saveasteading

It's one of those things you fully understand or don't. I've seen so many level errors, costing money and reducing quality, usually by people who think it's easy. If you really understand it and can do the sums, its only plus and minus on the hoof, then great. It may be trickier than you think. If putting in a 300 deep footing and you take out just 50mm too much, that's 17% waste....criminal. 100mm ouch. Practice levelling around the site first, perhaps a survey and a pretend drain run, or you'll slow down the professional operator.

I don't think we will figure highly in it. Plenty of extended power cuts and water outages in SE. Overhead cables get trees on them, and water pipes break in droughts. BTW the SE ha Zero plans for water other than to connect the pipes into more houses...but that is another matter.

There are filters for expeditions that take diseases out of water, never mind peat and sheep poo. Or if boiled it is surely (?) safe. What is upstream of your burn that concerns you?

OTT perhaps but its got be thinking. What if there is a power outage in an all electric house? With a blank sheet of paper, what could sensibly be included to get through a couple of weeks of national or local problems? Power cuts, Putin, Trump, Johnson. Starters: Wood burner (perhaps a coppice on site?) Camping stove? Water supply? a) Drinking, b) flushing. Generator (with some facility to plug in to the circuit?) Transport??

Note also how much floor space they take up. You're paying, say but probably more, £2k/m2 for the building then using a lot of that space for the stairs and landings, although two are external public building types.

That's a saving of £200* in a £1.5M* build. Every little helps. (* complete guesses)

Am i misreading? I see 4 stairs,

They are simple things, basically a motor that turns a vertical threaded rod that the box sits in. (An electric drill holding a threaded rod with a nut on it, and a crate stuck to the nut.) Some don't even have an enclosure and you can touch the the wall as you ascend. If you speak to a local lift specialist (rather than from a glossy magazine) they can advise on the options re size, speed , pit etc. Also bear in mind what power is required. Then you can decide whether to form an area that is easy to remove for a pit, with a duct or cable into it. and a matching box-out in the ceiling. I've persuaded a building inspector that we didn't require a lift in a public building because the intended use did not require it. We agreed to frame the ceiling in the appropriate position to make future addition easy, and that was basically forming an opening as if for a stair, and infilling. So I agree that it is sensible to plan for this, as the cost now is very small, and the savings and convenience benefits if you did it would be large.

and then let us see the finished product please. Looking at the last picture again, has the sill been closed of at the end? If that was opened up, any water escaping wouldn't be sitting on the step.

Energy used for the heat pump is electricity, through some inbuilt submeter? Power out is heat (energy) within the liquid exiting the ashp as compared to the heat (energy) when it entered it? Any idea how that is calculated? Perhaps just iterated from the temperature difference and flow rate within a known mechanism? Of course we're very happy with the result, and it's a great demonstration of the efficiency of ' low and slow'.

It's an option. If the drive is made of deep, single size stones as the base, so that there are lots of gaps, then water can fill the gaps. 4m3 of stone would hold 1m3 of water. then it can soak away over that big surface area and a bit of evaporation. Or use plastic grids and fill the spaces with gravel. Or slope the drive to one side and put in a stone trench for the water OR a skinny crate in the ground with the drive over it. Add the barrels though as a bonus...they are often a planning condition so will be well received.

Yes, this makes me realise that I know next to nothing about how the efficiency is measured. I assumed that the energy going along the hot feed pipe is measured...somehow, and divided into with the power used for the heat pump to create it =6. Negligible solar gain btw. The big outer windows face north and east, and the courtyard windows facing south won't see the sun for a few weeks yet. The plasterboard jointers have been very happy though.

So I've run the Wavin thing. Very basic, location and area in, volume out. The planner will accept it i'm sure. for 120m2 of roof I got just over 1m3 as the capacity. so that is not a big pond. overflow to a soakaway or the mains.

Our Highland project has had the phase 2 underfloor heating (UFH) running for about 6 weeks now. Only the UFH, set for indoor temperature of 16C because work continues, and no hot water yet. So that is probably optimum. The plumber says it is averaging 600% efficiency. This is obviously very pleasing, but it seems to exceed the Vaillant published expectations. Is this level possible? Especially given that the first week included driving off water from the screed. Over the time, the average outside temperature has been about 5C we would estimate.

I've never used these but it isn't a complex calculation (just tedious by hand) so they should be fairly accurate. OTOH they want to sell stuff so they won't be looking for economies. The slope may be your friend, as it takes your drain pipes and provides a possibility of ground level containment. Could you construct a pond or swale? (a hollow that can hold that amount of water.) You could build a small wall of kerbs or brick on the downside, and a hollow, then a controlled overflow to wherever it has to go. BUT your garden may be flooded from time to time. I asked a naturalist about his thoughts on a pond that dried out in summer, and the death of creatures...he said not to worry about it. Otherwise a crate container in the ground at greater cost. I've redesigned some extensive crate systems and reduced the proposal by about half, and done some from scratch and not needed fancy kit at all, hence why I like ponds and swales. Always accepted by the LA and/or EA so far. My instinct and aim is to get most of the water into the ground, let the air take some of it, and only whats left go to watercourse or drain. I've got the letters that a planner must accept, but you can try without and see if they are happy. To some extent they will care more about a calculation in their file than about what you actually do. But if you can do without any connection to the drains then it is good for you and the environment. And you get a big reduction on your water rates, for ever.

@MoDo Does water run off the site as it currently is? What happens to the garage roof water? Does the plot slope? Even if they weren't imposing this condition you will be doing your bit for the world.

There is more than one. Oh I see what you mean.

OK it's easy. I could design all sorts of stuff with calculations. A common solution is underground crates and a flow control (2 litres per second in your case) so that the water is much delayed in reaching the drain or watercourse, after the peak has passed. Instead propose a rainwater butt on two downpipes, front and back, as big as you can manage. These can easily hold 300 litres each. Then turn the taps on to a dribble. If those dribbles go to flower beds then it is further slowed in its travels and will also evaporate eventually. Any excess will come out of the pipe or barrel and you can guide this to some sort of soakaway or a hollow in the ground. Of course the barrels have to be left empty or this doesn't work. In summer you can use it for watering which is another environmental benefit. Let's say that 10mm of rain falls very quickly. You have 120m2 of roof so that is 1200 litres. 600 litres held in the 2 tanks even if closed. This can be formalised with reference to storm predictions but perhaps they won't need that. Driveway permeable as already stated. As rainfall varies so dramatically around the country your location will affect the amount of rain anticipated and the LA attitude to it. London, eg, is an extreme case, with low annual rainfall but coming in sudden downpours. Enough. More perhaps if this works for you.

A German one for checking on one's well-being. A problem in high lime areas.

I've just seen this and the advice is very good. I'd just advise that you approach the builder in friendly fashion. Every building is different and challenges do present themselves. No builder knows everything. This is an easy one to sort, with the expert advice above, and a smile. Cut back the timber (and perhaps add a drip). Add protection to the raw cut end. You are left with some exposed concrete which perhaps paint in bitumen. Add weep holes to the frame. They need to be a decent size or the water will stick there. Will the water run away from it even then, if the slate is level?

When the comment comes that you can agree extra time, or risk refusal, that bumps the 'in time' statistic up. I've agreed sometimes and refused at others.....with client agreement to the delay/risk. Unless he is organising additional training for more planners, and funds for LA's it is simply words,as he will be well aware. And changing/slackening any rules or processes will have other repercussions unless very carefully considered and managed. As I write this I realise I can't remember what he said......because I immediately discounted it.

Quite so. All I can say is the obvious...something is wrong. The common factor is the cistern. Which manufacturer?

I was on a visit to a school once where the sound from the rain on the roof was surprisingly loud. The head and trachers said they positively liked it, as a link to the outside and what sort of day it was. That wasn't one of my projects but i've done lots of schools and offices with metal roofs. I don't recall noise being an issue except on skhlights, so it must be in the detailing. Standing seam with an air gap may act as a (gentle) steel drum? But then there is the rest of the structure. Are there skylights?

Then it dries? I appreciate that not everything with water in it is wet. I'm all for this being great. But they test it themselves while it's being applied. Next day? Independent testing would be comforting too.