saveasteading

That is quite expensive to administer. Sometimes the lender insists on an independent party inspecting the materials at the factory, again at cost. It is an option but seems to be resisted and I think Kelvin is right....it needs financial stability right through the process, and too many UK suppliers don't have it. PLUS, there are legal complexities. If a UK client doesn't pay, the contractor or supplier cannot recover the materials once fixed, but I understand they can in most of Europe....which encourages the client to pay what is due. OP: @Surfiejimwe don't think you will find insurance or be able to use a credit card.

In many cases it was once our money, being spent by corporations (banks, universities, public buildings) on a monument to themselves.

I've met them. Technicians cut and pasting the maximum number of standard boxes into the available space. Planners and locals can comment ( free design checks) on design errors such as no ambulance access or bin spaces, or that tree they hadn't noticed etc. I don't think the soul was there to be destroyed. I think the fee may have been very low.

It was summarised in 3 newspaper articles. I further summarise. He's very good, but we are all nearly all Philistines. A very few clients appreciate how good he is and are prepared to spend the money. Simple and efficient is bad. Fiddly and complex is good. Money .....ahhh I don't remember that being mentioned as his concern.

Not soft enough to seal over the inevitable undulations in the concrete. As a retro-solution, buy very soft, self adhesive draughts strip and apply underneath. Light leakage under the seal will show if it is a local or general gap, and the size of gap.

I perfected this over lots of industrial doors. I'm prepared to tell you though. The secret is to acknowledge that seals don't work, and drains under the door cause draughts. I asked about patenting this but they said it was too obvious. Build your external wall as normal, with a door gap. Then fix a plank on the inside, up to which you lay harcore, insulation and floor slab. Later remove plank and construct a ramp from floor level down to outside level. Water runs down the door and onto the ramp. Wind gusts may blow some in, but the ramp wins when the gust passes. First draw where the door will sit. Set the plank at least 100mm inside that. You will have a cold bridge at the ramp, but it is trivial compared to the draughts under and around the door. An alternative is to cast a galvanised plate inside the door, just 10mm above concrete. Then you have to close off the ends with mastic.

I'd look again at ufh. A major advantage is the comfort level from having heat under your feet and low down. Yes heat rises but that will apply to any source, and from rads you may get no benefit at all. What @Gus Pottersays about perimeter insulation, I agree with. I believe the benefit is greater than the building regulations recognise and especially so with exposed stone walls as you will have. For fill, a thin top screed will spread the load on eps then you can finish with anything you choose. Eps is half the price and half as good as pir, but that suits your need for depth. After about 200mm there are diminishing returns on insulation. It depends where you live, but there is probably a stone fill that is much cheaper than type 2. Ask the quarry. Fill sand, scalpings, or it may have a local name. Crushed concrete or hardcore likewise. That will get your fill up to rhe height you need for eps to sit on. I would tape all joints. It closes any air gaps and keeps everything in place better. With very thick eps slabs staggered, they might sit nicely enough without. And use planks for moving around, to protect the soft eps.

Others can perhaps confirm. I don't think many major suppliers accept credit cards for big orders. Firstly they have to pay a largish percentage to the bank as a fee. Secondly the money takes a while to be cleared. 3rdly. I'm only guessing ...that the suppliers bank doesn't want to have a credit company take the money back if their client goes under.*.. so it may be in their bank agreement that they don't accept cards. * supplier issues invoice in advance. I pay by credit card. A few days later, 97% reaches supplier's account. Before delivery, supplier goes bust. I reclaim the 100% My credit card takes the money back from some digital account in the sky, from the supplier's bank. Supplier is more than bust and their bank loses out too. Banks don't like that. Although I am guessing a bit at 3, I do know that no major supplier ever agreed to card payments from us. But ask them. I suspect the worst would be a 5% supplement. Our biggest supplier for decades, did have insurance. Their bank guaranteed that we would get full repayment, "without argument" if the materials failed to be delivered. I suspect our supplier had to have a large surplus at the bank at all times. They wouldn't take cards, but there were very big discounts for early prepayment. BACS usually. BTW contractors, and perhaps big manufacturers, generally make 2% to 5% profit after costs.

If you live in a nice area of a big city, this could be commercially viable. Elsewhere I suspect cost will far exceed value or benefit. I'm not giving any advice or even thoughts on the best procedure here. It could be very specific to the building and surroundings. You are deliberately undermining a, presumably, perfectly good building, so there is risk. You need an SE from an early stage. Your annual insurance renewal will have a box tick for ' has your house been underpinned'. The insurer will assume there is a continuing risk. But an SE will design a scheme that will be a construction project, not underpinning as such. I hope you have allowed a lot of money for this and are prepared for earth and rubble going out of the hallway.

2dB doesn't seem right. I would have to study it properly, but there are lots of R numbers and dB in graphs and charts on a website called selactaglaze. The immediate obvious difference is between a 50mm cavity and 200. The bigger gap is most noticeably effective for lower frequencies.

In double glazing, a narrow gap works best for heat, but is worst for sound. A wide gap allows heat to circulate so is very poor for heat. So if you use double glazing first, then the secondary glazing can be as far as you like inside it for best sound reduction. I'm pretty sure the suppliers of secondary systems have figures. From memory you should have at least 40mm gap, up to 100. I fitted a diy polycell system as we were next to a main road, and it worked very well. Was decades ago so can't help on current options.

Quite a good article. I started thinking it was a bit naive and promoting the surveyor but, no it is a necessary intro. I agree with most key points made. Esp why improvement are not legislated for....it's the big donations. Btw I didn't see any sign of the house builders adopting Latham's important report. Construction in other areas did. But then, the big names house developers deny being builders, and the faults are always blamed on someone else.

So do that, with the concrete all the way to the edge. Then you can sit anything on it. Probably a simple slab for the barn, but perhaps a case for a structural raft at the extension, but it is secondary.

OK. We've been distracted. My own preference is that extensions have similar footings to the existing. That limits differential movement. What do you mean by a raft please? I have seen several different interpretations on BH. And why does it appeal? Then you will get my thoughts. But yes you can use a raft. I don't know what you mean.

The roof needs some support, so if you allow solid corners and abutments to the existing, and a kerb/ upstand are you getting anywhere near the permitted area? 25% of floor (internal or external). I know it won't look so flash but that's philistine Engineers for you. To maintain the glazed look you can clad the structural bits in aluminium or glass.

Only from memory: Isn't part E about new build, not refurbs? You should upgrade as far as reasonable but you aren't looking for new build standards. I suggest you have 2 options. 1. Leave it to your consultants. 2. Read through part E yourself. It is online and free to download. The green section near the start is 'the standards' and this will clarify the principles on whether and how it applies to your circumstances. The greater bulk that comes after is mostly explanatory and suggestions. When I need serious analysis of regulations, I print off the relevant bits and mark up the clauses that apply. I'm sure this can be done on screen instead, just not by me.

That proposal goes in as part of building regs, and they will forward it to sepa. , Another thread perhaps.

And how does that compare with the main house? 200mm is unlikely to be indulated to full house construction. The builder is not relevant unfortunately. Telling the planners one thing and doing something else is more a problem than an answer.

Are you sure? The drawing shows a space taken out of a garage, or at least to thd said construction, so like a store. Whatever it was intended for, the architect has shown it as a thinner wall than the house, to the same construction as the garage. The use of the word gym in the planning application may even have been deliberate, to minimise construction and cost. Can you check the outer wall thickness and construction? Easiest done at the window.

There are specialist companies who do only this. They are very good. It's like the circus coming to town. Lots of kit, lots of workers who don't need instruction. I can't recall any quality issues with them at all. I've stayed with them all day on several occasions, just in case. It is also very hard work, and into the night when the concrete declines to harden. Next day, they are off to the next job, leaving one worker to saw cut contraction joints. The only problems are getting a date with a lot of notice, being ready for them, and cost. Also they aren't too keen on under 400m2 as this is a comfortable day's work. We always put the buildings up first so that the slab was not rain or frost affected.

About £600 to mole it? The longer coil of pipe you put in, the fewer connections and leakage risks. For the best pipe prices and long lengths. try the specialist suppliers.

So there you have it. Lots of advice, and people on here are not your average, cautious types. Do it right, do it legally. But talk to the water company, especially about what you can do yourself. Generally they have no desire to dig trenches, and their quotes include groundwork contractors, which you can easily beat. There's usually someone helpful to talk to.

Where does isoquick come from? From my travels I'm not sure concrete skills on small projects are great anywhere.

It's lawyer stuff. You know what you want. They know how to record it. Deeds can be vague regarding positions and technicalities , and the importance of this subject has increased. The more you can predefine what you want to clarify, and prepare drawings, the easier it will be, and cheaper. Dimensions from fixed points can clarify locations of boundaries, pipes, tanks etc Otherwise there is the old issue of the property boundary being defined by a red line, effectively 1m wde.

Lots of nails hold the end tight, reducing deflection. In any case, joists are sized to a deflection that is comfortable, long before breaking strength becomes an issue.