Leaderboard

We are to be Approved! Happy Happy Happy. DMR.pdf

Who can forget the Goblin Teasmade? (no sniggering there in the back...)

Could I just say at this point how great it is to have @JSHarris back?

Happened at the radar station at Saxa Vord years ago. There was no radome over the old early warning radar up there at the time, and the anemometer recorded some silly wind speed, well over 100mph, and then the screens in the bunker went dead. It was too windy to venture outside until the next morning, when there was no sign of the radar antenna or mast - it had been blown off the hill down onto the beach below. IIRC they had to hire in a Sky Crane helo to lift it off the beach. By the time I went up there to do some trials work they'd built a big "golf ball" radome on the hill, but even then it was tough going transferring to and from the Landrover to the radome door - they used to have to tie the Landrover down and there was a crawl rope that you grabbed hold on so you could cross the gap between the door and the Landrover on your knees, hanging on to the rope.

Thought you were going to say the house had been blown away with the dish on it!

This is my first Selfbuilder's whinge and my plot is still a green field. The solicitors are debating the significance of a blunt felt tipped pen which equates to a 1.5m wide strip of land on the boundary of my plot. The problem came to light when the Land Registry rejected a search saying that the proposed land split (known as a "part" in solicitor lingo) included about 8m x 1.5m of land already sold to another neighbouring new build plot. I reckon the seller is at fault for depicting the plot divisions of the original parcel of land at a much lower resolution than the land registry uses. When the first plot sold the LR probably did their best to interpret a fat felt tipped line and now as the second plot is sold to me the slight shift in the true boundary has come to light. Given the good weather I might be tempted to let this go but the error creates a slight risk of a ransom strip that would prevent me accessing a private estate shared drive. At least the neighbouring plot owner has told me he is keen to assist in getting the error resolved even if this means him giving up the strip. And the moral of the story to future plot purchasers is, don't accept a plot plan with a fat hand-drawn boundary line.

My PV array(s) is(are) finally commissioned, they have been on the roof since November last year! Two reasons for the delay: Mains power required in the house (Available Feb), also final second fit electrical, no extensions! Internet required!!! The installers tried setting it up at the end of March but failed! They returned last week when I was there and basically I did the commissioning work!!! (Following the instructions). I have 37 x 280W Monocrystalline panels JAM6(K)-60-280-4BB (Chinese from the supplier) each coupled to an enphase micro-inverter. These are wired via 3-phase cable (house is 3-phase) into their own breaker board, then onto the main board via an import meter. Teh array is split up 10 panels SE and 27 SW, each array has it's own breaker and there is a noise suppressor in the box also. An enphase envoy is wired in next to the breaker box and communicates with micro-inverters via powerline and the world by my Wi-Fi (on an isolated subnet). The problem was that the envoy (brains) could not communicate with the micro-inverters so the system was not coming online. The installers commissioning the system were stumped so after about an hour I went up into the attic to help, First of all connecting the system to my Wi-Fi (not the temporary BT Hub from build), then I downloaded the installer app (iPhone), they logged me on, and following the instruction on my laptop set up the array details (all micro-inverters were serial numbered) and set it to work. Remarkably all micro-inverters were detected but only 2/3 communicating (powerline problems), by this time it was past support hours so they planned to come back the next day. In the meantime my electrician came in to do some odd jobs, I explained the issue to him and he suggested that they take a power feed directly off their breaker board (behind their noise suppressor) for the envoy rather than use the socket that is on the attic ring. When the installers returned the next day, I passed on the advice which they confirmed with the enphase support people and fitted the dedicated socket, unsurprisingly all bar one reported in and that one has since done so. My array is now up and running: It can be viewed here: https://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/pv/public_systems/yYpm1387793/overview?preview=1 I have managed over 8kW in the current garbage weather and over 40kWh on one day! As an aside I had to have an interim EPC produced before the array was commissioned to enable full FIT rate claim, the EPC will be subsequently re-assessed (with Solar) to give a final realistic figure. It is a quirk of the system (designed for retrofit not new-build) that if you commission a system without a lodged EPC, you get a FIT rate of about 10% of the current puny rate, but you cannot include Solar in your EPC until it is commissioned, so you end up doing it twice!!

It was PA. (Pre Ale)

I reckon you just saved me £1200 - VAT.

I Bet! its the "colour of the moment" ...everybody wants it Bit like Sea Bass was the only fish you could eat 5 years ago and back in the 70's when a teasmade was a bedroom necessity in 5 years i can hear ..."Her indoors" saying ....when am i going to sort out that "snotty" paint <sigh>

If you have MVHR then all the air in the house will be changed every two hours or so, and the incoming air will be filtered, so the house will generally be a lot less dusty than a conventional house anyway. The effect of MVHR on reducing the dust level in the house seems pretty dramatic to me, as I'm not one who's too fond of vacuum cleaning. The house seems to be largely dust free compared to our old house, so doesn't really need as much dust removal at all.

Council officers, be they Planning, BC or Revenue, are generally not lawyers. I had a similar issue with Planning about what it meant to "start." It's probably best if you gently prompt them to consult with the council's legal team. Perhaps a simple letter to the officer along the lines of: Dear XXX, Thank you for your visit on Mary 14th, when we discussed the liability to Council Tax of our unfinished house. For the avoidance of doubt, our position is that the property is not yet a rateable hereditament, for the following reasons: a) b) c) We are confident that your legal department will be familiar with and will agree with this justification. However, if they have further questions, they are welcome to contact us. Yours sincerely, Joseph McClaine.

Having visited two built-in vacuum trade stands in recent months I believe the answer is that fine dust particles are not recirculated from the bag back into the room. I wonder what @lizziethinks as she is sensitive to air quality.

We claimed for our electric roller door - I just provided some rough evidence (some printouts from two or three suppliers) that there were no 3m wide manually operated, insulated domestic garage doors available, and they didn't question it.

My kitchen company (supply & Fit) supplied my extractors (recirculation units) VAT free without any second thoughts so the vent side should be covered, as @JSHarris says phone and try they can only say no and you are no worse off, other than waiting on the phone for probably close to an hour!

Perhaps worth a call to the helpline and making note of what they say so that you can quote it with the reclaim. I suspect that they may allow it, based on my experience with the boiling water tap, as it seems the principle they apply is that if one element of an integrated gizmo is eligible, the whole of it becomes eligible. The only issue may be if the hob has a recirculating extract or vents to outside, perhaps. If externally vented then it probably counts as being a kitchen extractor, as required by building regs, and so eligible, if it's a recirculating unit then perhaps it isn't!

I think I remember that @lizzie and I’m sure they had to put a backup water supply in to sell it too. I wouldn’t want a house that relied on rainwater - boreholes are one thing, but hoping it rains is quite another !! I’ve been round the Dales New Autonomous House and that was really interesting especially for its location but again, not worth what they wanted for it when it sold last !

My decision to not bother with a warranty was based on my experience with NHBC being a waste of time (bought a new house years ago and found out the hard way that the NHBC warranty wasn't worth the paper it was written on) and the fact that the next house we bought was someone else's self-build, with no warranty, and all our lender needed was a single premium insurance policy from the vendor, that cost them less than a warranty would have. We have no intention of selling, but I'm quite happy to just buy a one-off insurance policy if we absolutely have to sell within 10 years of completion. The chances are that would still be cheaper and less hassle.

We are around 2.5k for 285 mtrs Like NHBC warrantees Unlikely to be able to claim As self builders they would just put it back to the builder ourselfs But As has been covered on several occasions a nessesary evil i had this conversation before starting our build With a friend who was just finishing his build He always intended selling But didn’t bother with a warrantee As he could get one retrospectively for around 3k Hes just sold and said it never came up and was only asked for the completion notice and SE reports I think when we last discussed this Russel pointed out what a waste of money they were If I was to do another self build I wouldn’t bother with a warrantee and add one later if I ever had to sell in the next ten years But then I wouldn’t have nice piec of paper telling me everything was perfect ?

Screwfix have Mapei Ultimate for £10 and it will go to 10mm no problem but it only does 4sqm not 5 at 3mm....

If you lay fibre mesh on a 5 mill coat You can add another 5 mill the following day

Or use something like this: http://www.setcrete.co.uk/product/deep-base/

Yes, you can do it in 2/3 layers so long as you give it plenty time inbetween to cure. Depending on what you are levelling onto you might want some SBR

I agree with Nick (on deciding if you go with PV) . What is the roof area and angle 'to the sun' i.e. is here a south facing side to your house, and can it be made strong enough to support PV? I know that there are parts of Aylesbury that still have very poor water pressure and flow, so get your water pressures and flows checked out.

Having spent a couple of hours reviewing the excellent CDM2015 mega thread and the synopsis by @recoveringacademicpinned at the top of this forum topic, I want to test my knowledge of CDM2015 as it pertains to my self build scenario. I will attempt to demonstrate my interpretation of the regulations through an imaginary conversation with an H&S inspector who has just arrived for a surprise site visit. Preamble: Let's assume the following build history. (1) Simple brick and block 2-story house 3 bed house on a level site. (2) The walls are now 9ft high and scaffolding is up. (3) I have done 85% of the work solo. (4) On the day of the site visit I am the only person on site. The H&S Official (HSO) arrives. HSO: Hello can I speak to the site manager? ME: There is no site manager appointed, can I help I am the owner of the plot. HSO: I really need to speak to your main builder or project manager. I am conducting an inspection of this site under H&S regulations. ME: There is no main contractor or project manager, I am doing everything well virtually everything. HSO: This does not sound plausible, anyhow we have been advised there has been a failure to notify this build to my office. ME: I consulted your regulations at the start of the build and concluded notification could not be submitted because I am a domestic client and there was no person functioning in a CDM role qualified to submit. ME: I had intended to make an enquiry with your department how to submit as my situation seems to fall through legislative gaps. HSO: I do not find your answers acceptable I need to speak to the appointed principal designer with regard to CDM 2015 compliance. ME: I read through the CDM 2015 regs before the build commenced and concluded the regulations prevented me from appointing a principal designer. HSO: Do you expect me to believe the house designed itself! ME: No. I designed the house using public domain references and guidance however I do not conduct business as an architect or structural engineer and so your regulations deem that I am not a suitable person to appoint either myself or another as the principal designer. I am just a computer programmer. HSO: How did you get building control plan approval? ME: I must be a clever computer programmer, I also paid a semi retired builder to review my final plans but his role was brief and tangential, it did not involve creative input. HSO: You are telling me this build has progressed without a main contractor, principal designer, architect or any appointed overseer of CDM 2015 compliance. ME: Yes. I am equally surprised that your regulations resulted in such an outcome, I was looking forward to undertaking the role of principal designer with its associated CDM compliance function on this site but your laws prevented that. To be continued... Would I be heading for jail?

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.

So, my chippy has been around tonight to measure for this pergola. This brings the next question, can anyone recommend a good exterior paint for wood? Possibly a good protective treatment followed by the final colour (Ral 7016 anthracite grey so that it matches the windows). Out of interest, I phoned a supplier of Bulstor pergolas today to find out some spec - I asked for a rough quote on a 3 x 4m pergola - the entry level one was £12k!!

Erm.....putting that end comment up on a public forum and you're asking for it really!