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This photo is of the south facade of my bungalow (during recent renovation works, satellite dish now gone). I'm looking for a solution to provide fixed canopy shading projecting out 600mm from the building, to provide passive shading for the double doors and the window on either side (ignore the window under the retractable awning). My requirements are: I'm hoping to avoid plastic construction (looks cheap eventually) would prefer it to look good (subjective but like a seamless solution over all three windows maybe) Fit over the leftmost window (which is a brick lower than the others), which is in a brick cavity wall Fit over the double doors, and centre window, whose ground floor is a timber frame construction with single leaf brick cladding with ties whose roof gable is a timber frame with ugly uPVC cladding Is there a way to do this that: doesn't put undue stress on the single leaf brick wall (I note that the retractable awning is fitted to the wall so assume it's strong enough for that) doesn't involve having to go fishing for the timbers behind the uPVC cladding to simplify the install and avoid replacing the whole damn cladding allows me to leave the current soffit construction above the left window untouched (again to simplify install and reduce costs) Not too expensive Feel free to suggest if any of the above requirements are unreasonable. I've seen lots of cheap units online that are just for rain shelter with no shade, or for a single front door only. And also lots of massively overengineered canopies that must weight a ton, overkill for 600mm, and some canvas awnings that look like they'd get dirty after a while (especially in damp uk). Have I missed a trick or is every really this complicated? Thanks for any and all advice.

Lofts get silly hot in summer.

The Building Regulation requirement K5 Protection from collision with windows does not apply to dwellings so that's a non-starter for a bungalow. I'm surprised Highways have missed this at the planning stage, they are usually keen to avoid obstructions (of course it may have been a planning requirement that's been ignored). It's an obvious risk to people with a visual impairment. Assuming a 600mm wide casement this could reduce the pavement to 1.6m wide. Contact highways via their online reporting system and get them to require the change to inward/tilt opening windows as it should have been from day one.

I had an idea that Panasonic used Oso cylinders, in which case it's possibly not a good idea to use any screws as Oso use vacuum insulation, and state "no penetrations".

The heat pump is installed 😀. And its anthracite. And thanks to guidance on here, the single zone, two manifold system is running beautifully. No buffer, no pumps, no mixers, its as simple as can be. These Panasonic units seem incredibly easy to install and set up. I'm struggling to see why it needs to be commissioned by a Panasonic Pro partner. I'm not sure how they are going to add any value. Except for the extended warranty.

Hmmm so back of the envelope water is about 4000J/kg K. Lets say 100kWh a day in heat energy absorbed (e.g 8kW of cooling on average over 12 hours), thats 360000000 Joules Water at 15 degrees and say useable up to 25 degrees, so 10 degrees delta. 3.6e8 / 10 / 4000 = 9000 litres. Basically tap wide open all day. My water is £2.75 / 1000l so £25 on a meter.

Nothing for weeks, then two questions come along together. Spotted today about 100m short of our local marketplace. This was a former barbers modified to be a small bungalow within the last 2 years. Is that outward swing allowed? It used to be a plate glass shop front. The pavement is about 2.2m wide. AIUI they can only swing out over 2.4m in height. I'm not happy about that as it is a busy route into town, I think it is unacceptable under both Obstruction of a Public Highway, and Building Regs "Safety from Collision". I'm thinking eg of Vision Impaired Long Cane or Guidedog Users, who in our town may be at the wall not the kerb because pavement parking is endemic - they put their vehicles halfway over the pavement so they can get out inside the marked parking bay, everywhere. (My thought: I think not and this is down to both designer and District Council uselessness and / or laziness - continental style inward-going tilt and turn windows are available everywhere, and would be more secure anyway.) I think the fix is to replace the lower pane with a fixed light. I would welcome any comments. Cheers Ferdinand

I was surprised, and rather disappointed to find our plumber had screwed into my lovely Panasonic cylinder to fix pipes. Googling around it seems this is common practice to fix into the cylinder so I'm much calmer now. However, the clips are all loose, suggesting the screws have not threaded onto the external skin of the tank. I have a box or short wide self tappers on site that would probably have been far more effective but its too late now. Any thoughts on this?

Should we be putting cooling loops into the loft so the cool air descends through the house ? OK, people will tell me this is mad and a very very naughty waste of water. What about passing mains water through cooling loops and then erm purging it back out ? How much water would that use ? And when you say you have no condensation - do you mean onto the floor ? I am finding my now levelled suspended floor is a couple of degrees cooler than my insulated concrete slab. Foil over the bifolds seem to help a bit, but I havn't tried covering the rooflights.

If there is crack control breaks in the slab you will need to follow these in the tiles. If not, you should be OK with nothing.

Thanks sent you a PM.

I'm of the same persuasion but we found some that comes in 20 patterns and I like it. Otoh a relatively thin skin of timber slows heat more, but doesn't stop it.

This was my first choice but Northern Ireland is shut down this week and all the merchants are closed. Hopefully somewhere will be open tomorrow. Daft question time. I attach the inhibitor to the filling loop, open the valve and then inject it. So there is enough pressure (>1.5 bar) in the inhibitor can to inject the inhibitor into the pressurised system? Or depressurise it?

Would anyone happen to have any details or technical drawings relating to a portal frame construction to make a gable window? Our structural engineer is designing the steel structure but it would be useful to see any past projects/hear your experiences.

Was the driver for us getting a heat pump - started with gas. Never looked back, bills reduced massively

I would just buy an express version make life easy. Do you have a filling loop? If so you inject directly in to there. Do biocide and inhibitor from same company and range to ensure no compatibility issues

The good news is that the UFH is finally, sort of, up and running and the heat pump is totally awesome. The bad news is the plumber left the bottle of inhibitor I gave him on the floor. I don't know what bit of "make sure you add this inhibitor and biocide when you fill the system" was not clear, but maybe I made it sound too complicated. Everything here in Northern Ireland is closed for the annual marching and rioting holiday period. The plumber is unlikely to return before August. Obviously the thought of my heat pump rusting away is rather unsettling, but am I being too dramatic? Its only a couple of weeks right? Or should the inhibitor be added as a matter of urgency? If it should be added now then how? Its impossible to get a plumber and I have no plumbing skills at all. The inhibitor is in a bottle, not the injector thingy, and we have no magnetic filter with a useful dosing thingy. I suppose I could maybe drain a manifold. Or just leave it. Whats the worst that can happen?

@RedRhino do you have external shading for your windows/doors? External shading and a (very manual) ventilation strategy is without a doubt what does the trick for us in keeping the house at a comfortable temperature throughout these little heatwaves that keep turning up. We only have heating downstairs and no cooling of any description. No heat pump either so the cold UFH utilised by many here is not an option for us but, fortunately, that has not been a requirement either. (So far 🤞🏻)

I thought it would look pretty naff but I did some over a dodgy concrete floor for a relative and it looked fine.

That's went my plan started to unravel - ended up with nice thick wool carpet in bedrooms - nice insulation for low temp UFH. If there was a next time fan coils for bedrooms and maybe elsewhere

You are correct. But either way wouldn't be doing a build part underground, if I had any other options. Too many variables to start costing you big money.

No, the floor is solid, its hollow core slabs so the only thing that flexes when I jump on it is my ageing knees. Thermally porcelain tiles may help the cooling, but aesthetically I'm not sure if SWMBO will accept pretend wood. I think I need to get her to a tile showroom.

If I recall, you are on sand which is very free draining and not seasonally affected. It would be different on clay.

GF tiles have arrived and we are a week away from the tilers coming on site. Tiler says there is no need for expansion joints, he just leaves a gap and fills with silicone and then they are almost invisible. I'm naturally concerned. And I suspect that the only reason to run a bead of silicon is to save money on the expansion strip. Tiles are 120x60 on KORE slab. And its a big area, about 120 m2 total. Unlike screed there are no expansion breaks at door thresholds where I think the expansion strips would probably go. UFH in slab but uniform low stable temps. Do I need expansion gaps and if so then should I insist on proper aluminium (or stainless steel?) expansion joints instead of a line of silicone? What are the best ones to get? The schluter are twice the price of genesis. And how wide, 8mm? And should the floor be primed first? I think a uncoupling mat is probably unnecessary?

No, but it's just tiling, which is standard practice. The only issue would be using long tiles on a floor which might flex. Do you feel any suggestion of movement when jumping on the middle?