a price close to £5K I would have.

So if it has no electricity, what is that cable running down the front wall to the left of the upstairs window? And is that a PIR light?

£10K for strip foundations. Obviously does not include the suspended timber floor, or the insulation that went into the timber floor and does not include UFH or any drainage work. My cost is artificially low because I had my own digger at the time so I did all the digging and earth shifting. I think what I am saying is your price does not look too bad.

Why did it take 7 drain tests? Surely for the small cost, a self builder would buy a drain pressure test kit. Test it as you go along. Then when it's finished, test it, and when you are sure it holds pressure, call BC to witness the test. Job done.

I don't know why it is called that. Unless you have a thermostatic valve, then you in fact have the same valve at each end of the radiator. https://www.screwfix.com/p/chrome-angled-radiator-valve/33920 They normally come with 2 different caps. One turns the valve stem when you turn it. The other is just a cover and cannot adjust the valve. Normally you adjust this one to balance the flow between the different radiators. Once set you put the cover on so it can't be adjusted so I guess it's locked and shielded?

Isn''t your "problem" the leaking radiator lockshield valve? Isn't that what you are looking to replace?

I still remember the pain and worry. BC rejected our drainage scheme and for a few worrying weeks no acceptable drainage scheme = no building warrant = no house. The plus points of the Scottish system is you have to have everything detailed, so once you have a building warrant, as long as you build what is on the drawings it will be signed off.

From here http://www.rationel.co.uk/energy/5-energy-guidelines/ And from here http://www.rationel.co.uk/windows-doors/product-series/rationel-auraauraplus/

When I was buying the windows, nobody, and I mean not one of the window suppliers mentioned anything other than the Uw and Ug values. Clearly I need more information from the suppliers when I buy the windows for the sun room and need to ask more questions. So I still want a good Ug value but a "poor"G value then. I really don't think summer overheating will be an issue. We have these things called trees that grow leaves ans shade us in the summer. It is only now the leaves are falling that we can hope for enough sun to get some siolar gain. The exception is the West facing windows but even there, stand in front of a window on a sunny day and you feel little heat.

Oh. I undo mine and drain it every winter. Most times in the spring I remember where I put it.

Mine has little bleed screw on the bottom to empty the water stuck in the NRV bit.