ProDave

Is it necessary for the drawings to be perfect? Yes for things like foundations. but certainly on my build, a lot of the finer details are being worked out / improved upon as we actually build it.

At the start I dud a 2 metre test pit (for the structrual engineer to assess the ground) The water level varied from 1 metre down, to level with the ground.

How high is the water table? Here it's very high so only the first metre or less of the column would act as the soakaway, the rest would be a "well" So there would not me much surface area to do any good. It might be totally different if your water table is normally 10 metres down.

i used to live in a 1930's semi in Oxfordshire. While I did a lot of work to it, and extended it to double it's size, I didn't address the basic fundamental problems with the design like solid 9" walls. I guess if like most 1930's builds it is rendered on the outside, then external wall insulation and a new coat of render is probably the easiest way to tackle that part. Floor and roof are a lot easier to insulate. Probably best now to start topics in the relevant sections of the forum to discuss each aspect of the improvements you want to make. Oh and welcome to the forum.

Email today from Wickes We've got an extra 15% all tiles and flooring online including existing offers* to help you get your project done for less. Hurry offer ends on 2nd Jan 2017. Start planning your project today. From your Wickes team

If you really want British, try Tree Craft in Dornoch, not far from me. But I found them expensive and hard to deal with. Rationel were much cheaper and their distributor ADW were a lot easier to deal with. Shame as I would have liked to use the local manufacturer, but it just wasn't to be.

Look carefully where the opal difuser joins the back plastic back. There will be a slot somewhere, usually at least two, to insert a flat screwdriver and turn to pop the front off. Put a low energy lamp in. If it's got a filament lamp, chances are the wire is overheated and brittle now.

We have the same flue liners. I remember the bricklayer fiddling around a bit with some lintels to try and support the flue liners. Then he said "nah, that's not going to work" He then went outside and came back with one of those really thick 600 by 900 paving slabs. Cut a hole in it to match the flue liner, and put that on as a "roof" to the fireplace and for the flue liners to sit on.

Are you going to name the make of the windows?

Oh lordy. Sunday is looking even worse with the >50 mph winds Stretching further inland.50mph winds stretching a lot further inland This is unusual for Passage Weather. Usually when they forecast gales a few days out, as you get close the prediction reduces. Not this time. Today was definitely a lot windier than their prediction.

Already seen 40mph sustained and gusts to 60 mph today at Inverness airport. And this isn't "the storm" All my sheets of OSB are now inside the house where they can't go awol.

It's going to get a bit blowy over the Christmas weekend. Especially over West Scotland. If you are leaving your building site for the holiday, don't leave anything lying around that can blow away, as it WILL blow away. and make sure your buildings are secure. Passage Weather plot for Sunday

Six new flat pack house factories to be set up in the UK http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-38368185 There is more to this story than on that news item. On the 6 O Clock news today, the person they interviewed talked about 20,000 homes per year and a build cost of £500 per square metre. I wonder if this will just be mass production of standard designs for developers or if it will be of interest to self builders wanting a bespoke house? Either way, an interesting development.

As I thought. These "special offers", even when stacking multiple discount things together are still over priced. Today, Jewsons, 9mm OSB £7.05 per sheet plus vat = £8.84. Free delivery of course and there's no special offers or jumping through hoops. And that was not even a trade account deal, just cash.

One other detail worth considering, is where are the fixing screws? We have a similar window / door pair, and when my joiners fitted them, they removed the door catch plates and drilled the holes for the fixing screws behind them, so when screwed together, and the catch plates replaced, you don't see any fixings joining the door to the window. A friend has the same windows and the joiner just drilled a row of holes, so when the door is opened, you see the fixing screws.

A good example of this, is there were 2 planning applications in our road (one of them was mine of course) in the last 5 years with no particular conditions. A common theme to this road is we all have a burn running through our gardens. Now another house with a large garden has applied for permission to build and they have been asked for a flood risk assessment. But we were not. I can't see any obvious reason why their plot should have a different flood risk to ours.

Yes that's right, Scottish building regs demand a sarking board. It does make a far far better roof structure and even if I was building outwith Scotland I think I would do it.

Am I missing the point? I thought the idea was recessed accessories e.g behind a flat screen wall mounted tv. Light switches that you can wallpaper behind won't help.

That's a god point. A Scottish roof with sarking board is much more robust. an English roof with just the felt stretched across thin air between the rafters will not be as robust.

Nice idea but expensive for what it is. A cheaper alternative might just be put a floor socket box in the wall. That gives you a recessed plate for sockets etc. you probably don't need to bother fitting the "lid"

Zones and IP rating are only a requirement for rooms with a bath or shower (or swimming pool). You can in theory fit anything above a hob. Just use common sense. Likewise with height, as long as it's high enough not to bang your head.

It took me about 3 months to tile my roof over last winter, during which time a lot of snow fell on the roof and nothing came to grief. So as long as the felt is good there should be no worries. At least you will get a chance to find and fix any leaks in it before the final roof covering goes on.

That system is easy to install. Power to the inside and outside unit and a data cable between them. that's about it. The guys that set up the one I was involved with, didn't connect the "call for heat" from the ufh manifolds, which struck me as lazy, I am awaiting feedback from the owner how it is working and whether we need to address that or not. Just remind me, did you just buy the bits and install them, or is it part of a "package" including claiming the RHI?

All looking very good indeed. It's nice to see a quick build progressing compared to my snails pace 1 man effort. I particularly like what he's done with all the big stones, and I like you own personal "standing stone" very appropriate for the area.

TIP: the "high temperature solder" is lead free. Mostly just tin. I just reflow immediately with 60/40. that gets it melting easily with a low power iron. I have enough 60/40 to last me out, but TIP #2, CPC still sell 60/40 solder.