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@Redbeard Thanks for the reply. Having UFH and no carpets upstairs i am keen to improve the thermal and sound insulation in the house. Kids running upstairs sounds like a herd of elephants. I am also keen to try and improve the thermal insulation in the rooms as well

Yeah we were considering this as told the above might not be possible. But can’t get around the rustic look of conduits everywhere.

Here’s a link to the project on the architects website. It is a real project in the UK. They’ve done this on a few of their projects. I’ve seen it on few other UK based projects from London architects. Just trying to work out how they’re achieving this. https://www.fletchercranearchitects.com/tree-house-architect-ealing-london

In my new build we have installed a roof vent (lead thing that sits instead of a tile) for the waste water. As an after thought we have installed Velux windows which are less that 3 metres from the vent. The vent is a couple of tile courses above the tops of the Velux. I spoke to the BCO and he originally said "don't worry about it" but then after thinking about it a bit more he said if we can move the vent up a couple of tile courses it will probably be ok but the builder says we can't move the vent up (I don't know why but I trust his statement). Some people insist we can install a Durgo in the roof space, others say there must be a vent somewhere in the system. I am trying to find out which of these is correct. If I have to replace the roof vent with a 900mm pipe sticking up then so be it, and I need to do it before the scaffolding comes down but I wonder what people's thoughts are. The roof would be somewhat spoiled by a vertical pipe. I don't really have an option to choose another place to put a vertical stack so my question is really just Durgo, 900mm of pipe or is there something else to consider? Everything seems rather vague.

When I did my refurb I wanted CCT Led light strips under the kitchen unit run, in each of the three rooflights and also I have two (PIR controlled) inset LED strips in each of the bathroom niches I had different profiles for each of the locations but went for KSR LED CCT strips in each. I had seen them in an electrical supplier and they were very smooth in brightness and colour control. I had them custom-made for length to avoid any unnecessary joins and, of course, ultimately bought six drivers for control The rooflights and under-cabinet are synched such that they are controlled from the same switch Strip: https://gosparky.co.uk/product/ksr-ksr95184-led-strip-light-navara-14w-2700k-6000k-cct-ip20-cob-w-1m-lead-5m/ Control: https://gosparky.co.uk/product-category/lighting-controls/control-gear/control-panels/ (note: there isn't a dedicated CCT controlled so I went for the generic RGB one) They've been in well over a year and I'm really happy with them. In my personal opinion, the only way to avoid light pooling is to use an LED strip. I had my kitchen units routed out with a single channel before hanging. The channel and strip was then inserted post Regards Tet

I am not clear what the issue is. Is this a house which you lived in before the works, which has a proven record of noise transfer issues from GF to FF and vice versa? If so do you get the impression it is (a)impact noise which is the main one, or (b)airborne noise. If the former I would not necessarily expect a big change, as much of the 'noise' could be transmitted through the structure via joist pockets. If the latter it may help. If there was not much of a problem anyway why bother? (Unless you are using the insulation for both sound and heat *and* you want to 'thermally compartmentalise' the house).

The Physicist have sorted it out (with help from his mum). From this week's comic. Physics Physicists create formula for how many times you can fold a crêpe When you fold a flexible material such as a pancake or a tortilla, its behaviour depends on a competition between gravity and elasticity Bas den Hond 19 March 2026, updated 27 March 2026 There is a limit to how many times you can fold a crêpe If you gently fold a disc made of some flexible and possibly tasty material, what makes it stay folded? And how many times can you fold it before it puts up a fight and flips back? A physicist from France, home of the crêpe, decided to find out. He discovered that just one number tells you all you need to know. The perfect boiled egg takes more than half an hour to cook Tom Marzin at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, wondered about crêpe-folding when he was on holiday in his home region of Brittany, France, where this thin pancake is especially popular. Just folding a tip of it would result in it flipping back, but with a larger fold, friction and gravity would conspire to keep it still. What rules could govern this behaviour? Marzin turned it into a research project, the results of which he will present on 20 March at a meeting of the American Physical Society in Denver, Colorado. His work is different from the origami-like folds some physicists study, which are permanent. “What we’re dealing with here is what I call a soft or smooth fold. And it is just a competition between gravity and elasticity,” says Marzin. One way to observe this competition is to stick part of a pancake to a tabletop, let the other end hang over the edge and measure how much it sags. Marzin worked out that the answer can be predicted with one number, dubbed the elasto-gravity length, which combines the material’s density, its stiffness and the force of gravity. He suspected that this number would also govern the behaviour of flexible materials in other situations, and in a computer model this turned out to be the case. To check his simulations in the real world, Marzin experimented with plastic discs, store-bought tortillas and, of course, crêpes. He started out making the latter himself, but scientifically they weren’t fit for purpose. Physicists discover the secret to perfect cacio e pepe pasta “I didn’t control the thickness well,” he says. “So I asked my mom to perform the experiments over in France. I asked her to buy the callipers and rulers and a bunch of crêpes from a commercial brand. Those were probably made by a machine, [so] that guarantees a good uniform thickness. And she did it really correctly.” Marzin’s experiments confirmed that all aspects of crêpe-folding depend on the elasto-gravity length. For instance, it governs how much of the area of a sheet that’s folded will go into the part that loops over. This determines if there will be enough flat area left for another fold. His equations correctly predict that a crêpe 26 centimetres in diameter and 0.9 millimetres thick can be folded up to four times, whereas a 1.5-mm-thick tortilla of the same size, with an elasto-gravity length 3.4 times as large, will allow only two folds. “This length captures all t he physics underneath,” Marzin says.

As of today, the builder has finished onsite and plaster boarded the ceilings on the ground floor, i have just found out that there is no insulation installed in the joists... I have original floor joist in place in my 1960 house. Large refurb and UFH has been laid in routed chipboard for upstairs. A lot of pipework and electrical runs really make it difficult for PIR. So my plan is to use 100/150mm RWA45 from rockwool. I am also considering double plasterboarding. Question - is it worth double plasterboarding. I dont want to buy soundeadening plasterboard and replace the existing as thats a lot of wastage

We did the same as the last two posters. Standard buildings and contents insurance, no completion cert yet

I'd check if I had a set of scales chunky enough. I think the bosses kitchen scales may not be up to it 😀

We used a non hydraulic lime with fibres (from Ty Mawr) that adhered very well to woodfibre boards and was easy to work the mesh into. It's premixed and was good value compared to dry bagged products, has the advantage of much longer working time, but the disadvantage that you have to manage the drying out period over a few days, giving the occasional damp spray. We removed any gypsum plaster but didn't have much anyway and I can understand you not wanting that extra work. If you've lots of layers of modern paints though they'll probably add risk.

While removing the gypsum would eliminate any risk, the WUFI hygrothermal simulation that was run for the house was based on the gypsum remaining, as well as other information about the house, such as exposure to wind driven rain, composition of the walls, dpc and sound external render etc. It was stressed though that a decent ventilation strategy must be in place, as it would be for any type of IWI . Given that we are renovating whilst living in the house and want to minimise upheaval, mess and also cost, I'm feeling ok, at least for now, about going ahead with the advice I've had so far.

As you say the front looks difficult for EWI with the incoming power-lines. How would you deal with them? Lots of Red Tape there, I guess. Step-cracks above front GF window (are you happy the original problem has been solved before you 'box it up'?), questionable boundary (? - your porch roof seems to meet a line down from next-door's FF window cill, so is that the boundary?) Where, then, does the fall-pipe go once you have EWI'd? I think your idea to IWI may be less fraught. However if you were to EWI the front... If there is no soffit and you think it would look daft to extend your roof-line only, how do you deal with the EWI projection? 'Industry Standard Capping Details' (bits of bent alu gunged in silicone) have a limited life, particularly if they are of the 'downstand' variety. Measure carefully, outside and in, the height above the window. It is not unknown for EWI to stop before it reaches the height of the ceiling inside, in which case what do you do? If that were left 'un-treated' you could face a strip of mould at the top of the room. Internal 'downstands' can be done. Bring it down well below the line of the top of the EWI. I am probably not alone on here in not regarding 300mm as a huge lot for the loft. Assuming you are not storing stuff in there, and that you are using 'cheap stuff', why not use 400, or even 500mm? You'll only do it once. If you do that you'll probably find the biggest 'shortcoming' is then at the hatch. It's difficult to leave yourself a way in *and* achieve excellent insulation coverage and air-tightness. Get inventive!! I worry about the plan to IWI the gable wall in the garage, certainly at 100mm - with a lot of PIR on a wall giving onto soil. If you look at a Glaser-method condensation risk assessment for PIR (which you can get for free on many manuf'rs' web-sites), and the manufacturer's advice, you'll see that they require you to keep the 'outward path' vapour-open (by removing impermeable treatments inside and/or outside). That's because the VCL on the inside (if indeed it is functioning as a 100% effective VCL) blocks the possibility of any retained moisture in the wall coming back in. As far as I can see, if you block the path inwards, you have no moisture-loss path at all. I may be wrong, though. Enlightenment welcomed! I've written a lot. I hope it is useful - it is certainly meant to be. A lot of 'thinking-through' to do, I reckon. Do come back with Q's and comments. Perhaps ask Nottingham Energy Partnership (0115 985 9057) if they can recommend an assessor. A retrofit assessor course may well increase your knowledge level (of course I don't know how much you already know) but it will not necessarily (AFAIK) give you access to a measured survey model and software, so while it may help you to make a judgement it will not allow you to spit out 'numbers' - running costs, kWh p.a. etc). You can, of course, do that 'long-hand' if you have time, and I bet there are some free access models out there somewhere. Edit: Re EWI - do not automatically think you cannot go below DPC. You do have to think it out carefully and perhaps use different materials but it can be done - down into a French Drain. Caveats re where does the drain exit, have you just dug below the footings, etc., but with care it can be at least considered. I see countless examples where the EWI Co has dutifully avoided bridging the injected DPC which is 150mm at least above internal GFL - leaving a cold bit just behind the 120-year-old skirting...

Get on the phone now and sort some insurance. we were in exactly the same position, site insurance ran out in about a fortnight, we could extend but it was £1200 a year, go to a broker and talk through what you have built, don’t do it online.

From memory we lived in ours for 18 months without a completion certificate on normal household insurance, just filled in one of the comment boxes online to say new build awaiting completion certificate, just took my money and sent the insurance documents never have asked for the certificate .

Find the location of the studs. Unless it is a very small cabinet, it is very likely at least one stud will be behind the cabinet. So I would fix the cabinet with plasterboard fixings, AND one or 2 screws directly through the cabinet (additional holes drilled for this) straight into a stud. I have done this for kitchen cabinets and they have not fallen down yet.

The biggest IKEA Hemmes bathroom cabinet I can find still weighs less than 40KG. Even when loaded up, there are plenty of fixings that will work without you having to cut out plasterboard. As @Russell griffiths suggests, toggle fixings would work, but I prefer to use GripIt Plasterboard Fixings. They're available at places like Toolstation or Amazon, and come in varying sizes depending on the load you're fixing. The 25mm versions can handle 113KG - see https://www.gripitfixings.co.uk/

If it's under 30KG, I usually use ParcelForce express48 for £20.40 or £21.90 with signature. Maximum parcel dimensions are also pretty good.

I have a decoiler and stapler that I bought secondhand and have loaned out to two people locally (Cornwall). The decoiler is a heavy piece of kit and I shudder to think what the transport/postage costs would be. I offer it here for loan but a pick up would probably be most advisable. If it ends up taking a tour of the country, postcards from it's travels would be appreciated 😀

Not the case for us. Our site insurance expires on 14th, we wanted to move in on 10th, however, our building control officer is on annual leave until 13th. The site insurance which covers the new house won't let us extend the cover as they say they only cover if there is outstanding work to do (there isn't) and I worry that a normal home insurer will want a completion cert (which we don't have). What a way to end our journey ....

As a former photographer I would say that the image above is AI or photoshop created (which was around a lot more than people realised for a lot longer - IKEA catalogues for example). They haven't correctly adjusted the perspective on the sockets and it just looks 'wrong' to me. So I wouldn't spend too much time thinking about how it has been done in practical terms - because it hasn't. It isn't real.

I think this is the case with most of the surveys we've needed (e.g. bat, otter/vole, arboricultural). In one report, the 'other' house name had been left in 🙄 It can be a bit irritating for sure, but if the price is fair, it's factually correct, delivered on time and the outcome is what we need, I'm not sure it really matters if it's a regurgitation of someone else's report 🤷‍♂️ I might have had a different view if the architect was doing the same, but I don't think they would have had the opportunity with our project What did get my goat: the (swiftly rejected!) quotes for some of the other planning requirements... upwards of £2k for a GIS or a planting plan???

I'd be fitting it myself (would probably get someone else in to render). So as long I understood what I was doing I can spend plenty of time and attention to detail on fitting the EWI!

Be careful looking at pictures not in the uk, it’s easy to find an idea that would be very hard to replicate with our regs and building methods.

How heavy ? some of the metal toggle fixings can take a large amount of weight now. you might need to chuck the original fixings away and add more to the cabinet to spread the load. show us what you have, opening up the wall would be the last resort sort of situation.