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We did consider PVC, but haven't found many systems appeal aesthetically. One candidate was Rehau Artevo. I've tried for a few months to get pricing from different fabricators... still waiting 🫤 Also liked Aluplast Energeto Neo, but Aluplast don't yet have any UK fabricators. I'll take a look at the two you mention 👍 Is the main issue with aluclad the colour fading? I guess that's mostly due to UV exposure?

It's finally happening: Using unistrut instead of proper channel so had to get creative with some 3D printed spacers:

Recycled tarmac is great as long as it is a coarse mix, and not only fine stuff from toppings and footpaths. Many people don't realise that it is nearly all stone and sand, and the black stuff just glues it together. (5% or so if I recall) If you ask the contractor why it is not acceptable it would be interesting to hear. If well crushed, (not in big lumps) then well laid it can be better than type 1. It's 150mm thick and you have presumably whacked it or rolled it. It will never get that load again. The problem i see is with 30mm sand. That is very thick and will be affected by rain and weeds. Also, with block paving, you can get very local point loading. 30mm sand tends to suggest you need it to adjust to a good plane surface could you use less? Test the surface by driving back and forward many times. Does it show any settlement? Now jack up the car so you have half a ton on a small area. OK? Worst case? If it ever settles locally then blocks can be reset. I've even used it under a factory slab taking very large loads. No problem.

I paid a guy to come and lag it all for me, and he worked mostly in light commercial etc so it’s default there. Not really necessary but the phenolic stuff comes foiled as standard. Not much need in a domestic (but satisfies OCD), and the grey EPS stuff is no better or worse than the neoprene, same values etc, so if you’re inside the heated and airtight envelope then the insulation is mostly relevant if cooling.

Listen to the advice of the new contractors as they will then be liable for longevity etc. If you ignore them then you’d be blamed for any failures. Short cuts take 3 times longer and are always 3 times the cost. Remove the U/S sub base and get it all replaced with type 1, and install ACO drains to manage storm water.

Hi everyone, I am now on my second set of contractors for my drive as the first ones turned out to be clueless and I wasn't happy with the time it was taking or the advice. I'm doing 100 sqm of block paved driveway - new guys have come in done a few days setting out but are now saying they aren't happy laying on top of 150 mil recycled tarmac, this is all I could get hold of a couple months ago following how wet it had been and it was recommended so I went with it, after looking into it it doesn't seem the best sub base and I'm not sure you can use it, would I be better off getting a digger back in scraping it back and adding a 50 mil type 1 layer on top? As it stands at the minute it's 90 mil from the required level and it's been whacked, blocks are 60 mil so I guess they were going to do a sand screed of 30 mil, can anyone advise me what's best to do I don't want to spend all this money and the drive sinks in 6 months.

Do you mean why is the insulation silver, it comes like that, it’s a two piece rockwool lined product you put on and then cover the gaps in foil tape.

I'm glad you've found a good company. That's probably more important than anything. I know I'm banging a PVC drum here but I see they do Veka profiles. I would price Alphaline 90 and Softline 82 and go to see a house with them and alucald both installed after 10 years and compare. You could see a £30k swing the other direction and a lower maintenance better performing window.

I've only had 3 houses in 40 years - only 1 was a new build back in the late 80's. House had no issues was nicely built and good plot but there was one issue - The planners stipulated window frame colour to be brown or white, my house got brown - south facing garden - within the first summer the paint had bubbled up on the windows - I complained and they repainted them brown - I told the builders this is a bit stupid they will just bubble again paint them white and it'll be fine. They bubbled again and they repainted again, brown!!! I was in the house 4 years and at the end of summer every year I got my windows repainted for free - the last time they finally relented and painted them white!!!

Whats the metal tape you have used here wrapped around the insulation and is it worth using?

Working through it (slowly) as some of the terminology is new to me so having to understand what is being asked for (I feel it needs a bit more notation for those who do not work in this space or are more of a lay person like myself). A couple of suggestions... UFH construction to allow different options for different floors. My GF will be screed, FF panels, SF nothing DWH source - sunamp (appreciate though that not applicable for most people) Change the save confirmation window so not a pop up window - a little annoying. Auto-saving feature? Add air permeability target info

Bugger. It would appear that my All-In-One didn’t charge up last night but I only spotted that this morning when we had a brief (1 second) power cut. It looks like that was the battery emptying and the grid picking up. Pretty sure that scenario shouldn’t give us a power cut but it did. All indications I get is that the battery is at 7% and not taking any charge from the excess solar we have at the moment. A quick internet search for resetting the AIO is to press the button on the right hand side of the battery for 5 seconds, the battery will shut down and then 1-2 mins later start up again. Guess what. It hasn’t restarted. Any one have any similar issues? Or any pointers as to how I can get this heavy box of chemicals working as a battery again? ~~~~ It turns out that pressing the button again restarts the battery, so it’s up and running but discharging at max rate when it should be charging from excess solar. I reset to factory defaults and all seems to be well for the time being.

😁👍 It’s not a top performer, but most of our windows are fixed so I think (hope) the openers will be ’good enough’ 🤞 The manufacturer is Westcoast. We really like the appearance of the windows, their pricing is competitive and the installers, very local to us, have been extremely helpful so far. There are still a couple of other options we’re looking at but at the moment these are probably top of the list. It’s quite hard to justify an additional £30k+ for the likes of Internorm, even though they are undoubtedly better windows… it would probably be better spent elsewhere (like the home cinema and games room 😏)

Apologies for my hiberno slang. Just glancing at the section of the window I wouldn't be sure it was a top performer in terms of air sealing and thermal conductivity. I would like to see more seals and insulation. Something like this with 4 seals and thermally broken too. The Uw figure looks fine as a whole but just be cautious of it as large areas of glazing with a low Ug can hide poorer Uf figures.

Yes - this is what I’ve had proposed, but I’m taking it on myself now that I’ve accelerated up a steep learning curve!

The thing is that snagging stuff is mostly at the finishing stage, because that is what is visible. It begs the question of what 'snags' might exist in foundations, drains, structure, electrical cabling etc. New build estates can look good when newly built, go back 10 years later and you can find rainwater stains all down the render, paint/finishing peeling off window frames, rotten fences, cracked kerbs etc. Suddenly it doesn't look like a place you would want to live. As the generations pass, general knowledge and basic skills seem to erode. Most used to have some DIY manuals and knew how to change a plug, a tap washer, put up some shelves, change their car oil, mix cement, and keep house and home together. Usually learned helping out dad as a kid. These days a lot of that seems to have all but disappeared. Contributed to by youngsters in generation rent that have to call the landlord and not fix it themselves.

Only added a side/rear extension and originally still had an old wire fuse box. My electrician has put two consumer units in, one to replace the old fuse box, and then run a cable to take power from there to the second consumer unit which then serves all the new electrical requirements for the extension and new kitchen, boiler, outside power, etc. So evidently that approach is feasible. Don't forget to allow for any services you might want to run if you have any shed/outbuilding/greenhouse. You don't show your conduit routes, but you might want to consider any appropriate separations between drain, mains, gas etc. (If that car port might one day get converted to an extension, then you might want to consider whether you really want a drainage manhole cover in there.)

I plan on using the circular saw just for the length and depth cuts and cutting face down and front to back to get a neater finish. For the sink cutout I think the router might be overkill on a 28mm worktop and my jigsaw should cope using a downward cutting blade. I'll clamp a straight edge as a guide anyway and also use some painters tape to help avoid breakout on the laminate. Just remembered that there is also a shaped cut out on the front left edge, to avoid a door frame, so I'm going to have to use the router for that to get a decent finish.

That's good info... Thanks Craig 👍 👍👍

Totally different conversation in Brighton for example.

If your not confident marking and cutting for the underside. Just use your jigsaw with a downwards cutting blade and take your time. It won't be a perfectly straight cut but as above the edge of the sink will hide a lot

If this is a sink cutout it will With bot circular and jigsaw you will get a much better finish if you cut it from underneath as it will help stop the laminate being torn off the chipboard. The sink edge hides a multitude of sins. Seal the exposed chipboard with some decent wood glue.

I have a little job to do for my elderly in-laws, replacing their rotten and blown sink worktop (1.5m). I've picked up a bit of matching (ish) 28mm laminate and thinking about best way to deal with cuts and the sink cutout, in particular what tools etc I will need as they are 160 miles away, so whatever I need will have to go with me in the car!! I've just picked up a new Makita DHS660 circular saw which did a great job of cutting down old weathered sheets of ply, OSB and MDF from the garden so they would fit in the car and off to the tip. However, I'm not sure if the blade is fine enough for cutting a laminate worktop without chipping the edge. It has a 25 tooth blade, which I thought was quite unusual as all the circular saw blades I've come across before have been multiples of 4 (24, 40, 48 etc) so I'm thinking maybe I need a different blade. I'm aware that I should cut it face down to get a cleaner cut with the circular saw. Any advice or recommendations for a blade which would make a good cut on a laminate worktop. My second question relates to the sink cutout. My thoughts here are to follow this sequence (all from the top surface): 1. Use a trim router with a 12mm bit to cut a shallow 5mm deep groove to the exact dimensions of the sink cutout 2. Run a jigsaw along this groove, being carefult to avoid wandering onto the "finished" edge 3. Remove the cutout and then run a guided trim bit using the edge of the original groove, with several passes at increasing depths. Any other suggestions or tips?

I would say that is the intended design.

No, no slope required as that is the area where the glass packers need to be. It is externally glazed though, which means the cladding needs to be removed to get access to the glass if it breaks/fails. This is the case for most outward opening systems, the clips break when removed, so they need to be replaced and service engineers absolutely hate them, as it's it a lot of time (money)/effort to remove all the cladding, place the clips back, and fix the cladding back on. That also means they need to have the right tool to turn the clips to hold the cladding in place (they get broken removing the cladding, easier to snap the lug than turn the clip).