saveasteading

OK that's concerning. The bricks popping out at the corner. There doesn't appear to be any mortar bed. I wonder if these are a facade and not structural. I wonder if " lack of vertical articulation" means, " not plumb". Anyway,it's not good. Is there any suggestion of what has caused the issues and if there is a remedy? Does the report state the construction of the building..eg cavity wall, timber frame etc? Perhaps someone will recognise these very rusticated bricks and know if they are not for normal Construction. If you are buying, perhaps don't. And don't pay for the report yet.

No. This was already in, by the vendor. Their builder put in the duct and the water to here. We now take over and erect the kiosk and then UKPN heave a cable through from a nearby pole. The ducts only seem to come in 6m stiff pipes, or 50m coils of the stuff shown, or 50m coils of flexi. This explains why we see people using drainage pipe etc. I've suggested to the electrical merchant that they buy 50m and cut it for their customers. Of my order to the recommended supplier, they have not provided anything direct other than the earth cable. The main cable came from a cable distributor, another cable is on special order ( I could get it online tomorrow), and even hockey-sticks for the earth cable were cross-bought from JDP. I've been given a 1m offcut and that can be used for our cable entry. We will just thread the cable end through it, and position on the slab shutter. I'm leaving 1m sticking out of the slab into the kiosk. I would be scared cutting the cable to connect inside the kiosk...if that goes wrong, there is 50m of underground cable that can't be pulled. but it is presumably everyday for an electrician.

OK understood. 1 Our project also has lots of redundant concrete slab out-with the house. We are retaining it because it allows a hard surface for plant and materials during the works. Seeing how the ground is churning elsewhere this week, this was a good move. In the long term we may leave it as concrete and garden above it, using raised beds, and bonding gravel to it. We will need holes for drainage. Sheds and greenhouse can also sit straight on top. This is obviously a personal choice. What we did break up was crushed on site for use as hardcore driveway. This was with jaws on the excavator: it looks like a dinosaur. 2. We are retaining the slab under the building footprint , and laying PIR on it then screed. saves removal and then replacement in whatever form. The reason @Gus Potter and I have mentioned it is because we have seen consultants and contractors remove slabs as a matter of course. On the 'not my money' principle. There are plenty of reasons why slabs need to be removed. I don't know your circumstances .

I don't know what this means. Engineers are supposed to use intelligible language and avoid jargon. Slip and rotation sounds like bricks are displaced outwards. Not good but maybe not serious. Lack of articulation sounds like it is "not un-solid". Ask for a translation.

Success. The duct that wouldn't bend has given in on a warmer sunny day, with a lot of force. But this will do nicely. It could do with being another 100mm off the fence, as it is tight for kiosk space. I'll try blocking the curve out lower down, or else leave it less vertical. The outlet duct won't ever have to work as a duct: the cable could be cast in the concrete. But for appearances I will put a vertical piece of duct offcut in. I know that is too shallow but it is very local and we will raise the ground level instead.

I have some experience of fires. Firstly playing: put an offcut on a hot fire and observe.... polystyrene bursts into flame, melts and spreads. Pir catches fire and burns, and disappears. Wood fibre burns slowly and disappears. Mineral wool does not burn, but reverts to being sand. In the afternath of warehouse fires I've seen eps had spread the fire quickly and everywhere. Mineral wool resisted the intense heat for a time, then turned to sand on the floor.

@flanagaj it's OK to ignore what you don't want to hear or isn't applicable and we may not know the circumstances. But we are trying to help and save you lots of money, so it would be nice to hear back.

A hard surface is an asset. Why turn an asset into a cost? Other people tell us to do this but it is our money.

This is the neighbour's builder's idea of a service trench.

Stripping soil for driveway abandoned for battlefield-like reasons. The new trench just 70m away is rock hard and utterly dry.

Nope, I need a picture.

In the SE every 4 years or so there is a shortage. In extremes there is a hosepipe ban, but the aquifer tends lower all the time. Of course this is a combination of rainfall and population. In NE Scotland the rainfall is similar but there is enough from the hills.

And undermined the ground below, which tends to be loose. OK by accident, not in quantity.

1. It is the water company's charging policy, not mine. 2. It diverts rainfall from the surface water system or to natural disposal, reducing flood risk. When the tank has capacity, it holds a lot of rainwater back. 3. Reduces water drawn from scarce resources. 4. There is still the standing charge paid. In summary. It is doing good. It is expensive to do, with a 10 year payback on just the water, so nobody will do it. 5 year payback including the sewage justifies doing this good thing.

Suggestions of suppliers please. I'm very surprised to find that the electric merchant I've been recommended to use doesn't stock flexi ducts as required by UKPN. i. e. 63mm ext, 50mm internal bendable to radius. It's as if nobody had ever done this before. They can get a 50m coil but that seems easy enough online, tho prices are all over the place. Does that mean that the wuality varies too? I'm seeing why people use drain pipe. I've suggested they merchant buys a coil and sells me 5m.

Not always suitable. Some designers don't know about it or they don't know the advantages. Little piling companies only do what they do. One of the unsung advantages is the absence of the filthy mess made when soil is removed by driven or auger piles.

But if on mains drainage, the sewage charge can be based on the water bought....and worth more than the water.

Yes. It is plus and minus. But the quote will be a fixed sum for turning up and all the design and management, plus a sum per pile unit, so the + and- for depth are not the whole story, and are based on the actual cost of time and materials.

With a big garden, you don't have to sit next to it. For a smaller house and small garden I can see there are limited options. I've experienced pumps that are barely audible and others really noisy.

Great to hear. Who pays for the extra work and concrete? Ask away.

Not difficult. A very long time ago I looked into noise reduction from road traffic. The answers then were 2 options. 1. Hit and miss on both sides, staggered, vertically boarded fences. This messes with the frequency and is more effective than a solid reflector. 2. Rambling Rose hedges....not quite as good or predictable and need looking after. So it has surely been proven already. Hit and miss enclosure, approx 1.5m from the pump, drawing in air on 3 sides and expelling upwards. OR expel sideways with barrier further away. Cost???? A standard thing for £500?

It doesn't seem that you need advice. But just in case. It's usually best to dig slightly short as it will get muddy and maybe soft and have to come out. So let bco tell you to take out 50mm more down to 2m. Plus it's OK to pour concrete into a wet trench but it must flow not splash. It will push the remaining water to the end and can be bailed out. Otherwise it mixes and a wet mix is a bad thing.

Strangely that doesn't apply to the sound of the sea, or waterfalls or wind in trees. That's because, I propose, that it isn't created by someone else, and there is no point in being annoyed. Listen to a distant motorway and it could be a waterfall. That helps when staying in a travelodge type place.

Me too. The housing associations took the grants without understanding the systems. In my experience it was ground source where it should never have been, then replaced by noisy air source. You notice one noisy one, but don't notice the quiet ones.

Why did the bco want 2m after the original spec was 1m? Thanks fof the report. Is it going to be OK, or are there any queries?