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Fibolites or Aglites it is, then. Now I just need to source the buggers!

Nice work! I also found the demolition a lot harder going than I anticipated

Looks amazing - what are you up to next weekend :D Do you mean 3.5 Fibolite inside, or 3.5 normal block? Presume you find them to be decent? Why 7's on the outside, if the inside is the load bearing wall? Just denser for rendering etc?

Cheers! I certainly don't mind a mix and match approach. How did you find rendering the fibolites? What do you mean by "lightweight blocks", sorry?

So, the time has come to start above the DPC so I need to finalise the specification of the wall. Here's what I do know: External Finish: Traditional sand/cement render w/ pebbledash to match existing house Internal Finish: Dot & Dab and/or studded out Caivty: 100mm, partial fill* *The NHBC...

Thanks for asking - managed to get the concrete subfloor in before I headed off on holiday. Will be back on it next weekend!

Depends on the extent of your extension and how it impacts your existing rooms. You could certainly start first fix electrical and plumbing for most of the house, so long as whoever does that understands how the new stuff is going to tie in. Personally I wouldn't do any wet plastering at this...

*waves* Though I won't comment on whether it's the smartest or not - I did it because the challenge was not to pay anybody else to do anything, though looking back I probably could have produced compliant drawings! I've been using https://buildingregs4plans.co.uk to have something to work to...

This isn't going to be directly helpful to you, but try and find yourself a local hire company. I started using a firm literally a couple of miles from me - no website to speak of, no prices online, not even a real list of tools so I was a little bit put off but I can't believe I put up with the...

Costs? After this weekend I'm having to take a few weeks off the project, though I'm going to make a concerted effort to finish totting up all my costs so far. I've been recording as much as I can, from tool purchases, materials, hire, skips etc. I thought it'd be fun to ask the following...

Pretty much - I'm sure it's just paranoia on my part as they're incredibly strong pipes, but I figured it was the last chance to fix anything before it gets expensive

Drain Test Forgot to mention this in the other update, but the BCO didn't seem particularly fussed about formal drain testing. I explained that I'd attempted a water drop test by bunging the manhole but it leaked through the clay and that was that. But, being a bit paranoid I really wanted to...

Thank you! Cheers, and yeah everybody loves the cat flap! I'm not getting up in the night to open a door :D

All of ours are from Howdens (as that's where the chippie sourced them from) and I'm very happy with them

Okay - so careful tamping then!

Hmm, when I read the insulation docs they implied it go on a rough cast floor if you popped a bit of sand down first. Are you saying I should be trowel finishing?

Good shout, thank you!

Right, after the not so great foundation pumping debacle it's concrete time again! This time the floor slab - oversite is prepped, DPM will be down tonight, building control tomorrow then concrete is coming on the weekend! I'm going for insulation above slab as I'm rushing to get the concrete...

Absolutely 100% - we had a burglary one evening and they were out of the house and gone within seconds of the alarm activating. Had the alarm not gone, I suspect they'd have had the two cars away at a minimum. Before that I was on the fence about alarms, but our rental house had one so we used...

I'M NOT A SPARKY - DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHING I SAY! I don't think this is going to work the way you hope. You won't have a neutral in the switch unless they've "looped" into the switch, which you'd definitely see/notice. So, the loop is in the light fitting (which is pretty standard, especially...