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How much concrete is visible outside when the garage door is down? My garage door will be a sectional door that sits behind the reveals. My whole ground floor is beam and block at the same level, but the house will be 175 insulation and 50mm screed. The step down into the garage would be 225mm - the thickness of the garage floor concrete slab. So if its 125mm at the back of the garage, then there's 100mm minimum step down. A.I suggests 100 is the minimum step down for a flat floor, or the floor needs to slope outwards. My approved plans seriously lack detail which is poor. My drive slopes away from the garage door but there's not much in it. About 70mm over 17m. The channel is the cavity wall, ill probably fill it with the end of the slab so theres a good strength at the end.

That's cheap.

@Gus Potter, apologies for the delayed reply, I have been out of the country this week. Initial searches have revealed a problem with the land title which may stop us proceeding. In any case I really appreciate your suggestions and, if we do go ahead I will be in touch.

I've paid £195 for a heat loss analysis with a hefty report. £295 for the UFH layout and for that he's going to route the manifold supply and returns too. Honestly, I think he'll pay for himself in what he's looking like he'll save us on kit already.

Bit quiet in here recently, so for your viewing pleasure... Still need to paint the lid but these things look the b*ll*cks.

Thanks @SBMS I will save that schematic and pass to the heating engineer when I find one.

What kind of fee do these heat loss consultants charge? Do they also do the ufh layout?

Nope, cos that would make it a bungalow *shudders*

Just to update this, I've put it with an independent heat-loss consultant who has done a much more thorough heat-loss analysis. Very comprehensive and far more believable. I'll be sharing his details on here once I have the full work in hand so I can make a proper recommendation. I realise many can do this themselves, but there are clearly some out there with far more knowledge than I can hope to attain in the short time I have to get this sorted. Good news is that he makes our total heat loss a more respectable 5.45kw and has already hinted at 300mm pipe spacings with a 5kw heat pump. I hope to have eyes on the UFH layout plan next week.

Just wanted to get some feedback from anyone who has put a rug over their LVT flooring. what have you used? Have you had any marks or discolouring to your flooring? Karndean specify no latex, rubber or polyester on the backs of rugs. It’s proving a mission to find anything that works, as most rugs or carpets have a combined back on them. We also have underfloor heatings so extra nervous. thanks!

Things can often get installed to suit the convenience of the tradesman and minimise effort. Routing cables and pipework in an ideal way can be a surprisingly tricky planning problem rather like completing a puzzle. Some do a good job of planning 'in their head' based on years of experience or possibly just do it the same way every time. But without recognising the issue up front and having a sketched layout done - which may need redrawing a couple of times to resolve conflicts - it is difficult to control. When do you ever see a tradesman spending half a man day sketching layouts or routing plans ? Most would consider that money down the drain on a fixed quote. And always seems to be a race between plumber and sparky to use any readily available apertures. Builders get construction drawings (most of the time) but domestically it seems no-one ever has a wiring or plumbing plan beyond where they want the end points. You can't get domestic architects interested in planning service voids either.

Yes, I had heard that, and you promoted me to reach out to them to get a discussion going. I am a little concerned they will say that the chimney needs doing first. The liner seems okay, but the masonry on the chimney itself needs work and I am hoping I can do that later, rather than as part of commissioning the stove -- purely for cash flue priorities.

There is what I am thinking. Either take the whole wall back to stone, or expose more of the stone work to give the correct/ample clearances.

Yes it looks like a problem. I have done a quick scan of the building guidance, and it is too close to the flue. The distance above the appliance seems okay - it is about 650mm, but the distance of that bit of timber to the chimney liner is only about 200mm.

That’s standard fitment, nothing special. Another panel supplier you could look at is Joris. I will take a picture of mine as an example later.

Supply and fit for a new residential dwelling is 0% You can’t use the supply and fit route as a way of tricking the self-build VAT reclaim process. The person supplying and fitting the items has his/her own set of rules to comply with. So it’s up to their judgement whether wardrobes they supply & fit should be zero rated. They could then be liable for any incorrectly charged VAT if investigated (as someone else posted here previously).

Thanks @Susie, very helpful. I'll check your blog out.

That is a neat solution. Maybe a bit OTT even for me 😀

5%.

If there was no bco, the question I'd ask myself is " can this go on fire due to being hot"? Timber being obviously a combustible material creates confusion. If it is completely enclosed so that flame can't reach it, and there is no oxygen supply, then it cannot burn. But the risk is of someone damaging or penetrating the protective boarding. The insulated plasterboard is a great concern though. It will fail purely through heat,and then maybe some air can get in. Or eps of pir at a joint might be exposed directly. I think you must remove that area of insulation. The effect on insulation is minimal. BUT it is a BCO matter so you not only should do it but must do it. And most bcos I've discussed it with think timber burns even when encased, so perhaps change the timber to something else too, just within the zone distance stated. Metal stud? Multiple layers of cement board? If you must regain the insulation then squeeze in some rockwool if you can. Then you can relax in front of the fire. NB new burners have direct air intake from outside. Yours probably doesn't have that facility so will fail regs.

supply and fit would be zero-rated to begin with surely?

Chase in the ICF with a hot knife, then plasterboard straight onto ICF, screw and adhesive when around windows if you have less fixing points at openings. If you have any sloped ceiling then think ahead if you need electrics or other in these areas. See our blog. We have no service voids but in the vaulted lounge/kitchen we used the roof rafters as they where deep we have insulation between rafters (rock wool) and underneath PIR so could chase into this.

‘Tis quiet, but remember, those two things you mention aren’t mutually exclusive lol We’ve got those type of panels on our garden building and they come with the 75mm cutback to effectively form a drip and stop the insulation getting wet. We used a company called Briarwood which was a lot better value than Kingspan and they were jolly helpful when I talked through the installation.

Or in my case, less, and building control accepted the manufacturers figures.

You definitely want the insulation cut back at the ends, 75mm minimum. You can get a metal L-shaped trim (with the correct angle for your roof) that mounts to the underside of top panel at the cut-back, which covers the end of the exposed insulation.