saveasteading

Not necessarily. As you say later, there is the space taken by the stair and landing x 2 levels. so take that out of the useful m2 and it all changes. It depends on a lot of other factors too. slate roof would be expensive, metal much cheaper, tiles in between. To me that is an economical shape and easy to build, and everywhere is near a window. Plus it is totally accessible for the future......the owner ageing, visitors, future purchasers.

The cracks are normal. The gap under the skirting is common, just through some settlement of the slab or a rough job with the skirting. If the slab was settling there would be other signs. SE would be taking on a risk for a small fee. Good business sense to decline I'd say.

There was a 'gardeners question time' item on green roofs last week. The wild flowers were being wiped out by grass. The answer was to stop watering it and leave it to its own devices....it is not a garden. A 'brown roof' is gravel and sticks and silly. I've done one green roof, which our client's original architect had shown. We were stuck with it. I learnt enough to know all the reasons not to do it.

But £800 plus labour, and a lot of space, which isn't available.

Sorry, I'm not understanding the question. Does the door come with a frame to sides and top? Or runners for sides and another closure at the top?

I hadn't seen that clause. I suppose it is generally a good idea to be above all potentially damp zones. But our steel shed has a structural concrete floor on a dpm. We aren't breaking it up. On it will go 150mm pir then a screed. On our steading we also poured a slab and built on that. Bco didn't stop us. So our sole plate is going to be 220mm below FFL on a dpc. As it happens we had thought of first laying a kerb, either pc or insitu concrete. But then we thought "why". Any good explanations? We could just call it something other than sole plate.

Probably all we will do. The discusson has been helpful. We will need to make it foolproof though. Perhaps a plug that can only go into the mains or the battery, with some warning tag on it. A worthwhile battery seems to be about £300. OR put up with the inefficiency of a generator running.

If the power was to fail, the water pump would not work. (Water comes from a distant well, by gravity, to a tank, and then is pumped, with the opening of a tap causing the pump to fire up.) Torches will provide light but water is needed. Is there an easy way to power the water pump? A generator would be over the top, and would either be running unnecessarily or cycling on and off every time a tap was opened. A battery seems like the answer. Enough power for a couple of days perhaps, so it could either be trickle charged by solar or wind, or simply on the mains. It would need some intelligence to cut in and out. I'm thinking this must be a standard thing and doesn't need reinventing.

I often hear second hand that klargester is best, and other makes have problems. I think it must be taught to installers who get a certificate and truly believe they are now experts. When I have engaged with klargester at an exhibition, I heard similar nonsense. They don't engage in further discussion. They are OK. So are others. As prodave says..if it really bothers you, choose a make where the pump can be separate, and bury it. Quiet will become ultra quiet.

Hormann are in a league above the ad- hoc assemblies. Price tends to be plus 50% accordingly. Be aware that there may be a gap above and around the spring allowing air and birds. A boxing may disguise the gap. Just check the detail.

Is that because the heras is expensive to hire? If so, change it for second hand heras bought on marketplace. Or ask the hirer Co. for a price to buy it as is. Hiring costs as much as buying new after 6 months plus you pay for damage.

It's great to be ambitious. A temporary and cheap building, without regulations, but luxurious too. Wouldn't it be good if you didn't need rafters at all. It's just reality though. Also a big empty box is very weak against dominoing. Cross walls stiffen the building.

Do what everyone says. Build it properly for 5% more than for a bodge. Why 8m span? Add a wall.

Ahhh. precast lintels usually have tensioned wire in them. cut that and it loses lots of the strength. I think (!) the wires are in the middle, so drilling at 1/4 to 1/3 points might be safest. use the smallest fixing that will work x maybe more of them. I agree threaded rod and epoxy. agreed. Is there another way?

It depends on the specification , the wheel size, and what is under it. That is not highway spec, (no big stones) and I would leave it a day at least. Was it hot? that goes hard quickly. If it was cold lay, then Macadam implies a design mix of stone, like type 1, Tarmacadam is the same mix glued together by a small amount of bitumen. Very Strong. the stuff in the picture is a thin dressing. Might be ok already , but don't turn the wheels on it while at rest for a while.

as the original builder doesn't seem to know that water runs downhill, and that an 8" pipe will run les well than a 4", , there isn't much hope of finding anything useful after the digester. I would assume the worst and that you will be blocking the pipes from the digester to the soakaway. the nearer to the soakaway you can block it, the better, so that their stuff stays with them.

Gut feeling....5 years. But It is more about elegance and the loss of a part of the wall.

When they do it, have a tot up of machine's, plant and labour and have a stab at the cost. then probably double it for management and risks.

For bedrooms , a short run could be plenty. It will transfer 30° into the aluminium an radiate it, so a quicker response than in screed, and tidier than rads.

I'd hazard that sharing with your neighbour will work, but you should not share that final soakaway with the other people. Perhaps that means that your outfall must bypass the soakaway and join the pipe to the burn, or maybe the bco will accept a new, small soakaway or French drains. The 8" pipe is unnecessarily huge and probably stuff the builder had found.

I've seen some aluminium skirting that the pipes click into. This seems tidy and easy enough to do and is my current plan for upper rooms. Anybody tried it?

Yes I sometimes say something similar, but it isn't always that simple. There are factors of safety in buildings (by calculation or practice), and these can combine to do those magic tricks. But on a particular day (one day in 50 years) it might snow and blow and 6 people jump on the same spot, or someone moves a grand piano there. Thus we can make these decisions privately, but a professional doesn't know the building intimately, or want to be sued for any issue.

In case it helps.. Our steading project has 100m or so of waste pipe to the treatment tank, from 2 directions. The groundworker, supposedly experienced, couldn't do slope control, but we were sacking him anyway. My son in law was rightly nervous about installing it all properly, and didn't seem to have confidence in my confidence. I had to be there for the drain runs. One day into it, my management and instruction was no longer required and I was moved to backfilling and away from the clever stuff. i.e. Once understood it is very diy-able. except for the machine work. Getting the slopes right and pipes meeting each other is the scary bit but advice can follow, on here. The hole for the tank is wide and deep and needs an excavator. It can then lift the tank in. Have you got access? The tank itself can be offloaded by the driver and you. Only mechanical tanks are heavy. You need a percolation test...read about it in Document H or in many websites. I suggest you do a preliminary one at ground level ASAP. You, a spade, a bucket, a watch and a tape. Quite fun.

Welcome to the threshing club. We've just about done a stone one (there was an opening in the wall for a threshing machine drive shaft. Plus a proper thresh hold stone. Not listed. I think we were more sympathetic to heritage than the planners. There are a few easy solutions, but a long way down the list. Now starting a steel one. Not listed but has to stay in place.

I find the letters (and numbers) to not all be in the right order re the soakaway size but....but read anyway......and most seem to be approved smaller than ' required'. The best news is that it will be all yours and half the size. A sketch plan will set things moving.