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I'm building an extension (basically corridor) between my house and a detached garage I plan on converting. The trenches at 600mm wide leave just a small strip in the middle. Aside from the cost of concrete, is there any reason for this to be 2 trenches or could I just excavate the lot to the levels specified by BCO and fill the whole thing with concrete? Blue lines mark the inside of the trench

I'm building a small extention which will be a link between the main house and a detached garage. The garage sits ~45cm higher than the house so the foundations have been designed to be stepped. When it comes to building, does it make sense to cut the trench directly out of the concrete patio in the picture below and dig down or to completely clear the site and then dig the foundations? My thinking is that by removing less patio it will have less chance of collapsing but would be grateful of opinions. Blue lines below show the path of the inside walls of the extension

Hello everyone, Recent house purchased and plan for a garden office with PV solar installation. After much frustrating searching for information on solar installation found this forum where people seem to be happy to get into the technical details (unlike websites of companies offering solar installation that I’ve seen). Been a long term renter so my DIY skills low level but IT background so (like to think) have technical aptitude. Looking for advice / voice of experience on a: * 3m x 5m (internal dimensions) garden room. 194 degrees longitudinal axis * 4.2m x 6m flat room dimensions (TBC) * approx 20m from main house at end of back garden * mainly 2 person office Considering installing: 10x 375W AE Power PV panels in E-W facing configuration with ~10 deg pitch 10x S440 optimisers SolarEdge SH3000 inverter Garden Room would also have AC unit Daikin split unit (model TBC) Questions: 1. Can the solar PV inverter be connected to a secondary consumer unit in the garden room or does there need to be a run for generated AC going to the main Consumer unit in the house and a feed from there to the garden room sockets and lights? 2. Maybe depends on answer above but 10mm or 16mm SWA buried spade and a half depth? 3. Looking at CAT6 and / or multimode fibre (intended home switch will have SFP so wondering whether this is a future proofing method into the same trench). 4. Options for digging trench other than by hand - digger hire from Jewson? (Have 1000mm access down side of house) 5. Views on electrical installation for garden room. Which bits need an electrician and or MCS certificate it it worth it, and which bits to do self. There is potential for further PV system on potential house extension (if built) but currently main house roof aspect not ideal for solar (gable end facing south with other main surface north facing) Thoughts welcome.

Hi, Moved into a 1930s semi property with lead water pipes and an old capped gas line. As such planning to dig a new trench and lay a new MDPE water pipe to the correct specifications, then once signed off backfill this and get the gas company to lay the gas line in the same trench. My question is, where in the picture would you advise digging the trench? Either way it's through a concrete driveway and will pass under a rainwater drain. Itll either enter the property though a small porch or through the garage. One option is to expose the current pipes but that'll impede digging and I'm not sure if you can cut though and remove the old gas pipe even though I'm told it's "dead" and been turned off. I'm hoping at 75cm depth I'll be able to pass under the foundations and not need to drill through it. Failing that I wonder if I could come up higher once in the porch or garage and just knock out a brick or two to get into the house. I'm assuming this would be okay as long as it's insulated. Any advice appreciated! Jack

Hi. We have just moved in so are now rectifying all the random things that were done to the house by the previous owner. One of these was to cover the construction trench around the extension of the house with wood topped with astro turf. Presumeably it was done to make it look neater for when the house was up for sale. The wood is all rotten and it touches the house above the damp course. I am half way through ripping it out. What are my options with this trench as it is pretty unsightly and there is the possibility of falling in it! One of my thoughts was to put loose bricks in the botton, then a layer of gravel then a layer of something decorative (i.e. pebbles). This would mean the stones would be touching the wall above the damp proof course. Would this be a problem? thanks.

Just a quick heads up for anyone who may need to change the location/route/type of electricity supply over the next couple of months and how long this may take. My supply currently comes in via an overhead line attached to a pole very close to the new build. And it's very ugly. Therefore, I plan to get a new pole on the boundary of our property then run the line in via a trench that the groundworker will dig. I already have my quote but thought I better call Dave, my friendly local DNO installer, to see how busy they are. Good job I rang! The earliest he has available from today for this type of job is 17th October and he's getting booked up quickly. This date works out okay for me as there's lots of groundworks to be done between now and then, but it could catch you out if you are in a hurry, so always best to check as early as is feasible.

Well with the trench blocks in its time to sort out my services and stuff for drainage and waste i basically COPIED the paths from an identical house but as I am doing the pipework and paths myself (as much as i can anyway) I wouldn't mind a bit of the usual good advice from the sages on here ! In your guys (or girls) honest opinion 1. does the waste and rainwater make sense ? ....do you think i need to add anymore feeds for RW at the top left? 2. The services (sadly) enter the house on the wrong side (see blue arrow) ...I have to get virtually EVERYTHING to the Blue cross as this trench carries it all 30m to the road Sewage, Water, Electric, Gas and Telecoms (too possibly) How would you lot do it ? ..as in what way? I have some pics below that could help you visualise it a) planned water paths b) roofscape ( the bit on the right is a single storey sunroom c) example of identical house built a few years ago any advice is appreciated

Plodding through our Mechanical Services architects notes, I read; '...Generally, the contractor should use the same trenches for other services, where possible, provided they are installed to the correct depth and distances between services are achieved....' And as luck would have it, I'd quite like it if our sparks and water shared the same trench - because that way we can keep them both at the very edge of our site, and protected from delivery wagons and errant Great Crested Newts (Found a large one minding its own business inside our bedroom last night: rare they ain't. ) But thinking about it, if I am to achieve that desirable state of affairs, and since both sets of contractors are never going to be on site in the same week , I will need to maintain the trench, and drain it aren't I? Oh..... and catch bloody GCNs in it. I'm thinking it ain't worth trying? Right?