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  2. I honestly can't think of any more detail just now. What did you have in mind? It's getting very off-topic too. I really just wanted to reinforce the fact (for those that believe regulations are not to be questioned) that UK building regs are inevitably a bit behind the times, frequently contradict each other and are sometimes inappropriate to the very wide variety of cases they are applied to. During my experience with agreeing our water supply with the local authority I was driven to contact a solicitor to help, because I felt I was being blocked from building a supply that would create the least environmental impact, in direct (I felt) conflict with the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 as well as that authority's Local Plan.
  3. Strong backs don't need to be continuous! They are only there as load transfer between joists to remove the 'bounce'. You lay in half the joists, then loosly insert two length of 4x2 slightly longer than middway, then fit the rest of the joists and slide the Strong backs to their final location and fix. Every engineered timber system has an installation system manual for trades to follow - It's wood butchery, not rocket science! 🙂
  4. Before the walls are built 😁
  5. Depends on the grade of OSB. I've left bits of Sterlingboard OSB3 outside and only the edges have swollen.
  6. Environmental Health, not Building Control, regulate Private Water supplies in Scotland. A specialist contractor report is required to design and sign off a new supply.
  7. ToughButterCup is right that a treatment plant is the usual answer, but it's worth separating Building Regs from the Environment Agency side. Approved Document H puts the options in order of preference: mains sewer, then treatment plant, then septic tank, then cesspool, so building control will usually steer you towards a treatment plant. A new septic tank discharging to a drainage field is still allowed in England under the General Binding Rules, though, provided it's under 2 cubic metres a day, outside a source protection zone 1 and the ground passes a percolation test. What you can't do any more is send septic tank effluent straight into a ditch or stream. On how it works: yes, everything goes in together, WC, shower and sinks. Solids settle, scum floats, and the partly clarified liquid runs out into perforated pipes laid in gravel trenches, where the soil does the real treatment. None of them are self emptying. Expect a tanker to desludge it roughly once a year, so it needs to be within reach of the hose, about 30 metres. Two practical points for a holiday let. Do the percolation test first, because heavy clay can rule out a soakaway altogether. And weeks with nobody in can upset a treatment plant's bacteria, so ask suppliers how their unit copes with intermittent use. Check sizing too: Approved Document H sets a minimum of 2,700 litres for a septic tank serving up to four people, and some of the small kits come in under that.
  8. A strong back is dead easy to do with open web 'Posi-joists' - just thread it through the holes! It is only a 2x4, no 'Doh!' factor at all.
  9. I would agree with JohnMo here. If the pump is firing along with the actuator then something is calling for heat, it is not a stuck actuator. Next time it happens, have a look at the wiring centre and see which channel LED is lit. Worth checking whether the stat in that zone is sitting on frost protection too.
  10. That is a Macdee dual-flush valve, the white body with the blue internals and the numbered height marks on the side. The good news is you do not have to replace the whole thing. A valve that will not shut off reliably is almost always a worn or dirty flush seal, and the seal washers are sold as spares. Twist the top half out of the basket, clean the seat, fit a new seal and put it back on the same height mark.
  11. Thinking a bit laterally do you really need dimming? In my experience bathroom lighting is a binary, you either need a lot or very, very little. You could have two completely separate circuits. I have a low-set LED strip in my shower niche that comes on with a PIR sensor, this is absolutely perfect for minimal nightime illumination. When more light is needed I have four LED selectable ceiling lights that I have set a 4500K but could be set to up to 6000K that are controlled by a regular switch outside the bathroom Regards Tet
  12. Will they straighten out. Never seen such **** ever.
  13. Tom

    Farting PRV

    Thanks, I'd suggest you clean your cartridge. Just so l'm clear before I start waving the spanners around, is it the grey think that I need to unscrew to get at the cartridge?
  14. Agree with everything JPM said. My downstairs floorplan is that I have a small loft above my utility so I have 5 drivers in there. One for the units, one for each of the three rooflights and one for the DS bathroom. LED all the same brand with the same drivers (and another in the US bathroom) This did actually cause problems when installing as I had to remember to power down the bathroom circuits to stop the synching behaviour for the common control switch Regards Tet
  15. My PRV is known as Silent-But-Deadly in our house.
  16. Legislation does not allow the installation of a septic tank any more. You'll have to have a treatment plant of some sort, sometimes called a digester. In haste : search for ( here and elsewhere on Tinternet) 'digester' , 'Approved Document H', 'off mains drainage ', and finally 'General Binding Rules' A local landowner ( of the field next to us) got as far as building a shepherds hut and putting it on his field, but when he did his Due Diligence about renting it, he found the foul drainage issue too costly, and so the hut now sits in his workshop yard. His point was that renters expect flushing toilets and efficient showers. A Chuck-It-Bucket doesn't cut it ( his words, not mine - sorry - its Friday 😑)
  17. I'm not convinced. Maybe it depends on the manufacturer, but where we have used it outside to protect other materials, and polythene has blown off, it fails rather worryingly.
  18. The OSB will last at least 6 months before it is unsafe to walk on. Don't put too many screws in. When you are getting rid of it, someone will be happy to take it to reuse.
  19. If you can give us the exact wording and whether it is a requirement or suggestion? At the steading we have a spring which feeds 3m3 of storage. That seems sensible in case of drought.
  20. Comparing our Maxa R32 (now heating our hot tub) and Haier R290, the R290 makes slightly less noise, but both are not noisy. The R290 has a bigger fan that runs slower and a bigger evaporator, so air flow rate is lower circa given load.
  21. I've been to the factory in Sweden about 10 years ago. The technology was stunning with hardly any people. I therefore feel that the manufacturing will be as accurate as can be. No promises though.
  22. I fitted our Lindab brackets using stainless steel pan head screws. I used stainless steel because I was screwing into cedar fascias. This was fifteen years ago, but the brackets look the same as I used.
  23. The joists will survive but be surface affected ( look stained). Osb falls apart when wet so must be protected. Dpm will protect it but is slippy, and the water will get through some places.
  24. Yeah absolutely, this will take a while and we dont want to live on a cosntruction site! So some things will be inefficient but practical. But certainly is exciting putting our own stamp on it
  25. oh mate! I had to build a stud wall for a refurb flip project and it took me a month! Also trying to hang a 25kg plasterboard a steep staircase was not easy! Good luck with it Good points, would definitely want to get the dusty/messy stuff like remving load bearing wall done first as from experiece I know how much mess that makes! lol dont!
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