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If you haven't decorated yet and it's something you plan to sub out then I expect many decorators will be used to doing this work and it might not be a huge deal just to get them to do the filling.

Bed joint reinforcement (the train track stuff) above and below the openings may have helped. I have only specified it on rendered walls or brickwork feature panels like stack bond. Mesh in the render also helps. You best option now is filler.

This is down to detail. Is this "plaster on the hard" or plasterboard? If plaster to brick or block the back boxes need to be well fitted and deep enough to reach almost the finished level of the plaster. If too deep the spread has to do his best forming an edge in free space. One of the reasons I hate plaster direct to brick or block. If you don't want surrounds as suggested above, you need to build up the gaps and form a corner with a good quality ready mixed plaster.

To add, one of the great potential use cases of a technology like this is if it works you could go to the site of an old coal/gas power plant. Drill a deep hole and then start using the heat to drive the existing turbines using the existing power lines. It has potential to be an excellent solution to base load. Again not something to wait for, but if it materialises in say 5 years as viable, then it could seriously reduce time to net zero for planet earth if it can be rolled out at scale.

My parents would probably have used plastic surrounds (used to be common to stop grubby fingerprints on walls/expensive wallpaper) First hit (not recommending) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390878577772 Having said that, I think our standards have moved on and you probably want to unscrew the sockets, fill and paint. But that's a lot more work.

100% The worry with something like this is that the sceptics see this and start using it as a reason to not spend money now on existing solutions.

What's the best way to fix this? Time machine? A dozen or so sockets are like this. 😕

First floor, underneath windows at front (SW) side are the worst. Diagonally down from corners. Tops of most doors the same. Diagonally upwards.

Which bit. Here is the radio active decay. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_internal_heat_budget Here is the tidal heating. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_heating About 0.0073 W/m2 most in the oceans, so not really relevant. All these thermal forcings are generally measured at the mW/m2 scale. As much as I line innovation and large engineering projects, we currently do not have time to wait for the Golden Goose. We need to crack on with Wind, Solar, Hydro, Storage and Demand Management. We have everything we need to do that, and have actually had it for the last 30 years.

That doesn't sound right to me. Got a source? I thought it was mostly caused by the effect of the moon compressing earth as it orbits. Like the moon causes tides, it causes relatively small changes in the earths shape as it orbits. This produces heat. Edit: Either way, our actions aren't going to affect either of these energy sources (at our current and foreseeable future demand) I thought the main selling point of this millimetre wave stuff was that it would dramatically lower the cost of drilling and if their calculations held would end up cheaper than solar as a way of generating electricity.

I have forgotten an awful lot. But I kind of remember that there is an absolute limit to the height of a pump, regardless of size. Because of the sheer head of water mostly. In a mine there is tunnelling and it could be done in stages.

A bit, most is radioactive decay There is some tidal warming. It is a bit strange to go to all this trouble when there are easier alternatives to develop. https://goexplorer.org/using-the-ocean-to-power-tropical-islands/ They spent, I think, £1.5m on the Jubilee Swimming Pool geothermal project. It failed and they put a heat pump in. Seems strange when they have a warm ocean literally 10 feet from it and a local firm that makes Water Source Heat Pumps. I am sure I could get an AI to write up a gushing proposition for just about any energy source, present it to some greedy, but ignorant, investors, and laugh.

I think I saw this discussed in the past. Iffy recall but I think the jist is that the amount of energy in the core is massive and any level of human extraction is likely inconsequential to that. More locally you obviously have similar problem to fracking in that if you disturb the local geology you may have water and other things going places they weren't before which may be problematic. The heat in the core is caused by rotation of the planet and is linked to orbital mechanics (IIRC). On those scales current human endeavour is almost nothing. The comparison is climate change where through our actions over 150/200 years we have made a meaningful difference in atmospheric concentrations of potent gases.

I'm surprised you haven't had more contributions on this thread. There have been in the past some people on here who might be able to answer but I guess they aren't around ATM. Not a lawyer but I think in general the bigger, better reputation, firms charge more. If they are a bigger firm they can handle bigger cases and therefore people with bigger wallets and thus don't want to lower their fees for smaller stuff. Going to a smaller firm (even one man band) might not be a detriment if you are dealing with someone who has fairly specialised knowledge in your area of concern. But if they are more of a generalist and you need a specialist then you would be at a disadvantage. So question is does this describe the difference between the firms? Have you asked the more expensive firm why their price is so much higher? (Not haggling, but asking them to justify the price). In terms of the £1600, that sounds about as low as is reasonable given this job is maybe a little unusual. Doubt the above is anything you haven't already thought about but maybe it triggers some more useful conversation?

We currently have mines deeper than that. They will almost certainly have to pump out water. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deepest_mines The UK has mines almost as deep. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulby_Mine They probably could have mined deeper, but they stopped at the resource they were after.

2km is a deep hole. That will be quite a pump that shifts water through it. I expect the microfissues , even the borehole will close up under pressure. So it interesting but a while away.

There are no other leaseholders. The land on which i built our house has been an Orchard for at least the past 125 years. It is a 'lost leaseholder' status piece of land. The status of the land is not at issue. The massive difference in Fee's is.

While this is exciting stuff and I applaud the work being done I have not seen the counterveiling discussion around moving energy from the core to the surface and the consequences there of. If we cool the core what are the consequences? As I said this is exciting stuff but we should have learned by now that our use of planetary resources has consequences and geothermal energy may not be a 'renewable' resource.

Interesting stuff, early technology, not to be ruled out. As an SE I've always been interested in rock mechanics. It's a fascinating subject, not bedtime reading for all mind.

I agree. I've had a bit of a closer look. SE wise there is a sideways stability issue that may be questioned. This may be ok if the roof diaphragm is well braced and connected to the the main house wall. We can't yet see how you get into the extension from the house? Again this has SE implications. The drainage looks like it needs clarification and so on. Anyway, one should always not judge a job half done, thus I'm reticent to be too critical at this stage.

I think there are bigger thermal bridges than the steel post……just saying!

Post your SAP so we can take a look. I’m very surprised that a timber frame is failing the SAP. I would also assume that the junction calculations are taken from standard details rather than specific construction drawings.

Hi @bluebellcottage I really liked the Westcoast windows, but decided against them in the end. Our local installer was very helpful, as was Westcoast, but ultimately they couldn’t provide all the window sizes we wanted. Incidentally, a few months ago I spoke with an installer who dealt with both Westcoast and Rationel. He found that most architects specified Rationel but Westcoast was, in his opinion, the better window. Eventually, we opted for aluminium (Deceuninck) instead of alu-clad, purely because it was the only way to achieve all the openings we wanted using one system. If we had gone for Alu-clad, as was our original intention, then of the many, many systems we looked at, my first choice would be Zyle Fenster. They seemed better engineered and more robust than the likes of Westcoast, Nordan, Velfac, Rationel and significantly better value than Internorm or Norrsken (even though both are great windows). It would be worth a chat with @craig The Zyle Ecotherrm windows he can supply are aesthetically quite similar to Westcoast. Craig’s also extremely knowledgeable, helpful (and patient!) Just a really good guy. If I ever build another house and opt for more sensible window/door sizes, then Zyle would be top of my list, as would Craig 👍

Buildings insurance for the existing house has a (low) limit on the value of building work that can be happening (anywhere) on the plot (even though there is separate insurance for that building work). Land Registry won't split the plot into separate title deeds until you are selling to another party. I will continue to hunt around for insurers with a more sensible outlook!