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Black packer. 2mm. If head is full length pull door shut to latch, pin head stop up with black packer between door and stop, not pushing too hard against door. Then leg stops on hinge side hold the packer and nail at roughly the hinge positions then open the door and hold your 6ft level against the stop, pull it tight to the level then you know its straight. Few more pins. Latch side repeat keep it at 2mm if your latch is adjustable. Knock the inside part of latch forward a bit before final fix with ironmongery so it pulls in tight to stop. On site they just out the stops in a fixed distance from the door edge of the lining ie 37mm but thats more for production work ain't got time to mess with keeps.

I was looking into this the other week with ai. Excuse my luddite levels of understanding. I know you know your onions. The ai was implying immersion heating is a lot more expensive than heat pump because no COP. It was kind of implying doing the install so can heat water with both ashp and immersion is the best way. Are you saying its a lot more expensive? Can the ashp recharge quicker than immersion? Do you guys have some low dhw use which means you dont really notice the cost whereas a big family with multiple showers or baths would notice it?

I’m sure he meant compared to the best quote he got otherwise. Honest.

Just a simple programmable timer for DHW - stand alone system. Generally you are better exporting solar, but I do get some periods on Agile where export is almost nothing and if you have excess solar, ideal time to dump in to water Wouldn't advertise you made a profit, as you an the umbrella company are defrauding the tax man.

@Stu789 I used this company. https://www.air2heat.co.uk/mcs-umbrella-scheme. As you can see, they're based in Oswestry but they were happy to travel down to North Somerset for me.

Could you please share which umbrella scheme you used, thx

Suggesting the ashp for heating only and have the immersion on a timer or some form of solar diverter to utilise excess?

I recently finished installing an ASHP under the umbrella scheme. I did all the work, and I'm definitely not a plumber. I made a "profit" of about £1000, so I think it's a really good offer.

Do you mean the gap between the door stop and the door which I think you do or the gap around the door to the lining. if you have fitted the door into the lining and now need to fit the door stop, the standard gap to leave for four coats of paint would be the thickness of a thin credit card, or an old business card, aprox 3quarters of a mm. 2-3mm gap is the gap between door and lining.

Just buy it yourself. Direct UVC cylinder, heat during cheap rate periods. Direct cylinder compared to heat pump cylinder generally £1k+ or £2k cheaper than Mixergy and Heat Geek ones. Plus it allows you heat house and DHW in cheap periods. Price difference buys a lot of cheap energy. But from switching for heat pump heated to direct I haven't noticed any difference in overall cost of electricity. You will most likely have UFH anyway. Then you just need the ASHP. I paid £2k for mine. You also have the freedom to do your install your way.

Are you a plumber @MikeSharp01. Just trying to understand your background. I'm hoping that so long as you can show you have done detailed heat loss calculations and have a detailed schematic showing the proposed installation, it will show you have a good understanding of what needs to be done and you can hopefully do the work under the scheme.

We did it via Cool Energy. It worked well for us overall. The only issue is controlling their heat pump via modbus. The service was great.

The old Holloway house is my favorite. I really like it. If you're aiming to emulate the same feel I think your design is over glazed to the north. The old Holloway is much more biased towards southern light making it feel very unexposed but it might not suit your site. Have you any idea how you'll build? 350mm may be ok. A 220mm stud with a 63mm service cavity would be about that. Blown insulation ideally. I really like the wobbly metal too. 150mm is good for internal walls. On the layout maybe make the small beds a touch bigger. The kitchen+living a touch smaller and th utility a bit bigger too. Over all very good though.

I'm interested in this too... FWIW I spoke to a couple of the MCS umbrella companies last month and they only deal with a trading plumber not a self-builder so they basically said "get the plumber you want to work with to call us"

I would like to do all aspects of our heating/cooling and DHW installation myself. I've read that I can do this and claim the grant if I use the MCS umbrella scheme. Keen to understand if anyone has gone down this path?

Thanks everybody. The DNO confirmed that the sloping install inside the meter box is standard for a flush mount. He did say that the installation on the pole would be redone. The ducting is only exposed because we didn't back fill that part of the trench in order for the DNO to gain access to the end of the duct. I think the way they cut the duct we buried and hooked up the hockey stick is poor, as is the connection on the pole. I guess we'll have to finish it off ourselves. I don't really know what we pay for nowadays. I had to pay up front. What is the workd coming to? (And other things old people mutter to themselves)

Yes, 2mm is standard - more-or-less the thickness of a 10p coin.

I used an old credit / debit card, cut up into 4 pieces and masking taped to the door along the handle / latch side as a spacer between the closed door and stop. Then same on the header and hinge side, though a slightly larger gap is fine. I would paint one first and pin lightly to establish the gap required, too much gap they can rattle.

Anyone got any tips on attaching the individual door stops to the linings? I've got the doors hung, the linings are all filled and sanded ready for paint but I've got to get the stops on first. As I'm painting the frames (not the doors) should I be leaving like 2mm all round to accommodate that additional thickness, and should that be more like 3mm at the hinge side? Planning on Zinsser BIN then my topcoat.

I've reached out for some contacts. I'll let you know if/when they respond

Further update on our VAT reclaim journey... HMRC have written to us (actual letter, not email) querying four invoices, covering about £3k VAT. The invoices are for our lights and our flooring tiles (two invoices for each: deposit and balance). They are asking for more information because the invoices don't specify the goods supplied. They have asked for paper copies of the four invoices, and supporting evidence from the suppliers detailing what the invoices cover, so I have sent the matching orders for each. The good news is that they said they will pay the vast majority and just hold back the the £3k for these invoices. And the day I got the letter the money arrived in our account. So, quite happy with that - 14 weeks or so from claim to payment of the bulk of the claim.

Are Lindab's assumptions the same as yours? (Page 4) '...Lindab has used the Swedish standard with a rainfall volume of 0.013 l/sqm...' and further '... It is difficult to generalise when it comes to the design and dimensioning of roof drainage, even though there are industry standards to rely on. In recent years, we have seen that rain volumes increase in certain rainy periods and, above all, that the intensity of rain showers has increased both in terms of time and quantity. Adjacent topography, other buildings and the building’s design can also influence the needs of the building in question. Combined, these factors mean that a property owner should - in addition to industry requirements - take into account the building’s needs and vulnerability...' When it rains in BC, man does it it rain. Might you have generalised rainfall reference tables for your area?

Can't you use a hygrometer (pyrex jug and digital scales)? Find out the density at the correct ratio and then compare your mix.

In a non square room it took a while to decide what straight edge to start from 😀 A lot of measuring and marking to get a "centre" line, then choosing which corner should be on that line. Tips: Dry run fitting the pieces together - you may find there is one way that works better/easier for you. A centre of the room line is not necessarily the correct thing to do as you may end up with tiny pieces to fit in at the edges. Lay out 10 to 20 "rows" but only two pieces wide (hope that makes sense) to start with, then line up that "patch" of planks on your marked line, and fix it in place (glue, or several screws around the edges that you'll later take out as you add more pieces). HTH To answer some other points above, I only glued the tiny pieces at the edges so they didn't move out of place. The windows face WSW so only get late afternoon sun. Even with LVT, the angle can wander a little, but I guess not as bad as wood parquet. And yes @Super_Paulie, the struggle was real 😀

They won't be engineers, just technicians with BTEC or C&G qualification. Look up the qualification and then ask around for people with the right certificate.