saveasteading

A fire isn't going to burst through 40mm of oak. BCO may not understand or accept that though so new, rated doors seems the only way. Whichever pair of doors you use, the actual risk is at the joints so intumescent all round and at the junction. In fact your nice new doors would benefit from a latch to secure one of them, and add a stop, and the works in fitting seals will then be easy. Is the BCO expecting door closers too? Not much protection if standing open. This seems extreme so I assume this is not a standard domestic situation.

Google Earth will prove the previous iteration of the building. That will make it easy for the visiting inspector. That, and no signs of habitation. Just in case you don't know, click on the year and a box should appear showing a list of years, then click for multiple aerial views, sometimes back to Luftwaffe pictures. The officer should of course have done this already.

Me too. You could still run a secondary supply very cheaply for gardening and car wash, and this could also fill the fifighting tank. 10m3 at £1.50 saved already. More importantly the water company will probably charge you for waste water, which presumably there will not bf, based on the water purchased. You must tell them that there is no waste and no runoff.

Encourage ladybirds. Check what the larvae look like so you don't remove them The easy solution is to wash the blackfly off with a hose spray. They don't have much grip and if they can climb up again (I doubt it) then they are slow and you do it again. The ants will protect them.

That is our decision too. It will normally be far too much, but the flow slows in summer and the big tank doesn't cost much more. Also if ever the well ran dry, this would be a useful volume to bring in by tanker. We also need a 10,000 litres tank for firefighting as there is no hydrant nearby. Water not tested yet but the neighbours survive and so do we. Frost. A long pipe will be vulnerable to freezing, so keep it buried and flowing.

Depending where you are...e g. .there is similar rainfall in Inverness and Tunbridge Wells. But the former has more wet days and drizzle, so the tank is more often topped up. The latter has more downpours so a small tank would overflow and lose the available water.

Building inspectors do some spot checks but are not expert on everything, and don't work for you. So please continue to check up yourself.

Can't do much better than that in this case I suspect.

Yes and that is good for blackout , but not what you want in the room to keep it cool. Reflect it back out. External blinds are tricky especially as retrofit. French style shutters?

A notch or hole near top or bottom will greatly affect the strength and bounce, unless near the end. Just being a single hole isn't the point. Joiners and plumbers don't usually appreciate/understand this and can be dismissive. However in this case it is reasonably far up plus the additional timbers are adding to the strength.

Diy? Yes of course you can, if you have the skills and knowledge. Do you? How do you know that you do? Green roof etc. I have "green credentials" but never used a green roof where i had control. I would be telling the planners that you had considered it but discounted it on terms of....whatever. In my cases it was usually on the grounds of cradle to grave not actually being justifiable....or maintenace,...or safety. Fundamentally it requires a lot of extra structure, and after it has grown it doesn't reduce carbon. Trees are good. Shade in summer. But not the big varieties or the founds have to be deeper.

Silver or white internal blinds help significantly: more than I can logically explain. I suspect the main difference is in reflecting a large proportion stright back out as light. Perhaps the local pocket of heat also resists transfer.

I was once persuaded to use upvc sprayed grey (by the manufacturer) It turned lilac over 4 years. Fortunately the school client didn't mind.

We are using 9mm everywhere it is needed. Feels totally solid and adequate.

I had never heard of this. Great idea for closing the weak link in a wall. Any permanently flexible putty would do for a one-off. Plumbers mait?

I don't agree. Sound insulation isn't dense enough to transfer sound by impact/reverberation through to the next room. In any case the stud is probably doing that. For higher frequencies and especially airborne sound, keep the full thickness. Especially make sure the full area us filled to the edges as sound leaks through gaps.

You must join the club of salvagers of handy screws. These things tend to be fairly universal so you need a tin of screws. Seriously, I find 9/10 that I have just the thing.

Once had to put in 4 rods, spaced 5m apart and 3m deep to get enough earth conductivity. Prior to that project it had always been more casual. It was as big supply, but I assume the principles apply, of getting an acceptable reading. The holes were bored oversize, then filled with bentonite slurry, which was easy enough to get, as it increases conductivity quite a lot.

I would position the new chamber further from the house. Doesn't clash with the house construction, plus the flow is a more direct route. It would be essential first to prove the depth of the existing drain at a proposed connection point. Bear in mind that rodding chambers generally lose height at branches but maintain it at 'straight through' connections. Look at one on line or at a merchant to make sure.

How deep is it? Adding a rodding point C, nearer to the house may be easier than revising the B connection, especially if light duty (no cars).

You can also link more than one using tank connectors, so that one dp feeds them all. In the winter you can even leave the tap slightly on, to dribble away and attenuate the flow. Did that on a big workshop once, as an official solution, accepted by the Environment Agency.

I like gyproc easy fill. As a non expert I find it flexible and forgiving, I think due to latex in the mix.. Also as it powder you can make it to suit. It is a big bag though. But a premixed filler should work fine.

If the gap is very small then you can patch in the sides of the hole by say 2mm, using filler or plaster. That might just work with your non-circular holes. How the unit clips in may, or may not, work with that. Or As above find repair rings. Or there are optional bezels, for appearance but would also perform this repair function. The trouble with the last 2 is whether your light would fit through the bezel. Or buy a new light that fits the hole. the hole not being round isn't helping choose a size.

Because they nearly always are. It is understandable for services, as uk wages and cost of living are higher than many. But for materials there has always been an uplift in crossing the channel. Because they can. Electricity crosses the channel too, this way only.

A shadow gap might help too. Lining the render straight over the join is bound to crack, so prodaves bead, and perhaps recess or express it.