All Activity

One toothbrush is randomly turning on and off and the razor which was by the mirror was turning on randomly. The toothbrush despite now being in a different room is still turning off and on (charge should die shortly hopefully). Once we moved the razor into the bedroom and disconnected the shaver head it stopped making a noise. The mirror is now doing nothing as the fuse is off at the main box! It could be purely coincidence the razor is a bit iffy and the toothbrush is doing odd things and bugger all to do with the mirror which has no charging facility just Bluetooth capability.

Would suspect the product is the difficult basket from the reviewers perspective, i.e. no idea what they are looking at. I suspect this is the key problem as the way they're dealing with it is a real 'computer says no' type response - they can't answer intelligently because they don't know what they're talking about themselves. They have emails from the SE saying that their design has taken into account the full geotech survey and been developed in accordance with NHBC guidelines for the soil types. They have the geotech report itself, They have the architect's drawings. What they don't have is an ounce of common sense.

As John said, send the SE design calls for the ICF walls

In all my jobs, hundreds, and bigger than this, I never chose to tell electricians or plumbers how to do their jobs. Because i couldn't. They did their own design. We might say where we wanted anything specific. But anyone can draw crosses on a drawing. Bothers me too. Ask them whose list and what they will be sent. Builders of the size you need will not welcome fancy contacts or bills of quantities. They just need the accurate drawings. "Building over". That should have been considered already. What if the authorities refuse? But why would they?

Yes, that's what we're going on, along with the inputs from SE for drainage runs etc. We've got all the ICF manufacturer info (and have sent it to them) but that's just guidance for how to assemble/use the ICF and isn't a manufacturer's plan. Bloody frustrating.

What you want to avoid is long HOT runs from your tank to the taps (unless you are having hot water recirculation which is another discussion) So I chose my layout based on that. HW tank central to points of use. That made it nice and simple. One direct WH run from the tank to the kitchen. No manifold, just an isolator at the HW tank. The rest of the HW taps were the opposite direction, so I ran one pipe to a manifold under the first floor below the main bathroom, accessed by a small trap door in the utility room ceiling below it. There is a a manifold to feed basin, showerand bath for main bathroom, basin and shower for en-suite and basin for utility room. Cold you can do what you like, length of runs does not really matter. All soldered copper, I trust my soldering.

Would suspect the product is the difficult basket from the reviewers perspective, i.e. no idea what they are looking at. Suspect a note stating the full structural engineering completed by Structural Engineer and reference his/her drawings. Plus send the instructions from ICF provider. I had to do with our building warrant.

What did the builder work from when installing the ICF? The architects plans? I presume the ICF manufacturer only provides a series of installation guides (PDF or Video). The things I've mentioned are all that I had when we did our ICF walls, and some help on a couple of days when starting and during concrete pours

What about below slab and insulation in flexible duct/conduit. Id imagine the ground under a floorslab doesn't get as cold as the ground outside your house ie below patio

My over thinking brain is thinking that you took the USB charger apart. Can you clarify what is turning on and off? Is it the SAME think also turning on and off now it is in the bedroom? Can you post a picture of exactly what is turning on and off? (sorry if I sound dumb)

We took out Protek insurance in January before starting the build. Their rep came and did his first planned visit in early June when we had all the rebar caging done just before the slab pour. No issues highlighted by him when talking to him on site but a few weeks later we've had some clarification requirements arise that need resolving. The first is that they want us to provide a '...manufacturer's design layout...' from the ICF provider. Speaking with the architect, structural engineer, and builder (who is an ICF specialist) none of them have any idea what this is supposed to be. Has anyone come across this before and, if so, how did you respond? The second issue is six months into the project they now insist on a site survey (now that the slab is down and the remaining garden looked like a re-enactment of the Somme). Protek didn't ask for this at the start, the Planners didn't ask for one, the structural engineer didn't ask for one (they were happy with the geotechnical report we provided), and Building Control didn't ask for one. I've asked for exactly what it is that they want but Protek say they can't answer my question because a) they don't provide any advice or guidance, and b) they're just passing on what the Auditor has asked for and have no additional information - but won't give me the Auditor's details. I'm loathed to go out and randomly commission another report only to find it isn't what they want. Anyone had experience of similar with Protek (or other insurers)?

Voodoo

Well we created a border and added an aluminium statue of a heron (10 year wedding anniversary so that was mwtal thing sorted)! Everybody thinks it is real and keeps taking photos of it 🤣 Planting sorted for now and shrubs will be directly against the piling and will fill out eventually. I'm sure it will evolve a bit more as time progresses... 20260706_091607.mp4 And its a nice view from our kitchen window... we thinned out the grasses massively and will just keep them contained in that area as they were sprouting up in the lawn, their roots are horrible. To anyone planting grasses, don't. Even now weeks later they are still sprouting up in the newly dug out border. Awful stuff...

The strangest thing happened last night. It could all be a coincidence. We heard a noise and after wandering through the house we discovered the chargeable razor that was on top of the vanity unit in our ensuite was turning on randomly (it's a USB chargeable thing). So moved it into the bedroom and took it apart, problem solved as we thought. Next minute another noise, same vanity unit and one of chargeable toothbrushes was turning on and off. Moved it into the bedroom and it sort of stopped doing it as frequently but is still at it this morning and its nowhere near the bathroom.... Our first thought was the mirror that was above the vanity unit. It has a light and a demister but no USB or charging socket. Other half said when it was on she could hear a noise coming from it but I don't know if that's normal.. she's looked at it this morning and nothing wiring wise seems loose. Could it have developed some sort of fault that is causing issues with the battery devices left next to it or is it just a complete coincidence two battery devices started to play up at the same time? Don't want to replace the mirror if this is just a completely bonkers theory.... Mirror pics attached...

Well I have been doing exactly that. My “so called” professional advice from the ex head of planning for a nearby local authority was to resubmit as is with some minor amendments. Should have listened to my gut and told him no but that wasted 9 months. My architectural design guys charges £130ph and works slowly so I’m in for £6k on the design stage alone. Plus 2 applications at £700 a go. And the above advice at £3k. Now I’m in for £260 for a preapp. I will probably need another £1000 of tweaking the above design for a third and final go. all this when the planner verbally told me 18 months ago that the plot of crying out for infill and shouldn’t be a problem!

That was my opinion when i saw inside one. They were at one of the shows and made the mistake of having the side of a unit open on their trade stand for all to see. That was a big mistake.

You need to consider your vapour control layer (VCL) at this stage.

Better off getting an air blower to test for leaks as you go along. You can make one with a large fan and a manometer. A simple IR thermometer will tell you most of what you need to know about cold bridges.

Yes they are in conduit, so could replace in theory if I needed too.

Note: At those depths WRAS regs would bother me a lot more; they want a duct so the pipes can be withdrawn / replaced. I’m happy running pipes above a constructional, uninsulated slab, in standard pipe insulation, but this is a bit extreme for installing domestic pipework, naked, imo.

Geothermal heat / mass doesn’t swing temps below ground like it does in the frost layer (0-300mm iirc) at ground level. That’s how GSHP’s can give heat out when there’s snow on the ground.

Why isn't it at risk if below insulation?

That’s mostly just down to using good quality thermostatic showers vs ‘manual’ mixers. Decent ones will work with quite erratic flows and temps, so I always advise my clients to spend some money on such daily drivers.

So never subject to / at risk from freezing at all. Did you sleeve them?

I started imagining Hadrian's wall with 100m turbines dotted along it. Anything less than that is a waste of time.