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Trace heat and lag…

I would rather see the cost of electricity reduced by scrapping green levies, high standing charges and reduce the link to wholesale gas price.

https://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/four-reasons-why-scrapping-the-boiler-upgrade-scheme-would-leave-the-uks-energy-policy-in-disarray/

Your drain plan is the important bit. Insulation slows freezing but will not stop a hard frost if water sits in the valve overnight, so being able to isolate indoors and empty everything downhill of those valves is the reliable winter route. For the valve body itself, a removable insulated box works better than wrapping alone. A simple plywood or plastic enclosure lined with foil faced PIR or dense foam, with a hinged or lift off front so you can still use the controls, does the job. Tape or foam the pipe entries. Leave a small drip gap at the bottom so any condensation can escape rather than sitting on the valve. The 10mm through the garage is thin for an unheated space. I would up that to match the outside (25mm or more), and lag any fittings and elbows properly, not just the straight runs. If you want occasional use without draining every time, a frost thermostat trace heater on the valve and the last few metres of pipe, under the lagging, is the usual belt and braces approach. Still keep the drains though.

in my landing and bathroom ive 22mm P5 glued and screwed and then 6mm ply glued and screwed. Makes the suspended floor feel like solid concrete.

Thanks very much . It would be great if more people used video to describe what they are doing.

Zehnder ComfoAir is what we went for in the end - based on the advice from this forum and also after speaking with Heat, Space and Light. They seem to be very well rated for Passive House type installations as well (ours isn't, but I wanted acoustic performance over complete airtightness).

I'm not arguing against what has been quoted above - but they somewhat do prove the point I was trying to make. Having done my own research, I know HPs do work. However, trying to find an installer who won't rip you off, trying to convince the council that we're actually trying to do the right thing based on their guidance and still being asked to jump through extra hoops, trying to convince neighbours that the HP is exactly 1.00m or more (we were 1.01m) from our boundary to comply with regulation (I think this has now been relaxed somewhat), and trying to convince the wife that the huge unit outdoors is a good idea - these were just too many battles I chose not to fight in the end, when I already have to make another thousand decisions on a weekly basis.

Agree just leave them although with hindsight the bottle gullies with the plugs would have been easier to rod.

I would consider using 22mm Egger Protect boards, glued and screwed. They are much more resilient and a bit stiffer. You could also use a decoupling mat under the tiles but it will add a few mm to the build-up and a bit to the cost. Flexible adhesive in any case.

about 300 i think. My back didnt thank me put it that way.

These guys should have fitted the ones with the access 'plugs' as the price difference vs gains / benefit is a few £max. Jetting will work, but cost and inconvenience when all this should be "self-cleaning"; that means homeowner can DIY with just a £20 set of rods. There are a bijillion of these out there in service without the removable plugs, so it's kind of a "coulda / shoulda" situation which doesn't really need any more worry or costs added. She'll be reet!

Hi Will, one way that often simplifies it is to stop the ICF a course short so the wall insulation and the roof insulation meet over the wall head, rather than trying to wrap one around the other. Run the VCL down over the wall plate and tape it straight onto the inner face of the ICF concrete or its airtightness layer, then the PIR on the deck runs out and butts tight to the outer ICF insulation, with any gap filled with low expansion foam. The eaves stop can then be a simple ply or timber upstand fixed through to the plate, kept within the insulation depth. Worth running the final detail past your SE and the ICF supplier, as they'll have standard eaves details.

Of my 3 external doors, 2 of them are under significant "canopies" and one is on the North side in a very "unexposed" position. That doesn't lessen the quality I wish to achieve in the detailing, but the 2 sheltered doors will definitely never see much in the way of direct rain or snow. Thanks for your help everyone and onto the next. 🤣

Leaves, moss any other debris. there will be leaf catcher in the down pipes but I just want to know if p trap is often used for this or is the installation incorrect

Brink is very good for the money, but you’ll need to dig a bit deeper as you’re into a far better level of kit then. Fitted loads over the years with great results; make sure you consider sound pressure levels and operational audibility, as noise in bedrooms (particularly when the system is boosted) will seriously annoy. Attenuators (aka silencers) act like a car muffler and should defo be considered in the design.

Ah, so you are looking for a plot. I assumed you had one, sorry. Different areas and boroughs have different rules, planning is an ass, so it’ll be an additional consideration as to where you go and how far from civilisation you choose to be. Hutters lifestyle plus a large ‘garden’ area is in popular demand methinks.

You make a very good point. Its going to be a very hard balance choosing between family time and trying to improve our forever home. I will try to get the balance right to ensure I dont regret not spending enough time making memories with the family.

I agree that 75k is a lot of money to spend on external glazing and doors. The property is l-shaped so there are more windows, doors (including sliding doors) than you'd usually expect. I also want to get a pivot door for the front. I personally think that glazing has the single biggest impact to the look of the building. We are also going to do with black framed windows and doors to make it look more modern. I dont think it will take £75k but I want to ensure I set aside healthy budget for it. Congrats on your house move! Thats fair enough, I suppose everyone has their own way of doing things. I hope it goes well and half acre is a healthy outdoor space! I've never come across the term Tranche and it actually sounds very interesting. I will definitely look into potentially adopting this framework "Do not plan to start work that you can't exit in an orderly manner." - 100% agree and its easy to get into a position where you start on multiple things with mess everywhere and not sure what to tackle. That can be an overwhelming position - I know cos I did a property flip refurb alone and it wasn't a good mental state to be in. Thank you for all your advice! "We'll probably get hit by a huge inflation over the next 2 years so your 10% padding might even cover the price increases, never mind any unforeseen works." - Jeez! Not like everything hasn't already gone up by 30% or something daft since post-covid With the rising shipping costs and the pending oil apocalypse, it may be an interesting end to the decade!

You don't need to be a geek to install and set up a HP- it's basic physics. HPs are proven technology over a century old. The trouble with the plumbing/building industry is there's no incentive to change. Your builders advice was flawed as changing things he's always done comes with risk to him so he advises wrongly to hopefully avoid a perceived risk. If the plumbers your builder uses had embraced HPs with training and experience, the builders perception and advice would likely be different. Unfortunately there's incentive for those plumbers to change.

Very helpful advice here! I think phasing the work seems to be the recommended theme, which is exactly what we were hoping to do. My thinking is, the more I can plan (budget and schedule), the less surprises I'll have, equals less stress overall! Ive been using an app called snagless for planning and budgeting, which has been really useful, was using excel sheets in the past. I hope your extension gets completed to the standard you hoped for!

Thanks for the links. I'll give those a look. Nice one.

Yes external glazing and doors is going to take up a big chunk of our budget but is also one that adds the biggest impact to a property (in my opinion). The building is L-shaped so theres quite a few sliding doors and full height windows. But I'll be living there and phasing the work out. I'm hoping to do it slowly and actually enjoy the process of improving our forever home

Thats fair. I did try to create a quick shopping basket and was also hoping to use my trade account discounts (as I did a refurb of a property previously so have trade accounts). Im also planning on shopping smart and I would imagine bulk buying everything from one place may incentivise the shop to give me a decent discount.

What are you going to rod if its going to a soakaway? Can modern drain jetters get around p traps?