saveasteading

Rounded gravel does not compact, and that is the point of it... it settles and is stable. so not option 2. You can just fill with the earth or as 3 or 4 but must compact it. If it is clay then this will be difficult to do well. 1. will be the quickest but cost you a bag of gravel. 3 the cheapest. You can buy a tamp for £15. 4. Does that mean it was soil but now has stone mixed in it? same as 3.

Did it start empty or did you fill it with water? If the latter then the drainage to date is a tiny proportion and the clean water will foam up, as in the difference of the frothy water before you start the washing up, and the lack of foam after. I don't know the science of detergents, but it is along the lines of it clinging to fats etc, and the rest forming bubbles. It will be going back up the inlet pipe too. Less detergent* (which will help digestion anyway) and a bit of patience is all, I think. And maybe turn off the bubbles for a few days while the festering gets going. But do keep us informed as I have never seen this... * we all know there is only one way to wash dishes and everyone else is wrong. I use little, as and when. I've seen other people use maybe 10 times as much... a great big scoosh and there is still loads of foam when finished.

It's not for us to say. It is a project specific thing, so your SE should advise on the structure, not the BCO. The BC can advise on insulation and damp, not that they should be designing for you. But as an overview, and as @Russell griffiths .. that is a big beam with a big load and the footing is absolutely NOT designed to support it.

Site survey completed. Concerning timber only. The results are in. The Architect and Engineer work in metric. The workers talk in imperial as in "fetch me a 6 x 2 about 6 ft long. But they measure in mm. When talking designer to chippy, it is 6 x2 etc for ease of discussion, but lengths are in m. The younger designer never learnt imperial but has learnt to accept this parlance as "the way it is". Builders' merchants accept an order for 6 x 2 but confirm and invoice it in metric. And on education. For my childrens' (1990s) education they were taught cm, not mm. Real life has changed this and current teaching at primary includes both cm and mm but still no imperial.

The only time I use imperial is in chat with someone aged over 45. Then you might describe a timber in inches. Eg 6 x 2 It's actually much more practical than describing it as 150 x 50, or 15 x 5. Or 147 x 47 etc. Or nails being 3 inches. But it would still be a length in metres in ordering and in cutting. It would be a very bad idea to design and work in imperial. Steel beam dimensions are actually usually still in the historic round numbers in inches but are now always calculated and bought in mm.

A general point re rainwater capacity. The rainfall diagram above is becoming out of date, as some areas of the country are getting exceptional downpours. The annual rainfall is irrelevant, but what happens over 15 minutes can cause problems to your system, or over days to the whole area of infrastructure and waterways. So it is best to future-proof by overdesigning OR having somewhere else for the water to go. So what if: What if a downpipe is blocked? does it escape safely over the gutter or go backwards and cause issues? Using 2 x dp set well apart or having a weir overflow prevents this. What if your drain doesn't quite cope with the flow, or another drain downline is over capacity? An open gully as above allows the water to run onto the ground, but make sure that can run away from the building.

Compriband is a trade name but in a search brings up lots of copycat or simply squishy foam products. I didn't realise Compriband, capital C, could breathe so there must be more products than I know of. Why does it need to breathe if it is non absorbent?

Compriband is difficult to compress. It is used to seal bridges and dams, and does not go squishy. It sounds as if you have diy draughtstrip.

If you provide compriband expanding strip, or an equivalent, then they might fit it. They're clearly not intending to. I think that's the only best method.

Agreed. It's better to have a good job with medium insulation properties than gaps in a better insulator. You could perhaps maintain the 25mm air gap by first inserting a board to the roof slope, then removing it. Rockwool type material should be the waterproof variety in case there is ever a leak, as soggy wool would be a bit problem.

Was it not always so?

Just ask how they are dealing with sealing.

As long as the pipe is fully home. I've seen miscuts used that should have been done again. The risk is when the plummeting solids hit the bend at the bottom, forcing it downwards. But if that is properly bedded, again no issue. It's good to understand the products and to seek reassurance where necessary.

No. Just think of the effect downstream and the answer is clear.

let's see your sketch please, when done.

this will be noted during any search process, so the vendor should be advised to allow for this reduction. unless of course they think it is allowed already in the asking price. MY inclination would be to do less rather than more, ie clean it out and increase the soakaway. £2-3k ? But at worst case you do this and it `works for a while then ceases to work, so you end up with a treatment tank. £12k. £5k allowance reasonable, depending on how much diy is involved and any design costs. Others may say allow more.

Most? Certainly a lot: a relative had their semi assessed by some unskilled operative, I think sent by the electric company for no good reason. All he noted was the original construction and ignored the huge improvements. And I know the developers used to tart one unit for testing, which is fraud basically. Do they still? But even a poor assessment is a start and the heating cost should be noted in the value.

Do a scale drawing and it will all become clearer. Nothing fancy and after some iteration you can put it up on here for comment. I'm not always negative! Others may have done something like you are proposing. But as a starter, how do you stop the deck from rotting? Tanalised timbers , maybe marine ply decking, then dpm, insulation and so on. 2.5m3 of concrete is a morning of barrowing for 1 hefty labourer. So you are right that it is limiting. A groundworker will do that, but for diy it's hard. For diy I'd be inclined to site mix as it is takes the pressure off, and could be done in phases. For cost comparison, what would be the screw pile cost?

Sorry to say: that is a garden shed , and will be cold , damp and will rot. I guess you've seen how groundscrews are hyped as the cheap and easy way for amateur construction. Yes they are, but for decking, fences etc I'd agree. For a comfortable building you need damp proofing , materials that won't rot, insulation. Otherwise you will not be using it except as a store, until it falls apart in 10 years.

That's the easy bit, and not where the costs lie. For any once in a lifetime prospective self-builders looking here. This is really about getting it done by builders. For actual hands-on self build it is different. I don't know what I would advise re cost expectations except to say don't believe what anyone is telling you that has something to gain. eg that self building is cost effective or any £/m2 rate unless there is a formal quote to justify it. I was a main contractor for decades, and worked for local biggish contractors before that: not for domestic housing, but the principles apply. Doing a one-off project is a risk, and the client has to pay a premium as as the contractor will have it covered either as a lump sum, or in cautious contract terms. No QS knows the price. even with a detailed design in front of them. They are making many assumptions. Without a detailed design then even more so. A contractor's estimator is doing what a QS does but with inside knowledge of what their employer is efficient at and the overheads expected, and they can get feedback from previous projects and input from preferred subcontractors. Even so the quotes may vary dramatically. The more individual a design is, the more the price will increase. This is because of basically experiments by the architect. This is a risk. so is the fact that every client is a one-off.... I will exaggerate slightly but it is an 'amateur' client with an obsessive interest in progress and detail, and an untested inclination to pay on time and in full. The specialist contractor is the best or only party who can give a realistic price and good advice on value engineering. But they won't because they know the ideas will be hived out to other parties. The best projects for me and for our clients were those starting from a position of mutual trust. Either repeat clients or those to whom we had been recommended. We want x, what will it cost? By that relationship we can input ideas and efficiency from the outset. OR the client gives us a sketch design and we can use or criticise as necessary. But generally a domestic client won't have these contacts or feel able to trust the contractor. So they hadn't a clue what they were doing, and guessed a safe figure. Hence a one-off self build is an expensive thing to do. You must have knowledge or a very special reason to want that site and that design. Otherwise buy somebody else's when they have to move on. Sorry.

Yes that. And not a very bad thing as long as it is working. Brand new brick would allow seepage anyay. An older one will have cracks and I wouldn't repair it unless it was clearly causing problems. I had ours emptied once and there was a foot of sludge on the bottom. More importantly it had junk in it , dumped by cowboy roofers from the past, and most importantly the inlet and outlets were damaged and needed repair. You should assume that yours will need some such unpleasant work s a minimum. Eg 1. Suck out tank and the outlet pipe, rinse and repeat. 2. Check for internal damage ask thd tanker company for an overview. For this you must tell the company first or they will only allow a quick suck and leave. At some cost level you decide instead to build a new system.

Likely, yes. But the brickwork is probably already leaking significantly, but steadily and in semi treated form. it would probably be better and easier to extend the rubble soakaway rather than dig it out, then there will be new clean capacity and the old volume may rot away over time. OR you build a modern style soakaway using perforated pipes / drainage field.

That's a good option, and easy to stick down. There seems to be quite a big market for these tiles but do check the wear... some are like new while others can be worn through. But paint everywhere and rugs locally seems the pragmatic way.

It's a failure. Good bearings work millions of rotations. I was recently marvelling at a roatating flue vent we have. Rotates nil to 20 times a second, say 5 average. 15 years doing that outdoors in the wind. An mvhr fan is doing a simpler job at constant speed.

Diy £20? It might look good a bit deeper than the standard ones.