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....is how my brother in law accurately described the state of the build now when I Whatsapped him the picture below, taken yesterday afternoon. As you can see, MBC have been at their blitzkrieg style building speed again and this morning I arrived to find my roof all covered in membrane and battens, too, and MBC noticeable by their absence. Actually, it's the silence that you notice as much as anything. There were about 7 in the team over the weekend and when all the nailguns are going it does sound either like gunfire skirmishes or lots of firecrackers going off. Either way, they were true to form and really shifted. This is the view from down the lane and you can see the membrane and battens all in place. Personally, I think that this is an interesting photo because it shows how, despite being a large building, the view of it from the lane is much less prominent than one might expect, due to the angles of the gables and pitched roof. The part that looks like it's covered in tin foil is the garage. Here's a more distant view from down the lane, taken before the membrane went on. Of course, in order to get the roof on, all the posi-joists needed to be put in place and this was being done over the weekend. My neighbours work in construction and have been fascinated by the process of the MBC build, which is all very new to them. It's great having neighbours who view the construction with such enthusiasm because instead of complaining about noise and disturbance about the teams and working late/working weekends, etc. (remember Peter powerfloating the slab till 12.45 am?), they gush about how hard working they are and give me full update reports on what's happened in my absence. Lucky me! And thus, according to my local spy network, there were 9 team members working on Saturday and there were 7 on Sunday. No wonder I came back to an empty site today. I was away from the site on Friday, dropping hubby off at Luton airport at 6.30am and then on to have a brief bit of R&R with a girlfriend in Birmingham before heading back south. On Friday, my temporary staircase was delivered from Howdens and MBC added a couple of extra treads to the bottom to bring it up to the necessary height. For £120 + delivery (and VAT, if applicable), it's a very useful bit of timber to have. Most of the stud walls are up now; there are only 2 that need to be put up when MBC come back, both off the hallway and have been left out for the time being for logistics. This photo is looking from our bedroom into the en suite and through to the main guest bedroom. We had a lucky save on the stud walls, not in financial terms but layouts. The architect had specified that each of the bedrooms should have a partial stud wall just inside the door and centrally located, almost making a corridor as you walk into the room. We were really unconvinced by the idea at the time, but went along with it as it can be hard to accurately imagine these things before the building goes up. When I came to the site on Thursday, however, it was clear that they would have been awful for a couple of reasons. Firstly, having gone to a lot of effort and expense to have bigger rooms, these immediately sliced off 25% to 30% of the room and made you feel like you were being pushed up against the window which, by the time a large bed is in the room, is exactly what would happen. The second reason is that because of the really high vault in the main bedrooms, 4.7m, having a run of about 3 along the floor from the partial stud wall the the window meant the proportions were really off and looked terrible. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained, and these weren't put in and are now a nice load of scrap or surplus timber lying around. The matter of the stud walls does, however, emphasise the value of being on site most days as had I been absent, they would have been put up according to the plan and I'd have regretted it bitterly. There have been many instances like this where what seems like a small, or even trivial, decision or alteration at the time which is quick and easy to deal with because I'm there, could have developed into a big deal or expensive issue at a later time. Coming back to those vaulted ceilings, the ridge height is such that when the scaffolders came back to put the second lift on and make some adjustments earlier in the week, we needed to get a tower in for the guys to reach the top internally. If I can give one bit of advice to anyone starting out, scaffolding is EXPENSIVE!! I know that very little comes cheap when paying others to build a house, but don't underestimate the cost of scaffolding. By the time I'm done, mine will be just over £5k. It isn't the simplest of buildings to scaffold with the balconies and vaults, but even so, it's a significant cost. Once all the internal stuff was getting done, the roof was getting boarded. This is the main, west facing bedroom with half of its roof boarded. And then the same once it was all covered. Finally for this post, the balconies have been made ready for boarding and flat roofing. I have to go back to the architect in the morning to check on the fall of these and the direction of the run-off as it doesn't make sense to me right now. I need to refresh my memory as to what was discussed and answer a couple of queries PDQ as my flat roofing is now imminent. But that's another subject for another post.

Just thought i'd give a quick update to this post, since I connected this all up yesterday, despite still not having all the radiators in situ! My wifes health is still not great, so i've just been doing stuff where I can, she is at home now and due to the early autumn weather we seem to be getting, she promptly requested the heating to be able to work. So after months of work which involved cutting out all of the existing woodwormed timber, underpinning a 60mm masonry wall, cleaning out under the floor of crap (6 rubble sacks full from the hallway and little room!), installing the manifold and all new pipework, knocking through and laying the insulation and new timber floor, here is where we have arrived: And yes that is a straight joint on the wood floor above, by the time i noticed it (was running on empty), the glue had already dried, its sat on a joist anyway, and seems absolutely fine. For the benefit of others, I've also picked up a few tips doing all this, from jobs which i'd done previously and thought were done. Turns out friction fit of PIR insulation even when done really well, isn't that good, in the rooms which I have already insulated I found many examples of insulation which had dropped through and was no longer doing its job, clearly i couldn't sort that out as part of this work, and will have to lift the floors to fix at a later date, but from now on I've been using some little L shaped brackets which protrude the bottom of the joists, to hold the insulation in place. I've also found that rather than using 1 layer of 100mm, which will obviously have joins in it, was to use 50mm (this was by total accident, supplier had ran out of 100mm phenolic, so ended up with 50mm), and to put the larger pieces with less joins in at the bottom, and then use up all of the offcuts on the top, along with a good helping of expanding foam to hold everything in place. I can now stop rushing quite as much, fearing the cold weather coming, and complete the rest in a reasonable pace. I've pretty much just got to plaster the new room now, and then put the final finish flooring down, we've decided on bamboo for this, looks really nice, extremely hard, and also sustainable which is quite important to me.

@HerbJ is absolutely spot on. First off, your claim is very definitely against the roofer - if he chooses to use his insurer for a part of the claim, that's up to him, but I suspect some of your claim may not be covered by his insurer anyway, that he knows this and he is deliberately trying to get you to deal with his insurer in order to limit his own liability. I've worked with several insurance companies over the years, and generally they are pretty canny. They already know what they are liable for and what they aren't, under the terms of his cover, and if he has legal expenses cover as a part of his policy (and I expect he may) then they will want to limit any legal expenses, too. As such, my guess is that the insurer will go back to the roofer and say that part of the claim is covered by his insurance policy and part of it isn't, and they may well advise him that they won't provide legal expenses to fight his part of the claim if it doesn't look like there is a reasonable chance of success (in my experience, insurers will pull out of legal action and settle if they think there is about a 30% to 40% chance that they will lose, not something as high as 50/50). Consequential loss may not need to be implicit in a contract for something that is readily understood in terms of fitness for purpose, like a roof. No one expects a newly installed roof to leak, so therefore a claim for consequential damage will be almost certainly be allowed, no matter what's in the contract. The only possible argument could be whether or not your own insurance on the house might come into play for some of the consequential damage, but I doubt it, as that damage is a consequence of a roof that was not fit for purpose in the first place.

I briefly entered the conversation about what cooker. "You choose the cooker, you do the cooking" I keep quiet now.

No you're not going too far. The first rule of claims management is to build up a reasonable estimate of all the costs related to the damage, including any cost of mitigating the loss, and then negotiate from there.... Personally, I wouldn't bother with a solicitor (they're generally not qualified in this sort of thing, will only gather information and would resort to a barrister anyway for anything difficult). I would consider instructing a barrister, who is a specialist in construction claims, to assist with assessing the case and drafting a final letter before legal action . Barristers are cheaper than solicitors, more business like, direct and efficient. Use a chamber outside of London. I used a chamber in Exeter for a problem I (representing the Management Company as a owner/director) had with neighbour, when I had a flat in Torquay. The guy I found is now a judge.... See Magdalen Chambers = https://www.magdalenchambers.co.uk/ I sent them a letter with a synopsis of my issues and they gave me what was effectively a lump sum quotation. I went from there. I did most of the work to brief the barrister, which you can also do very effectively, and the barrister gave me an opinion and wrote the letter. He then helped with mediation, and then later in court. A barrister cannot start the court proceedings, this has to be a solicitor.

Bagged adhesive is the only way to go. I would be slightly worried if he wants tubs.

New to the Forum , manufacturing stainless steel tie rods for structural use in self build roof trusses.

Well I do have a couple of rings fed from an external propane cylinder as backup. (Complete with the GS cert for the installation). We did use them a coupe of times before Jan decided that she far prefers the immediacy and cleanliness of the 4 ring induction hob. Ditto me. We have turned it off at the bottle as we never use them. IMO, there's little point in installing a gas supply in a passive house because you can't really avoid installing an electric supply and the marginal installation costs / daily connection charge / annual maintenance are far higher than any delta in using electricity, even without PV but especially with.

An ASHP is basically a fridge running in reverse, how often do you service your fridge? UFH is pipes buried in concrete, what can go wrong?. MVHR is two low energy fans and a radiator and some simple electronics. my build is fabric first and attention to detail (overseen or done by myself). Insulation is fairly cheap and you buy it once , fossil fuels cost endlessly plus price rises. I too like uncomplicated systems (I am a Luddite by nature?) I only have electric UFH in our en suite and electric towel radiator upstairs, I believe heat will rise from downstairs to heat upstairs enough, if not (very cold snap in winter) a couple of low wattage electric fan heaters will be more than enough to cope. I am contemplating E7 or E10 but will need to see how the house behaves for a year to see if it’s required. Read, read and read more on this forum and you will be enlightened.

Thought ready mix was for the likes of the DIY community. Surely a professional would use the bags? No ready mix used here ...

Looks great. On your balconies, have you given thought as to how the balustrade (assuming glass) will be mechanically supported? If they're being attached to the outer edge of the wall, ensure you've got sufficient support for the fixings (and photo everything). If they're being supported by the roof edge, make sure you know how this will work with your waterproofing system. I did neither of the above and ended up with a cool, but more expensive, alu framed decking system that sits on the GRP (tied back into wall) and supports the glass. Also, don;t be too shy with your flat roof falls, we have a puddle on one of our roofs as the fall was too gentle and whatever happened with the GRP means there's a few mm too much at the edge and all the water won't drain. Evaporates eventually but doesn't look great.

Euphamism or what / if ever I heard one.

Tyke2 I relate to your adverse experience of ‘eco’ commercial buildings. I have enjoyed operating a number of Bream ‘very good’ designed by award chasing architects, then specified by value engineeers. Not a pleasant experience for the wallet! I vowed that that my build would be ultra simple, however I have ended up with ufh, mvhr and passive inspired design. The difference is that this time I am (vaguely) in control of the specifying and can directly equate to the benefits I hope to experience over future decades. I’m not procuring my solutions from the cheapest suppliers of obsolete or unproven products, nor am I buying cheap solutions with backend loaded maintenance contracts / Warranties. I would echo the keep the control side simple, I’m astonished at how little heat (and in turn control required) says the man with 8 zones....

We built both DGs with a 50 mil cavity As mr P said most are single skin

We did the caravan thing. That’s the royal we. He did the caravan and I had an apartment in town. I used to go back at weekends to check on progress ?

I still feel the same but we’re on countdown now so I will stick it out!

That’s not what you said a couple of weeks ago! ?

We spent last winter in the caravan. The phrase people use is "character building" I must have a lot of character by now then.

The people we use do outline and elevations of the nearby buildings as well which is helpful in setting out and if you need context elevations. The survey information forms the basis of all other drawing information. Later we get them back to set out on the foundation concrete the corners of the walls, the centres of soil pipes and steelwork, wind posts and baseplates, all marked with a Hilti pin. They are very accurate.

Hi I would not necessarily expect a topographic surveyor to be a member if RICS. It seems odd, but land surveying as in topographic is a different discipline from the land/buildings surveying in RICS world. RICS is more commercial valuing, building condition. However some will be registered if they have a broader field of experience. I checked with some that I have used for many years and they are not members. If its just a single plot and he's using a modern total station it should be fine.

' ?

All of these 'professional memberships' and "councils" are just clubs to make money for the boys. I have spent my entire professional career avoiding them to the best of my ability. RICS and Engineering council etc. are slightly different as they allow professionals to be chartered, but if I don't renew my subscription am I any less of an engineer? They offer nothing in return. Not being a chartered surveyor will probably be cheaper as he is not paying membership fee's etc. ask what his credentials are, maybe he was with a firm, went out on his own and decided not to sign up to the "clubs" I bet he is just as qualified, potentially better, than someone who comes with all the RICS stamps and accreditation. Look at the background of almost all these associations and it started out with a couple of people deciding to set up an organisation for "insert profession here" and offer some so called "service" for a fee once a year - then with good marketing have people believe that they must have said membership or they are no good.

Yes, the claim is legally against the roofer for sure, although the insurer could get their legal team involved of course. I'm sure that at least some of the above won't be covered, as it's just a general public liability policy. I can't imagine there's any provision for a partial refund of the installation payment, at the least. I did ask what the policy covered (not unreasonable, since I'd been asked to deal with them rather than the insured), but they ignored me. Interesting possibility. I think at the moment the best option is just play it with a straight bat, and not think too hard about these known unknowns. I need to take a break from this for a few days to get some work and some balconies done, but will update once I'm ready to take the next step. Thanks all.

I bet none of them were designed with a true scrutinising eye, and few are maintained accordingly. Also, the shear size of the maintenance should be accounted for in the very nature of them being commercial properties, eg the £X + 40% should be factored in as running costs / consumables and would have been calculated and 'factored in'. If they've ended up so wonky as to be +40% then someone got it all wrong Lets compare apples with apples, and theres enough real life data on this forum for you to see that you need not worry about going +40% at all, unless you choose not to heed and observe the disciplines adopted and religiously followed by the many who have self built here ( and have been kind enough to share the results ( warts n all )). Plus your building a single residential dwelling under your own supervision so are in charge of your own destiny there

Welcome, nice forum name you got there???

That's a shame, I've always previously had gas cookers and was reluctant to go electric in the new house. So compromised with an induction hob and was amazed at how good they are, as instantaneous as gas but far, far easier to keep clean and look so much nicer too. I would never consider going back to gas now.

Just down the road if you want a look..? 160sqm room in roof. Brick skin, 150mm blown bead, medium block and 25mm insulation to certain rooms. UFH in concrete slab. As for drying washing, stick a drying rack in the utility below the MVHR extract and it will work perfectly.

Make it 60mm then get a bit of roofing batten and put a string on either end. Lower it into the cavity and pull it up above the ties as you go and it will catch the snots.

One thing I forgot to include in my post above. What does your contract with the roofing contractor provide in relation to loss and damage caused by or as the result by their work? Did they exclude consequential losses in wording such as. '"...... for any consequential loss, damage or inconvenience resulting there from. negligence"? "

The key is to build as low energy as possible and to go for all low temp emitters where possible. Rads, unless seriously oversized, will make an ASHP uneconomical to run. Try and get low grade space heating and then an ASHP makes much better long term sense. Avoid gas and oil where practicable, and get PV into the equation as the cherry on the cake. Possible ratio of 1kW inputted ( some from PV ) per 3kW produced ( via the HP ) makes the best sense. Having a chunky slab as a ‘storage heater’ will allow you to store in the day and emit during the night eg where you need to bridge the gaps where there is no solar gain / reduced outside temps. TS’s are notorious for excessive heat loss ( latent ) so avoid wherever possible.

No problem at all. Most garages are just single skin and while they can get a bit damp in extreme conditions they are OK. If you plan to use the garage as a workshop you may want to insulate the cavity.

Gosh, my heart goes out to you over this awful problem, my thoughts are sue the bastards, (roofer) for everything, it’s up to them to involve their insurers. You have been more than reasonable so far and can prove it but they are taking the mickey Despite the financial cost there is the worry and stress factor . Hit them.

Like Terry above I do think you have to see how your house behaves before making firm decisions, saying that, installing UFH is a must for heating or cooling. We don’t have PV, electric only, and a cheap Ebay ASHP (not working yet) we moved in about 4 months ago and have not needed any heating and DHW is using Imersions. I confess I do not understand a lot of the complicated control systems that some talk about, I am also a bit of a Luddite, KISS works for me (and is easy to repair) I like the idea of setting a thermostat to a set comfortable temp then letting the system self regulate.

I am sorry to read this, this sort of thing can indeed cause someone a great deal of stress and anxiety. Sadly this is a fairly typical story in the construction industry be it domestic or commercial projects. Usually it starts with the client asking for the highest quality build with lots of high spec fittings and fixtures, then through budgeting (QS), planning etc. it can get whittled down to what can actually be afforded but sometimes, it all makes it through to near completion before the client starts to take an interest in costs and invoices for things - contractors love this as they just go for it and do what they were told, sadly they also often neglect to tell the client what it is now costing (they don't want to cut off their open bank account), so they just keep spending your money. I think it is safe to say you didn't have a strong grip of this project and it sounds like your main contractor (single all trades?) or contractors have just gone for it to get it done for you, possibly, they thought, in your best interest or possibly they just want to take as much money as they can and give you the spec you asked for. I would not worry too much about some brushed chrome sockets and switches as in reality the cost increase from a decent quality white socket/switch is not massive - overall in the whole build it may cost you an extra £300-600 depending on what they bought you. Here are my thoughts on what your immediate actions should be. Call a meeting with your builder, I would also call in any other professionals you have appointed, do you have an architect or any engineers? Just tell them it is a Progress Meeting - give them an agenda and put into it anything you want to discuss and slot in Cost Reports into the itinerary somewhere! You can also discuss 'Issues that may impact on costs' 'Warranties' all sorts. Kick off the meeting, you are in charge, I don't know your background but this meeting is your chance to be CEO at a boardroom meeting and get some answers, tough but fair attitude. Don't show your cards, don't outright suggest budgetary issues, when it comes to costs you can bring up the garage, why is it costing an additional 8k and can anything be done to mitigate these costs. Why are things going over budget and work through them all - frankly they always do and no plan survives first contact, unless it is a very well detailed and quantified program has been put together, but even then, there are factors beyond our control. Make sure you give them an agenda say today and call the meeting for Friday AM or Monday next AM - by telling them you will want to hear a cost report you are effectively asking them to bring budgetary information - make sure they know this - i.e. suggest they bring all supporting documentation as you don't want any "I'll need to find out answers" they MIGHT bring quotes and invoices for materials but it depends if they are incorporating a cover for themselves into them, then they may not want to. Take all your budgetary information, your quote from the builder etc too and have your facts and figures hand written in front of you in a big A4 note pad - this is a good trick as people often cannot read handwriting easily across a table, it also looks like it may just be your notes and that you actually know all the information you are discussion off the top of your head putting you in a stronger position.

I think it fair to say that the planning authority has so little resource due to austerity cutbacks that they weill have little or no appetite or capacity to be bothered by such things. Unless there is a proper nuisance or H&S situation, or a local councillor takes a dislike to you. Maybe if it was in a particular sensive conservation area etc. I moved in ages before the competion cert as I delayed the final certificate so I could get as much done prior to submitting my VAT claim.

@Jude1234 Been reflecting on the "getting under control and saving money" process. Trying to work towards something a little more defined, and the decisions made will be informed by how drastic the changes are you need to make. Very much a work in progress. 1 - Create a list of work packages or items still to do, alongside the stuff about what you are committed to and your estimates. We have talked about this up thread. Ideally 1 needs to be complete and in a spreadsheet so dependencies and totals can be buggered-about-with, but I guess that "must haves for the build" can be safely identified to a degree. The overall aim is to avoid spending *any* money unnecessarily, and to identify the stuff that can be not-done now. 2 - Categorise each work package as: a - Must haves for the build - stuff you have to do to build the house eg cannot leave insulation out of the walls or stub electrical wiring to things you are delaying which is going behind plasterboard. b - Must haves for your personal needs or regulatory / planning requirements. That is eg at least one bathroom, some sort of cooker etc , but also things to meet planning conditions etc when they are required. c - Things that can be delayed. What I call WIBNIs (Would It Be Nice If). Everything else, and may include "requirements" or "essentials" that can be delayed. eg you *could* leave the rendering on your garage for some time if it is still weathertight, or all the other bathrooms. 3 - Use 1-10 list to decide what to do with each work package. 4 - Review, reflect and rebudget. Ferdinand

Ha, I wanted induction but my other half wanted Gas so we compromised (she had her way ?).

This effectively makes the visible beam part of the decoration as a false beam, as seen often in 1960s Jacobean cottages, and is not subject directly to fire regs - unless you are building an HMO, so just finish the ceiling as you had already agreed with BC and then fit the false beam. Job looks good by the way,

Oh good ... the mistress has mistresses have not been discovered. ? ? ? You need to have been brought up by my mother ... she it was that found a Derbyshire Hall that had been empty for 2 years. We moved in on January 30th. If it is any consolation, that renovation took about 25 years. F

If you first line the beam with 15 mil fire line plasterboard you simply clad the whole beam with oak or simalar

If it's the DC18RC charger then the green light on steadily means it's charged. Green light flashing means the charger's on but there's no battery in it. I don't think the fan goes off until a bit after the charge completes but it's been a while since I watched one closely. Normal charge from flat is about 20 minutes I think. Initial charge of a new battery should be shorter than that as they'll be shipped at least partly charged.

Fire regulations may be one issue, depending on the house. Ask you building inspector as he will know the layout etc

If I had gas I wouldn't even consider solar thermal TBH.

Your situation is sounding more and more like mine. I had to stop payment before my builder would come up with some prices. The prices he then came up with were stupidly excessive. At that stage he was wanting an extra 46k (on a 90k house). I got him to finish the roof whilst we 'negotiated' and then told him 'NO' and since then I have taken it on myself with considerable and essential help from the fabulous people on this forum. I had a similar experience with carpenters - I'm told not their fault which may be correct but it still cost me. I would like to think that professionals time estimates shouldn't be too far out. I have been getting quotes for specific work - which I am getting better at being very specific about. Mostly I have had firm price quotes, being very upfront about any potential issues that I am aware of AND clear that if there is something that couldn't have been foreseen (- not just wasn't; but couldn't have been). EG the spark said he hadn't accounted for the extra cable with a split level house (being fair this was a justification for the time taken rather than a request for more money.) You are a genuine professional - some aren't. AND I have done it (knocking them off the job) but it ain't easy (especially on my own) and there have been sleepless nights and money paid first. spoken as a true bachelor although to be fair my kids would have done it happily when they were younger (as preteens though rather than teenagers) ----- way before I would have dared taking anything like this on. The only person, after the main contractor, that I have outright sacked is my plumber - the partner of a friend, who gave me a fixed price of £1200 - and then did 15 hours work for it - £80 per hour NO NO NO. I've now got 2 experienced plumbers with way more knowledge and experience and the price for both of them per hour is less than her. You CAN project manage this yourself Jude and cut out his percentage, now that you have the great people of this forum behind you. PM me if you want to talk further

Not strictly true ....... 75mm is acceptable ( see H2 of Part H BRegs) as long as it only services a single WC...! But try buying the stuff ..!

I have been to Grand designs a few times - I live less than an hour from the NEC. I wouldn't bother again myself unless I had a day with nothing to do but thats because most of it is stuff you can find anywhere plus the candle maker, glass pictures, vegetable choppers et al....those even seem to find their way into Crufts these days. My top tip if you do go is to get there at opening time, the place is heaving by lunchtime and its difficult to get to see much with the crowds, also take your drinks and snacks in with you if you can, the queues and prices inside are horrendous. If you have never been you will enjoy it but not sure you will come away with much of any real use. If you are looking for interior design ideas then as well as the usual Pinterest Houzz etc I would suggest you do a tour of the show homes in your area, go to see the pricey ones with more upmarket finishes too there is nothing like seeing things in the flesh so to speak. If you are unsure of yourself on interior design then yes go on a course if there is one available, it may give you confidence. You could always employ an interior designer to give you some pointers, you don't need to employ them to do the 'scheme' just give you some ideas on things and help in pulling the look together. Would probably cost less than your trip to Birmingham. Very worthwhile going to upmarket kitchen and bathroom showrooms too, ideas are there for the stealing. A good independent is very useful for kitchen planning - a cut above the sheds etc, you dont have to buy just get ideas ditto on the bathroom showrooms. Get tester pots of paint, paint onto big pieces of card or the back of a piece of wallpaper and pin up on the wall to see how it looks, get samples of everything, paint, flooring, upholstery etc and put them together, you will soon see what 'goes' and what doesn't. Its easy to do mood boards - just get a big sheet of card and from your short lists stick on the paint swatches, flooring, carpet and curtain samples etc, photos of lighting, all that stuff it gives you a good idea of how things come together and you can note details like suppliers etc.................I prefer an actual mood board that I make myself better than a virtual one on the screen because I think you also need to consider the feel of things not just a flat photo. Texture, not just colour, is an important part of interior design in my view. When we moved a few years ago I came across my mood boards for the house we built in the late 80's........Hoarder LOL When I am doing something be it a whole house or just a room I always carry with me samples of my colours, bits of wood, tile etc (very heavy handbag) so that if I chance upon something I can whip out my samples and see how they look, you never know when you will spot a gem that is just the piece you need. Don't be afraid to mix bargain buys with more expensive designer options along with a few treasured pieces that you already have. Confidence in your own personal taste and style is what you need, who wants to live in house that looks like its come from a catalogue, you need to inject your own personality into it, make it yours.....but not lime green and purple of course! Anyone visiting the NEC for GD wants to pop in to me for a visit and a cuppa you would be welcome.

This scientific paper addresses internal air quality in Passive Houses with MVHR. It suggests a significant source of internal PM2.5 is cooking and that MVHR may be inadequate in removing such contaminants, even in boost mode. It also looks at contributors to air quality, such as CO₂ and formaldehyde. It is a current paper, with a forthcoming publication date of 15 October 2018. The houses monitored for the study are in Colorado, USA. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/authShare/S0360132318305183/20180907T163100Z/1?md5=5e4246e165b6c901268110a047c99c37

Now we're cooking. Subfloor poured today, so one row of quinnlites on their edge and we're at FFL. Provisionally looking at 3rd wek of October for the kit to arrive, scaffolder is booked on standby today, it's all moving on now.

How on earth can stating the standard way that mixers have been used for donkey's years be condescending to anyone? I'm sorry, but I'm not likely to thank you for making the potentially dangerous suggestion that anyone should "use muscle power to help the first 10 degrees of rotation". To even think that was a reasonable thing to do shows a disregard for the obvious risks. The key here is the way in which information is conveyed, and whether or not a new member of this forum, with little or no knowledge, might assume from the author's writing style that he or she is knowledgeable and so their content should be trusted as being accurate and safe. I'm afraid many of your posts do come across as if you have become an overnight expert in several areas, when just a short time ago, in May of this year, you appeared to be disparaging about those of us here with years, or decades, of experience and admitted that you knew little about trades, when you wrote this: Apart from the above being factually incorrect, in that I cannot find a single reference anywhere in any of the content on this forum that states, or even implies, that "Early encounters with the good denizens of the BuildHub forum tarred me as a hopelessly naive computer programmer fit for little more than making tea onsite". All I can see are people offering free help and advice, coupled with responses from you which seem a touch arrogant and supercilious. This is a generally very friendly place, and a lot of that relies on give and take, plus members having a bit of humility when they make an error and correct it. It's not acceptable, in my view, to express arrogance, as in "These points are now clearly stated in the public domain because of my follow ups. You should be thanking me.", especially when the aspect in question, never hand assisting a powered mixer, has been in the public domain as plain safety common sense since I was a small boy. I've made enough errors here, and tried to correct them whenever I've found them or they have been pointed out to me, to have learned that it's generally more acceptable when trying to make a point to be slightly less assertive that I would be inclined to be normally. We all have to accept that there will always be members that hold contrary views to our own, and they are entitled to do so. The problem arises when contrary views are stated assertively and promote an activity that has long been known to be dangerous, and has caused a number of serious injuries on building sites over the years. As a forum, we should collectively try to make sure that we don't promote anything in an authoritative-sounding post that is potentially unsafe or unlawful.

As an update, I have moved the blower housing on to a concrete pad next to the unit, lined the whole lid with acoustic foam, lined the blower housing with it as well and the unit is a lot quieter, job well done.