saveasteading

The nature person was a rare unsentimental type. He said that in a wild pond, fish eat tadpoles, or newts eat fish and tadpoles, and frogs /toads dominate through numbers if they get a chance. Then the pond can flood or disappear. Fish need water, frogs can sometimes hide, but newts move off for most of the year and return when conditions allow and hormones dictate. Natural fish arrive as eggs on the feet of birds and you only need two. So build the pond and let them and the plants get on with it he said.

In Germany and Spain, flats are more common. People live closer together in communities rather than isolated suburbs. Good use of land, affordable. And lots of balconies for bikes, the washing and optional and very occasional sitting out and solar panels.

not what I meant to say. The lily that wiped out the others is perfectly attractive and successful. it takes a bit of maintenance though, to remove the dying leaves and flower heads. In a wild pond Id just let it take over and the fish would have to learn to find some oxygenated water between the leaves. As with many plants, the white flowered version prevails. I used to scoop out the sludge annually but have found it to have come to a steady state, and I think the fish get sustenance from it through the winter. The odd thing with the fish (Sarasa Comets) is that I've seen hundreds of pretty little ones over the years but only ever 3 floaters to dispose of... the dead ones must sink and dissolve into the sludge. each spring I remove the forest of roots that hang from the edge shelving plants, because the fish scoosh their eggs in there, and I prefer a dozen fish reaching maturity to hundreds. I assume that loose eggs and tiny hatchlings are eaten

Sad but true, but take them out by whatever means, A big hammer with a block of timber should do it. Then you can clean the mortar off and relay them when ready. I've just read that post And this was the bricklayer (sorry to abuse that term) who said he was 'committed' and has stopped you getting access. You are entitled to knock some of his wages off for putting the work right. Expect some aggro, but you can confidently state that you have taken advice from independent specialists and it is unacceptable to British Standards.

Quite right too, but you didn't take the advice do doing it before, and the majority of activities and processes are well proven. The oversight of the over-site! Edit I see @Nickfromwales has said what I had drafted below. 1. Why can't you knock a few blocks out and get the digger in? or a ramp? 2.Can you or your advisor redesign the slab, and will a redesign cost more than you will save by not reducing the over-site. I don't favour a thick concrete slab over insulation anyway, and can't see much point of having strong stone under weak insulation, so I'd be redesigning completely. But you presumably are working to a professional's design so should speak to them about changing it, or live with the problem and, as above , learn to manage the project more thoroughly/ forcefully. We all make mistakes. I discovered a biggish practical one this week, but we are qualified to adapt the design to overcome it. The sketch requested above would be useful.

I've got an ornamental pond (brick and liner). 3 lilies on baskets on the bottom in year one. Gradually one bullied the other two. Now one lives in the bottom sludge, and the removal of leaves keeps the nutrient down and the mass of leaves keeps the summer heat out. 3 fish became about 60 and they appear to live in harmony.

Ummm. Planners follow tick-boxes and policy. Central government not involved and we don't do politics here. Local councillors can be an issue as they have power but little or no training. Everything is negotiable so the contract can be based on work involved and an overview of the cost level, but then fixed.

Indeed. Numbers are their thing. My main issue is when they select the cheapest quote without reviewing the others properly: the headline price may not be the best after exclusions, management and quality are considered. Conversely, when they want one to win and the others are being used as checks. You need a waste strategy too, unless they are supplying all the materials and paying for disposal, you will waste masses....paying to buy surplus and then throw it. You don't need 3 quotes for everything. You need one good quote, by whatever means, and recommendation is best.

I built a pond once as SUDS, fir an office block, with all the roof and driveway water pipes ending up there for exceptional rain. Ie after natural drainage, rainwater harvester and French drains any surplus went in there. We had a 'nature' consultant who advised that we did no planting or species thinking at all, and let nature do it. Although he did say plant sone miniature willows to help drink the water. Nature took about 2 years, during which time the LA nature staff complained about the "typical builder, leaving a muddy hole behind" but were won over. Another time I would do the same if it was distant from the building but omit the willows as they took over and needed maintenance. If near to the house I might compromise and have some pretty planting, and a shallows, and a gravelly pretty feature. Nature did indeed move in. The advisor had said we would get newts or frogs or fish.....only one would prevail. It was common newts. The plants that moved in were attractive enough. Maintenance nil apart from the planted trees and sone other 'weed' trees. No sand liner! That seems pointless. The people who wrote these LA guidelines back then seemed to be tree huggers with little real knowledge. As to lining it. For SUDS you want to let it empty, and nature will deal with the seasonal changes, so no lining. For a garden feature everything is different.

I was a professional estimator for many years. It took 10 minutes to have a feel for the cost, perhaps +/- 20%. An hour to be within 10% of OUR company estimate. Then a week for a commercial estimate. Other contractors were doing the same in competition. An online service can only do version 2 at best. Then your real life quotes vary according to their skills and efficiencies. But they are all pricing the same project you have shown them. Real value comes in discussing alternatives with the builder you like. Turn this round, miss that out, change the roof construction and so on. I'm not saying you can or should reduce the cost dramatically every time. What do you have at present? Architects' concept or detailed design? Maybe it's a costly design

A bit in our case. The trouble is whether you have the depth available for eps. If you have extra to excavate and to increase the perimeter wall, then there are these costs to add. Eps is easier to handle, to cut and to shape to any ducts. We have lots of ducts, water pipes and drains in the floor and they were a pain to cut around. I did the iddly ones where I was concerned with the quality and am happy that I did. There are some really quite grotty bits in the pir but everyone else is content that the screed will bridge it. I have commercial project expectations, and domestic is less onerous.

Eps is approximately half the price and half as good. So every individual building needs it's own logic. Our eps was also cling-wrapped. That may have been at the merchant's depot. It had the huge advantage of not blowing away, as one single sheet did.

Is this a principle similar to the self-extinction of vaccine deniers?

We had a layer of each. The pir was clingwrapped in sixes and had eps packing. It certainly kept the boards in good condition.

That's what I expected. But this was less technical. They broke a slat from a pallet and marked 40mm and 50mm on it.. min and max depth. That seemed to work as there was about 1/4 m3 waste. But as for waste. I was optimistic that there wouldn't be much insulation wastage and that was the case. I didn't deduct for stud wall areas, did add 2 sheets for mistakes or lack of care, and had 3 sheets surplus. It will ho in walls. BUT what cutting waste there is, is very bulky, perhaps 5 x by volume, maybe more. And the packaging waste is dreadful too, with cardboard snd cling wrap and eps spacers. Moral... allow a skip cost simply for the insulation and ufh. Being petty and mean... (cost conscious and efficient) I found that the cling wrapping compresses dramatically when rolled up and squeezed into bags. Ie I took it out of the skip and compressed it. Pipe offcuts take lots of space too. And the eps packing baulks look useful so are set aside. Saved £150 or more in an hour.... I care much more than they do. Stop press.... I'm told pir will rise in price by 10% then another 18%. So I guess eps and plastic pipes will do too.

Here's an update. The insulation was laid in 2 layers over 3 days, with pipes going in behind. Screed poured today, day 4, VID-20260326-WA0003.mp4 in 2 hours plus the same again in prep, waiting and washing up. The 4 days wasn't enough for the 350m2, and there was Russian swearing, we think, from the first gang under pressure. They suddenly didn't understand English when questioned about quality issues. For anyone who hasn't seen it here's a video. It is very runny indeed, and it only goes hard if you wish and believe enough.

I hadn't thought until now, but you are paying £150/m3 for water as well as weakening the concrete and losing the warranty.

And keeping up with the latest regulations and interpretations, and new products, in our own time.

In Spain you can buy this in Leroy Merlin, so like walking out of B and Q with a system. And this is an upmarket one for pretty houses. Below this an obv very simple one showing a panel and a plug. Plug and Play it says. 450W

Valid theory. It certainly reduces their risk for any future problem. In reality, a lot of builders ask for extra water because it suits them and they don't know/ care that too much water is wrong.

And yet... there is a premium for empty m3 in a big truck and the waste (and mess) or shortage can be costly. Let's play. 1 barrowload. Shovel mix 2 barrows to 1m3 site mixer. 1 to 3m3. Volumetric 3+ ready mix. A separate column for people unsure of quantities. Site conditions and pour method also change this. @markcwith 3 wagons of volumetric.. what was the reason?

Leave it. If it happened to be 20°C plus then you might put some polythene or hessian over it, or hose some water on it. But it will be OK.

I agree that I isn't so consistent. It hasn't gone round and round the barrell. I doubt it is ever used for structural concrete eg bridges and high rise

A pump mix is designed according to the local materials. Eg river gravel flows more readily than crushed rock. Then the stone and sand are mixed to a recipe provided by their lab. There is an additive too, basically a detergent. The water content is prescribed too and they even allow for how wet the sand is. That's naughty re theadded water. I've known operatives to sign thinking it was a delivery ticket, not about water. Maybe the driver thought he was being helpful, not understanding the issue. But they should be trained to know. It's a mass footing so should be ok. Adding water for any complex structure or for a slab is not acceptable, so instruct all your people and each delivery driver on arrival next time. Re the quantity. I've never known an issue so the likeliest reason is your estimate... sorry.

Water is only added if requested. A pump mix does not need extra water either. Unless it is a mix on site (volumetric) wagon, then you will only have what you ordered. If it is mixed on site then they will provide more until you say to stop.