ProDave

Yes it is an approved system. It was designed and detailed on the construction drawings by a local Eco hose builder who use this system a lot and approved by the local Building control before we started. The render system is by Baumit.com. The wall make up is shown here (along with many other variations) http://www.ecomerchant.co.uk/walls/lime-plasters-renders-mortars-ancillaries/insulating-systems-ewi-iwi/steico-protect-system-wood-fibre-board-lime-render.html Click on the Technical info tab, and download the file. It shows options of timber frame, CLT and masonry walls. The only difference is we used Pavatex wood fibre board rather than Steico, and I didn't buy my stuff from Ecomerchant, instead I sourced it via the local firm who gave me a better price.

I should have made it clear mine is timber frame. The wood fibre cladding fixes direct to the timber frame with no cavity and the render goes onto the wood fibre board.

In Scotland, the cavity has to also be closed between first and second floor levels and therefore two more rows of vents installed above and below the fire stop. I decided early in the design that I didn't want to pay for a lot of blockwork that added almost nothing to the thermal performance of the house. That is why I went for the wood fibre cladding and then render, so that every bit of the wall make up adds to the insulation. It also has the benefit of a clean render finish with no "warts" (weep vent slot things) to spoil it.

Here's how I dealt with the ground level at the front of my house. I dug a trench and made a retaining wall of railway sleepers, just 3 sleepers high, topped off with a 4" fence post on it's side so the top edge on show is not as clunky as a sleeper.(and I wouldn't have had enough sleepers) The house side is then filled with stones to make a French Drain. The DPC is level with where the rendered wood fibre board stops, the course of blocks immediately below the DPC has air bricks so the stones are built up to just below the level of the air bricks. this French Drain will get continued along the side of the house where the ground is much lower.

Reading your blog and your "FFL" being 150mm lower than the ground level. We have a similar situation, not regards to FFL but regards to DPC level (strip foundations) that are some way below FFL. I have solved this by digging a trench around the front, making a little retaining wall out of railway sleepers, and filling the inside with rocks, to form a sort of French Drain that will go all along the front and down one side of the house. I have to go out just now but when I get back I will take a photo and post it here

This seems to vary with both time and location. In our case they are happy with the SWA cable coming straight into the house to the BT master socket, which in our case will go under the stairs where things like routers will go out of site and nicely in the centre of the house. In other places they seem to demand a junction box on the outside wall of the house.

The standard BT duct is "duct 56" which I guess means it's 56mm diameter. but I dodn't have any, the Open Reach surveyor only had small van so could not carry it. they told me I could make the 50 mile round trip to their depot to collect some free issue. Instead, I had a length of the identical but black ducting, that had been left outside for some considerable time and had gone grey, so I used that. It is only the bit under the road in duct. Being SWA cable the rest of is is direct burried in the ground.

Re fast fix boxes. They have a bad reputation in some places. Three things can go "wrong" with them. They can pull through the wall because the fixing lugs are too small, the fixing lugs are not held in position properly so when you try and screw an accessory on, the lug just pushes back out of the way, and lastly the screws can jamb and the nut spins in it's plastic moulding. The fact is, the design of a LOT of fast fix boxes leaves a lot to be desired. but there is a simple solution, just buy a decent make of fast fix box. I only ever use Appleby fast fix boxes and they have none of these problems.

"No evidence of original ground level? They could have taken a look on street view? There are no worries in our case. I submitted a site plan with existing levels and a site plan with proposed levels. I am pretty close to the proposed levels. Basically all I have done is taken a sloping site, and built up the downhill end of the site so it is now very much less of a slope (but still a slope) so more of a useable garden. The build up also minimises the height from floor level to the ground at the "back door" so fewer steps needed from that down to the garden. It has worked out well as I have already used most of the soil that was excavated for the foundations. any that doesn't get used up when we finish the final details later on, will simply get used to smooth out the ground on the other side of the burn, which is otherwise being left at the original level. So no muck away charges whatsoever for this job.

I can't recall what temperature we run the UFH but it's not particularly high. If you walk on the floor bare footed, you certainly don't think "gosh that's hot" but of course neither do you think it's cold. In fact about the only time you really notice the UFH is if you lift the rug in the living room and then you can feel the warmth that's been trapped under the rug. Likewise in the morning if you pick up a pile of clothes from the bedroom floor, the bottom of the pile feels warm.

This is definitely something to think about. Present house has surround sound system for tv, all free standing speakers (though the satellite speakers could be wall mounted) I don't like the theory of all the bass coming from one place, as technically it sounds wrong, but it does seem to work quite well. But for listening to music, I am sorry, nothing will get me to part with my pair of floor standing speakers. If you want small but good speakers, I have seen (heard) some good results from Bose speakers. I recall walking into a hi fi shop once thinking "that sounds good" and was amazed at just how small the speakers were. The price tag wasn't small though, and I know some people detest Bose. The "issue" for us is two living rooms, the open plan "familly room" and the snug living room. My inclination is to have the decent hi fi and big screen tv with surround sound in the snug, and an ordinary sized tv in the familly room, though it will want something better than the rubbish speakers built in. So I guess I will end up cabling both rooms for surround sound just in case.

It was probably a case of they had a surplus of Maple to get rid if, and they spun me a yarn then? But it still seems fine.

I think I am qualified to make a judgement. When building the present house, 13 years ago, we paid a man with a JCB to install our septic tank. It was in March, so the water table was quite high. He had dug the hole, and had the tank slung from the bucket of the JCB. He was just starting to lower it into the hole when "plop" a bit of the side of the hole fell in and deposited a big rock right in the middle where the tank was about to be placed. Without thinking, I put a ladder down the hole, climbed down and moved the rock. Even the JCB driver told me that was a very very silly thing to do, even though it would have meant him untying the tank and using the bucket to remove the rock, then slinging it and trying again. That's why in our ground I would never ever go into a hole that deep again. I would say you have to be pretty damn sure of your ground conditions before you can say it is "safe"

Yes each bit has been seeded as I have done it, which is why some parts are more green than others. The bit I finished today will be seeded when I get some more seed next week. Infinitely cheaper than turf and a lot easier. I am not after a perfectly manicured lawn just now, I just want the grass to get established before the weeds do. I hope it wil all get some growth before the winter sets in rather than spending the winter as bare earth.

When we had Open Reach survey our plot, they just gave me a drum of SWA phone cable and it was up to me to get it from our house across the road to where the telephone cable is. They will then connect it hen we want to go live. Total cost £nill. It worked out fine for us as we had the road up once and put in water, electricit and telephone cables all in one go.

I haven't repaired it yet, I have been using it very carefully. I needed to burn off some fuel so there is less than 20 litres left so I can drain and remove the tank to get the welding done.

I am sure most of you will think I am bonkers landscaping the plot of a house that's not yet completed outside, and barely started inside. In the last few weeks all the ground around the house has been leveled and final garden levels established. I have even started to grow some grass. It was completed today, here's one view of how it now looks: (the nice green lawn in the foreground is my neighbours front garden) There is more on my blog here http://ardross.altervista.org/Wilowburn/landscaping-part-1/ The motivation for doing this at this stage, is that is was something very cheap that I was able to do, and this now completes most of the jobs that require the digger, so just one more little job and that will be for sale.

Last time around, everyone advised us against using Oak with UFH. The one recommendation of a hardwood that was okay with UFH was Maple, and they would only warrant that in the narrow 90mm wide planks, no wider. So that is what we used ad 13 years later it's as good as new, no warping, no cracks, very little shrinkage.

It won't help but might be a comparison. I paid £350 for 50 good used Kwikstage planks (so 8ft long and 2" thick so they can span the whole 8ft without intermediate support) that's £7 per plank, so your £8.50 new sounds good. Transport is the killer, I collected them myself 25 at a time on my own trailer, they were only 5 miles away.

I have a friend using satellite broadband. The price goes up with the amount of data you use (no "unlimited" option.) He moans with two teenage daughters with ipads surgically attached they are paying about £80 per month. It would be a lot lower if you used less bandwidth. Even at £80 per month, that install cost is nearly 8 years worth of satellite broadband. Aren't Open Reach supposed to pay the first £3K of the install? so that should knock it down to £4.5K Is any of this work contestable like with water and electricity connections. Get a quote from an independent contractor to mole under the road and install a grey duct with a draw string (Open Reach should free issue the duct to you) and then get a quote from Open Reach to just come and pull a cable through that duct and connect it to the pole and your house.

Not just "interesting" but bloody dangerous if you ask me. With the ground we have, I suspect it would be more likely to cave in, and in any case there are so many rocks and stones in the ground the chances of driving the angle iron in that fare would be very slim.

A man with a number plate on his head? A man with a spade on his head?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/wadkin-Thicknesser-/282160625212?hash=item41b215763c:g:9UIAAOSwMgdXyy82 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WADKIN-BAO-S-12-X-7-415-v-3PHASE-SURFACE-PLANER-THICKNESSER-/401175895151?hash=item5d67f25c6f:g:908AAOSwV0RXvKif http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wadkin-Bursgreen-Planer-Thicknesser-12-X-7-Ex-College-3-Phase-895-00-vat-/262606525719?hash=item3d24919517:g:OKUAAOSwGtRXydTW this one is single phase http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Planer-thicknesser-/252527061087?hash=item3acbc9285f:g:BdEAAOSwdIFXzZGO The seller of thios one will also be selling the phase converter http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sedgwick-10-Planer-Thicknesser-/322247159516?hash=item4b076d6edc:g:XoUAAOSw9NdXq1Di

Slightly old news as I finished it about 2 weeks ago, but only just got around to writing it up on the blog. The house roof was finished some time ago, but it's the garage roof that has been waiting while I do more important things like cladding, rendering and drainage. So just to show the finished thing here are a couple of pics. There is more on my blog at http://ardross.altervista.org/Wilowburn/roofing-finally-finished/ After fitting something like 1800 tiles to this house, I have 34 tiles left over. I would say the roofing supplier that specified the quantities from the plans, got it about righrt.

Mine is anchored with about 6 tons of concrete. We have a seasonally high water table here, and I would not be the one volunteering to climb down into a deep soggy hole to bang some angle iron stakes into the side while hoping it doesn't collapse while I am down there.