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When I was researching into how to install MVHR around eight or nine years ago I made a list of rules I found relating to connecting the unit to the outside. I'm sure these are not exhaustive and nor are they prescriptive, but it's what I used to install mine. 1. The inlet and outlet grilles should be 3m apart to prevent cross contamination of air. 3m was the distance I found mentioned most often. 2. The inlet and outlet grilles should be high enough (2m) to prevent interference by animals or children. 3. The inlet and outlet grilles should be on the same wall so they are affected equally by the wind. 4. The free flow area of the grill including insect screen should be at least as great as the cross sectional area of the duct. 5. The duct should be smooth wall to reduce air flow restriction. 6. Any ducting bends should be large radius of curvature or two 45 degree bends to reduce air flow restriction. 7. The ducting should slope downwards slightly to ensure any moisture drains to the outside.

It's the voices in my head tell me to do these things: Not forgotten, just on the back burner. Maybe this Summer!

You really should. It may not seem like he has achieved much but what he has completed has been meticulously planned, drawn out, marked, counter marked, modelled and built to an incredibly high standard. I know because Iv been here the whole time. The whole really really long time,

I think you are all being very mean. But just so you all know this thread isn’t the beginning, it started on ebuild before this forum even opened http://www.ebuild.co.uk/topic/19013-hot-cold-feeds-to-bathroom/page__fromsearch__1

I’ll not be reading through the whole thread to catch up! Still, doesn’t look like I’ve missed much so far as you’ve barely started by the looks of things

A boring title, I know, but it's succinct and to the point. I find it hard to get excited about windows, to be honest, which has surprised me given how much they cost but slogging through different window systems and deciding what's best hasn't been the most fun thing to do. I guess one aspect that takes any joy out of the process is the lack of uniformity in windows where each company does their own thing and has their own systems which, I'm sure, are terribly important to them and they believe gives them their USPs. From my point of view, too much choice isn't necessarily a good thing and it just makes it impossible to do a direct comparison between window companies. But then, you all knew that already, didn't you?! There's certainly been enough discussion about it. My process for choosing the window supplier was unscientific (apologies Jeremy) and lacking in rigour (apologies everyone) but it worked for me. I contacted 5 companies, Rationel, Ecohaus Internorm, Norrsken, Velfac and Katzenbeck. 4 replied, I never got anything back from Katzenbeck. I sent out our planning permission drawings with floorplans and elevations and described the kind of windows I wanted. Rationel weren't able to do what I wanted with the sliding doors on the ground floor, (a 2 part slider with mullions to make it look as though there are 4 panels) so that didn't go any further after the initial quote. Velfac sent me a quote, but didn't quote on exactly what I'd asked for, including the sliding doors, but I sort of kept the quote in play just to get a feel for their prices. I was a little wary of their attention to detail because I'd also specified 3G with no trickle vents and their first quote was for 2G with vents. Hmm. Ecohaus were outrageously expensive. A nice product, sure, but really expensive at £65k with fitting. That leaves me with Norrsken, and they're my final choice. I've settled on Norrsken for a few reasons, not just the price although that heavily influenced me, of course. I've got about 37m2 of triple glazing and it's coming in at about £35k, with another £8k for fitting. So far, Norrsken have been a pleasure to deal with - not slippery or patronising in any way and very straightforward. They also have their own in-house installation team; I can't comment on them as yet apart from saying that the installations manager came across as well as their sales guy. I'll mention the quote from Velfac here, as it came in about £1500 less than Norrsken, but they are supply only and so I'd have to go and find an installations team that would be able to work with MBC and get the fitting right in those super thick walls. Norrsken have worked with MBC a few times and are familiar with fitting the windows into a passive house; I'm sure that there are plenty of good installers out there but, as is often commented on here, locating them and hiring them is the tricky part. Also, because Norrsken offer a supply and fit package, they can do this with zero VAT which means I don't have to bother with a reclaim on a hefty chunk of spending. As for the windows themselves, well, they look nice, they are triple glazed, they open how I want them to and I can have them in the colours I want. I did say it was unscientific. No doubt I could go into far more detailed research but that lot is good enough for me.

Somewhat American, but interesting nonetheless. http://www.garykleinassociates.com/PDFs/15 - Efficient Hot-Water Piping-JLC.pdf

Think its bob on ? I have been taking pics, when we are in it will be time for the plog to be born! ?

I mean who in their right mind would attempt to build an electric wacker from scratch. Also what kind of people have you got around you to even suggest you should do it

I might even have finished one or two? The UFH pipe decoiler and bedside table are the only two that spring to mind!

Probably best we don’t. They would add another page or 2 just typing them out

You forgot to mention the side projects, and how much he's drunk to get this far. The guys a damn legend.

That's what's stopping me. Just a few quid short of living the dream.

@lizzie Just seen the pics of your shower room. Wow! Love it. I'll have to get down to Porcellanosa.

DId I not say something like this a few days ago @recoveringacademic RA Construction Ltd....

I have been asking the same question recently, i have really enjoyed the experience up to now. I reckon we have saved well over £600m2 over a single contractor price (like for like). One project a year, full time on project no other commitments. Could be a very comfortable salary! Anybody looking for specialised insulted raft and icf builder in Aberdeenshire?? Form a orderly que here please

Good idea. Then I'll put a floor drain in like you!

get the foam gun out

Here you are.....

150mm http://www.cemex.co.uk/floor-installation-guide.aspx i did hear recently something about a max of 225 in case someone falls through but that could just be heresay. Edit: actually reading the link says you might get away with 75mm depending on soil type and location but I was always told 150

Thanks @Alexphd1; here as a direct result of your post earlier is my little mobile work platform. Thanks very much indeed. I cannot tell you how much difference having a mobile work platform makes to our work schedule, and my confidence in getting the job done. It is already clear that having mobile work platforms will have a significant impact on the build. I am going to build four. Thank you. Ian

Depends what you call a career. The turbulence to which you refer has hit us almost as hard as flying a small microlight downwind of Preston on a hot Summer's afternoon: the thermic activity there can be vicious. Two building business owners have spoken to me this week of the rate of staff turnover in their small companies: both laughed outright when I told them of our woes in terms of reliable staffing 'If we cant get the staff, then you'll have a really hard job' So now, I have a second (fourth?) career. Building a house. I didn't think I could drive a digger: now I can (quite well, I think). I had no idea about planning: now I do. I had never mixed concrete before: now I can do all sorts of stuff I never dreamed of with it. H+S was a closed book to me: it still is mostly. I hadn't a clue about scaffolding: now I have about £7k's worth and have a sensible, safe structure to work from. I had no idea about levels, @nod came and helped me out; now I can do it for myself, I hadn't worked outside for 21 days at a stretch since the 1970s: now I often do. I had no idea how to build a roof, until with a bit of help, I did (still un-tiled). Another roof coming up. I had no idea how to build a Durisol wall: now I can do so and take pleasure in doing it right. I feel sure that I am going to be able to put in our first floor - never done so, but in a month or so from now, I'll have everything in place to do it well. In doing all of the above, I have saved a good deal of money - at a conservative guess, about the average UK salary. A career? Nearly.

I can't find the link at the moment. For extract I used 2 ACH for bathrooms, 0.7 ACH for the kitchen and 1.1 ACH for the utility room. For supply I used 0.4 ACH for bedrooms, 0.5 ACH for reception rooms and 0.3 ACH for the hall. This gives a balanced total of 101 m3/h on fan speed 2, which can be reduced by using fan speed 1 and adjusting the fan speed percentage accordingly.

Interesting read about air changes and humidity levels in Passive houses

PH recommends approx 30m3/h per person, which results in lower that Building Regs rates.

Ok tis good to know, getting clarity up front for an extra £200 will lead to some build process efficiencies. I will double check with my local council because they do seem more relaxed than some councils highlighted in forum discussions here.

Try 7

Exactly my understanding too. That's what we did. We said "Well, we're 50:50 on whether we'll knock down or extend. We're just after an in-principle idea of what sort of thing, generally, might be allowed as a result". The planning officer eventually - and begrudgingly - agreed to give us the informal chat we'd booked. She then went on the say "I hope you're not planning anything from Grand Designs. We hate Grand Designs around here". I was in the process of pulling an issue of Grand Designs magazine out of my bag to show her, so quickly changing to a self-build magazine that had some more conventional examples. She also boasted that they'd fought several applications for Huf houses and had successfully knocked back all of them except two. Both of the Huf houses I know were built are out of sight of the road - I can't possibly see what basis there is for arguing against modernity on principle, especially when no-one other than a visitor to the property can actually see the house. In the end, we got something very modern (eg, flat roof) through, so it can be done. Short answer is likely "no". You can't pay householder fees on anything involving a new build, whether a replacement dwelling or a new build on a vacant plot.

Only 2 years? The blue DPM inserted afterwards takes the place of the red Polypipe paneled area I removed in situ. The Polypipe panels by virtue of their construction leave "hollows ". The slab in the wet room corner tapers so I wanted as much concrete there as possible. Can't abide Lord Of The Rings! Gave up on the books and first film.

I refuse to believe that this is only 2 years old. I am unanimous in that. On inserting the embrace behind the pipes and the mesh, my plumber normally does the stuff at the back first. Perhaps I am being obtuse. And I am wondering whether @Onoff's Gollum avatar for the bathroom project is inspired by the 78 years that Gollum waited to catch Baggins and the recover his Precious.

...because you are obviously hurrying with this project and need the extra time saving of rapid set...

They have 2 sales a year normally. I need a few bits and bibs and my local showroom said next sale due about May. If you go in look around pick out what you like get some (free) designs done if required get your prices and then work back what it would be with the discount then you can see if it works. Display prices are full price inc vat. My showroom will hold the quote on the system and action it when you ok it when sale kicks in. Lovely place to go for ideas and a browse even if you end up not buying.

I did originally consider the NW gable, the bit you can see and my only gable, but it was a long run and the roof was just easier. No inline filters yet, but I may add them (in the attic) in due course.

Here it is, yes there is a section of guttering missing, awaiting arrival of final bit. The two on the right are exhaust and the 2 on the left inlet, nearly 4m apart. They are UBBINK UB16, Universal Tile Vents, supplied by CVC with a 180mm adaptor to go direct into my 180mm EPS ducting. This is the NE face of the roof, so less useful for Solar and sheltered from the prevailing SW.

Aw, are you making a film of it?

@Hecateh no very easy to keep looking pristine. Ive had it before.?

also might be an idea to keep a full 3 phase plug available somewhere as I'm sure it will be helpful for charging cars in the not so distant future

I know a guy who is a bit stuck doing his bathroom up. Has been at it for a while now.

If it's an unvented system then it's building regs that require/suggest the annual inspection, specifically Part G3, and is buried in the detail referred to here: It's the "maintenance of services" bit that often specifies an annual service, for safety reasons, as it's a pressure vessel. The Sunamp has too small an internal pressurised volume to fall within these regulations, so is, AFAIK, exempted from them, under this section of Part G3:

Ah yes, fixing hair rippers and suchlike Yes they do I believe and British Transport Police helped me when my car was trashed in the station car park. They proved that it had been smashed into by a guy who was there fixing the CCTV cameras who was then caught on his own CCTV. You couldn’t make it up! I still maintain that I have the upper hand for now as long as I tread reasonably carefully. It will be in their interests to obtain access smoothly, not battle with the householders every time.

Just check you do not need a fire collar. As the skin on ours is brick the BC asked for them

Send her round @lizzie, we're in such a mess that a careless cleaner is just as welcome as a good one.

That is exactly what I found when looking around for a builder to build our house. It's no accident that our house frame was built in Ireland, that it is fitted with Irish made doors and windows and the foundations and house were installed and erected by Irish guys. For them, building a well-insulated and airtight house to passive house standards was normal, everyday, work. I suspect they may well have felt less at home building a typical UK-type timber frame, TBH. Part of this was driven by the big change in Irish Building Regulations and the way they are applied, following both the disastrous period when really rubbish houses were being thrown up during the boom years, and also because there seems to be more emphasis on energy efficiency, which may have a fair bit to do with natural resources and pressure to reduce things like peat-burning power stations.

I did some testing at our old house, which has a fairly high water pressure, over 5 bar and the only restriction is that the rising main is 15mm copper. The pressure is so high that all the taps were very sensitive, pretty much all or nothing, with a lot of splashing, so I fitted a PRedV on the incoming main some time ago to drop the pressure to 2.5 bar, which made the taps a fair bit more usable. That house has a combi boiler with a 28 kW (I think) DHW capacity and no power shower. The incoming mains water temperature seemed to be around 7 to 8 deg C all year around. The idea was to try and find out what sort of real world flow rates we get from outlets. What I found was than an unrestricted kitchen mixer tap gave around 9 litres/minute with a 2.5 bar feed, but was easier to use with a 6 litre/minute flow restrictor, as that reduced splashing still further with no significant impact on the things like the occasional bit of hand washing up. Wash basins would flow at around the same rate as the kitchen tap (one flowed a bit higher) and again benefited from 6 litre/minute restrictors, as these made the taps more controllable. With a basin mixer set for normal hand washing the flow rate was around 3 litres/minute. The shower and bath both ran at the same flow rate when on full, a bit over 11 litres/minute. The shower was pretty good, well over double the flow rate of a 9 kW electric shower. We had an electric shower before we fitted the combi, a 9 kW model, and that would only deliver around 4.2 litres/minute. This isn't surprising, as 9 kW can only raise the temperature of water by around 30.6 deg C at 4.2 litres per min, and when I measured our shower temperature right at the head is was around 38 deg C for a reasonably comfortable shower. I also did some experiments at the new house with flow restrictors, having been told by a building inspector to fit them. The pressure there is a pretty constant and controlled 3.5 bar. Again, I found that fitting 6 litre/minute flow restrictors on all the taps, except the bath,was beneficial, in that it made them easier to use and caused far less splashing. The shower head has finer holes than the one at our old house, with three adjustable spray patterns. Even on the widest spray pattern I found that the pressure was a bit uncomfortable, and when I measured the flow rate I found it was just a fraction over 10 litres/minute. I played around with restrictors, and found that fitting an 8 litre/minute restrictor gave a pretty good shower, with less stinging from the finer outlet holes. With the shower head switched to the narrowest, most forceful, setting, it was still uncomfortably powerful - a bit like a jet wash. My conclusion is that 10 litres/minute is probably as much as most need for a pretty good shower. That's nearly two and half times more flow than a 9 kW electric shower, and there are many who are happy to use them (although I reckon they are a bit too feeble). For a bath, the higher the flow rate the better. Our bath will only get used very occasionally, and holds around 70 litres when reasonably full, but with only a 12 litre/minute fill rate it will still take nearly 6 minutes to fill. The limit seems to be within the taps themselves, but I cannot find any removable restrictors. The pipework to the bath taps shows there is plenty of pressure even when they are full on. As an aside, our old 28 kW Valiant combi could deliver around 13 litres/minute at a reasonable shower temperature of around 38 deg C, so could only manage a single shower, plus, perhaps, a basin or kitchen tap just cracked open for hand washing, at the same time. If you want to run two showers at 10 litres/minute each, with an instant heating source, like a thermal store, combi boiler or Sunamp, then you need a power delivery rate (assuming no pre-heat, an incoming mains temperature of 8 deg C and a shower temperature of 38 deg C), of 42 kW. I found that the hottest shower that I can comfortably withstand is round 40 deg C, and I prefer it to be about 36 deg C. Ours stays set at 38 deg C because I can't be bothered to adjust it after my wife has used it.................

They hold open and stay in position just fine.

Be careful about doing this. It definitely has pros and cons. We didn't in the end, and I am glad that we didn't. The pros are self evident so let me just list off the cons that you might want to consider: The plastering crew might want to provide the PBoard themselves. Ours did and it was part of the job lot price (which was very competitive, BTW). They walk PBoard into building and up floors all of the time, so this was absolutely routine for them. It is amazing to watch two chunky guys passing 2.4×1.2m sheets between each other in a stair well and stocking out for a floor in less than 30 mins. Getting the quantities and spec correct is quite complicated. You might have different thicknesses for ceilings and walls, and you need pink and green boarding for safety corridors and bathrooms. You definitely do not want to have PBoard stacked on the ground floor whilst the slab is drying out. You probably don't want to have PBoard stacked on the upper floors because leaving aside the structural risks mentioned about, it just gets in the bloody way and can get damaged or degrade. It is also often in the wrong room, and it is just as easy for the plastering gang to pass the board up the stair well and into the right room and by the right quantity, rather than carry it from room to room. OK, we are working to a budget and doing a lot of work ourselves including a lot of the internal first fit, so our build time-scales aren't nearly as tight as some on the forum, but it was a year between the frame going up and the PBoard skin going on. A long time I know, but this also had a lot of incidental benefits for us: We saved a lot of external costs because we had time to do work ourselves. We had time to experience the space and as a result made quite a few internal changes: we added a couple of en-suites, and moved an internal partition wall, as well as moving the racking from one side to the other on a couple of walls. The delay meant that the slab had totally dried out and the frame stabilised before the boarding out. This in turn meant that we had no drying out cracking at all on our plasterwork.

Ask the BM to pallet wrap a few short stacks as you don't want to have one big pile. Don't forget to get fire, moisture, acoustic and regular into different pallets so they can be used without having to dig them out. Count up roughly what you need in each and get it slung upstairs now. Easier to pass a few boards down than carry them up . Spend some time on this forethought as it'll save a LOT of ( wasted ) time and labour. Very good point to raise too.

Yes one and all, quite an eye opener. This thread is so very typical of the profound "real life knowledge" that you guys out there have. Yes Ian my architect also told the window chap to include trickle vents, beggars belief really, his fee is the one I so very much regret paying as I don't believe he has earnt it at all. Next job is to write a spreadsheet with the window spec and list potential manufacturers to get quotes from. Frankly I would not mind paying a small percentage over the top for local business but I am not a charity. keep the info coming guys, hope it helps others as well.

So my neighbours' expensive solicitor says that Network Rail are totally wrong and that they have to give 48 hours notice of entry in all cases other than an emergency. My neighbours' plot has been marked completely differently to mine. In their plan Network Rail only has access over the very front bit of the plot in brown which doesn't even give them access inside our main gate. So they can't actually come onto the plot at all according to my neighbours' deed of conditions, but in mine they can. Seems like this may rumble on for a bit ........