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After installing our HP a year ago and it running well throughout last winter, I thought Id run it up over the weekend after a few months shutdown. It started and ran fine and I shut it down after a few hours then went to check the magnetic filter. Found the filter with quite a bit of flaky debris stuck to the magnetic tube. I don't know whether the debris accumulated through last winter or came from the weekends test run. There was more debris this time than any of the half dozen filter cleans/checks I did in the weeks after installation last year, so glad I checked it. After getting only minimal debris in the weeks after install, I was quite surprised how much flaky grot was in there! Our system is 90% rads so maybe we're going to see more debris than an UFH system, even with inhibitor, but worth checking any filters in your system to make sure they're clear.

Do a Google image search or Pinterest to find examples. I would be inclined to make the worktop 5-10mm overhang all round including overhanging the end panel. It is a different material/element, wouldn’t look right if it is flush.

Although for many years it was all made in Scotland from hydro power so zero carbon.

The paving may still shift about as the ground swells and shrinks. Not much you can do on a domestic patio.

Evening all. As the thread title suggests, I am planning to lay a mix of patios and paths in the garden of my SB. As part of achieving the necessary levels for the house itself, the courtyard garden was excavated down to subsoil level, which in my case means thick clay. Not sure if the photo shows it clearly, but the clay is fully exposed throughout, there isn't a pinch of soil to be found anywhere! I plan to compact about 100mm of MOT type 1 and 2 subbase, then use normal 5:1 mix on top, then lay slabs having back-buttered them with adhesive. In other words, I'll just do the normal thing. My question is, should I not be doing something else, too? Is the normal method sufficient given the ground conditions? Ta

No better people the ask than the worktop template people, they’ll have come across is many times I’m sure. I couldn’t recommend anything as I don’t have an island unit

Our kitchen units have this, I think it’s a very intelligent way to deal with unnoticed spills, leaks etc. 5 or so years on, ours are not causing us any issues and in all honesty I’d forgotten they were there until you posted, no dirt collecting etc. Aside from you (because you’ve seen them) no one else will notice. It looks like yours have been done well, I’d be happy with that.

Our kitchen island will have a quartz worktop with one waterfall end and an end panel at the other end. The kitchen company have proposed that the worktop should overhang the cabinets below by 5mm as standard. Although on the back side of the island we have some open shelving and therefore dispensing with the overhang altogether and having the worktop flush with the shelving unit on this side will likely look sharper. However we have realised that the waterfall end has to match the worktop in width. Therefore the waterfall piece will not match the width of the end panel at the other end of the island to the extent of any overhang. That is, End Panel is 980mm wide. But with two 5mm overhangs the waterfall end would need to be 990mm wide, or with one side flush and one with a 5mm overhang it would need to be 985mm. (Note we have no barstools or breakfast bar overhang anywhere on the island) So how have others dealt with this ? Just accept one end of the island being slightly wider than the other ? Have no overhang on the backside of the island to keep that room facing side nice and flush ? (We have templating tomorrow)

The problem is the reason we should drop the policies is that "they cost too much and we should use the vast reeves or North sea gas and oil to make ourselves energy independent" Which is all bollocks. But sticks in certain minds alongside "we are being invaded" and "the most pressing issue facing our nation is where somebody takes a piss"

The best solution would be a heat pump and possibly a battery EPC regs don't reward that (zero for batteries and a heatpump yields a couple of points over the existing storage heaters). Plus there are planning and install issues (5 stories, conservation area, AONB). The best solution. The one we are going with is to swap the heaters for new HHR storage heaters. If I can get solar fitted I will - and probably a battery. As for the gas properties the issue is not making it more expensive for the tenants (plus the EPC issue). Right now I can't make the bus case stack up despite trying many permutations. Again solar is the current front runner.

Why? Why is the domestic industry mix of UK 2025 inferior to 2000? Or 1975? Or 1950 or 1850? Name a country that has had the same industrial mix that it did in 2000? Certain people have nostalgia for manufacturing but the fact is the UK was always going to have to transition away from labour intensive industry because the world marches on. If we still built cars the way we did in 1970 the cars would be more expensive and poorer quality than competitors who used modern, lower labour, plants. Arguably it's part of the reason out motor industry failed - not modernising. China's industrial mix has massively changed. Has their policy failed? A far better measure is the impact on the economy and living standards of decarbonisation. This is going to be hard to disentangle from the other things that have happened over the last 2 decades that have also impacted out economy and living standards. 2008 crash Brexit COVID Ukraine invasion Hormuz

Here is the serious analysis It is true that upto 2005 the idea that we were merely exporting emissions was mostly true, but since then even our footprint emissions (which includes the footprint of stuff made abroad) have fallen. I'd be very interested to see which "international forums". The UK is generally considered to be a leader in the field of transition policy (at least regarding generation).

I do give a chuff - though this thread is specifically about the non-climate related reasons for needing net zero policies. But the idea of comparative advantage extends to carbon as well. There are some items that can be produced and shipped for less CO2 than being produced here. Aluminium from Canada being an example that springs to mind. For jackdaw gas Vs LNG gas the difference is relatively small - about 0.3% of UK emissions and even smaller if the gas is sourced from Norwegian pipeline (which it will be this winter as LNG from Quatar is not available)

I have about 30 properties to install them in and assume about £10k per property. 30 x 10 = 300

I'd be pleased to have these. & I think they look good too. The plinth in front of the sink in our on-site caravan is ruined, because there was a leak behind the sink we didn't know about. These strips would have saved them.

Like China is working towards, very rapidly. And India, sub Saharan Africa as well. I get the feeling that people that think 'Net Zero' is expensive rubbish think that we should have done it already, not done anything, blame others, not blame others, we are a good example, not a good example, it will make a difference, won't make a difference. I suggest that you all get together and come up with a coherent plan as why we should drop the policies and just carry on as normal, rather than divert the climate change debate to one about personal finances.

So you really don't give a chuff about what is correct climate wise, so what are you trying to achieve? If that's the cost you must have a lot of properties - sell one - job done, if it's costing £300k you must have between 50 and 100. You make your choices and then live by the consequences. I only have one property now, my heat pump cost under £3k to install. If your properties are all electric, let all your tenants to choose there own tariff and add a battery. That may make more financial and environmentally sound solution. Get your own house in order, before preaching to those that have.

Partly, but also our demand for electricity has gone down a lot because we now buy products made abroad (mainly using electricity from coal) vs making here. BL? British Leyland? Obviously, our past economy had lots of problems and we didn't decide to move from production to importation for climate reasons. But my point was we are not a good example of decarbonisation. A good example of decarbonisation would be an economy that has shifted away from carbon emissions without changing the domestic industry mix.

Isn't that because we have stopped burning coal to generate electricity? But our economy has changed to a service one. I don't think there was a debate about climate change, or energy pricing, when BL went under. The UK has always imported goods in relatively recent history, why we had such a large Navy and administratively controlled a third of the Earth's land. Yes. A theory that, if it was a science, would be called a Law. Not many electricians, brick layers, accountants or consultants build their own rockets and launch satellite to get broadband in rural areas. Similarly SpaceX does not farm potatoes, even though they control a lot of land.

I await your explanation of how it will cost upwards of £300K to install your heat pump........

Agree with this. We have already cut our emissions substantially from prior levels, but any serious analysis just shows we've exported the emissions (and to some degree damaged our future economy by doing so). In international forums now we are among examples of 'how not to decarbonise', whether we extract 2% more of our needs domestically or not won't make any difference to that.

The economic theory of comparitive advantage says otherwise. Easy for you to say, but when it will cost upwards of £300k, be extremely hard to physically achieve and you will see zero financial payback it's a harder question. Again, 2% will make zero difference to the price or energy security. As I have repeated, it makes no difference to our prices or energy security if we do or don't licence Rosebank/Jackdaw. There is a narrative pushed by some parties that going all in on the North sea will solve all of the UKs energy issues and obviate the need for "stupid net zero". People need to understand our problems (and need to transition away from oil and gas) will not disappear or even slacken one iota if we licence them. In one sense it is good of they are licences because it will end the discussion, except I worry the next stage - when the promised rewards don't appear - will be to argue "ah, that's because we didn't do a proper job! We need to go even further!". We have seen this tactic for the exact same parties in other areas.

You have a kitchen made from particle board, by far the cheapest and least moisture resistant form of wood out there. Higher end kitchens would be made from other materials that stand up to moisture better*. The plinth board generally will have to deal with a lot more moisture than a normal skirting board, especially around the sink area. That you have a routed slot for an insert rather than just a stick on strip suggests some care but fundamentally everything comes down to cost and ease of installation by less skilled people. I wouldn't expect scribing to be done unless you had a truly custom install or arranged the install separately with someone who you'd discussed this with. I'd be quite disappointed if I'd ordered a bespoke 'made-to-measure' kitchen and got short drawers, etc. The Schmidt website talks up how custom everything they do is but you don't appear to have anything better than could be bought from DIY Kitchens. * My kitchen is also particle board (most are these days) and there is damage to one of the units caused by water from the sink. The kitchen is old an needs a refresh but if it wasn't for that one unit that's damaged I'm pretty sure I could freshen everything up with just some new doors and a bit of glue (some of the melamine edge banding is debonding). As it is, a whole new kitchen is needed.

This finish is very common on high-end kitchens. it is a full floor-seal and makes a very tight and effective seal to the floor. Ours has been in nearly 2 years and is absolutely fine. Even with a major spillage (dropped bottle of red wine) it didn't let any spillage through and was easy to clean afterwards I much prefer the aesthetic of a recessed compression seal than a plastic stick-on channel that you often get in B&Q etc. From a practical point of view the alternative is an exposed mdf edge that will soak up any liquid, whether spills or when being cleaned Ours is below Regards Tet

Schmidt showrooms are run as a franchise network. So sales and installation and customer service can vary dependent on the location but the product is from the same manufacturer/supplier. We have never bought a new kitchen before and clearly there are some particular details to look out for that are not made evident, such as plinth detail, drawer depth that doesn't match cabinet depth, unnecessarily large service voids, standardised units pre-drilled with visible holes, exact light positions etc. Obviously if you are not having it custom made (which can have it's own issues) there are going to be constraints from standardisation, but some of them are subtle.