saveasteading

Where do you park the car? If you can still park in the grounds, not on the street, it is likely to be OK.

I meant has anyone used or inspected the structures from Quick Garden, as mentioned above.

I went to their Kent depot to look at examples, but they have closed it and it is now a distribution centre only. They seemed very surprised that i wanted to inspect, and said it is now online only. That concerns me considerably. There was one shed, the gatehouse. Seemed ok, but not as thick timbers as I recalled the spec, and being 10 years old, is that good or too long ago to be relevsnt? I wonder if anyone on here has used/seen the latvian make.

There can be a huge difference in bit quality. It is well worth paying for big brands.

If I was to design a house for the lowest cost per m2 but a durable quality then there are a few basic principles. 1. If land is at a premium, then do what the bulk housing market does. Timber box to a standard, proven design, with brick skin and tiled roof, or poss metal roof (not standing seam). Small rooms are a feature as they are economical on materials, both structurally and in outer surfaces. No pretend chimneys. 2. Or, if plenty of land, one big rectangle in steel frame, divided by partitions. Metal roof and walls. Not standing seam Walls over-clad to taste and budget. 3. In both cases the chunky rectangle is key. Note that in 2. we not only save the stair cost but gain twice that floor area, and need no fire escape. The downside is the added external area. These will balance out. Rooms can be as big as required with savings rather than penalties. For 1. I would approach the frame suppliers and ask for a proven design, so there are no design or setup costs. In summary. 1, for a small or conventional house. 2. For larger with bigger rooms.

I have done some research. Basically underlay has tog of about 3.0, but the special stuff is 0.7, so much more heat comes through. Avoid foam-backed carpet, or wool. Carpetrght have their own name for this special underlay and sell it at £13/m2. it is called Duralay elsewhere and the cheapest I have found is £9/m2. Delivery to the Highlands is stupid extra money as often. (£70 for the last 50 miles from the notional barrier to transport). I think free with Amazon, much as I'd rather not use them.

We have a downstairs bedroom to carpet. Suddenly the Carpet-right quote of £28/m2, laid, incl underlay, becomes £50/m2. We do appreciate that an insulating layer over the heated screed isn't the cleverest thing. There appears to be specialist underlay that is less insulating then the norm, at £9/m2. Also special carpet, and the laying is now extra. Any comments at all please? There is also the flooring industry try-on of quoting for gripper /m rather than in total.

Correct. I think it is because the work is unpleasant, so an under-resourced market. And then it is buried and forgotten. Not just sloppy, unfortunately, as I have had 'specialists' attempt to con extras for unnecessary work. 'Tut, tut, big problems here mate but we can sort it.'

It is very simple involving a spade, a bucket and a watch. Depends how many tests of course. A bit lazy of the planner. To be fair, more likely not conversant with the issues. Any problem is likely to take months or years to present itself. Worse, it simply leaches unseen through the ground and contaminates elsewhere. Houses get sold on, and the builder is usually long gone. Agreed. I have done a few in England and I saw no sign of anyone checking it. I assumed that my qualifications were enough, but more likely nobody looked. In Scotland it is compulsory to present proper details and the bco does send them on. There was no response and we cant tell if they looked, shrugged and set it aside as ok, or did nothing. If there was contamination found, it can normally be traced back and there could be repercussions. Anyway, doing it right isn't much more expensive.

There comes a time when general advice is not enough. This now has to be site specific and needs expert design. Your homework so far is not wasted as you can brief your chosen Engineer on your thoughts and findings. You can do a percolation test yourself, but your Engineer should ask to see it repeated.

I would cut the dpm on the concrete line, after construction. Dampness will get into the concrete but dry again. Agree slab should be just inside the shed wall to allow dripping to ground. Dpc between timber and concrete is advisable but not essential as the concrete will breathe and dry.

It simply allows 25% reduction in area. Silly but fact. I expect this is why bcos overlook undersized drainage fields, as it looks OK to them. I doubt if they do. But the relevant difference would be a sealed pipe, to carry water, or one with open joints, to allow ingress/egress as well as to carry it. I suggest a fomal proposal is presented, with drawings and support for the arguments. The bco will send it to the EA and perhaps never get a response. I might include the argument re the composting toilet, although they could reasonably argue that it might go unused, by future owners if not you.

Thanks for acknowledging this But it was also the bottom 3 of the pyramid above. I don't think anyone is attacking you personally, but your statements, and it is useful always to see opposing arguments.

You didn't address this bit.

That may be plenty in practice, with permeable ground, but the formula requires much more. I think that bcos just accept that ig looks enough.

Ok first to bite. A distraction question. No, of course not. Does a well designed, properly used wbs cause pollution in the countryside? Yes. But it is a reasoned pragmatic option. The pollution is slight, much better than bonfires and open fires, and no worse than gas or electricity. ( reference pollution maps). I am starting to suspect that the anti wbs arguments are being encouraged by ' big oil' and Tufton St. Hence the easy articles for lazy 'journalists' quoting high pollution in london, blaming wbs as a distraction to the real issues of cars, loe emission zones, lack of home insulation and other 'liberties'. Btw, your comments on the video are not convincing unless you know he isn't a scientist, know he is a nob, and think that being from 'up north' is relevant. If anything you are turning me more to his arguments than yours. Do you have connections to declare to big oil or the libertarian wing?

It is feasible that the layout drawing was included with the opp. The reasons for not asking for full pp woukd be to avoid surveys and reports, and allows for variations to be made in the final app. You can't rely on most agents for the full story, but must ask, and see the full conditions. I was present at a council meeting when a similar situation arose. The plot had opp. But also had a building design. Some councillors wanted to object but were told that they could only vote on the basis of the new information, ie conditions and details.

That was some time ago. There are still standards though and perhaps these steels have slipped through. There was a while that Mexican steel was coming in and not meeting standards, but still being sold. Strength though, not bits in it. Having seen a steel mill in action, I'd be surprised if there are lumps in it. Something you do properly or not at all I would think.

This is not expensive but is not suitable for all species.

I don't think steel has hard bits in it except where heated or hammered. It could be affected by the drilling as markc says. Perhaps use a small pilot hole and then a conical cutter / step drill to get to size.

they say they saw bats entering the roof space in the 30 mins I wasn’t there. That is difficult to argue with. Though I did dispute with our SE that he had tested ground strength using a 2m long steel rod he had somehow found and lost on the 2 mins nobody was with him. Grrr. But then I had other evidence. Looks to me that you should put up the post and boxes. He should, in his report have told you what heights and box types. If not, ask. If you don't have a tree, do neighbours? The bats won't mind.

That would do me,( and certainly good enough for a planner, as long as common sense is applied. I have seen loads of reports that basically say....continue to employ me to monitor this. I have overturned a few (environmental and archaeology) by pointing this out to planners and proposing alternative solutions.

I walked round a site with an ecologist. He didn't climb any trees, but looked on the ground, and listened at night. I had chosen him after rejecting many others over the years. Not only ecology, but archaeology, transport, whatever. Some have the qualifications but may be in the wrong job, or don't have common sense or an understanding of cost. Phone about for another. Sack your ecologist, and save the fee, or put up the pole and say to the planners that you don't have bats but this is just in case.

This is the important issue. If there were no bats then there should be no reason to build a temporary housing. An expert batman knows there are no bats and never are any bats. This doesn't sound like an expert OR it is a chance to double the fee. It occurs to me that I put the boxes up using a scissor lift, because one was handy. so i think it was more like 4m up, and any less was not allowed.

probably all you need.