saveasteading

We can't tell. What sort of issue concerns you? If, for example, it is damp and rot and insulation then an Architect or Building Surveyor is your best bet IFFFF the Architect is a doing person rather than of the arty persuasion. If walls are cracked and you fear the strength of the building then an Engineer is essential, and you'll end up with one anyway. Absolutely not. They will insist on seeing the building holistically because what you have reported on may be a symptom rather than the fundamental issue. Then you just have to be sure to check the rest of the house out too, if concerned. To me, as an Engineer, if I received that sort of enquiry it would seem exaggeratedly contractual, and I would prefer a simple enquiry in plain English. "I'm concerned about my 1910 house because it has cracks and damp....etc" Or phone. A professional will tell you if it isn't what they do or doesn't suit their business model. I suggest you agree initially to a site visit and preliminary inspection. a few £hundred. Only after that can the scope be discussed properly. But back to the start. Can you tell us any more about your concerns?

No offence was intended, and I, probably others too, are aware that a discussion, even when off course. may be looked at by many more people than we see. A tweak on the rudder can remind everyone of the original point. ai can sometimes be very wrong. It picks up info regardless of source. I don't think ai wil offer any recourse if a fault develops in your buiding. we meanwhile do our best and can wander off the path sometimes. Back to your question again. Yes that is a cold bridge but also is with the special blocks which underlap the beams. It can be designed out in other ways.

I've never had a design or installation queried for foul or surface water. I'd have to read the docs again, but I think the proposal of a Chartered Engineer working to the principles of these docs and referring to site specifics will be accepted. Eg. Scotland allows 20% reduction when using a treatment tank. England does not, but it is in the tech papers so apply it if it's necessary. Basically if you use a good treatment tank it's going to be ok, they want it to be OK, and so come up with a justification.

A bold assertion without knowing the detail. Everything on its merits.

I read that as..." how much detail do we need to go into? For examples: A builder may have been asked to do this for the first time. A self builder may have been "sold" the idea at an exhibition, without having the pros and cons explained.* *there is a reason I see such systems at self build exhibitions but not at trade exhibitions. Not that it's bad, but that there are options and there is more to know.

Not at all. There is a cold bridge but it is not completely cold if thought through with insulation above. A building is a cold bridge between indoors and outdoors... but it is relative. If near trees then the foundations will be deep and the trees won't affect the slab. The main downside of suspended floor is the essential draught under it. You lose the benefit of the natural insulation of the earth.

I'd expect that mass production on a bench means precision. Then yes I like your idea as the timber would lay exactly where intended.

@David Cooke there are other anomalies too. I'm designing for myself in this instance, and there is lots of ground. I'll make up my mind when I see in the trenches and test the porosity. A balance between the codes and my own opinion. But if I was designing for someone else I would follow the codes , including taking the more cautious options, because 1. I don't want to have to come back to sort it. 2. There is professional liability. 3. What if it didn't work and esp if it overflowed into adjacent property? With some clients I might explain, and share the risk/ benefit. With others I'd take no chances. As @Gus Potter and I established, the regs take precedence but as professionals we would see that they had probably miswritten the regs and that the intention is clear. Also as professionals we can decide on what is best. The regulations are actually the little green bit at the start and the rest is suggestions based on research. Our drainage field is into what was once commercial orchard. I'm expecting the percolation to be very variable, depending on old drainage and voids created by roots. An average would be meaningless if the percolation numbers are say 40s/mm and 120s/mm. What I expect to do is put in the smaller area of trench but have scope to extend it. For the record I have established that all groundwater will eventually end up 800m away downhill in a stream.....which we could pipe into direct technically. So we are really doing SUDS in slowing down flow and flooding. BUT if a bco wanted proof they'd expect it to follow the regs.

This has been around for decades and is simple and effective. I've never used it and so haven't checked the relative cost. They will give a a value for a central cross section. The overall effect of the beam bearings depends on the size and shape of the building and is reality, not a flaw... any beam has the same. The main benefit of this is in insulating under the beams, in vacant space, and saving insulation above. Best is to work out the relative costs every way , if inclined. At the internal wall I assume the eps block is cut to fit. Another advantage will be the finish. With concrete blocks they don't always sit tight and you have to brush a sandy mortar into the gaps. And lighter to handle of course.

Not for me. Reasons to support that system? IF the ground doesn't need to be excavated and tipped to get to that level IF there are no experienced builders available or it's diy Reasons against? The holistic cost is likely to be high, A local builder may be suspicious of some new trendy system A local builder can do traditional build much more readily. 300mm of eps on the middle areas where it isn't so important but 200 at the critical perimeter is weird. you have great ground conditions so don't waste it on a floating slab. I have an inherent dislike for a heavy structural beam to the perimeter ( compare it to a big floor beam holding an upper car park floor?) sitting on top of 200m of eps. trench footings and masonry to Floor level masonry or timber above. 100-150 mm concrete slab with crack control only 150mm pir or 250mm eps then a screed. that will likely save you half your cost to floor level.

Then you broke up the concrete for hardcore? I wish we could return the big bags and they were recycled. Or the material didn't turn to plastic dust if you try to reuse them.

I think the EU are becoming stronger on this. Not a lot of resources though.

Great idea. Did you deliberately make the leftovers ultra wet to avoid a solid lump?

You are a manager. You had space too?

There's a report on BBC website today saying ASA are aware of many such adverts. A fan and some cardboard fins in one case (and NASA mentioned). They can't fine or control online stuff. the nature of some of the businesses behind these ads means enforcement alone isn't enough to stop the problem," said the ASA. Another story is about travel adapters. Amazon, alibaba etc say they "take safety very seriously." But clearly they don't.

That doesn't matter. In fact it grips the concrete better than non-rusted, and without water it won't change.

and kept secret? There was much more blurb but they missed that one.

@Gus Potter and I have been discussing this in detail. The resolution? Use the appropriate national building reg's and don't mix them. The other documents are guidelines even if better written and used as the basis for the national regs. Without checking, don't the GBRs say to work to the building regs? To my mind, option 1 will work well but not comply. More pipes would make it comply. Option 2, looks like the book says, except one trench may be too near to the bank.

OK. So good luck with it, and report back please, as I've never used SCC.

It is from Facebook. Nothing can be done. BTW this machine seems to be about 350 x 100 x 75 and is fixed on a wall. Poor old Martin Lewis gets mentioned again as backing it, and I guess even he can't stop it.

We are concerned for you, perhaps unnecessarily. It's what you don't say. Can the lorry get close? Can its chute reach nearly all the way so that you don't have to move it? what quantity is it? Is the mesh already in and has the bco approved it? Are you both physically strong in handling the chute and moving it (it's very heavy esp with concrete in it. You'll be doing this while walking in wet concrete on a layer of steel mesh. NB the driver does not help! He turns the delivery on and off when you shout. Later he washes out. You've probably got 30 minutes from arrival to completion or they charge a lot. you are going to get messy. wellies, waterproofs, gloves. After the concrete is in and the lorry gone, have you asked how long it is workable? You have not got the time or luxury of using the laser. there wont be any break time or rest for these 2 hours. have you a contingency if one of you has a problem? Can you find a third person? what is containing the slab? masonry or a shutter? mark the finished level on there in advance plus some pegs in the middle. Have you worked out the quantity exactly? what is it? how much have you rounded it up? the leftover is all going on your ground. 1/2m2 is a lot esp when it spreads or makes a solid lump. and so on. expertise. I have supervised maybe 300 pours from 4m3 to hundreds. I seldom handled the shovel. But I've seen it go wrong often. I've especially seen it go badly wrong on other peoples projects, esp by amateurs and poor builders, and it is a shame, a waste of money and can have knock-on effects. to reiterate : It's what you don't say. If you knew you wouldn't be asking, and you haven't asked the right questions.

Magic air cooling. Squeeze all the tech terms you can think of to impress the gullible and charge a low price. A magic box that you screw to the wall, plug in, and don't have to vent. This is a small extract as the guff goes on and bonus. But I've spared you it. I've deleted the trade name to reduce its visibility. Facebook don't care.... About anything other than thing: money. And world domination. 2 things. The xxxxx Mini Portable Air Conditioner utilises an advanced hydro-thermal absorption technology. This compact device draws in the suffocating, muggy indoor air and channels it through an internally sealed cryogenic cooling chamber. There, a specialized nano-honeycomb matrix strips the thermal energy from the air molecules, instantly converting the oppressive heat into a refreshing, crisp, and ice-cold breeze

I've never used SCC so perhaps others can advise of any special measures. I.m guessing here, but perhaps a length of 2x2 would be handy to persuade it all the way to the far corner. Any shuttering will be prone to leakage as will gaps in plastic. Have you a plan for the surplus and the washout location? Wherever you tell them to put it, it will keep flowing! If it is like pumped screed, it is like water until suddenly it isn't. ripples won't matter at all but getting it level +/- 3mm is well worth while.

a modest aircon unit in the living room, and obligatory solar on the roof?

Interesting When the Right start agreeing such things, it's too late. Telegraph is becoming more liberal these days isn't it? "Its Scotlands Oil" was the slogan but perhaps now could extend to water and wind. Pipelines will surely follow the cables south? I know that in Spain they have huge pipelines and pump stations that are turned on when rivers are in spate, taking it many kms to agricultural areas in the few hours it lasts... filth included. I wonder if tanker ships could be used now? Loch Ness has more water than all other water in E & W. Taxed 1p/m3 at Inverness into the local exchequer?