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Tell us more about this Moose Count.

Yes. Didn't include it because I'm lazy.

Here tis video mentioned... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zs2DwWqH5I

Hi there, does any self-builder want a solar powered, 4G camera? Free to a good home (or plot!), 'buyer' collects from near Shaftesbury, Dorset or I could package and post at your cost and risk. We used it to provide site protection, remote management, and progress photos for our self-build and now we have moved in have POE CCTV installed we no longer need it. It worked really well for us - we only had a couple of days during this past winter when it ran low on power and temporarily switched itself off - we never bothered charging it, it came back to life the next day each time. Through the Reolink app you can move the camera around remotely too. I sound like a Reolink salesman now but this camera is free! You'll need to get a pay as you go data sim (cost us c. £4 per month) though. PM me if you are interested. Some photos of the camera and an example of the picture it takes:

It's not that hard to hit the studs when going through 50mm of PIR. I had to go through 100mm to hit my rafters and that was a bit of a pain, but it was manageable. Wool is cheap and breathable but you'll end up with a thick wall build-up, and a lot of the money you've saved on insulation will go in to extra timber.

Im assuming that you would put some sort of cladding on battening on the outside of that build up?

As others have said, seems rather high risk and totally dependant on the render to keep it all dry. Not for me that one.

I'll attract scorn here but I like a continuous layer of external insulation. It's keeps the studs and OSB sheathing warm and away from the elements. Provided you have adequate management of air movement through the structure (airtightness) and very good control over internal humidity levels the wall will quite happily dry to the inside provided you don't add any more low permability layers like internal vapour barriors. Unfortunately airtightness is rarely done well and internal humidity control relies on the long term occupants diligence so there have been numerous building failures, hence the caution urged above. In your case the U value of the extension is lightly to be neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things. Aim for Bregs with something robust, easily buildable and cheap. What really will make it feel more comfortable is good air sealing. Make sure this is done well. I would avoid PIR internally as half of it will end up in the skip as offcuts and you'll be searching for studs to hit while screwing through it. Also it's virtually completely vapour closed so any accidental moisture in the wall will struggle to dry either in or out. Far easier to bang up a few 2*2s with a nail gun as a service cavity and mineral wool is fast and cheap to install. I really like blown cellulose for TF but it may not be worth getting the man for a small area of an extension. Importantly everything above is off the shelf at every builders merchant in the country. Robust, buildable. Cheap.

@Conor @Mr Punter. Thank you both for your comments

Well you could have a device detect the absence of the SPOC. I think there was someone on YouTube that had put a routine on a Shelly switch that triggered if the SPOC was down and reverted the relay to manual. Made sure the lights would work if the SPOC went down. Beyond that you could possibly switch to a mirror. i am not really sure how you could expect otherwise. Network routing failover is one thing but logic failover is another as logic would not be distributable - just capable of duplication and mirroring with failover ?

Today's XKCD seems relevant.

No worries about intruding on a room below. The flat roof is above a utility room 80's extension with 6x2 joists (same 2.4m span) and also a garage as previously mentioned with the 4x2. There's nothing below the joists in the garage so easy access. No idea of the cost of a structural engineer for something simple like this, anyone like to guess? If it's as potentially simple as sistering the joists, I may look into it as without strengthening the joists and the costs involved in that, payback time is going to be around 2 years according to AI, so pretty attractive. Current joists go into pockets in the brickwork of the house and then overhang the wall plate on the other side by a few hundred mm to create an overhang outside. Presumably any sistered joints would just need to sit on the wall plate (not all the way to the fascia outside), but if the joists are deeper than the current ones, the bottom would need notching out at the wall plate? Assuming these would generally then be bolted to the existing joists. I'm also not sure what the approved practice would be at the junction with the house. I assume create a pocket in the brickwork for the joist to sit in.

Hi everyone - I wanted to revisit this topic but almost from the opposite perspective on whether there is a risk that we might create a condensation problem in the roof if we soundproof the ceilings. We are single story ICF build with a warm roof and as we had to make up the eaves details as the architect had not factored in the height of the trusses I paid to have an interim air leakage test and we actually got a 0.45 which was much better than I was expecting so we know it is a very airtight building. We have completed the shell of the building and the main elements of the first fix including the MVHR and are getting ready to plasterboard the house. I need to decide whether we add sound proofing in the ceiling to limit noise transfer between rooms or do not bother. As noted above my concern with doing this is whether it could lead to a lower temperature in the roof space and a condensation risk. At the moment we do not have a vapour barrier at ceiling level as it is part off the warm roof detail. If we did add sound proofing would it make sense to add an extra layer to reduce risk of moisture going into the attic space. Any input would be greatly appreciated

Happy to say I've not touched the Smartrhings in years (decades?), but Home Assistant very much is a single point of failure. Which was the point I was making there: aside KNX anything that doesn't depend on an in-home SPoF is probably depending on a cloud one instead (even just for authentication /ownership management) - which is probably worse of two evils. And even KNX doesn't really count as to do any interesting automation you need a PLC server which of course is itself the SPoF. Home Assistant certainly is all local easy to change owner at an administrative level. But handing over an entire installation as part of a home sale is a brave idea and I'd love to hear actual case studies of anyone attempting let alone succeeding it. My experience is Either HA is doing purely "nice to have functionality" (ovens and lawn mowers) in which case no compelling reason to leave it in the house. Or it's running the BMS - lighting and heating - in which case really hope the new home owner is keen on being sysadmin

Ah ok, I meant slim circular downlight puck lights that get recessed into the cabinet base. About 12-15mm deep. Want circular to match the extractor etc Kitchen company have some but they are not smart.

Forgive me if I’m being thick. but the colour changing and temperature changes are down to the led and driver unit. thin profile is down to the aluminium profile that you recessed into the cupboard, as long as the strip fits in the profile then off you go. just get a profile thinner than your bottom of your cupboard.

As above, check your insurance and move in. you must be 100% happy it is safe though, so all fire escape windows and routes out the building complete, smoke detectors in place and electrical sign off, after that it’s up to you.

Factor of safety

?

These days you can have a smart home that doesn't depend on the cloud. Home Assistant can be local, Samsung Smartthings can be local. I havn't looked into the transfer of a smart system to another owner, but I would suspect there maybe relatively straightforward routes. And after all we face the same barriers if we want to transfer a mobile phone, a laptop, or even a TV to a new owner. Even my car has an App that would need sorting out if I sold the car. Personally I plan to stay in the house until I die - which may be sooner from all the stress of trying to get this building malarkey sorted. And I hope that a smart home will ease some elements of old age - no falling down in the dark - no being unable to reach the socket to turn the device off - people being alerted if you havn't got out of bed etc. And what we are doing doesn't go the whole hog, we do actually have physical light switches and you could remove all the smart relays and have a functioning home. Yes there is an element of it not being essential. It isn't essential when the car puts the handbrake on, turns the headlights on, heats the car, and applies the brakes before I hit something - but it is convenient, as you discover when trying to drive the spouses car with the handbrake on ;0) At least we don't have to do the washing up anymore, or refill the kerosene lamps. There has always been something irresistable about having automated and remote control. They just never fitted that module to the Mr Trump model unfortunately.

Oh! ......Didn't know.

You can move in whenever you want, just check with your insurance company. Our self build policy allowed to live in the house, and only lapsed once we got approval, then immediately got normal house insurance.

Hello everyone. Nearly at the end of the build and still living in the caravan (mobile home)! Everything is done, all renewables complete got MCS certs. Got As Built SAP and EPC. We have to building control, one for Buildzone (for the Warranty) and the other building control. I just emailed them both the EPC and the "other" building inspector had asked for photos of the loft insulation which I sent, however, I received an out of office reply that he is on leave until 13 April. I was hoping to move in on the 10th April. Ironically the Buildzone inspector has asked if the "other" inspector has done his final inspection (not sure why they can't make their own judgement, what's the point of having the Buildzone one if he wants to piggy back on the "other" inspector? What will happen if we move in on the 10th and they haven't issued the final BC cert? Although the build has taken just under 11 months, been living in the caravan for 19 and I am desperate to move in my lovely new home. I wouldn't need to tell them I officially moved in on the 10th, although some furniture will be in and beds made, no one could prove we aren't still in the caravan (I suppose). Look forward to hearing your thoughts. I am going to miss this forum, you have all provided so much guidance over the last year or so (even before build started with the usual preliminaries)

It shocks some people that agricultural buildings are basically allowed to fail, whether for hay, tractors or living animals. I asked a farmer once if he knew of buildings collapsing, as I hadn't ever heard of it being a problem. He told me it was quite common especially in heavy snow, and was reported in farming journals. might want to have their garage designed with a FOS. It's about 40% in approx terms.