saveasteading

Isn't it always full? Whatever goes in one end, the same comes out of the other? @RossMcO it's right to ask the questions. But stop worrying. Any of the big makes will do the job for a full house. You only have to decide if you risk turning the air pump off when nobody is there. I would. Nothing will get worse and no liquid will come out. The only risk is of the crust hardening a bit....or maybe the pump forgetting how to work put it on a timer? Nobody will die and the kit will still work. I've only ever used Marsh products. I'm sure our clients don't look after them and they keep working. The old ones didn't even have air pumps, if I remember correctly.

The building inspector is not responsible. They do spot checks not supervision. The builder may still have liability. Check the contract. If KS now want a concrete surround, then that sounds as if these tanks are now known to need it. Their inspection is not going to be independent.

I've seen such a costing. It measured the main elements and put a £/m2 against them. That's what I would do too. Floor 200m2 x £60 Aluminium Windows 40m2 x £600 Etc Site setup sum £20004site managemrnt 40 weeks x £1200 And so on. The big unkown is what a builder adds to that for overheads and profit. Included or plus 20% or 40%. And risk...who owns it? A local might know the current marketplace better than someone far away. There are published multipliers for location but that's approximate. As a contractor quoting, these rates are all worked out much more precisely. A QS preparing a formsl document might have 3 times as many items for the same project.

It has about 2m3 in it, underground so will not dry out significantly in a year. Close all indoors plugs to keep the u bends wet and avoid smells. For tiny use, i'd be inclined to install a blower type, and never get round to putting the power in, maybe run a cable in the trench for later. It will work away in its own time.

Yes you might get technically too much heat gain. You have to find a way of passing reg's. In real life you find out if it is a problem and deal with it. We put big thick curtains in for the winter and they work for the summer. We fitted them to reach floor and ceiling, to keep the heat in that closed pocket.

That's all I've ever used. No careful management. The final effluent always looked and smelled completely clean, tho I never tested it. I don't think unuse matters..the contents will fester slowly until your return. Neither will it need much maintenance. Just allow for a sucklift every few years and a change of air pump when necessary.

I don't know, but my vague understanding is that it is one thing or the other. Different bugs are doing the job if it is aerated or not. If the air was turned off, the dominant bugs would eventually change, but not suit that machine ideally.

@Drellingore I was sending a private message but it is blocked. Understandable.

You omit ignorance. Architects don't usually understand cost. I've done many a project where the best quotation was way higher than budget, double even. We were then recommended by one of our previous clients, and given the brief to make it work. The usual problem was a linear process of design with nobody questioning it until the horror quotes came in. Our answer was 'all experts in the room' before it even starts. so you bounce off each other to get the optimum. It can be too late once the design has planning approval. But to agree with your cynical/ realistic assertion. One Architect told me that 'the client will always find more money'. I declined to be involved. It may be deliberately conservative. Its the worst that could happen if you just say to carry on and have no involvement. Yes I'd consider sacking and/or suing. they want a %, and it's of a higher figure. They have some extra cost in insurance, but not twice the work. In fact if they hand it over to an expert builder, they will do a lot of the detail work or not tneed the drawings.. Yes. Or I should say the client has , to us as design and build contractor. If the Architect was ok, just not very good, he could stay in some capacity for the client. Usually I insisted they were paid off and not remotely involved. The advice above is good. NB I have not looked at your design yet. Tell them in writing that the doubling of cost is not acceptable, and to stop work immediately and that you will have a meeting when you have considered your options.

It seems to be an old-fashioned septic and settlement tank, which will do 90% of the work, followed by the filter chamber. That should work nicely £3,800 inc vat for a 10 person is not a bargain. The downsides? The outlet appears to be 2m deep or so, which will limit options and add to drain cost. OR it has a pump, so the avoidance of mechanics is lost. If anyone was to put bleach or wash out paint brushes etc into the drains, , I think it wold cause more damage in this than in an air mixed tank.....but that's just a feeling. If it gets heavy use on occasions will it cope? I think so as the solids stay in tank 1. How do you change the filter medium bags? will they still be available in 10 years? Maybe they could be washed out.

I don't know the product but am interested enough that i will look into it for future reference. Have they explained their logic? I wouldn't (ahem) poh-pooh it until checked out. It is all using natural bugs to eat the poo. one method adds air bubbles to keep it moving and oxygenated. the other i assume uses the principle of enormous areas of surface for it to cling to while eaten. That logic is good. for many (15+) years I dispensed with oil interceptors on car parks and instead used natural drainage through lots of gravel. It worked really well and has next to no maintenance or running cost. The analogy is quite close.

It was once the default and became the term for a digester. like having a Hoover. Their marketing and technical advice helped a lot too. But that was a long time ago, It is rather a bad habit to use the term generically these days. I can only assume that an professional using the term without a model number etc, isn't up to speed.

All talking stud I think. Nobody talking blocks ot any word like that. You've made me think though. A metal stud wall might be so weak that it crushes under any load from the floor above and doesn't transfer it to the screed and the insulation supporting it. That doesn't seem proper though as there then wouldn't be a seal at the head.

Whether you could is dealt with above. Whether you should? It is taking a risk regarding approvals and any changes during construction. It will be a 2m to3m deep hole so it's maybe better to wait, and a bigger digger can hoist in the tank and hold it safely while you shovel gravel around. PLUS it might be in the way, if you are tight for working space, and damaging it would be awful. That goes for the pipes too, as you will surely be driving machines around the building.

End of commercial life caravans on 'holiday' sites are cheap as long as you don't mind a lot of cleaning and putting up with the shabbyness. I drove past such a site yesterday and there were a dozen roadside for sale. The wheels on most are for tax avoidance purposes and not for towing, so make sure they include delivery. We have one that was included with the sale whuch we use as office. The farm worker occupants had clearly been clean and proud people, but there was 20 years of muck and mice in the hidden areas.

Practically....if you lay the ufh clear of the wall position then you can drill and screw into it. I took to the new breed of Fischer plugs, but have reverted to hit-fix for sole plates...it's so easy to drill and fit in one operation. As often, well known brands often work best. Engineering-wise. The load of the wall is simply its dead weight, so negligible BUT if the stud is tight to the floor above then it will take load from it, and the screed on insulation won't be strong enough. So leave the wall short at the top with a flexible infill. Of course it still needs fixing, so use screwed brackets to the joists to let it displace.

That looks tall and heavy. How did you get it in position? That ladder also looks very high and precarious...I used to do that but no longer.

They should ask for the connection details. You need it anyway. It doesn't work as drawn, and saying on the drawing that it doesn't work as shown is a cop-out.

@JamesP it's almost a shame to hide that frame behind boards. Did you prefab any of that? I'd bought 2 lots of 4 x 2 (excuse the shorthand. One lot was dressed as carcassing, the other sawn and tanalised for shuttering. The latter was cheaper and seemed better quality, so I will note the advice on finished dimensions.

Tempting as it is to premake panels on the floor or bench (the structural ones with osb) it wastes a lot of doubled up timber. So studwork must be the way and use a simple hopup for fixing boards. Probably worth buying or hiring a self feed screw gun. A lot of pre-thought needed too, on osb or plasterboard sizes if therd will be lits of cutting and cursing. I've watched stud wall specialists, metal and wood, working with ease and speed, but not thought this size thing through before. I have moaned at the amount of stud cutting waste but they, of course, are doing what suits them. A new stud or board every time whereas we on BH will find an offcut to use whenever we can. I still need to know the best method for constructing the stud. A sole plate is essential levelled. There won't be any floor above to connect to. Studs flop all over until the header goes on. We will have a builder doing this, but not one with this expertise.

Im shocked I don't know this. I've been knocking up a simple enclosure for a site toilet that will become a garage toilet, on an existing slab. 4 x 2 stud in 2.4m lengths. then osb facings. When i make it with a base and head plate , and verticals, I end up with a panel that is 2.4 + 0.05 = 0.05 + 2.5m high then onto that goes a 2.4m board that doesn't reach the ends. this is an increased issue if the frame is erected on a sole plate. I've got gaps. It seems a nonsense to cut the ends off standard studs. The same will apply with plasterboard except that it is available 2.5m long......but not so competitively priced perhaps. Are there any tricks?

Your thoughts on crack control if we don't want shutters or slicing of the cured surface. Crack inducers? Or with all that mesh it is microscopic. Clearly no worries about the pipes failing when they stretch that tiny bit.

Neither. I would do option 3. btw, I only mentioned slabs 175th as what a factory needs. A house doesn't need that. So shave off another 50mm at 100m2, 5m3 @£150. for 250mm it is 12m3. but muck away, shutters, and the mesh spec. Rain or frost damage or delay. Risk of damage to sticking out, loose ends of ufh pipes? What was your method for fixing the ufh? tie to the mesh? In the factory I mentioned, the building was enclosed and the slab was poured 'indoors'.

pods have differing peas. 2 varieties of pea perhaps. Forget the fire analogy , I only meant a quick change, not the amount and controllability of heat. Not usually in my experience. . Scratches, machine marks, mortar splashes. But I'm more used to bigger projects than houses, with steels etc. on and off the floor, and mewps running around. Perhaps different if its very very closely supervised. otoh, with a house, it seems that most builders can't get the slab remotely level, and they are too small for the specialist contractors. so the second chance with the screed comes to the rescue. still sweating their arses off on the Wednesday, Doesn't that show that the heat in the slab was then wasted, and it would take 3 days to warm up again? Bottom line....I have never priced or built a new house with a raft. so it is a hunch. and of course I am interested in he all rounder's view. But I was an Estimator for years and the hunch is usually about right. Worth £5k to £10k in my mind. That can be wiped out by consultants fees or a builder with a proven system not wanting to change processes.

Now I don't understand that I'm afraid. Sounds a mechanical thing, not to do with the heatsink. Why should it not be good that a screed reacts quickly when the weather changes. It's like 'let's light the fire' evenings.. It is fundamental I think, that you should not need an exceptionally heavy duty factory spec floor for a house, then build it on pir or eps. But I am interested. Do you think it isn't that expensive all things considered? I also like that the first slab can be run on and bricks dropped on it, and scuffed, knowing it will be covered.