ProDave

It would be the noise of a fixed speed one that bothers me. I would rather have an inverter driven one ticking over near silently for a long time, rather than a fixed speed one running at full chat for bursts.

How on earth did you get that in there? the only way I can see is slot it in when only half the roof trusses were on?

I would really be surprised if the trusses are that tightly designed that these holes have compromosed them too much and they need replacing. Lets hope they either agree it's okay, or agree an insitu repair like a strengthening plate.

That really cheap one was just after the savage cut in FIT so probably just someone dumping stock. I have not seen anything so cheap since.

I would say the thermostat is brown bread. The mains is probably only there for ignition. You can probably get a spare but knowing caravan stuff it will be hard to find and expensive. (second only in obscurity and cost to marine stuff)

The first question is has building conrtrol signed this off yet? If not then if they haven't done so already, they will usually want to witness a drain pressure test. the answer to that question has a big bearing on what you do next. It looks like they were running out of depth. Obviously the "end" point of the drain run is fixed at what it is, and drains have to be laid to a minimum fall. So the furthest end is breaking out of the ground. Not in itself a problem if you still have the landscaping to do and will be covering it. Just raising the ground level up to the grid of the hopper should be enough.

I can see a great deal of potential there. AND a great deal of hard work if doing it manually yourself. I would start with the raised deck area built of timber. At least that quickly gives you somewhere nice to sit and survey the carnage. There is no easy way to landscaping the "lawn" if you want to retain the soil you have, it's a case of pick out the rubble and rubbish then level the soil. Having the deck and then steps down should allow you to get a more level lawn. What to do with all that rubble? Well on the basis you may one day need it when you do the drive etc, put it under the raised deck. And yes that is a serious suggestion, it costs nothing, it's out of the way and accessible should you want it. Obviously fit a side panel to the deck to hide it, but one that can be removed. Other stuff that's clearly rubbish and no good for hardcore even then get a skip or take it to the tip. MOT1 is good stuff for driveways, plenty of people here put that down then never do anything more. To restore a decent lawn, spray the whole lot with something like Gallup 360 (I borrowed a backpack sprayer) which will kill everything without poisoning the ground, then level it and re seed.

While you are in communication with your truss maker, I would also enquire is it okay to drill holes in line with the correct guidance given above or is that a no no. Make sure the electricians and the plumber know the results of their findings.

Yes I admit, not what everyone wants. One of my hobbies is ham radio. always in the past I have had my ham radio aerials attached to the house in some form. But now I am building a wooden house clad in wood fibre with no real means of fixing great sturdy T & K brackets for an aerial pole. So time for something completely different, something I have wanted for a long time, but never managed to find one cheap enough. A trailer mounted wind up telescopic lattice mast: Yes it's only a baby one. Three 10ft sections which when fully extended as in the picture, will give an aerial height of at least 30ft, more if I choose to have less of the top mast section inside the top tower section. It came from a good friend of mine just up the road. It was originally a lighting tower and had a generator bolted on the A frame. My friend bought a job lot of 3 of them, he only wanted the generators so he then sold the bare towers. This was the last one of the 3. It's not in bad condition. The steel ropes that wind the mast up need replacing as they are well rusty, and a few bits, mainly the jack legs need cleaning and re painting, but the rest of it is in pretty good condition, even the galvanising is good in most places, not bad since it was made in 1989. It's going to get parked somewhere behind the static caravan eventually and the rear bedroom of the 'van will probably become my "radio shack" I had some fun and games to get it here. The tyres were completely rotten. It took a well fitting spanner, a lot of WD40 and a long pole to get them undone. 2 replacement tyres from freecycle, old but legal tread, and my friendly garage mechanic swapped them over free of charge. At some point someone changed it over to a pin hitch and in doing so didn't re connect the trailer brakes, and the mudguards have gone AWOL but that doesn't bother me as I don't intend towing it on the road again.

I would do it personally but of course that is not official advice.

I think the original link got corrupted. I just copied and pasted the item number. Try this link http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Delonghi-AWR-MTD-0011-Heat-Pump-/272209537849?hash=item3f60f3eb39:g:ESIAAOSwbwlXDP1I

That would suit me fine I am sure, but it's too early in my project. So do I buy it now, or take the gamble that in a year or whatever when I really need it that I will be able to find another at that price?

What's missing from that drawing above is that an attic truss will also be in tension to stop the roof spreading apart, perhaps that's why they are more critical? I think the only solution is to get a structural engioneer to either sign it off as acceptable, or if he feels it has compromosed the joists he will recommend remedial action like sistering another joist alongside them. Best also discuss with him what the plumbers can and cannot do befiore they start. They will need bigger holes and more likely notches in the joists rather than holes through them. If they need large holes e.g. for waste pipes they will need a properly engineered solution which may involve a steel plate. It might be advisable to stop the work until you have a definitive answer.

Well the water flow from the boiler to the tank and UFH manifold will have to be pumped, so put the pump(s) in the boilerhouse. We certainly don't hear any noise from the boiler at the tank or UFH manifolds, but remember each manifold will have its own pump. I very nearly put one of the UFH manifolds in a bedroom wardrobe (as it was nice and central) until I realised it had its own pump, then I said no way, it's going in the airing cupboard in the bathroom (less central but I don't care about pump noise there)

The NHBC guidelines for drilling joists say a hole shal be on the centreline of the joist, in a zone between 0.25 and 0.4 of it's span, and maximum diameter of each hole 0.25 times the joist depth. I suspect those are too close to then end of the span (i.e les than 0.25 span from the end) but otherwise I would not get worried personally about those small holes. Where else did you expect them to run the cables? You wait until the plumber arrives next.

Why are attic trusses any different to any other floor joist? For normal floor joists there are set guidelines where you can drill them and where you can notch them and what size holes or notches. I recall BC inspecting our last house and commenting now neat the notches in the joists were for the run of pipes to the boiler.

My boat (fibrglass) has a "flange" joint where the hull moulding joins the deck moulding. A U shaped rubber fender strip goes over this to create a rubbing strake. It's fitted by a combination of just stretching it over all round the boat and adhesive to hold it there. The boat used to live in a tidal harbour tied up to the harbour wall and what happened was the continual movement between the boat and wall (even with fenders) causes the rubber strip to unstick and then one stormy night pull off exposing the raw fibreglass edge, which was not kind to fenders. Re fixing it with Stixall and it's not come off again.

I don't see a problem with a long run between boiler and UFH manifiold or HW tank. With those you are not concerned with speed of response. The critical thing is short runs from HW tank to hot taps, unless you are planning a hot water circulation system.

I think SSE put the same 100A fuse in every supply. Although have a "12KVA" supply, it has a 100A fuse like every other house.

I was going to say Store 2 should be the boilerhouse & plant room. Certainly that would be a better place for the hot water tank.

Say YES to an earth terminal. you can always add your own earth (and indeed must for a static caravan) if you want to.

So who amongst us is going to buy a fork lift truck?

I have come across the rules re distance to overhead lines. I think it varies from DNO to DNO, but up here (SSE) you start getting restrictions if you are within 9 metres of overhead lines (which we are) but when you look at it in more detail building within 6 metres of an overhead line is okay but between 6 and 9 metres you have to be aware of the risks re scaffold and diggers etc. At 3 metres I am sure they will have to do something either move them, underground them or insulate them. A 3 phase supply shouldn't usually cost much more than single phase, that's if 3 phase is available. Where I am we are on a single phase branch and it's aboput a mile to the 3 phase network so if we wanted 3 phase the cost would be astronomical.

It's a 2 man job really because to get started, one person needs to hold an upright in place while the second operson attaches the next upright to it with a transom or ledger. It's not until you have 3 uprights joined together that it is self standing. Once you get to a basic section of 4 uprights self standing, then one person can build it up from there. I have cheated in the past by starting in a corner leaning the upright against something to get started single handed but it's a bit of a faff. Also once you get abover ther first lift is is a LOT easier with 2 people to pass the bits up

I have given up even trying to think of a schedule. I sometimes think "how long is a piece of string" and then realsie I have the whole damn ball of string.....