saveasteading

Doesn't sound like it. Can you contrive a bend or baffle at either end to stop turdles running straight through? Just a downward bend into the liquid.

I was an Estimator for many years. It took weeks in any new position to know how the company costed thigs like waste, plant. management and profits, and most of all risk. if estimating a project where the builder or builders were unknown, then I would say this could only be very approximate. easily +/-20%. More accurate than not having it done professionally of course.

Also while it is raining. An issue in the cavity is indeed likely to be bringing the water inside, but if the source is cured then that should be the end of it. Otherwise....cut out the inner block, sort, and build back.

Would it be clear to anyone passing that this was a barrier? Would it keep out a child or elderly person? I know it is said that intruders could sue if they climbed in and fell in a hole, but i haven't seen evidence. A construction site sign would emphasise too....they are off the shelf / on-line.

Deeper is fine, and extra concrete to get back up to a standard level is also sensible. In the absence of a vibrating poker, do still compact the concrete by poking vigourously from top to bottom, using a 2 x 2 or similar. You won't see it but a lot of air will come out, the concrete be better mixed, and the concrete become denser as intended. Yes. That is a lot to shift and level on your own esp if the weather isn't great.

I wasn't aware of that. What / how? I now recall once asking a big merchant for a price for 2 whole pallets of osb. They quoted higher than wickes per board, so was an easy 'try again' discussion. Didn't buy from them on principle anyway after that. Another wickes advantage is choosing the best timbers.....disadvantage is if someone else did that already.

Approx 16m x 0.5 x 0.2, = 1.6m3. If delivered in a big mixer you will pay for 5.4m3 not carried. If you can get volumetric (mixed on site) it should be cheaper, and no waste.

130 concrete on rock is fine. 300 is very thick. What is the reason for that? Concrete does not find its own level. Or shouldn't if you haven't added water. Your peg method is very sensible, because the driver can judge while pouring and then you just have to shovel and forget the lasering. If checking the poured concrete with the laser, be sure not to let the staff depress the surface and give a false reading. This is a common mistake and the blocks need to be cut. Do not add water to the concrete. It is a precise mix and axrea water makes it very much weaker, for the sake of a bit more work. When finished, the driver asks where you want the surplus and slops. Decide in advance. Then he washes out the drum and again you need a place or barrow to hand. How accurately are you calculating the order? Again your pegs help a lot in measuring the depth.

That would be a good price. I don't need any but was so surprised that I searched, but £30 without feet is the best i have seen. Obv not on orkney. A cheap alternative for a longish length is whatever local fences look like. Post and 3 wires? Then put scaffolding mesh on it.

Correct. It becomes a lighter colour, harder and brittle in daylight esp sun, over 2 of 3 years. I think brown is just a cheap default colour, and grey is more expensive to make but more attractive.

You can get a good idea of the typical prices online, but local supply should be better. Go in to 2 or 3 of the local merchants and talk to the lead salesperson. They will remember you and take your first enquiry for a quote very seriously. Be perfectly straight that you will be comparing suppliers. A good merchant will be aware that they might not get all the job, as there are some areas where they can't compete. But a good relationship with one is ideal, for cost and service. For example, our drainage supplier advised that prices were about to double overnight, which they did, and so saved us a lot. Wickes is great for cost guidance. If they can sell 1 piece of wood/ ply etc at their published price, then you know your target is below that. And all their prices are published, to their great credit. And keep discussing here as someone else will have recent knowledge of best prices. BUT always remember that efficient design and avoidance of waste is worth more than any last few % you manage to extract.

Really? What cost do you have in mind? It should deter an innocent party.

Agreed. A 'secure store' on site is guaranteed to be broken in to. Better left unlocked and it is not the half bag of cement and a shovel they want. Ah yes. Obv not barbed wire and broken glass, but some surprises can help. In my experience they give up when things are not going to plan. Perhaps superstition, perhaps having the wrong tools. Eg when the door is opened a light and siren lock in. Or my usual mess of stuff won't untangle. The opposite logic applies when making a building really secure. So when a well equipped thief cuts through metal cladding but then needs a stanley knife and then to cut another layer of metal or block or board...they give in. £1,000 damage but very expensive contents are safe. Have had that with several old clients.

It really depends on the chance of intruders. If there are children, animals or confused people around, then you do need to keep them out. If isolated and at the end of a drive, then not. If there was an incident then you need to have taken reasonable measures, which does not necessarily mean plywood or heras fencing. So use that as your guide. As a contractor we seldom hired heras. 4 months rent = purchase price. Plus any damage gets charged. We bought it from other manufacturers, used it 3 times or more, or sold it "as seen".

At picture 6 i don't think it will flow. Splat as delightfully explained above.

One of these. Needs to be suitable for high temperatures so it is likely to be red, but worth asking for high temp black if possible. They each have a range of diameters they can be cut to. Choose the biggest as that allows more tolerance and best fit on the pipe. On a steepish roof the silicon skirt has to distort from slope to vertical. I have known plumbers make a right mess of installing these, so don't assume the skills are there. Needs roof screws and mastic tape. In answer to how much prep to do...it depends if you think you or the roofer will do the better job. I would us an old fashioned plumb bob to get the hole in the right place, then a vertical pilot hole. NB the circular pipe requires eliptical holes through the roofing materials. .or oversized circles.

I tried extremely hard to find any evidence of lightning damage to a building, other than to the obvious case of old churches. Stone, on a hill, high tower etc. Designed to be struck. Didn't find any. I don't suppose anyone wants to say there is no risk.

Ahh yes. I built about 300 steel sheds, about 30,000m2. Over 30 years. Lightning strikes nil. Our supplier has made 30,000 sheds around Europe. Lightning strikes that they had heard of...nil. My theory is that if lightning hits your metal building then it earths through columns to bolts to ground, like a Faraday shield. If it doesn't then it doesn't. Either way, no harm done. BUT. When the buildings were for a local authority, they insisted on a risk assessment by a specialist...who always advised that they install protection. This was a copper strap from the bottom of a column to a spike adjacent. If you have a metal roof on a non metal building I don't anticipate any increased likelihood of the lightning choosing your building....it will head for another building with greater conductivity, of steel, or with a lightning conductor. The risk is different for hospitals and churches. Always provide protection for them.

As I understand pool / fish tank air pumps, it is only the disturbance at the surface that causes oxygen to mix with the water. The bubbles from the bottom are for show. In a sewage digester I guess and hope that the bubbles also keep an area of the surface clear of crust....I have had 2 installed for clients but never went back to look. I just replaced a fountain pump. £15. Air pump prob similar cost. So that will be the easy answer for any digester breakdown, even a revolving drum type.

Beg pardon. I had your neighbours' garage size in mind.

You have applied for building regs I hope. If not, then do so before concrete. Best phone the local authority one....you won't get in trouble or told off.

There is a lot to know in designing the bar bending dimensions. Otherwise they simply don't fit, can be impossible to fix or can inhibit the concrete pour. I was taught it but learnt about the real life problems when tasked with coordinating with the steel fixers in a huge hydraulics project. Lots of details had to be altered on site. In a biggish design office I found that the SEs delegated the Bbs to a highly skilled draughtsman. It depends how complex your design is, whether the schedule is easy or difficult. Burning question....who pays if the bars as delivered, don't fit?

I've got a single brick chamber like that. I have improved its performance by repairing the in nd out pipes, and diverting some rainwater connections. The final soakaway is on neighbouring land and inaccessible, so it blocking with muck overflow was a worry, but after the one and only clean out, the soakaway has also sorted itself. If I was to look to improve the performance then I would look into adding an extra small treatment, after the brick one has done the first sort. We got a signed statement from the previous owner that the 'country septic tank' had been in use since way back and the drainage authority dropped their initial demand for a new digester.

That's good. Pictures would be interesting.

Some day I may tell you of the cable we didn't cut, and that it would have turned off a whole power station.