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Yes, by as much as a century in bathroom finishing terms

Does it make you tile quicker ?

When I first looked at this I thought it was a bath panel with a plumbing/ pipe image burned onto it... Wasn't going to comment that it looked awful but I'm kind like that...???

Treated myself to the Neff integrated bean to cup in the kitchen, should be arriving in a few weeks. Massive expense, completely unnecessary but don’t care, I wanted it and decided I’d grafted enough of my own free labour to justify a treat - and now I can’t wait for my new toy to arrive ??? Keep the coffee bean recommendations coming - need something absolutely top drawer for its maiden voyage!

I could give up an awful lot of things but coffee isn't one of them. None of that horrible decaf stuff, either; a friend of a friend occasionally sends my way a catering pack of coffee beans by a well know Italian coffee brand. I like a challenge and it would be rude not to accept, wouldn't it? Mind you, Aldi's rich java ground coffee is pretty good.

I have a leaky house that I am working on to make air tight. All my external bedroom walls are having the plasterboard removed for me to find holes in the blockwork. Luckily on the one bedroom so far I've found minimal issues but they are there. Wall plate is a major issue with some gaps. Already sealed externally now as had all new soffits and fascias and guttering added at considerable expense. Whilst the scaffolding was up I did all the sealing I could and we sorted out the insulation so it wrapped around from cavity to loft. All tied in so it wouldn't move in the future with bent wall ties. I am working on the loft as well to seal from above and below. Mvhr is fitted to upstairs and we just switched it on today to make sure its running ok. New extension added as well and making serious improvements downstairs at the same time. Again plasterboard off on external walls and my time and effort in sealing all gaps, holes etc. Will also be using the paint on blowerproof liquid on floor to wall, wall to ceiling whilst the plasterboard is off as well as the wall corners. It's costing me a fortune for the extension and all new bits and pieces so I decided to put my own serious time in to improve everything else. The builder is great and understands what I'm trying to do. I really hope all my effort makes a difference.

I find some of my tools get legs and go missing when I'm working on my own in the house.

I think its a permanent free license. I have had my FSAP 2009 and then FSAP 2012 free license for at least 5 years; not come across any 30 day limitation. The only drawback of the free version is that reports end up with 'Draft' watermarked across them - and you can't use the free version for filing EPCs.

Interesting that it does use Zigbee networking. Sadly there's virtually no chance you'll be able to sniff it and make any sense of the data, as it uses 128 bit encryption, so is pretty secure.

Yes you need to watch the trades - they know what they know. I gave my plumber our installation diagram and details as well as talked it through with him. I was clear that the manifolds were to have no pumps or actuators. A couple of weeks later he asked the sparkie to provide power at the manifolds, luckily the sparkie checked with me (he knows how particular I am) and we put a stop to this. Aaargh.

FWIW anyone who uses "mychildcarevouchers", they can avail themselves of a 4.5% discount on IKEA gift cards at the moment - expires 1st Oct.

Always run too many cores. 8 for anything needing 6 and 6 for anything needing 4 or 2. Try and avoid running 8 to door magnetics or break glass sensors as there really is next to no room whatsoever in them. .

Cores depend on the standard you want to use - 2 cores are required for the simple on/off and 3 cores if you want to make it tamper proof and 4 cores if you want EOL capability. You may also want to piggy-back 2 or more devices to one cable e.g. 8 cores can support up to 2 or 3 separate devices on one run. The cost difference is negligible.

The quick way to check might be to just look at the board inside. I very much doubt they use the Zigbee protocol, as there is no network connection-type requirement. Our wireless thermostats use a standard 868 MHz RF module, with what looks like a proprietary 28 bit protocol. Sniffing it was easy enough with an 868 MHz receiver hooked up to a microcontroller serial port, and storing a snapshot of the Manchester encoded bit sequence, but decoding it was beyond me. I have managed to decode and remotely operate the Byron/HomeEasy 32 bit 433 MHz protocol, but only with a great deal of help from others. I successfully managed to build both receivers and transmitters that would work with the Byron/HomeEasy home automation units, but never got so far as to emulate the learning mode these things had, so had to sniff every transmitter/receiver pair to determine the actual initial address sequence. Most of the data transmitted by these devices is aimed at reducing interference, because there is only a very limited amount of bandwidth available and there is also a great deal of other stuff working on the two bands that this type of device works on. Once you've got hold of the protocol used, and the address format, getting controls to switch on or off is easy, just a single bit change in the 32 bit command sequence in the case of the Byron/HomeEasy units. I suspect other systems use something very similar.

Do you not only get 30 days free so better hurry up and get those questions asked.

Your not supposed to use solid core cable for alarms as it's not considered reliable enough. Stranded has less chance of snapping and is FAR more forgiving when trying to make off 6 cores in the back of a little pir / remote keypad ( RKP ). . I don't think you'll get a NARCOSS ( iirc ) certificate with solid core cable either.

Just had a look at the Sep 17 rules and it says that an heat pump may also provide cooling: "To be eligible for the Domestic RHI, all heat pumps must distribute heat using a liquid (normally through radiators or underfloor heating) to provide space heating, and may also be used for domestic hot water heating. They may also provide cooling. Heat pumps that distribute heat using the air are not eligible under the scheme." So the way I read it you don't have to have the cooling function disabled and "cheat the system later"

Love the Mondrian style back wall!

Oh god, now you're talking!! I LOVE Ikea meatballs.

I use a Texecom Premier hard-wired system. Extremely flexible but steep learning curve. I have integrated fire and heat detectors and front door bell into the panel, if you wanted to you can also control any electrical loads with a few add-ons e.g. lights on when dark or on movement. Wireless means having to replace batteries on all devices on a regular basis (Texecom claim every 4 years for their Lithium battery) - not worth it in my view.

Thanks Ian, makes sense but I already have an ASHP that I bought on fleabay for £850 brand new!, I don't think anyone would sign off my install anyway. It's a bit like feed in tariffs for PV, I am not bothering with PV either, I have spent the £5G on my new toy anyway.

It could make enough difference. The RHI is based upon the as-built SAP/EPC heat demand figure for the property. The "as-built" term is a little ambiguous of course, it's really still a theoretical figure as no physical metering or testing is needed. If you choose not to go to the expense of an the air permeability test (as is your right for a single property development) then the default figure of 15 m³/m²/h at 50Pa would go forward to your SAP calcs and if you haven't had the true Ψ-values calculated for your thermal bridging (as most people haven't) then default values would also be used. You'd probably find the SAP calculated heat demand figure to be a little higher than you were aiming for, but alas, that is the one that Ofgem insist on using for calculating RHI. I've just had a play on the Ofgem RHI Calculator and picking some numbers at random, that to me do not feel to unreasonable, ie. 7500 kWh space heating + 2500 kWh hot water, heat demand per annum, then for an ASHP with an SPF of 4.2 the RHI would contribute £5460 to your heating system costs over the 7 years. The SPF of the ASHP does have a significant impact on the RHI payment. If you were to allow a budget of say £1500 for the installation of a non-MCS installed ASHP, then the break even figure for the MCS installed version is just under £7K. Considering only the ASHP and not the cylinders, pumps and valves that both installs require I think it is possible to get an MCS installed ASHP for £7K.

Let me help the relevant official at the relevant department draft a response to the very sensible question posed by the member above. We are working with our partners and others towards a resolution of this complex problem. We are mindful that many people derive a good deal of wheezy pleasure staring into their log-burners at the end of a long hard day chopping wood and scavenging skips. It is our contention , based on scientific evidence provided to us by Quinetic and the Association of Log Burning Fanatics, that it is not the burning of the wood that causes the problem, rather the burning of the volatile compounds such as paint and asbestos adhering to the wood that cause the problem. Given this complex mix of claim and counter-claim, we intend to proceed on an evidence-lite basis. Accordingly we intend to examine this matter in Royal Commission which is tasked to report in January 2100. Until then, we advise caution in this matter. It is therefore imperative that people who own wood burners in inner cities should put aside at least one bedroom in which they should hoard any wood that they find, keeping it as wet as possible to dampen volatility.

If nothing else, you have an extremely good flue monitoring system

We are 2 whole minutes from J33. You will always be welcome.

Contract ...?? What's a contract ..?? They are useful documents for the lawyers to argue over in court when it's all gone wrong, and they will spend your money for you advising why spending money on a contract was a good investment ..... and that's about it ..! Is this a standard JCT terms contract ..?? Small works ..? Less than £25k..? If so, the only schedule you need is the payments and milestones and the agreement about who buys what. Anything else and you're into micro detail that is irrelevant for something of that size. Trust doesn't start with a contract ....

Dont read this unless you are totally mad and suffer from overly attentive to detail when dealing with insulation....... really dont read it........ I have done something similar was working with 220mm rafters, my build up so far is slates breather membrane 22mm sarking board i then put 50x25mm battens up against the inside of the sarking boards nailed to the rafters. i then put in 50mm calotex and held each bit in tightly against the batten with multiple bits of wood.... i then foamed around the 5mm gap i had left round each board, the foam could not go passed the batten as the calotex was held tightly up against the batten. I then cut the foam away and removed all the bits of wood and then foamed any gaps where the bits of wood had been..... then cut that back and taped everything....... this gave me my 50mm gap between sarking and insulation and a very tightly sealed layer between inside and outside. I felt that there was just no way of properly sealing the gaps around the insulation if i had put in 170mm thick sheets, it would be a bit like spraying and praying with the foam. I then cut 120mm blocks of insulation to bring it out level with the inside of the rafter faces, temporally cross battened it on the inside at 400mm intervals to pull the 120 insulation down tight against the 50mm, foamed it all and removed battens, foamed any gaps that were hidden behind battens and then cut it all back and taped the whole lot..... my next job is to put large sheets of insulation up to mitigate the cold rafter ends, foam and tape. I am then thinking of OSB over the whole lot followed by two layers of acoustic plaster board. Well i told you not to read it........ honestly it was a horrid job and if i could have seen how horrid it was going to be i would have ripped all the slates of and put all the insulation outside of the rafters..... shear madness. If you have no choice, dont believe me or are simply a bit mad like me..... then fill your boots and send your reply on a postcard.