saveasteading

An advantage is that builders are not much interested. They will have to improve it to building reg standards, you don't So you have a price advantage unless another diyer wants it a lot. I say be pragmatic. Do what is cost effective.

It's a very long span taking a lot of load. It looks right to me . The weight would reduce if you used a deeper beam (perhaps about 450 or 500 deep) instead of that chunky section. But deeper will likely interfere with your headroom/ aesthetics.

Is the ceiling beneath finished?

So demo yes you will be waiting a long time for a rebate. But if you use a vat registered company you are only paying them 5%. Landscaping you might choose to buy the plants in and heel them into the ground short term, and get the claim in. Make sure all your landscaping/ fencing etc. is part of the planning permission.

That's the slinky or ground loop? It relies on summer reheating of the ground surface. It is also now agreed that it may need additional seasonal heat from reversing the sysyem and / or adding solar.

These are good suggestions. Bug any size of tile is stiff once grouted up. Perhaps the grout will break instead of the tiles. Carpet, or vinyl. OR get it independently assessed and the builder to sort it. I don't think it is as spec. You quote an 'architects spec'. Is there an architect?

It is almost always that the ground is too high. Can you reduce the level? Why a recent worsening? More rain for sure. Perhaps taking the wetness beyond a passable level. some splashing from above? A previous patchup has failed?

Sorry i don't know what that means. I can't see hangers. Are these just nailed into the wall plate?

Photos are great. The noggins need to be more central or another row of them. But i suspect that isn't the main issue.

Joists are designed for collapse and acceptable deflection ( 1 in 360 I think). Deflection is always the critical factor in domestic use. If the joists are the right size, and noggined, then they won't be budging. It must be the boards deflecting between joists. Have you tried bouncing on them at different positions, ie on or between joists? Near the wall the joists won't budge at all.

But that is not the case. Only a story spun by the developers and lapped up by certain of the press.* They know what they have to do, including 10% affordable or whatever (which is nearly always much more cheaply built anyway.. Then they pay too much for the land. They don't lose money on the affordables or subsidise them....just perhaps make less than planned on the overall project. Then they ask to reduce their obligations knowing that the planners don't understand money. Do they lose money? Normally no. We don't get to see the figures anyway. If they paid less for the land then it all works out...apart from the landowner getting 5% less of a windfall. £950k an acre instead of £1M for £10k farm land. Fairer I would say than being subsidised by rates or tax. Whatever, they will sell the finished houses for as much as possible and won't donate any surplus for council houses. *mixed metaphors. Sorry.

I'm assuming you have this. Which is the UK style. these are usually engineering bricks so very hard. The holes are often about 25mm dia. I'd use a new and branded drill bit to minimise bashing. I think there is plenty of info on the wrappers of the gauze inserts.

I assure you it isn't rubbish. I wonder at your certainty and out-spokeness. Maybe you went on a different Fire Engineering course. But I'm not saying that any of us, even with expertise, should veer off the white book and equivalents.

But I would use Fischer or another recognised brand. This is standard procedure in countries where the bricks have as much air as clay.

I'll have a think about that.

That's the difference between lab test and reality. Lab test is a fire breaking through a construction that has been presented to meet a minimum requirement. I've met the experts who told me that the tests cease at the pass time even if still robust. Also that timber stud does not fail at exposed studs, ie when not jointed. It chars and self protects, plus the pb gives off moisture. But that we should still follow the spec.

Yes it will. All and any plasterboard provides significant fire resistance As opposed to sitting at the builders merchant?

The best performing acoustic floor i did ( school classrooms) was based on it completely floating on dense mineral wool. That spreads impact over a large area. Ply on joists. Layer of plasterboard for density (you might ask bm for seconds or find some offcuts.). Layer of the right mineral wool. T and G chipboard. Underneath, resilient bar and pb. A noise specialist later told me that all the lab test figures are unrealistic and to always go the the next spec up.

Also puzzled. Don't you have a formal design in place? Why wouldn't you want the the same membrane?

I think you are. Research now will save lots of time and money later.

Does it even qualify for zero rating? It isn't residential. If it does you could put a suspended floor over the pool. Beam and block. That would be my solution anway regardless of being able to dismantle it if you changed your mind later.

I think that is wise. I've said before that I once assessed a 3 storey building 5 ways. The best way was a kit from a nearby supplier, who were sending out 3 houses a day to a developer. It wouldn't always be so. But on our recent private project we did stick build. The decision will depend on a lot of variables. Plus, the kit builders are rightly wary of providing endless free quotes for speculative projects, so BH actual experiences would be great.

Because we don't have hot rock. Drilling holes is easy and the same cost. Unfortunately the UK gshp industry were happy to drill in clay and anything for a job. There were few experts in it, a logt of bad work, and the good and expert companies were forced out by the bad ones.

I disagree . If you are capable of 1. setting up the laser, in which case you are capable of the traditional methods too and 2. operating the digger on arm only would be a bit wierd. 3. Line if sight at all times. If it controlled the dig automatically then that would be different.

I can't remember. We ditched the site. That number is from distant memory. I was kind of hoping that any answer would provoke some more from projects that went ahead.