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If you go for the terrible "droopy" option, I'm coming up there and there will be trouble "NO!". Whoever dreamt that idea up? Just done one project where it’s was sarking > membrane > counter batten > roofing batten. That is the way, and the light.

What car do you drive? My Discovery's wheel nut torque is 145nm! Too much and you shear things and damage heads. (I never thought I'd say it but I reach for my 12V impact driver the most, and only use 18V for the really big stuff)

Haha, I'd already looked at that one! I'll probably just buy new though. These things just don't depreciate at all- that one is about 75% of the new price!

Whether we like it, or dislike it, agree or disagree, the manufacturers installation guide is the bible. Some dont stipulate, some do, some are happy with anti-freeze valves, which I opted for on the last ones where I had 'free reign', but we should make the OP aware that they need to check if they are OK to deviate. Me personally, I hate the thought of glycol. No need for it, but there is always the power cut in the arse of winter to consider as worst-case.

Not saying we shouldn't Look at what we promote here, with everyone contributing to help the next chap. "Can" is down to cost, "Niche" comes with a price tag, and often the goal not being achieved by corner-cutting or commercial bean-counting, or lazy trades getting a newer, elevated wage, to still turn out crap.

True, but do any modern ASHPs say glycol is the only option?

Bought both of mine used. Have beat the life out of them since, still going strong and refuse to die. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/177846701855?_skw=makita+18v+recip&epid=7003305250&itmmeta=01KH4VPDFDKDMYENZNNM2W9712&hash=item29687d4f1f%3Ag%3A0ycAAeSwPE9piN9A&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA0GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xB511a3Nv7c0HhXl3iul7XiW%2BjrfdGUbP3ok1JeJn9jnZE4f0etcNloT%2Bx0jyb73fuAzKXCiT5n4J%2F9hC9nnnIXzhquKe%2BSdaCaECS8OjnpBmaOEGsJ6YuCOO%2BMoUR0vWn7wOzjc7iAf%2FpqoAnNzNDFlZYUSUE4s2me0RQqveFzSh690IMD3plfNX53yQuQtbUBPrGHdvO%2Fh5x9t7GxazIBgsRPeQdZzHc9P9OuJni1GRHY7%2FDSE2O%2Fo1Cnx9lmu0g%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR_7X2ZuJZw&LH_ItemCondition=3000

Out of all of these tools, the recip saw is one that will likely see limited use. I'm about to replace some windows, and I thought the recip would be good to slice through the screws. Last time I was doing this I tried using a multi tool, but the blades are insanely expensive and I was averaging about two nails per blade. And I didn't really have the depth of cut required anyway. For very occasional use, maybe I should be considering a Fakita recip? The best price I can get on the real one is £83.

Not if the ASHP manufacturer states that it is mandatory, in the MI’s.

These 2 are supposed to be the other way around, so you can clean / service / replace the double check valve by turning the stopcock off. Should be a quick swap with just a spanner.

Best ratio - is no glycol at all - why are you adding. It just degrades system performance. If you really want freeze protection for warranty, buy two anti freeze valves. But ones that respond to water temperatures not outside temperature. The flexible hose by the expansion vessel, should tee into the cold water main and act as filling loop. But you UFH loops will need filling and air got out of the system - you would use a hose on the UFH manifold for that, one loop at a time. Not seeing many useful auto bleed points

I actually thought about doing that and jumping one mains lead into the other.

Nice work. You need to tee into the hard cold mains feed and connect this part of the “filling loop”. Don’t use softened water. That filling loop is how you fill the heating system. Fill and test for leaks without treating it, check for the next 48/72 hrs to be certain you’re kosher, and only then do you put the glycol in.

That's a very good deal, well spotted. My only slight reservation is that both the driver and drill are a bit on the weedy side. The kit includes more battery than I strictly need. I'll not regret that in the long run, just I wonder if I should be looking for a slightly more beefy impact driver (that ones is 140nM max).

I wanted a dual charger but as a skinflint I waited till there was an offer on for a single fast charger and I put em both on a board. Simple. And cheap. Just like me. 😉

Tres Bien, Rodney.

With respect, anyone who’s interested in all my ramblings really should get out more lol I fixed my tester, and the hep connectors worked a treat. Good news.

I'd defo still insulate to some degree, maybe just 6mm or 10mm Marmox boards, to get the steel isolated as best as practicable. Cost is negligible, results far better. CT1 the Marmox on, to clean, decontaminated red oxide or liquid DPM, and then you can bond the timber to the Marmox for a face-fixing-free finish with zero cold bridging.

My first failure was a micro SD card in an adaptor to make it a full size SD card. I suspect the poor quality of the adaptor may have been at least part of the problem. This time around I searched and eventually found a full size SD card to avoid that. That was hard to find so then add in trying to find a particular type would be even more difficult.

Been bitten once, so now I leave the multimeter hooked up whilst laying, if I'm not self levelling. I use mitre bond and activator to pin the UTH mats / wires down, as once the bastards float you're screwed! I use the grout float to skim the wires / mats so there's no metal trowel going against them, and always fit a second, redundant probe for the thermostat in case the original one carks it Thanks. Got the knees and back to show for it though!

Just a point worth thinking about. Heat pumps the SCoP (annual measure of electricity in, to heating energy out) is directly proportional to flow temp. For a given house heat loss, a heat pump designed around a max flow of 55 degs compared to 35 degs will cost 75% more to run (SCoP are approx 3.85 and 5.10). So a low design temp will cost less than gas. But sizing the heat pump correctly is really important. As you can see, insulation isn't the important thing when installing a heat pump, correct design is. Gas or heat pump insulation and air tightness reduces the heat loss only - it doesn't make one better than the other.

Hello all, thanks to the fantastic BH I've had a go at my UFH / DHW install. Be nice (please!) but tell me if it's wrong! Q1: how do I go about filling the system? Do I use the full and flush valve, hose pipe? Or pipe in a hep2o from mains? Q2: I have a huge plastic container of glycol for anti freeze. How do I get that in the pipes? How do I get the correct ratio? Observations: DHW Will loop to UVC, but currently loops back to exit so I can get the system running as I need to commission the slab with heat cycle.

cool got ye , i would just use normal primer anyway as i dont carry pva in van and i screw it but thats just preference, i either staple or rapid set ufh down as i have had them float before i never tile straight on in case i damage them . nice work

Probably blowing out of the PRV (pressure relief valve). Check to see if the blow off pipe, the 15mm copper pipe poked out through the wall, is letting water out. Zip tie a sandwich bag over it, making sure rain can’t collect in it and give you a false reading, and report back. A few smallness will defo have an impact, but maybe not as much as you’re seeing. Possible cause is the expansion vessel has snuffed it, or needs re-pressurisation.

Good stuff! To me this is the key and will drive the design as you state. Forgive me if I come over as a bit blunt / appear to lack understanding, it's not my intention. Fundamentally you have your kids design requirements, potentially grand parents moving in.. (but unfortunately they will not be there as long as you and your kids) and of course your requirements. I very much admire what you are doing. I can @fisnik see that you want energy efficient home.. but there are different ways to skin this cat.. Ok, I've had a look at your drawings and visuals which look good. I'll outline my though process. Of course I know you have already put lots of thought into this but often and, this is the great thing about BH is that you get folk commenting.. they see things for the first time and come up with opinions.. sometimes they are wrong! If so that's good as it gives you confidence you are on the right track.. call it due dilligence. Other times they are right and folk realise they have dropped the ball! I've started by reading your requirements again and put my SE hat on first. A number of things flag up. 1/ You are creating a big open plan space on the ground floor and taking away a lot of the sideways building stability elements. This is to to with when the wind blows on the house and want to push it sideways. You'll need some steels in there to hold everything up above. One end of the steels is hard up against the party wall.. lots of vertical load and to stop over stressing things at the party wall is likely to entail a fair bit of cost. The steels will also need to be deisnged to stop the building moving sideways and as you move up the floors you also likely need some complex structure. There are other structural and costly things that flag up but I'm not going to detail these here for simplicity. But I can see many.. cost / build programme risks! 2/ Much of the wall arrangement on the first floor is offset from the ground floor which makes the load transfer more complex. There is chunk of the existing masonry wall at the gable left in place. Takes up space and is heavy. 3/ The roof is then a fairly complex shape and all that needs to be supported. Conclusion on the above. While I could design a structure to work for you I just know a few things deep down! 1/ I might feel guilty when I submit my fee! A structural design for this will need to be very detailed, with explicit instructions to the contractor. If it's not like this then the Contractor will go off and do their own thing and you'll end up paying for something that is not adequate. A very big dispute can easily take place. I can see that to make something like this work structurally is likely going to cost you more than you are aware of at the moment. Don't blame yourself for this, you have no way of knowing! 2/ You'll have to be able to make sure you are able to supervise the works and have in place an agreement as to how you deal with the unexpected. 3/ What you propose comes with lots of "Architectural risk" ( the Architectural details, potential for an inexperience Architect , or you are not paying enough for them to do this work) contractual risk = money and a potential huge amount of stress. You have enough on your plate and are already carrying lots of responsibility. I would encourage you to say.. let's try and set this project up to de risk it and aim to have fun doing it, then enjoy that quite satisfaction that you made informed descisions. 4/ Adding another story at the boundary ( lane side) could well entail strengthening of the existing founds.. work on that assumption for now to be safe. My next thought process: Good design is about iteration. You revist the earlier descisions you made to check they are still valid and you are not dropping a complete bollock. Unless you do this as a day job or have lots of experience in building then you can't be expected to know this. Below are some of my thoughts. 1/ We are looking for a house that will meet the main functional requirements. These are; your kids, two have special needs and one not. You have grand parents. Their old hips are going to play up if not already! The we have you and your wife.. this needs to be a home for you also.. everyone! 2/ You have a budget and want to make it as well insulated as you can, with modern ASHP etc. But if you look at what of the old house is going to be exposed it's actually very little? It's much easier to add a bit to the odd old wall and then increase the insulation more in the new bits. This is often the most cost effective and pragmatic way. What to do as a next step, even if to rule out and check you are making the right fundamental and financial choices given that you are learning as the design develops: My intention here is not to be patronising. I do this as a day job and can tell you that designs evolve as we gather more information and understand more about the constraints.. but in doing so often new ideas, stuff we have not thought about before comes into play. We in the day job get to change our minds often! A: Nuclear option. What about demolishing the house down to the foundations? That way you can probably save 20% vat. You get to start with a blank canvass internally, recreate the outside, make the structure simpler? I look at what you are trying to do and just know that to retrofit what you want into a 1930's building likely not to going to be a pleasant journey for you. The labour element is going to be high.. so you pay for that and the stress that will come with it. B: Retain the existing external walls on the front / rear elevation, demolish the rest internally and rationalise the structural design and layout. This will allow you to reconfigure the inside layout and make it more buildable and that could well save you money and it may well be quicker to execute so you get into the house sooner. I would want to examine this option in detail.. Architectural observations: I'll now put you and your wife first. You are working hard, I bet every hour you have is a prisoner! I anticipate that the attic bedroom is your sanctuary.. it really needs a small ensuite. The ground floor stair case is too narrow at first glance. I can see how you have designed so far on the basis that you are trying to fit / add what you require.. then have some fun with the heating / solar and so on. Lots of people do this. To summarise: If I was advising you I would choose this time to go back and review with you whether our internal design is still valid as per your post. I'm not saying you need to go back to planning. What I am saying is that I can see enough from what you have posted to warrant a comprehensive design review. I can see this from both an SE and from a designers point of view. I can see some scary costs from an SE point of view and even more scary when someone has to get the builder to do what you are paying for. I hope this helps.. even if you read my post and rule out.. it will, I hope, give you confidence.