ProDave

A manhole does not exist without pipes connecting to it. So there will be some kind of drain, and these days it is normal to divert the drain rather than build over it. So first work out where the drain runs, and who owns it. Come back with photographs and sketches of your findings.

Get a quote for the diversion. That is the only way you will know. High water table does not always mean piles. Our water table here is high in winter, but normal strip foundations about 1.5 metres deep are fine. You just need to get through the soft organic top soil into something solid. A SE witnessed a number of test pits dug down to about 2 metres and confirmed all was well. Our previous house nearby was the same except it needed to be a little deeper as that plot the ground had been made up a bit. The most cost effective build shape is a square box, not an L shape. If you could mirror your L diagonally so the back of the house was a straight line and the notched out L was at the corner where the sewer was you might be able to avoid the diversion. And moving it back on the plot just a bit would also help. I can't see planning objecting as the houses to the north (assuming north up) are set well back so I can't see that as a problem. Finding the exact location of the sewer will answer is it possible to design around it and avoid the diversion or not. That would be my priority.

We have a Telford 300 litre heat pump UVC. It was only last year I built the airing cupboard around it (it's in the corner of the small bedroom to give optimum short hot pipe runs) so now it is in an enclosed small space. I had expected that airing cupboard to be a real hot house, but it is only a few degrees hotter than the room it is partitioned off from. That is a testament to how little heat it loses, mostly down to all the pipework being well lagged as already mentioned, and storing water at 48 degrees.

This just shows my pet hate with wood. Wood just wants to warp. The quicker you can get it from the merchant, cut and made into what you want and screwed together tight to stop it warping the better.

Best upgrade you could do is an unvented cylinder which generally are better insulated than the simple spray foam vented sort, and one with proper horizontally mounted immersion heaters usually one at the bottom and one mid way up. The top entry immersion heaters are nothing but trouble.

If the site entrance is where the Heras fence is at the right of the last picture, then surely you would want a lot of it to remain as a site road? If not start breaking it furthest from the entrance and you have the "concrete road" there to push the first batch of rubble to the entrance with the diggers dozer blade. Then keep working your way to the entrance. Not the larger diggers might not have a dozer blade, something to check. I moved about 100 tons of soil around my site just pushing it with the dozer blade then digging it into a nice pile at the destination.

I have just completed a multi year battle with a window supplier for a faulty pane. Just like you, their initial response was "send a photo" and like you although it was plain to see with the naked eye I could not get it on a photo. They would not budge on the photo requirement. Ieft it just over a year and contacted the supplier again, but not wanting to enter the same silly send a photo lark, I said I have a window pane that I think might need replacing can you send someone to advise. I carefully did not say which window and what i thought was wrong. No doubt thinking they were going to get a sale, they sent someone. As soon as he saw it he said "you want that replacing because of the fogging between the panes." I then wrote to the supplier telling them one of their surveyers had pointe out the problem and seen for himself what the problem was I expect a replacement glass unit under warranty. It was fitted last week.

I think there is another loophole, only general purpose sockets have to comply with minimum and maximum heights and being accessible. So if you have a desire to have a socket outside those limits, it is okay for a special purpose. That is what allows high up sockets for a wall mounted tv for instance. If your BC gets awkward stick a label on it to say "tv only" for example.

your solar will not "need" anything like 100A. your 60A connection will be fine. It is only when you get to wanting 2 EV chargers or any other big loads like multiple electric showers that it will be an issue. If you want a new cable, start by examining every mm of the existing one looking for signs of cracking or other damage. If you can find anything that might be "dangerous" it will be replaced free of charge.

Nearly 20 years ago I wanted a mixer. There was an old one in the garden where I was doing some work. So I asked if he wanted to sell it. His answer was no, but you can borrow it. So I did. When I had done my job I phoned him to arrange a time to take it back. "Oh I don't want it back" was his answer. Last time I used it, last year, I find it is on it's last legs, it runs but the motor overheats. I got by running if from my big Variac on a reduced voltage and only mixing half a load, it would then run long enough, just before the thermal trip popped. Trouble is the rest of it is so rusty it's probably not even worth seeking a replacement motor unless that is also free.

You are NOT going to get an island in a 3.3m wide kitchen. Simple maths, 3300 - 1200 (worktop each side) leaves 2100mm gao, Even a thin 1M island would give you only 550mm gap each side. I don't know what english BR's say but that would not be allowed in Scotland. I would look at the overall layout a bit more. Although a single door between kitchen and WC is now allowed, I would not want a wc in the corner ofmy kitchen like that.

How much does the thermal bridge of the fixing bother you? For my timber frame hose with 100mm wood fibre cladding, I drilled a 1" hole through the wood fibre, stopping when it reached the timber behind it. nserted a 120mm aluminium tube as a spacer, well sealed as it was inserted with Sikaflex. Then a very long coach bolt through what I was fixing (balcony) through the spacer and into the wood. In my case it was not really a cantilevered load, the balcony stood on legs, it was just to fix it to the house. The 120mm spacers meant there was a gap between the balcony frame and the finished wall so it was not compressing the wood fibre. The small amount of thermal bridging using metal fittings never concerned me.

That long car port is 2 or possibly 3 cars worth of parking. If you convert the car port to accommodation and convert the garage, where will you park? If your alterations involve more bedrooms you will likely be required to add parking space not remove it. Start by objectively listing what you want to achieve i.e I need 2 more bedrooms and an extra living room for instance. At the moment you seem to be approaching it from "I can convert this and extend that to make more space but I am not really sure what I want to use it for"

Awkward doorstep converation https://www.facebook.com/reel/2510770949118445

Or you could have just waited a bit until it started to go off and then it would have been fine. And the tile spacers would stop them sliding anyway? Or forget tiles and use multipanel.

Having seen the plan, I would move the door to the utility room to the entrance hall then completely re jig that end of the kitchen. Having the utility room door in that corner of the kitchen really messes the layout up.

Initial proposal was a filter mound, the issue was although Vp was ok, in winter the water table was too high and a conventional soakaway would be flooded. That was rejected because to get the space we needed it would have been closer than 10M to the burn. Then a system using a Puraflow system (crates full of filter medium) which took up less space was proposed, but rejected for an unspecified reason. So SEPA said why not discharge to the burn. What always struck me as silly is they rejected a TP discharging into a filter mound less than 10 metres from the burn, so instead they allowed, even proposed the same TP discharging directly to the burn. Logic surely says why not discharge to a filter mound that finishes say 2M from the burn? Anyway happy with the result. but if only we had known from the start. The house was kept to one side of the plot to allow room for the filter mound. If we had known that discharge to the burn would be allowed, I would have moved the house over a couple of metrres but that would have meant a new planning application and all the delays and them probably a new building warrant, so we left it as it was.

SEPA definitely do not allow discharge to a watercourse as a matter of course. It was only after 2 different drainage proposals for land drainage had been rejected they said "why not discharge to the burn" But even that I had to measure flow rates in the middle of summer to calculate dilution before they said yes. Tense few weeks, no drainage = no building warrant.

We like the hob on the island right across from the sink. We have an Island cooker hood, more for show that practical use. Rounded corners on the island worktop, to matching rounded cupboards can be expensive.

I sold some, but kept enough to scaffold one wall of the house.

Is this build you are doing now in England or Scotland? you don't get to choose which set of regs you build to. Our previous house was 5 bedroom so I believe it had to be sized for 8 people and with the Vp we had it worked out at 88 square metres. It was indeed a big hole to dig, but we employed what turned out to be a very fast digger driver then who did it all with his 3CX. He was so quick driving that thing around I swear he got a wheelie out of it. He did it all in a day. And building control were not in in the slightest interested. They only wanted to inspect and pressure test the drain pipe runs. I don't think some people realise how big they can be. You often need more garden space for the soakaway than you do to actually build the house. And when you add the border requirements it becomes even more surprising how much space you need. I was very glad not to have to do that this time (discharge to our burn)

What is to the left of the picture? the obvious suggestion is extend the units under the window a little and have a tall unit just left of the window matching the fridge one, housing an oven and microwave.

Exactly the same for me. Yet often this forum advises against employing someone on an hourly rate and suggests a fixed price, often stating someone on an hourly rate will deliberately work slowly to make the job cost more. You won't get a good reputation and recommendations doing that. And if you have to quote fixed price, you have to allow for all the things that might make the job take longer and cost for that, making the job in most cases more expensive. I never ever had a complaint when the final bill was lower than the estimate.

No, but without breaking the crust it was not clear if the pump was correctly blowing bubbles in the contents, that's why I broke it, to check all was well.

If this is a lower maisonette then a roof leak would not directly affect you, it would have to be a massive leak really badly affecting the top unit before it got to you. What is above this bedroom, i.e. which room of the upper unit? Kitchen or bathroom by any chance? Actually if the room with the issue is where your green arrow is, that looks like a balcony above, so could well be a source of leaks or alternatively make that a very cold area of ceiling prone to condensation especially in a room not used or cared for.