saveasteading

Agreed. And not enough attention* is given to the insulation from the ground beneath the floor. In a chunky house, a lot of the floor is far from the cold outside world. * the manufacturers choose not to tell us.

I'm totally against fake grass. Plastic that will fade and wear and that will end up being tipped after just a few years. Plus the issues above. Gravel, perhaps in grids will drain the rain. Slabs for some more formal harder areas. Pots of plants: a few glazed ones look great and plants like them

Pir 0.022 eps 0.037 PIR provides significantly better insulation, close to double, but similarly more expensive: close to double I'm gradually coming round to 100mm EPS under 100mm PIR as optimum, with joints staggered. Or see what the market is doing at the time. This because if diminishing returns with depth. @Nickfromwalesplease explain your sacrificial idea? Is this straight on the blinding? Sacrificial meaning some will be damaged and replaced? Or squashed into protruding stones?

Talk to the builder. Some are happy to reduce their turnover, for insurance, account levels, even vat threshhold. and exposure to risk of you or another client being slow payers. Or they may hate having clients question everything or being late with deliveries...or getting orders wrong. so insist they include supply. Don't expect the builder to prepare the materials enquiries, help with managing deliveries, sort problems while you get the discount. Equally tell them what concerns you.

The sand blinding is only for level control, as stone is tricky to get level and smooth. It shouldn't be thick. The dpm goes on that. A slab on that is unnecessary structurally but gives control....ie it is hard and doesn't get displaced or the dpm get torn.. But it can be a thinnish screed. In this case you might reduce the hardcore equivalently.

But also that the builder does. Most small builders are happy to have one account at one BM. Everything on its merits. When you prove you are a good payer it can get better too, especially if you send a nice big enquiry.

I'm going out so will review later. Thats a very simplistic table. I think I'd put the 100mm in at 1:80 and explain to the bco why that isn't a problem, because it isn't. What's going to get stuck?

Because you can't. But in a hollow block wall you can, and fill with concrete, depending on the need of course. Hollow concrete aren't as strong as solids. Eps obviously isn't strong at all. Don't reinvent the system.

So the b and b floor is really the constraint on levels. So I revise my advice. 100mm pipe throughout. Use the level where the pipe passes out of the house just touching the floor as your datum. Run ig from there to the house connections at 1: 80, and from there to the sewer at whatever gradient is available. If this results in slight intrusion into the screed then either increase the insulation thickness or let it intrude into the screed. Or take the drains outside by the shortest route, but that increases drain runs and cost.

I wtote this hours ago and forgot to send. May be superseded but haven't time to check.... I'm sorry but I might be misunderstanding something. I like gravity too. Why use 150mm pipe? 100 is plenty, in fact will run better. Start at the street connection. Work from there using 100mm at minimum grade. See where it ends up. If available then you can steepen the slopes. Be sure to use manhole bases that do not lose any height at the junctions. The pipes don't need to be 40mm or 65mm below the eps: they can be in it even.

I didn't realise that. It doesn't really matter. Steel needs water and oxygen to rust, so it won't reach the working bars.

Not at all. Unless you can explain why the accurate position of the bars does not matter. Perhaps they aren't necessary at all. My thought was to cut the control bars 25mm wider than the internal width and wiggle them into the inner faces, both sides. Then they are not exposed. But it's not a greatly thought out design, and I would have expected a 'system' to have a standard solution. Spacer for the bottom and 2 layers is still my preference IF you can trust the builder or supervise....otherwise they will likely end on the bottom.

It should be removed as best practice. Whether it matters is another matter. The top will go soft and rot very quickly. You can rake it out.The deeper parts will go soft quickly and become compost over a few years.

You mean how, physically, to keep them in the right place while pouring? Once you know the dimensions. Your SE should also tell you how much overlap of bars ( top of my head, it is 40 x 12 = 480mm). You can get plastic or voncrete spacers which you tie to the bottom rod. They keep it off the bottom. F rr the other one I suggest you pour the concrete up to that height and compact it, then lay the other rod, then complete the pour. Be sure to then mix through that surface to make it monolithic just use a 2 x 2. Alternatively you could poke some small rods across the space at the right height and wire the rod to them. The advantage is that nobody forgets.

We dont know the circumstances. Anyway, nothing that a few bars would not resolve...but needs calculations. It's just not easy getting 750mm down with a spanner, or even getting the nuts on the threads. I once took a building down and found there were no nuts. I suspect many more elsewhere are not tight.

It could be formed in brick or block, with tie bars, and infilled. This became my standard detail on hundreds of bases. If you have to set it below floor level to conceal the bolts, then allow for that. This assumes simple vertical loading, otherwise more thought is required.

That's a long way down. You have to cast bolts in, or drill and glue to precise positions. Then fit a base plate over them to level, and fit the nuts. That isn't easy and is worse with other obstructions. Can you raise the pad to slab level in concrete?

That's surprised me, being just 10% more. What about the fancy perimeter eps former?

It's Spanish. It's done plenty of work without bursting into flame. But I'm wondering where is that heat coming from? A poor connection causing sparking, or something glowing in there? If a cable or connector is undersized or making a poor contact, does it become an element? The innards are very simple.

Rather late thinking this. Are these comparable? Competitive prices from multiple manufacturers and merchants for a non load-bearing product v a branded , specialised product. Can anyone advise on the premium?

This socket (NB 2 pin not UK) gets hot when powering the adjacent heater for an hour or so. I think there is brown staining around the pin sockets. The plastic is handleable . The pins are too hot for comfort. It is 230V, 2 pin, no earth. The heater is infrared, 1200W with the original cable but a local plug which is a standard one but rather shabby compared to UK expectations. I've no idea what the mains cable is intended to supply, but presumably a wall heater of some sort. Of course, if it was switched, the heat would not be noticed. What makes it hot? Danger? Action?

Good advice above. It's scary for a contractor too. You do a month's work and invoice less some retention, and carry on working assuming your client will pay. Then if you don't get the last payment then it's a loss of time and money. Once the materials are on site the contractor can't take them back. One Client even foolishly told me that he never pays a bill if he doesn't need the supplier again and true to that he didn't pay the last bill...but being prewarned I had left something crucial undone. It shouldn't be like that. Client and contractor talking about it is useful. Be prepared to pay more often. Eg fortnightly instead of monthly. Even paying for a big delivery the next day.

We must take every question seriously, assuming the enquirer is a complete novice. Well, a tube has one hole or two holes, depending how you look at it.

Yes it might. But starting without trust is not optimal.

There are a few matters which justify a higher price related to cost. 1. Insurance and especially PI are based on turnover. 2. If there is a problem then any compensation might be more. 3. A bigger project has more detailing unless the rooms are simply bigger. 4. If project management is included then a bigger job has more supervision. 5. Does a dearer job have a more demanding client? BUT if it is simply that the spec is higher then only 1, 2 and maybe 5, apply. I think either it would be fair to have a cost based on input plus another based on value.