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Where does the DPC sit? It would be usual for it to be about the level of your purple line. If the Inspector is assuming that it sits on top of the eng bricks, then he probably thinks it’s too high. As Woody says which bricks go where is irrelevant. DPC level, and ground level as per Ivor...

There’s no regs for insulating between heated spaces - so if it’s the space between a kitchen ceiling and a bedroom floor (for instance) no insulation is needed. Floors is the bit directly above the ground, which needs to be insulated to stop your heat disappearing into the earth or air.

Well Part A of the Building Regs (pg 37) gives minimum foundation widths in varying ground conditions for differing loads. But, apart from building on rock, the table doesn’t refer to a wall width. If you want to build a 350mm wall on a 600mm foundation you’re either going to need to give your...

Mine wouldn’t accept a 350mm wall on a 600mm foundation, it had to be the full 650mm. Then when the SE specified a 140mm internal skin he wanted me to make it another 40mm wider.

I’ve just done a 150mm cavity with 100mm PIR. BCO wanted a 50mm clear cavity due to the coastal location. If I had a choice I’d do 150mm full fill with Rockwool.

As CDBE says, get your padstones in first and then it’s pretty easy. The only difference of opinion is that at a push I’d go slightly too short - the Fabricators can always make up a steel shim / packer if you’ve missed a critical height.

I’ve seen a couple of references to a 30mm overlap of the cavity. https://www.labcwarranty.co.uk/hubfs/Technical%20Manual%20v10%20Files%20and%20Images/Manual%20Sections/Section%208%20Windows%20and%20Doors.pdf

Surely it’s more likely that a 25mm thick timber is going to snap with the weight of 1.6m of fence blowing in the wind? These look like they might take a thread from both sides or just recess the stub into the timber...

Cold water tank in the loft? During the day it keeps getting used so the level remains low, but over night a leaky ball valve let’s it fill up and overflow. Overflow pipe not connected or broken?

Is it definitely a hazard? Which of the 29 sections do you think it fails on?

I'm pretty soon going to be at the point of forming the valley between my extension and the original house. The original house is straight felt, batten, tiled; the extension will be felt, counter-batten, batten, tiled - so I've got an extra 25mm of height to deal with. Will a standard GRP...

They’ll accept applications for 225mm but it’ll be costly and you can’t self certify. https://www.thameswater.co.uk/media-library/home/developers/larger-scale-developments/sewers-and-wastewater/build-over-or-near-a-sewer/building-over-or-near-a-public-sewer.pdf Until you know exactly where and...

At the risk of being ridiculed by the professionals, I’ve just got to 3.2m using a ladder. Yes it’s slow going moving the ladder for every block but I have plenty of time and a limited budget.

As Jeds says it’s usually 3m not 4m - confirmed on the Southern Water build over page. https://www.southernwater.co.uk/our-services/build-over-a-sewer Have you checked the list to see if your proposal meets the requirements? And equally check the unacceptable list. If you meet the...

The DPM ‘sandwich’ is a common detail, but there are other solutions. You could install a wider damp proof course, which sticks out internally and is then folded down & sealed against the DPM when it gets installed. That would maintain the protection, but reduce the risk of damaging the DPM...

The foundations should be wider than the wall, by approx. 150mm either side. If the edge of the slab rests on that projection then you’d still be transmitting the load directly into the foundation.

Internaly flanged hangers?

Mine has a time limit of three years, and I think the days of getting endless extensions (I took 6 years to get a completion certificate last time, with 6 monthly check ins with the BCO) are over with some LA’s. I had read a post somewhere about a loft conversion where 3 years had passed and...

When we did our extension I took down an original external skin (that was becoming internal) so that I could use the bricks on the new front elevation. I also paid a fair premium for white sand. The end result? It wasn’t worth the effort - the new bricks used at the rear were a perfectly...

My BCO has just made me do exactly that. Groundwater drainage across the foundations, which I lintelled over in the trench, then some reinforcing mesh, pour concrete and then lintel again across the top of the foundations. Absolutely bonkers, but I’m self-building and so I’m saving my battles...