saveasteading

You should establish what the drain does. Lift the covers and pour water in. Throw in a tissue for easier observation Flush toilets, run sinks and observe. Rainwater too. Also observe when it should be dry, in case water is coming from elsewhere. To be sure, a drain test plug on the outlet will hold back dribbles and let you rest it without standing there. With the info you can make the right decisions and discuss with the bco.

It wasn't to me. Always learning. Perhaps that is more about thickness as that will vary as moulds wear out.

So different that they may not even be the same spec of grey. On a positive, the dark ones will fade quite a lot, and real life dust willl disguise it a bit. There won't be any manufacturer's guarantee on colour. The builder should have mixed the batches. This is a fundamental thing in construction, and the only excuse is ignorance.! He could lift the blocks 0.5m either side of the change and mix them to reduce the effect. That sometimes makes a big difference.

Repeated friction could wear the plastic coating off. The screeders shouldn't need to walk directly on it and the concrete or screed should flow ahead of them. If in doubt then put a plank down to spread the load. Once concrete is in, even the wet stuff will spread the load and form some cushion between pipe and rod. The use of the foam in the picture effectively forms a void in the concrete, which isn't ideal for a few reasons.

Well worded. Leith people will not have it that they are in Edinburgh. That is so interesting, thanks. Could one be built into a wind turbine column? Conversely, could a turbine be built on a tower? Can one of you boffs explain in simple terms what happens when there is this flywheel in the system? it detects a tiny shortage of power in the system and generates some more instantly? I'm imagining the weight in the tower shuddering due to constant starting and stopping.

I'm £300 in credit after reclaiming £500. The interest rate is ok.

Energy is currently stored by pumping water to high reservoirs. 4 in UK. I was driven along one of the tunnel / channels at Cruachan many years ago. Perhaps the issue is finding mountains near London and Birmingham. Aren't they doing something in Australia with lifting big weights to tops of towers?

Not fair. A well designed and constructed building will survive for a long time in any material if used correctly. I've been working with steel buildings for decades. The only issues have been where a client's architect has insisted on fancy details that are inappropriate and caused problems. The rain washes the roof (avoid penetrations and valleys) and the walls too (avoid overhangs) Potential problems are with bad detailing, inferior materials, and bad workmanship, but the same applies to traditional buildings. It depends. There are projects where I specify or recommend old fashioned construction (small and fiddly usually), and others where modern techniques are better (much better) value. For clarity and open-ness, I have never used or specified SIPS or polystyrene kits. Any timber cladding I've used has been decorative and the building doesn't need it for any weather or structural reason. Sensible then, if the quality issues are attended to.

Another daughter, another project. This one is SE England. removing half of a big set of steel sheds, retaining part and converting into a big house. That's us busy for 2 years or more like 3. I'm not planning on a blog but there will be questions and comments relating to it, and it will create some sort of narrative. I've already asked questions about insurance and had good advice. More on that soon. Do you think I should start a new name in parallel? I'd keep Saveasteading as the contributing / advice name I think. If people work out the link then fine, but most won't care. New name? similar name (Saveabigshed?) Just stick to the current one? Do I keep it to just me or let the rest of the family use it like a consortium? Any suggestions? Now is the time to start it or stick.

We have a steel shed to convert. The vendors live adjacent and so are now our neighbours. We like them. We have official permission to disconnect the existing power cable before partial demolition, and to connect it as a temporary supply for the first few months. So we need a plastic box either screwed to their wall (avoid?) or on posts with a board backing. then the cable that is currently overhead can be fed into the new box. We have also agreed to fit a private meter in the box and pay for use. supplies to site are then needed for the works and to feed the site caravan and the civilised toilets we are constructing in a shed. I can do wiring and this is fairly basic....but maybe a proper sparks is sensible. Do I leave all purchasing to them or get a shopping list. of course my list may be better value than his..... I'd at least like to buy the box and erect it...so any suggestions on this? I see such a variation in prices £80 to £300. Buying the wrong box would be the worst value of course.

weed membrane will do fine if you have some around. FYI The random fibres type is better than the woven in keeping everything out but it will be marginal for your circumstances.

perforated drain pipe there is posh stuff that allows precise flow, and there is cheap stuff that is tricky to get exact. wrap it with geomembrane so that roots and silt don't get into the pipe, then surround in gravel.

If you are building an exposed concrete structure near the sea then be very worried, as the salt will attack the steel. Otherwise, the occasional 5 or 10mm shouldn't matter. as previously discussed I feel this is overdesigned but can't say for sure without seeing the principles of the design. All construction professionals should have to spend time with a concrete gang, then designs would be practical.

If you can enclose it even better. The worst thing in the winter is opening the door and all the warm air rushes out. At least an open porch let's you strip the wet stuff and get the boots off, for a quick dive through the door.

@Dansow 600mm stone wall , 100 years old, (in 3 layers.) nominally 25mm gap but varies dramatically. so lets say minimum 50mm timber stud wall with fancy vapour barrier on outer face and poly barrier on inner face, void filled with part rockwool and part pir. or all pir. 2 layers is much easier and more accurate then 1. 25mm service gap. plasterboard. optional additional insulation on the inner face to get any U value you want.

I would suggest both. First to check...by foundations not level do you mean all the way up to floor level? Its very common for footings to go in to very poor level control. Lasers can make it worse as the builder who doesn't understand numbers assumes that the machine does. Then it can be corrected by the bricklayer who may use string-lines, which are sometimes more accurate.* A story for another day. If the perimeter at floor level is out, then that may cause all sorts of issues, so explain please. in principle though you can adjust the insulation level to maximise the potential, then the screed will make up the balance. 2 layers of insulation is good anyway as you can overlap the boards

That should be a godsend. You can run on it and build on it. Break it up later unless your levels are wrong. I've never understood the desire to throw away z slab then put it down again.

Soakaway must not connect to a main drain. The whole point is that your drain doesn't reach streams or sewers and add to flooding. It all adds up.

@DansowI'm up on a mewp, surveying the next project today. Will respond later.

You'll probably be OK on the sandy stuff. But check your finished level out for tandituons to existing surfaces and damp courses.

It's really quite complicated but worth studying so that you can make the best decisions. We have been converting a farm building with 600mm stone walls, then a timber 'tent' inside. We have u values to match new-build. The stone wall has a decent figure itself, confirmed in studies, that the standard calculators wont acknowledge, so we diy-ed it. Or find any calculator and say the external wall is 1 brick (225mm) thick, and that will be a start.

It seems eena I've been doing construction wrong for decades. I didn't realise it was simple to avoid mud.

It's annoying that dodgy assessors give good results. As with anything, there are proper experts and there are charlatans. The experts will point out ways of improving your results legitimately. But as the programme has flaws, it isn't necessarily the best thing to do.

Don't. Unless the ground is dry and strong, or you put in a lot of stone underneath , a concrete wagon will go straight through it. I've seen that on grids but also on tarmac that had supported cars for many years. Just use lots of stone on a geomembrane. Add the grids later.

Seems to be much the same in Scotland from a quick google. They got lots of advice from the breeder so I assume they are properly registered