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@cjsparkey Thanks for this - I'm thinking about this on and off, weighing up if it's worth paying one of the VAT reclaim people or just DIY it. We're organised in our register of items that are VAT reclaim-able and copies of receipts. Any points to note in terms of lessons (good/bad/would do differently)?

Non working chimneys. Also considering making something like this:

Just thought I’d share our experience of our DIY VAT claim with HMRC We achieved BC sign off at the end of September 25 but had moved in 9 months prior. 11/12/25 submitted online application spreadsheet with all invoices up to the date of submission 16/12/25 received request for 10 invoices 17/12/25 uploaded requested invoices 12/1/26 received notification of payout with one disputed invoice noted 19/1/26 sent clarification off disputed invoice (I had mistakenly uploaded a pro forma invoice instead of the full VAT invoice so corrected this) 20/1/26 received initial payment 9/2/26 received outstanding payment for the disputed invoice completing the claim For us the HMRC system seemed to work pretty well.

It does sound that way, esp as you weren't informed they were working together elsewhere. Have you proof of this or could you gather it quickly before protesting formally. For now just say you aren't happy and are reviewing before making any more payment. Is there a recognised formal contract in place? Who chose it?

same here, not keen on the noise, but when i occasionally use my drill for screws to keep the noise i really notice the extra weight... they might be noisy but bloody good at putting in screws, i just wear ear defenders as often using saws etc anyway.

Are these working chimneys? Why do you want cowls? Rain and bird guards or spinning ones? For the former, I googled and found 250mm easily, I suspect you may need to reduce the diameter to suit the biggest you can readily find. It might look odd and not keep the rain out unless modified. OR the non-mechanical ones look very simple and could be modified at hood and the legs, or fabricated even.

The printer will only print 256x256x256mm. Don't think I haven't thought of it. Mulling on printing 4, slip together quadrants that I could form cement over.

there’s some confusion over whether the date the house is built is it when we started building (2024), when the structure was completed (2025) or when it became habitable (2026). What did other people do?!

I don't have a grid connection yet, but I will have. Maybe not until later in the year. I think the schematic is not really correct. I think the permanent neutral link is for other countries. I was under the impression that the neutrals are common until the grid goes down, at which point the grid is disconnected internally with a double pole relay, hence the need for an earth neutral bond relay, but it is hard getting the information. I have reached out to Growatt, I'll see if they come back to me.

As necessary, if at all. The Steading isn't stuffy in he slightest. not as airtight as a newbuild would have to be, but plenty good enough.

It's just a primitive undulating washer sort of thing that retracts the bit then releases it. So it is still mainly scraping the surface. I wish I had learnt of SDS drills much sooner. I had thought they were only for concrete breakers.

Look into the oil ones i think they are quieter for working in sensitive locations. I used to hate the racket the impacts made too but really are effective

Thank you so much. I've got outdoor lagging and will do as you do!

With that level of heat retention your best bet is to maintain the slab at a fairly constant temp, prob 20C or thereabouts. Basically as it is. You probably could try take advantage if cheaper overnight electricity to charge the slab up. Your cop will suffer a little bit but your flow temps will still be pretty low so it won't matter.

All winter?

My understanding of impact drills are really jerk drills. They have a spring, ratchet and rotating mass that is released every rotation. That mass caused a jerk force increases the torque on the drive shaft. Stopping torque is a third power of mass, rather than the second power of speed.

Here’s the last one I installed. Lagging was finished after leak testing.

It simply hasn't ever been a problem in any of our projects. About 5 family ones and many commercially. I think the reason may be that we only ever designed for the minimum airtightness requirement, so allowing some fresh air in. Plus window vents and openable windows always. If there is no problem with air quality then there is nothing to fix. On a few of our projects I feared a problem with stuffiness (school classrooms, nursing homes) but we discussed the options with the client and went for it. These were clients who would have had a quiet word with us if there was problem, but there hasn't ever been a word. This reminds me of the SE practice we employed for many years. They didn't do the portal frames part for us, but founds, other elements and other structure types Our main contact SE had either had, or knew about, many, expensive, problems with steel buildings and couldn't see how ours didn't ever have any problems. We concluded that we must have been lucky 300 times. Maybe, by building to the current reg's on airtightness but without mvhr, , we will have a stuffy building for the first time. If vents and windows won't do the trick, then we have a plan B which will be local extractor fans, discretely placed, perhaps linked to CO or CO2 or humidity sensors. Of course the fans' air will be replaced by un-heated air from the tiny leaks, and heated by our cheap electricity. It is a risk, but we are experimenting on ourselves.... But I'm confident it will be fine.... and lucky again.

I'm shocked that you haven't 3D printed them!!??

I thought this was widely available. My battery drill has a setting on the torque setting ring, that switches into hammer mode. and a switch for 2 speeds. And lots of machines are rotation only and no hammer option. My very best drill, and without impact option, is a 25 year old Bosch. It is ultra smooth and effortlessly powerful, and with trigger speed control. I think the absence of features allows the motor and gearing to be dedicated to the one process.

I had the MAKITA DTS141ZJ, silly money but was a pleasure to use whilst building a house, very quiet. It did develop a fault after 6 years heavy use. Now using a Milwaukee M18 FQID, more torque, cheaper but not as quiet as the Makita.

I have the 'soft impact' Makita, much quieter and doesn't screw with my Tinnitus. https://www.screwfix.com/p/makita-dts141zj-18v-li-ion-lxt-brushless-cordless-impact-driver-bare/6268P?tc=ET2&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20155423388&gbraid=0AAAAAD8IdPwxO053YvSbCmMepG6Gskz9x&gclid=CjwKCAiAkbbMBhB2EiwANbxtbR0UzbcX7Wb8GD5fDq5UUimYWayWY13Gp7PDLLi6ogS2m9WmHNFGZxoCDTQQAvD_BwE

Who cares about payback? MVHR is for quality of air. Consider the HR element to be a bonus as then you're not pulling freezing cold air in all winter and paying "powered fans" to spin to recirculate stagnant heat from the vaulted areas. Genuinely quite shocked to hear this approach thb, but 'different strokes' I guess.... I'm buggered if I would ever spend all my life savings and then be pulling cold air in and puking heated air out to the clouds for the rest of my life!!

We reckoned it was 20 years' payback for mvhr . We will spend half as much on a biggish photovoltaic array and battery and get a much better return. and putting both in would reduce the heat recovery benefit. ie if we are getting free power and then multiplying the energy by , say , 4 then using powered fan to recover free heat... That is logical, yes? We may also install big visible, attractive fans (Spanish style) in the vaulted areas to send down the hot air that has risen. The easiest way to increase the apparent efficiency would be to put rooms instead of vaulted space. Same energy nut divided by a larger floor area. But it is style and flashness.

When we did similar - some years ago, we had weekly site meeting where progress and financial affairs were openly discussed. Either myself or my wife were always in attendance, these meetings were all minutes by architect,with us approving minutes. No work was progressed until fully priced. Variations always come and bite you. Push back if not in agreement, get them line by line itemised, don't pay until happy.