Leaderboard

We originally said we are definitely not going to move in until it's ready. But the build is going on longer than we thought, and we planned for. The rent is a significant drain on resources. So never say never. We have two working bedrooms and an office. In the kitchen we have hob, granite worktop, dishwasher, sink and kitchen table. Bathroom-wise we have one WC (3 to go), 0 showers (1 promised for tomorrow), 0 basins (there's always the kitchen sink) - but hey there's a door on the WC. Balustrades and handrails, kitchen extract, nine more doors, washing machine, freezer - who knows? The big question however is whether the fact that we are on site will cause the builders to take longer (because they can't find anything anymore) or complete the work faster (because having the customer on site is so irritating.) But ultimately, 13 months since we demolished the house we've owned for forty years, we've now built and moved into its replacement. Feels strange. But I have to say I absolutely could never have done it without the help and support of contributors to this site - so a big thank you to all. And for anyone thinking of embarking on a similar journey - well I think it's a pretty cool thing to do. ?

I personally think the fitter should be ashamed of themselves leaving a job with that much silicone over it. Sorry but they have no pride in their work

@volcane, I have a similar setup to you, low heating requirement, and high DHW requirement 5 bath house. I am getting a bespoke Sunamp Stack using a combination of PCM58 (the normal) cells and PCM34 (lower temp) cells, so using it as 2 separate systems the PCM34 is used to preheat the cold water (think Jeremy's buffer tank) and the PCM58 cells to provide the DHW top up. The PCM34 cells will be charged by an ASHP (low temp high COE) and the PCM58 cells a gas boiler (I have mains gas). If the HT Split ASHP you are looking at can do low and high temp you could charge each section from the respective flow to improve the efficiency of your DHW system. Warning this is separate from the heating circuit as the cells are charged via a PHE and discharge directly into the DHW system, to separate primary and wholesome water, so your heating circuit must be separate, you can use a separate system (as I intend) (see attached) Heating-DHW-Design.pdf I can pass more detail if requested.

Thanks. No.1 schoolboy error here . Absolutely NO sealant whatsoever should be on the inside of the cubicle / screen. What happens is the water sprays onto the tiles and vertical wall channels and capillary action sucks water into the slight gap ( where the screen profile pushes into the wall profile ), and the water then heads down. When it gets to the bottom, the idea is that it can freely flow out under the profile ( where your fitter has sealed horizontally inside ) and onto the inside edge of the bath, and find its own way to the drain. Because your installer has not observed this critical criteria you now have water filling up inside the chrome profiles, and it's finding any way out it can eg through the gaps your first pic denotes, and the same gaps inside. This screen needs to be removed from the bath, just the screen, and then cleaned and refitted less the excess / incorrectly appid sealant. You will not cure this if you try and cut corners sorry. Same for the sealant at the bottom of the wall channel. I will also bet my left nut that they also haven't put a bead of silicone across the bath / tile junction prior to the wall profile being fitted. That will promote a different, less obvious leak, where the water that collects at the bottom of the two profiles also then finds its way between the bath and the tiles and starts to cause some serious damp / leak issues with the wall and floors, which you'll be blissfully unaware of as it'll be behind the bath panel. Get your fitter back, and tell him to switch his phone off.

If the screen doesn't come off, it won't be resolved. Stick to your guns.

I agree - it's the first time I had seen it and I queried it with the fitter.

Absolutely. Not done "twice" but two separate applications, each done once. A lot of plumbers haven't got a clue about sealing a shower screen. I've seen it time and time again. The person who fitted this did it badly, so at the very least you don't want them back. Just makes you wonder how many ticking time bombs this guy has left in his wake .

From here: http://www.marmox.co.uk/products/showerlay

To finish this off... Decided to excavate outside the inspection chamber and cut a hole to take the new pipe. Cold chisel, hammer and a diamond blade on an angle grinder plus lots of patience and success! There was a great guide on paving expert website which recommend a nice flowing entry angle for the pipe making sure the bottom of the new pipe was level with the old. We used quick drying cement and did some neat sculpting once it had started to go off to make it all nice and smooth. The flow is right to left. Think this is called a kidney...new pipe in the centre of the pic. It's not obvious from this pic but the kidney is on a swept bend which is also dropping away underground from the new pipe entry. Better view of the made good kidney. And in this one you can see the 4m run up to the new WC. Only one elbow and one swept bend needed. It's all tested and working so pretty pleased.?

"Silicone the outside edges only". I'd say hold back 25% retainer, at least the cost of a new screen and one days labour for a new fitter to come out independently ( worst case scenario ). Yes, the screen needs to come off. No argument there sorry. Depending upon the new fitter, the wall channel can stay on and the retro application of fundamental sealant at the bath / tile junction could be done without further damage / dismantling. Clear CT1 now needs to be used NOT silicone, as the surfaces will not be dry enough for silicone to adhere. CT1 MultiSolve spray will emulsify any silicone residue ( after the majority has been mechanically removed ) so the screen can be cleaned it's just how much silicone have they squirted in and where ? As some quite horrendous damage can occur here, over an extended period of time, I would insist that a bathroom fitter be introduced to resolve the problem properly. Do you know if the bath was sealed along its edges, back to the walls, prior to tiling?

That's exactly where there is a small hole in my one. I am not sure if the hole there is unavoidable. If the hinge is to work surely there will always be a small gap between the seal and the chrome piece? I will take pics when I get to London.

Ideal logic plus with 7 year warranty is a good rental boiler. My mates fitted scores without issue or recall. Its also a 'micro-combi' so smaller box.

Gas cannot go in an unventilated void unless it is entirely encapsulated in, for eg, dot and dab / bonding compound / similar. The pipe would need taping / sleeving to protect it from any wet product, to prevent corrosion. I would recommend taking the gas pipe immediately up to the first floor and running it through the joist space where no such constraint exists. Surface mounted and ( Talon ) trunked for the verticals is easiest. Is the boiler ground or first floor? I'd go externally if ground floor.

I've got an Aqata shower enclosure and that advises to seal with a thin bead on the inside but to leave a 150mm gap at the bottom- basically for the water to get out. Biggest issue is where two impermeable surfaces such as a bath and a screen meet, there is nothing mechanical for the sealant to bond to so it's pretty much a question of how good is your sealant. CT1 all the way now..!

Nick is spot on you never seal the inside always need a way for water to find its way out, as it will always find its way in.

I have this kind of screen where I stay in London. It is a rented flat. Water was getting into this gap causing the wall to get damp and eventually the plasterboard needed to be replaced. The plumber replaced the screen and shower at the same time. Leaking continued, I will now check to see if I have the same issue as Nick is pointing out here. What I spotted is there is a small hole at the bottom between the rubber seal and the hinge. The plumber had fitted the cheapest shower head he could find, I looked it up, £3.99. The head was very small and so the water came out at a steep angle to cover a larger area. This resulted in such a large amount of water hitting the screen that some inevitably squeezed through the small hole. I didn't bother complaining to the landlord, I just went and bought a new shower head that directs most of the water into the bath. This has helped somewhat but I still find this kind of screen a pain. If you knock it as you get in and it isn't properly aligned then water gets under it, it also gets past the end and onto the floor. @Nickfromwales makes a great point re instructions. He helped me out with my new bathroom being badly fitted and it was basically down to the plumber not reading the instructions. Indeed each time he came back I printed them out for my wife to give to him and she said he just ignored them. Eventually the bathroom fitter sent a female plumber. My wife said she spent some time reading the instructions before starting and she got it all sorted out. I am a big believer that you can do anything with a clear set of instructions (within reason).

Got a door on the WC. What luxury. When we moved into the last house we only had a cardboard door on the loo.

A compressor in a tin, I'm impressed

Ah, just confirmed my fears by checking the pics. The last one clearly shows the gap behind / under the wall tiles, void of any sealant. That should have been fundementally sealed prior to tiling, which it's clear now has not been done. Guilty as charged edit to add : this is common tbh, and I see it all the time. I bet this was all in the installation instructions that came with the screen too .

Evening all, Looking forward to finally completing battening upstairs in a couple of days - I then need to think about plumbing wastes etc So Ive been pondering on the depth of the bathroom floor. The plan is to cover the existing 18mm boards with electric ufh and then tiles, so how deep is this likely all to be? Never done anything like this before so any advice is welcome! Cheers CC

I have led such a boring life.... I think I will go and do some building, oh hang on its a Sunday so I will have to do it very quietly. PS Welcome back to THE forum - well on the way now to emulating the hitch-hikers guide to the galaxy of all things " building, renovation and self-build " EG: "The build hub guide to the galaxy describes forum members as generally somewhat demented humans who have led otherwise interesting lives on the plant earth but have fallen into building what they euphemistically call dwellings on this plant. The members have a number of rituals that must be performed at regular intervals including out boasting their exploits with their partners such as what they did on their honeymoon, (- a short time spent doing stuff you didn't used to be able to do until you were 'married' but which is now so much practised before marriage that the whole idea of a honey moon has, in the opinion of your editor been entirely devalued) and what they gave as gifts for Christmas (- a short lived celebration requiring the giving and receiving of unwanted gifts as a mechanism for rebalancing out the planets mass because it results in lots of objects being moved from on side of the plant earth to the other). Although such dwellings are designed to keep out the weather, ( - a topic often discussed among the peoples of planet earth), they are no defence against the Vogon destructor fleet that is at this very moment receiving orders to clear a space for the pan galactic highway that will involve the planets destruction. Destruction that is only assuming that the galactic planning authority grants the necessary permissions, insurances are in place, the DHW supply scheme is finalised, the bath surround design is complete and all 'party universe' agreements have been ratified - all of which ensures that although the Vogons are ready and waiting with their DIGGER ( - suggestions please) the highway, like so many others planned by the powers that rule the galaxy, will not be built and the forum will carry on productively using up my time ED."

I used Tarmac Topflow ( used to be Agilia) and didn't remove the laitance quickly enough! It forms a really hard wax on the surface and I needed the wire brush attachement on the rotary sander to even scratch the surface

No building control recognition and subsequent registration of your new gas installation = no insurance. Put a reasonable price on that ? 30 years ago things were different, but in 2017 what advice should we suggest here, given our wide viewing audience, some of whom only read what's written here. ? 30 years ago all you needed on a construction site were Teflon coated Y-fronts and some sunblock. A bit different today where you need a high vis to fill your trolley in b&q. Lets advise according to 2016/17, and do it with the same passion, concern and conviction 'we' display when discussing say air tightness and insulation levels. . And yes, I'm quite passionate about this subject

That's what I did. The wire also allows more flexibility with layout, in that you can avoid areas like toilets etc more easily than with the mats.

If you want low wattage per metre then buy one of the cable systems and just stick it down wider apart than the recommended width. It basically comes with a roll of 1" duct tape and you put it where you want. You can't shorten it but if you buy the shortest length it should be fine

100 W/m2 seems exceptionally high to me. I'd have thought that for comfort floor warming you'd be looking at no more than about 20 W/m2. I appreciate that the floor sensor will kick in and cut the power to the floor pretty quickly, but IIRC the electric UFH we have in our current house (with minimal insulation between it and the slab and tiles on top) is around 50 W/m2 and even that is throttled back by the controller and floor sensor pretty quickly. We've found that having the bathroom tiles at around 24 deg C is fine for just making them feel comfortable to walk on when you step out of the shower.

Splash zones are best managed by good tiling and grouting tbh. Pointless tanking behind there IMO. Only worth tanking when a drip of water can follow the tanking / water tight layer and eventually get to a waste / drain. Other than that it'll just sit there and pool. In a TF house the one point that will let you down there will be the junction between the wall tiles and the floor tiles. That'll develop a hairline crack, which will open very slightly when the bath is full and you get in it, so make sure your tiler runs a bead of CLEAR CT 1 along that line after it's been grouted. Sealing the grout in that area will probably be beneficial too.