saveasteading

If you draw a line from bottom left to top right, then that will be where the peak is, and water goes the 2 ways. But you could omit the left hand drain and slope it all to the bottom one. If you raise the left side a tad it will all run to the drain. i.e. as your original but raised at the left. Where is the water to go next? It is supposed to go to soakway, not into the drains, to reduce flood risk. You could use a french drain (gravel) istead of the aco, or take it to a soakaway or pond.

I have an innate preference for 3 chamber systems. They continue to work whether aerated or agitated or not. The wiers between sections prevent solids getting right through. Occasionally they might be overworked, but a decent drainage field will complete the process. In this old house we have, and are entitled to keep, a single brick chamber that discharges to soakaway. It is far from fully treated, but by inspection a 2nd and 3rd chamber would do the job.

Not drainage as precisely discussed here, but i think it comes under "Civil Engineering". Fluid mechanics and soil mechanics are covered. (Not Structural Engineering as they have split off from the profession into their narrower field.) There is an overlap into biochemistry, but that is buying a 'thing' these days. Designing domestic drainage fields isn't a glamorous or well paying speciality, hence so often it isn't designed but bodged.

The Highland document linked here shows 5 pics of examples, of which 4 are timber clad and one is white render. The document is brief and perhaps superficial. The guides by Moray and by Aberdeen give more specific examples of what is considered good design, and sometimes why. I think the principles are transferable. They also say that "exemplary modern" may be acceptable. I wonder if the ubiquitous white render is driven by cost. It will be the cheapest way to build in a way that is likely to be acceptable. But it seems that timber cladding is well received, but that most developers prefer the render....for cost.

I now only buy expensive screws. The time saved and job quality improvement is immense. The ones that come with their own head that clicks into them are favourite. I really should throw out the boxes of old fashioned screws that I will never use....or give them away to someone who wants cheapness before convenience.

The patio needs a fall or it gets puddles and the water may not run to your drain. The drain should fall too, although it will work without but need cleaning out more often. Is there a reason that the falls are causing issues?

The cheapest screws aren't worth having as they will be made from inferior metal which may not 1. Have the hardness to grip the screwdriver head 2. Cut into the material 3. Resist corrosion 4. Have the strength for the job. What function do you want the screws for?

If it is the same as ours then it is nothing to do with the sea, but is glacial. When the glaciers formed rivers of meltwater they crushed rocks and carried boulders and sand with them. They dropped it as they went. These are called eskers and can be up to 50m thick. Our ground is mostly single sized, rounded sand, with some beds of gravel, and extremely dense. Like soft rock to break through, but then crumbles to sand.

Vat reclaim has to be for works as on the PP. Perhaps that requires you holding off until the permission you need is confirmed.

If you are sitting in your car ( eyes 4ftabove ground, and a bonnet distance back from the roadside) , how far can you see? The required distance both ways is based on speed limit and hence braking distance. Includes trees hedges, walls, road signs and anything else that might stop you seeing an oncoming vehicle in time. So verges are usually helpful in this. If you still need guidance let me know.

I think they do, by definition. The thing on such a practical and hands on forum as this is that we are by default questioning and cost conscious. It is not necessarily in the typical Se or Architect skillset to be god teachers or to understand costs. Hence many Engineers who do, are engaged by contractors....and the rest do these on-off designs. Yes that is what I do. It happens to be within my experience. Most consultants will propose details that they are comfortable with, or have assurances on. My suggestion isn't Engineering, but builder's detailing based on experience and knowing the cost of things. Your typical SE or Architect wouldn't know what things like this cost, and can't know everything. I suppose I am being defensive on this subject (to an unknown SE who may well be very good or not so good) because I have seen so much appalling work carried out by people who don't know how little they know, and seem to think that SE/Arch/BCO are trying to catch them out. I have had projects where the client decided to not use us, and do it themselves. Met by chance later (or to do the next project for them) they moan about fire barriers, foundation depths and all sorts that they have been made to do. Wind posts and pad-stones might be another example.....just how much is expected as free advice before even engaging a designer. On our project I challenged the SE, and we saved £15k. The daily contact resisted but the top boss agreed our proposal was acceptable, but they hadn't realised it was a commercial option. Fair enough. But I did many hours of general research, more site tests and technical research, and got tacit backup from a certain member on BH. Allow 30 hours a plane trip and 3 days board.....I worked for it. I allowed 10% for unknowns on our project, because conversions have surprises. And I am reasonably expert. On a new build of a project I understand backwards it would only be 3%. I can well understand that many on here have not allowed for contingencies, and it hurts when the unexpected is required and the costs rise. That is the big risk of self-build.

That sounds extremely competitive for 400m2. I would expect the skip and disposal cost to be that alone. Looks to me like you have a lot more than 400m2m though, esp including the walls....but still, an encouraging start. Is the VAT reclaimable?

I'm not a biologist or got a medical degree but I trust my doctor. Your SE did at least 3 years uni. If Chartered he did several more years and exams. What is the problem really and we can try to help?

Always a good sign. A beam calculation is everyday stuff and doesn't need a computer programme. Good to be interested of course. I expect he could sit you down for a lesson if you paid for his time. The bco does not check calcs, or have the training. Trust the SE.

No it doesn't. I refer you to my earlier response. BCOs are not Clerks of Works.

There is a common misunderstanding. A bco is no replacement for quality control and expert management. They do spot checks and concentrate on certain issues. Saying that drains look ok does not mean they are. Signing off the job does not mean it isn't full of unseen or even concealed problems. The fabrication of steel is not something they are trained for. If one says nothing it doesn't mean it is ok. If the next one says he has concerns then so should you and get it looked at. The SE should be looking at the steel, or the Architect at a push. The best bco i engaged was private. It meant we got the same person every project, whichever council it came under. I had far more issues with LAs when we tried them again, mostly claiming there were problems when there werent; I think an arrogance from authority over little builders. Not all of course and they all recanted. Unnecessary? Looks like you have had issues! But that does remind me of a couple.

It heats the air directly isntead of the floor or radiators. It was for its time. Not now. And commercial targets were lower than domestic.

And it was simply underpowered for an office, and 15 years ago.

I changed a hot water tank last year. One of these Of course I dismantled the old one for interest. Out of it came 100mm of lime and a rotten element. Meanwhile we are drinking this in the cold. Good for the bones perhaps. It did show that any inline filter would clog very quickly so should only be at the kitchen cold tap and easy to change. In our highland project the water comes from a hillside spring. No lime, tastes good, haven't analysed it yet.

As ST says. Air to water to air requires an additional fan, or several, using more power. On the other hand it has a quicker response so may be used less...which doesn't show in the COP. We had a big system in our self build office block. It worked well enough. An extra bonus was a quick warm up on Monday mornings, and off ASAP. If it had been underfloor, the windows would have been opened half the day to lose the captured heat.. And practically, there was an electric heater in-line for extremes and the effect was very quick which is good for morale. Wasn't so good on cooling, and I never worked out why.

Agreed, i think these principles transfer, but not until the last knockings of negotiation, as it is a few% In business we got a lot off the little subbies to whom cash flow was critical...they were used to being treated badly and waiting a long time for payment. Payment fortnightly and within 5 days could be worth 10% on the labour. You have to be very careful not to overpay though. But on our personal Highland project it seemed almost a statement of principle that the contractors would wait for the money monthly, "like bigger businesses do". Paying for the materials transfers risk from them to you and so has a high value. Needs thinking about. But the average small contractor doesn't have much buying power and perhaps you are better at shopping around. Watch out for overordering and waste. Some clients like to play at being big players. Never worked for me. Neither do you want to seem naive. Just be yourself I say, and they will like you or not.

This is usually mundane stuff like possible field margins or old footimgs. Laying over the area doesn't prevent future investigation so will be ok.

The 'Road to Errogie' and beyond . I spoke to a prospective builder who regarded Aviemore sort of area as the centre of everything. He worked there, and around inverness and to Skye. Very impressed with him, but does whole packages only whereas we didn't need and couldn't afford that. Most want to be within 40 minutes of home though, and that reaches Inverness. Architect was in the family so I can't help there.

Welcome. Can i suggest restarting your presence with an alias? All discussion here is public ( googling terms will expose all discussion to the world.) Your tendering builders could read it all. Burglers could see the best time to visit. Planning strategy exposed to the world. Those reading now will forget. The good news is that disabled friendly access and minimum room sizes are standard in the Scottish regs, so won't cause panic or cost.

No, there is a vast variation. What the main dealer car showrooms specify is a 2 part epoxy that goes down several mm thick. When it fails ig comes up like vinyl flooring. It costs about £60/m2. Or there is middle market stuff about £40/m2. All a bit excessive for the purpose. All it has to do is stop oil from soaking into the concrete. As my motor clients said, our vehicles don't drip oil. So when they had a choice we used single part floor paint at about £20/m2. All probably gone up 50% since then. The cheap stuff worked fine then, after a couple of years of commercial use, they touched up abrasion at doorways. I'm sure the cheaper kind will work for you. Watco is the go-to name for concrete repair and paint. But I think you should find cheaper.