saveasteading

So that's good. Builder has mutiple contacts and shops around. If you had money deposited at one BM that woukd be less likely. There is no reason to deposit money, certainly not that much: use credit card. We are very pleased that the local BM can beat almost everybody, and generally quotes their very best price straight off. On the few occasions when they can't compete, they are grown up about it. Another advantage is delivery. They know the site, deliver when promised, and correct any errors immediately. I forgot the downside. Builder charges you no vat. Buy materials yourself and you pay the vat and can't claim it back until the end. 200k job, 80k materials, 16k vat. ...ish. But if you are getting good discounts that balances out and doesn't matter.

It's amazing how the picture signal gets from the aerial (where the prongs don't connect with the cable. Sockets don't seem to lose much signal. I once had a problem and found that it was the cable from wall just like the one in your link. I made up my own and it worked fine. On inpection the supplied cable , from TS, was very skinny, so I returned it. Another vulnerable point is the cable to aerial, when you think of the weather up there. It can corrode or water can get into the cable.

To avoid any doubt, put your invoice address but in line 2 add the project. Mr and mrs smith, the Bideawee Project, sunny lane, Care of 25 current house street XY1 23Z Or there may be a 'reference ' box on the order form. The BM can write the address there

Good advice above. To elaborate: Small builders generally have one account at one BM. This is because it can be tricky to get much credit until a sustained period of trading. £1,000 Credit doesn't go far and the builder may be out of pocket. How much would you lend this builder? They often aren't getting as much discount as they think. That needs comparisons and negotiation, and they should be too busy building. 10% is standard and you can do much better. If you let them buy from their BM it helps them build a reputation, perhaps ag youf expense. You can get an account but may not get credit for a while. Pay promptly and it can build up. If it is in your skillset you can get the best prices available. Waste can be expensive, whoever is measuring and buying. Some contributors here have more confidence in builders' accounts skills than may be found in reality. Some struggle with basics and vat at the best of times. A builder charging at zero is out of pocket for up to 3 months as they pay 20% to the BM. Who is paying? You probably. For a well established and bigger builder, much of the above doesn't apply.

But how thick? The labour doesn't change much but the tarmac does. A phone call to the tarmac supplier will get you a guide cost per tonne, then multiply by 2 for the £/m3. A man called Mr Lee once had some spare tarmac and offered a 25mm dressing which I accepted. I supervised so actually got 20mm after his very gentle rolling. He ran out of stuff, and I was cursed. What construction do you gave in mind? The sub base is important too. Another option is to find a small groundworker who has the skill but doesn't like spending so much on material. Then you buy, and save markup NB it isn't easy and is hard work, so not for beginners. A Boss, a skilled man on the rake and some muscle for barrows.

I found online that it the width for a cart to divert off and on again.

If you can copy the visibility splay drawing that might be helpful. Delete addresses and references etc if you want. I am just recalling a housing project where the visibility was dropped a lot, despite it being clearly dangerous and officially objected to. I e you can't rely on a planner understanding ,(they are not technical) or highways having the time. Or something less than ethical might happen.

Thanks. The electricians were known to us, reliable and thorough from previous projects. I didn't oversee them but know they would have tested and told me if there was a problem. As you are saying what they said about the SWA I suppose they sort of were saying it wasn't ideal. The cable through the attic is just domestic cable.. We are in the countryside, with lots of the grid being overhead, except when it falls down. It is likely that the underground feed is old too. (In our previous wreck up the road, we got the cable in the road changed because of low voltage....the man in the hole said he'd never seen a cable so bad, with no colours left on it). So it is likely that we get surges. I really can't remember which switch mostly trips....I just go to the box and reset it. But I think usually the MCB (right hand switch on DB 2), not the rcd on the left. Must try harder. DB2 is 63A. DB3 which it feeds has one 100A and another 63A RCDs which seems odd.

This is the distant one. The fridges are in the house. The electrician did suggest changing the cable to armoured, though I don't understand why (can someone explain please?) I would have to get it from point to point which will be tricky with timber frame to get through. Lots of holes in the plasterboard....again. Everything was fine until the new "improved" metal boxes went in. All the cabling is as it was.

Your choice. You can't be made to put in a chamber. But every drain has a risk of blocking. I've seen many where there was no obvious reason. Plus you have a junction and risk of bits building up. As you have the hole, a rodding point would be easy and save a connector. As to concrete, for a drive the loading is low, and it would be a short riser, so a few shovels of concrete around the plastic riser will be enough.

If you can crawl around underneath, then it is worth spreading heavy polythene over the surface. Then the water will be underneath it and general wetness and humidity should reduce. Assuming the ground is wet, not underwater: let that water out.

Highways will have a map showing the different categories of land. Such as carriageway, rights of way, footpath, verge in highways ownership. I saw one that concerned a project, where the 'highway' was much wider than the apparent road. This I gathered was because old roads used to wander a lot for the avoidance of ruts and puddles. As roads got better the landowners fenced further out. Whether they now owned it was in some doubt. Might be worth finding this map to see if you actually have rights to that land or it is " borrowed". You have to be right on this or will end up with hassle and cost and still losing it. It is easy to be emotional and possessive about land and boundaries. But it was all fields and woodland once, and things change.

Two fridge freezers, both fairly new. Perhaps when away we can try consolidating to establish which, if either, is the problem. One is a big 'american' style so prob takes more power. Here is a photo of the whole box. Mains coming in at the bottom. The top right box is a local fuse box for this room and a few adjacent and isn't a problem. The top left seems only to feed the more distant CU for the rest of the house. When there is a loss of power it is about 80% in the rcd box.....usually the rcd trip itself, or 20% a main fuse or a lighting circuit in the remote CU. I will keep a note from now. Is there a way of preventing a spike from a freezer? Just plugging in a spike prevention socket thingy? The electrician suggested a switch linked to the Internet and an app so we would get an early warning and ask someone to call in and reset promptly. But that needs power.

It seems to be whenever we are away that the power goes off and the freezer contents are wasted. Perhaps once a month on average. There wasn't so much trouble with the previous, very old, units but they had to be replaced. The problem doesn't seem to be linked to bad weather or any other known reason. This unit then feeds a new consumer unit which itself and occasionally trips too, but always an individual circuit. The electrician suggested that this more distant CU (10m through the attic) might need an upgraded, feed cable but not saying why. But when the circuit trips with only a fridge and central heating, it seems to me that there is an overarching problem. Can there be surges in the mains power that cause the trip? Problem usually the top left box, right hand or left hand trip, varies. The cu box on the right has seldom any issue.

BUT I happen to know of at least one Architect school that criticised practical design. "This is a chance to experiment, design whatever you like, it is up to the Engineers to make it work." That of course was from a lecturer, who perhaps didn't do well in practise. I know this because I was asked to advise by a student. I advised that columns should line up through the storeys, and the roof needed drainage....philistine me! I lost the project a few marks.

I'm a Civil Engineer, but mostly as contractor. I loved working with Architects and other Engineers to optimise a project. To look good, to be brilliant value, but mostly to keep the weather out. I told them where the money could be saved, without cutting corners, they called me a philistine, then we worked something out. Please don't criticise any profession so wildly, as there are better and worse in all walks of life. But you must choose according to their skills. Some Architects are very practical, while some are 3d artists. You didn't choose Hadid or Gehry if budget was an issue in the slightest. You didnt choose me if you wanted a temple to yourself / city/ business. My view is generally that my job was to keep people and their goods, safe and dry for the next 50 to 100 years. Add a bit for looks. Budget? Working to a budget is not necessarily the same as getting best value....that is where specialist contractors come in.

I'm sure they can do whatever they like. Ours was very precisely linked to mains water used...and as it was an office there was mostly wc use, plus outside tap. Mains water to kitchens and to barely used shower. Also, as no rainwater went to mains drains, (unless via wc) , there was another discount. There was an attenuation requirement too, but we used all soakaway and lagoon, so no crates required.

Agreed most or all of the above. I put a 10m3 harvester in for our own office...no client wanted one but we would test it. 100% of roof water into tank. Double the suggested size. It never ran out of water. The big bonus was that sewage charge was based on water use, so also tiny. And small water pipe in reduced rates. Saving apparently huge. Environmental benefig big too...less water bought and disposed of. But I have no idea the electric cost for the pump. The pump broke down and polypipe weren't interested. Got a repair eventually. Pump broke down again. Leased the building and tenant not interested so harvester sits unused as an expensive manhole. Moral....I might do one for myself, but wouldn't recommend it. But rainwater butts are simple and good as are soakaways and ponds.

I have seen exactly the opposite stated...provide no hindrance to smoke travelling upwards.

Provide the bco with a written explanation of your proposal and how it complies with the basics of the regulation and, if it makes sense, they are likely to accept it. It goes in their file as cover too. Given how far a glowing ember can tumble I think it is a serious concern...and we must not assume that a future user will have the sense that is required. I would like an ember catching edgeto the hearth if there was a carpet.

If in doubt go back to the short bit in green. You may then have to explain the logic and low risk of your proposal.

Late comment. The concrete cracks are fairly standard, unless you have ultra specialist design and contractor Concrete shrinks. If it can't move freely it cracks. If your crack repair looks untidy you could plant a hardwood threshhold over it.

Absolutely not. Air flow through the building shifts more moisture than a typical machine. I have seen people getting them in when there is static water and what is needed is brooms and buckets.

Well done. I'm guessing that it isn't a roddable backdrop, just a few bends to fiddle the slope. Having recently made a few, I was surprised how easy it was in plastic. Therefore also surprised why it is so often bodged.