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Milestone Moment Front door panel finally fitted - wishing I had done the same for the back door as well now. The panel is much more contemporary for a new build and as both doors can be seen it would have looked better patio doors finally fitted and open - the door to the right folds right back against the house, will need to fit some sort of restrain for it.

And the answer is.......NO!!!! Exemption agreement came through this morning. Many many thanks to everyone who has helped. I'm certain I would have been refused without the research and information given so freely here. Now to actually build the thing!

Depends whether Dave is doing something wrong with them! A guy was going to take a bomb onto a plane. A friend asked him why, and he said he was worried about terrorists, but that it was incredibly unlikely there'd be two bombs on the one flight.

Definition of Man Flu: An illness that causes the male of the species to be sicker and more helpless than any other member of the family. In females - a cold

It has been replaced by effervescence on her party decking with a view ?

Our joiners finished our ground floor joists last week and have been making our panels this week. Hopefully tomorrow we will have the ground floor panels raised.

Hi all, Last year, after many years searching, we found our dream project i.e. right location, friendly neighbours, right price etc. We sold our house in the mid welsh borders in July 17 and completed the purchase on our new plot, also in the welsh borders, in Nov 17. The site is an old commercial timber yard set in 1.5 acres and we bought it with planning to convert the main steel portal frame workshop into the principle house and one of the sheds into ancillary accommodation. A soon as we purchased we put in for some variations to the planning conditions and were promptly rewarded with no objections and permission granted end of Jan 18. We are currently going through the painful process of getting the SE to provide a scheme/calculations that meets our design brief and thus allows the architect to proceed with dwgs to BC. In the meantime we've being clearing the site which has been more or less abandoned for 10yrs, and demolishing some redundant buildings. I've felt like an extra in Day of the Triffids what with cutting down 20ft high brambles! Guess that's enough about me for now so look forward to sharing our experiences with you all over the coming months (years?). Toot toot.

Building on @Stones and @ProDave 's lead (pun accidental and innocent) here, it seems that we should put in just enough PV to consume for ourselves. And if, in the same thread , @AndyT agrees as well @JSHarris, you have to have a really good reason to do something different. Next question. How much PV is just enough? Is the calculation as simple as adding up all the likely kWh per annum consumption, and comparing that with the likely kWh the PV system will produce? There will be days when we produce far more than we can consume, and others when we can't produce enough. It'd be good if we could switch panels on and off at will - bit like varying the pitch of a propeller according to need - use all our panels in winter and switch half off during summer. But then that'd be expensive too.

Ermmmmmmmmm Thought I'd see if you chaps had the wherewithall to help understand parts of the build process that are beyond my current understanding. Particularly interested in thin joint, insulation types and supply chain... Ooooo and land sale contracts. Happy Wednesday everyone.

Hello everybody, Here's hoping there is someone who can help with this.... I am converting the loft in my old house that has exposed beam (joists) ceilings. I need to make a stairwell opening. I do not want to use joist hangers or brackets as these will be visible. The joists are 3x8 inch (8x18cm) oak joists in very good condition, no worm or rot at all. The span is 4M and joists are at 52cm. I hope you can see my sketch. My plan is to support and cut back 2 joists to form the opening. To reuse one to form the header and the other the length of the opening, to reduce the opening width. I do not have the space upstairs to have the wider opening to the next full length joist. Please could I have you advice on this plan and will nailing these be adequate? I hope that makes some sort of sense...... thanks for looking.

Hi @Tosh Hello and welcome. Everyone here is keen on photos, so don't be shy with them. This sounds like an interesting scheme. There are lots of members who will happily give valuable advice - just ask away. Some are a bit nerdy but don't let that bother you.

Well guys I am positive, thanks newhome, , but I know that shit happens,hence it’s a punt. I will let you all know in good time ( when I get through my urgent to do list).( which is quite long) ?

It seems that some councils are saying that the self build exemption from the CIL only applies to new houses and not conversions. This isn't an issue for all conversions because existing floor area can be deducted from the CIL calculation. However if you plan to add a large garage, extension or outbuilding as well then some councils (example Croyden) are trying to hit you with a CIL charge on that extra space. If you find yourself in this position you might find this helpful. Unfortunately you might still need to argue your case as this was settled before it went to court but still... https://www.boyesturner.com/article/boyes-turners-cil-victory-saves-self-builder-client-nearly-80000

Please see the thread in Barn Conversions. I'm happy (ecstatic in fact!) to say that Croydon Planning have granted exemption for my conversion.

Glue and screw something like these screws. You shouldn't need to pilot drill the boards if they're engineered. You do with some solid floors like oak which might split. https://www.ie.screwfix.com/tongue-tite-screws-3-5-x-45mm-pack-of-200.html I stay away from nails where possible.

An economist is shooting at a target. The first shot is 3 feet to the left of it. The second shot if 3 feet to the right. The economist yells "bullseye!"

Spoken with the advantage of 20:20 hindsight. There was no sign of even a small reduction in prices when the FIT scheme was introduced; if there had been I wouldn't have spent an eye-watering amount of money on a system which was wholly unaffordable without the FIT. 3 years later prices plummeted in an unforeseeable way. Can't say I'm a fan of subsidies either; all the green subsidies have been ill-conceived and most subsidies benefit the relatively well off.

No it doesn't as they are independent events. That is like saying a football team cannot loose twice in a row

Ok, I think we broadly agree wrt implementation.

I don't think the definition of "regressive" has anything to do with policy. Energy is a basic and essential commodity to everyone in society. Energy pricing is, today, whatever it is. Increasing its price would absolutely be regressive in the sense of making things more regressive, in exactly the same way that increasing VAT on food would be regressive. So in that sense, yes, increasing the cost of any of any basic necessity by adopting or changing a tax or subsidy system in such a way that it has a greater net impact on the poor is "regressive". I also agree that the alternatives may be even worse, hence my reference to a "planet-sized can of worms".

Ha ha ha !!! Big Dave and Little Willy....??!!

My view is that the whole concept of FIT/RHI is/was deeply flawed right from the start. Looking at the very basics, the government (and everyone else) recognised that the initial barrier to entry for micro generation systems was the high capital investment needed. It would have been relatively simple to apply a subsidy to PV panel and inverter costs, on a per watt basis, as a one-off subsidy for the capital investment, with that subsidy level being subject to review every few months.based on the volume of units sold. It would have had the same impact - reducing the price of PV (or other systems) so that people would be inclined to buy them, but would have removed part of the "wealth barrier", because the scheme they did introduce only applied to those who had enough savings to buy the relatively expensive systems and be willing to accept their investment being paid back over 25 years by a subsidy. Investing the same amount of money as they did with FIT (ignoring the fact that they did this via a roundabout way by getting suppliers to actually make the payments, who then get relief from tax on those payments anyway) would, I'm sure, have had a more beneficial impact. Those who wanted to make a relatively small investment, in return for reduced energy bills plus a small income from the sale of exported energy could have done so with a much lower capital outlay, which would have resulted in a broader range of people fitting systems. It would also have removed all the rent-a-roof scammers, and the regulations could have been arranged to avoid the heavy overhead of MCS certification, by just allowing any SE to do the structural calcs and any qualified electrician to certify the wiring. Another benefit would be to remove the ongoing overhead of running the FIT scheme for well in excess of 25 years (I hate to think what that costs).

I've almost the exact same. I call it a sliding wall as it’s too big to consider a door. Mine is 3.2 meters long and 2.5 meters high. I purchased a track from PC Henderson. I got was the Soltaire 180 with the low headroom kit which supports 180kg. You can also get the larger 250. The reason I’m mentioning this is the weight of the door and a track that can support the door is important. I was fixing it to the underside of a timber truss roof so didn’t want to put a huge weight on it. I’ve made up a timber frame with battens and facing it with ply. You’re looking at 13.7kg for a sheet of Oak veneered ply and about 13.5kg for MDF. I need just under 8 sheets so 8 x 13.7 = 109.6kg and allow another 20kg for the battens brings me up about 130kg. If you took gluing two 18mm sheets together you’d need 5 and ⅓ sheets total and at about 41kg a sheet that’s a door weighing about 220kg for the 2400mm high. If it’s 2700mm high it will weigh 248kg which is a bit close to the max weight of the larger Soltaire 250 track. Now you can get larger tracks but I don’t think they’re as elegant or slimline. What I’m getting at is I think the solid is just to heavy. It’s going to get harder to construct, open and close and put a serious weight on the structure above. What track did you get and do you intend to paint or use a veneered ply finish like birch or oak?

I have been following your thread because I have to make the same decision soon and face a similar situation with different people proposing an external foul drain route v. direct through foundations (suspended beam & block in my case). I also have to be careful to maintain a minimum viable gradient. I am posting to suggest a small tweak to the through foundation 450mm drop before you calculate your remaining gradient. Page 463 of the Building Services Handbook has a diagram for a collar boss discharge stack which confirms a minimum drop of 450mm from FFL to the top of the horizontal foul drain pipe. However page 461 shows a traditional stack where the minimum radius at the bottom of the stack is 200mm. If your discharge pipe runs vertically through your passive slab will you also have to add 200mm to account for the final bend before the horizontal run starts? I do not know and I am quoting minimum figures from different discharge stack systems.

Thought exercise: On my system, there is an IC directly where the internal run meets the external run for each stack (I have four - utility, kitchen, front stack, rear stack). Then ICs where runs meet or to break up long linear runs. If I get a blockage in the external run (and I've had a few, obviously some debris found its way in during construction) it's easy to rod / powerwash the drains from IC to IC and clean everything out from the house to the main sewer. In your blue run, how would you do this? If you have the first IC on the terrace , you'd be able to flush from there to sewer but how would you clean the section behind it (without pushing blockage further back up the pipe). Not sure if its a good idea or not, but you could extend the blue runs further back to a rodding eye (one next to bin store, one next to parking) and solve for this issue. We have these for rain water runs - no idea if they are acceptable for foul runs. Its tempting to save money on ICs, pipe, excavation etc at this stage but think carefully on any unintended consequences - you will not be able to remedy later.

It probably would look more “normal” but I’m making it all from trees I have cut down, and although trying to make a veneer sounds like fun I don’t think I have got the machines or time to try it. , the stair was always going to be a mix of woods so hopefully it will look ok.

Annoyingly I need to get these built so I can carry on with the boring building work. I too enjoy woodwork but this one is a bit daunting as I have only got a limited supply from this tree. The more I cut up the more I realise I may have to have ash risers. (Iv got more than enough ash). Not the end of the world though, it might add a nice contrast, or it might look shit but we won’t know until it’s all finished ?

@newhome, I did discuss this with Mr Stevenson. He says he will look into providing CC payment. I drew his attention to BuldHub, and hopefully he will have a look at this thread. Ian

If the government didn't want people to consume locally, they could just as easily have insisted on proper metering. It wouldn't have cost them anything - the consumer pays for the installation, and the power companies pay for the cost of administering payments. I therefore take the view that the government put the deemed consumption measure in specifcally to encourage local consumption. Maybe they foresaw the rise of the electric car, and wanted to get a head start on installing local capacity to avoid the need to expand the grid to cope with increasing home charging. Hahahhaahhhha, had you going for a minute there. Of course, what really happened is that the government stuffed up, in which case I'm performing my civic duty to punish them whenever they drop the ball. If there're no consequences for their incompetence, how will they learn?

Well done, looks fab. I really enjoy woodwork and can’t wait to get some done myself ( making furniture, kitchen etc) but have to get the boring building work out the way first.

I disagree strongly. Our house has no access to the gas grid and for obvious reasons I didn't want to burn oil, coal or wood, plus we had no where we could safely fit an LPG tank if we'd wanted one. That left is having to use electricity, and so it makes perfect sense to divert self-generated electricity to the Sunamp PV and use it for our primary hot water system. By doing that we massively reduce our demand on the electricity grid, and, in summer, reduce the level to which the local grid shuts our inverter down (it's a rural area and the grid voltage regularly hits the 253 VAC upper bound on sunny days). The same goes for the diverter that feeds my car charger. It seems far better to use excess locally renewably generated power to charge my car on an ad hoc basis, than it does to charge the car from the grid, perhaps at a time when the grid load is already high. Smart meters are primarily a means to introduce variable spot pricing, and that will be the number one priority as soon as the adoption rate is high enough. The whole concept of smart meters was, and is being, driven by the need to reduce the high risk that suppliers currently have to hedge, which is setting their supply tariffs based on their best estimate of the mean 30 minute unit wholesale cost that they buy in at. Smart meters are not aimed at reducing emissions, improving efficiency or anything else that is claimed, they are primarily a means to allow consumers to be charged a flexible tariff, that aligns better with the wholesale cost per 30 mins + profit. Nothing wrong with that from a business perspective, but I do wish that the people "selling" this programme to the public would be honest. The truth is that once there is widespread rollout of smart meters the first thing consumers will see is a variation of the variable tariff scheme that companies like EDF already use in parts of France. We have one supplier already offering such a variable tariff scheme, albeit in a crude way, with peak time unit prices at close to 30p and off peak unit prices down to just a few pence. Right now we know that the off-peak wholesale cost drops below zero at time, and the peak wholesale costs approaches double the average retail price. This is something that the smaller electricity supplier find hard to manage, as they just don't have the volume of sales an financial security to ride out periods of high peak wholesale cost. I suspect there may well be some interference in the process by the large energy suppliers, using market forces (nothing dodgy) to make sure that wholesale prices stay high during peak times, in order to put the squeeze on the smaller suppliers. The sad thing is that smart metering has the potential to be a force for positive change, but I doubt very much that will ever happen, as the temptation to just use it to reduce supplier risk and raise profit levels has to be very high indeed.

I was actually standing outside with our digger driver (and a million midges) deciding on the placing of inspection chambers tonight. The red route has an 90 degree angle so your definitely need a inspection chamber there and it would appear to be slightly below the vehicle access which is handy. I would however use the blue route.

Unless you buy your own Kwikstage scaffold, you will end up with a lot of additional cost with this approach. Two skins of block and then the slip system means you will need to either keep the scaffold up over winter (expensive if not owned) or drop it and then have it rebuilt. Last time I checked, handmade slips were coming in at £1.15-£1.60 each, so basically more expensive than bricks. If you want to go slips and DIY then seriously consider swapping to ICF as that is DIY build and gets you up to roof a lot quicker but does have its drawbacks.

Think I know him, is he called Rudolf? Apparently he is not available until the 26th of December.

Pretty sure @epsilonGreedy is in the same LA as me - East Lindsey District Council. I saw a Pdf dated 2017 where they on about CIL not being feasible at the moment due to low residual land values - they just using S106 at the minute. If you have an S106 liability it will say in your PP if I recall correctly.

We don't really know the full story, but from what you've told us, I'm a little concerned about how much you're reading into at least some their actions (and I'm aware of this possibility because I know I personally over-analyse and worry about things). Regarding your previous comments about them aggressively calling for their cats off your land, cats are utterly unbiddable, so the cats are there by their own choice. I can't see how else you get a cat back into a house other than by calling it, so I'd be careful about reading too much into someone shouting a cat's name towards the general area where they know the cat is likely to be. Same with the poo in the planting area - cats love a planting area where someone's gone to the trouble of loosening up the soil for them to take a crap in. That's by far the more likely answer than someone coming and burying cat poo just below the surface. Re: the hedge, what do you mean by "eyeing up"? Unless they've said something, how can you conclude that they're planning criminal damage to it? The best piece of advice I've ever heard is that you can't control other people but you can control yourself. You may be angry or upset, and that's a perfectly rational first response when people behave like arses, but fundamentally the thing that's making you unhappy is your response to the situation. Your reaction to other people's actions is something you can learn to control. Work on how you respond, and your stress levels will reduce, for sure. All that said, I'm not sure how I'd cope being in your situation. I don't cope well with bad behaviour in others, and I don't understand why some people insist on being tits.

Where would the fun be in that?

Very few pre fill joints and beads nowadays That’s why there is so much poor finishishing Two of us mix a bag fill all joints Then mix five bags to two coat everything takes an exstra ten minutes per gauge Half an hour per day for a perfect finish If you don’t pre fill it’s easy to exsposed the tape and go in and out of the tapered joints Also if it is something you are not familiar with It makes the job in hand far easier Hope this helps

Miss read that at first and lost the 'on'. Then though it is not your arms hurting you need to worry about. Oh you Welsh boys make me smile sometimes.

That would make sense but not really. Pre ERP (haven't worked on latest genetarion) worcester greenstar boiler had two burners. One burner was shared from 12kw system to 30kw combi. Apart from the DHW side being added the only thing changed was the chip on the pcb which changed the speed of the fan. Always confused me when the charged so much for the 40kw heat only boiler!!

You design it according to the remit . Does the OP want :- ? To run 2, 3, or 4 or more showers simultaneously.... To size the entire system to the dwelling, or to their actual needs.... Does the OP have sufficient cold mains flow / pressure to support the above? Are accumulators to be involved if mains is insufficient? Has a thermal store been fitted yet? Why specify a TS when this may be better off with a large UVC or pair of medium sized UVC's? Lets see how the hot water is going to be pushed around the building before deciding what the hot water system can / cannot do.

I know someone who has one going up for sale . Seriously, I hope yours works out fine. Law of averages says we can’t have 2 ASHP failures on the trot so fingers crossed.