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Our offer was accepted, but we will not conclude until we have confirmation that the services to the house next door do not interfere with our ability to build on the site.

Goggles WERE worn! The rips to do top & side. Going to be a pita on the tanked (blue) wall where the basin pipes come out. I don't think when I tile the basin area they'll come out far enough to cover the skinny gap! The next trims I put on will go on with clear CT1 not mitre bond. Too unforgiving for an amateur like me.

I don't think we bid too much, I wasn't going to worry about a few thousand either way tbh. There is £30,000 less stamp duty on the land than there would be on the house built on it which goes a long way to paying for things.

It's been a little quiet on site over the last 10 days or so which hasn't been a bad thing as I had a nasty cold last week so it gave me an added incentive to stay at home and get some more forward planning done. One of the downsides, though, is that I only today spotted an issue with the west facing upstairs gable that's only really visible from the top scaffolding lift. When I first saw it, I thought 'oh bugger, another window problem' and promptly got on the phone to the guys at Norrsken to ask what they thought of the photo I'd just sent them with a clear image of the problem. This is what I sent: And this is what it's meant to look like: Can you spot the difference? You're buildhubbers, so of course you can. In the first photo, the apex of the triangular window sitting on the French doors and side panels clearly protrudes by some distance. It's about 3cm. At this point, and as before, what I most need to know is a) is it a problem? and b) how do we fix it, if it is. And at this point, as before, Norrsken were hot to trot and the installations manager, Mark, along with his very bright and shiny new spirit level, did a swift dash up to north Dorset to come and see for himself exactly what the problem is. I should explain that this window consists of 3 elements. There are the central French doors, a glazed panel each side of the doors and then the triangular window that sits on top of all this. When fitting, the installation team set everything up with a laser to make sure it's all dead on, and they took great care to make sure everything was right. Because of this, I wasn't entirely surprised when Mark from Norrsken established quite clearly that the fault isn't with the windows, but with my MBC timber frame. Directly above the triangular window, there is a steel with an apex in it, that is then boarded over. You can see in this picture from a previous entry how these are put into place by MBC, and this is the section that has caused the problem on the west side: So, first off, is this an issue? This was my first question to Mark and, in particular, does the fact that the window frame is so proud of the wall compromise the thermal properties or insulating quality? Thankfully, he assured me not, so I'm happy to accept this. The next issue, is the physical problem of the top of the window protruding by about 3cm from the timber frame exterior wall. It's fairly standard practice to have 25mm counter batten on the exterior, to which is attached whatever outer skin is covering the building. Fortunately for me and MBC, I have planned all along to have 50mm battens on the outside so that a decent sized service cavity is created to run any exterior wires and cables through. It's possible that I could have got away with 25mm but I preferred to spend a bit more on the larger battens and make life a bit easier when installing stuff on the outside. This means that the slate cladding on the upper floor will be able to largely cover the error, but it will quite probably be tricky to get a decent finish between the window and the cladding as I had been planning to use powder coated aluminium to do this job and it won't be the easiest thing to fit with such a variation in the gap. I'll tackle that when I get to it, but any suggestions are welcome. Okay, so all in all, it's not a disaster but a pain. I am, however, annoyed because MBC didn't know that I was planning 50mm battens and, aside from anything else, it's really disappointing that having done a good job on the vast majority of the build, this error slipped through. There were enough spirit levels on site throughout the build that it shouldn't have been so difficult to run one up against this fairly fundamental section of the build, particularly as there was a whopper of a window going into this wall, to make sure that everything is true for the parts of the build that follow on after. In the meantime, a few other things have gone on at the build. A start has been made on putting in the ducting for the MVHR and shoving some of the UFH pipes and manifold towards where it will end up. The UFH manifold for the upstairs is going up into the loft section. In the original plans, the upstairs landing was vaulted, but the decision was taken early on to board this out and create a loft space that could then be used to stash away all the MVHR kit and other ancillary equipment, including the upstairs UFH manifold. There is another bit of kit going in there that is a heat pump but used to cool rather than heat air going through the MVHR system and thus provide active cooling in the summer to complement my shading from the brise soleil and exterior roller blinds on the south facing windows. Here's a photo of the MVHR ducting and UFH pipes coming up through a cut-out section in the floor and up into the loft space. The stud wall that you can see divides the landing from the en-suite for the master bedroom; it is planned to be a twin stud wall and so, once done, all the pipework and ducting will be hidden in the cavity of the twin wall. More of the same: The plenums for the MVHR will sit at the far end of the bedrooms, i.e. near the windows. The idea is that this will achieve a proper through put of fresh air through the entire room, rather than just circulating around the door and landing areas. You will see that the plenums are quite a bit lower than the central glulam beam supporting the vault. The plan here is to introduce a central flat section along the ridge, low enough to cover the ducting and the glulam and the plenum will then just pop out of the plasterboard. Whilst this means extra cellulose being required for the increased volume of the roof section, it will make detailing it and covering it in far easier for MBC when the time comes to do that, so there's a decent quid pro quo there. A major benefit of stuffing the MVHR ducting into the ceiling section that will be filled with cellulose is that the pipes up there don't need to be insulated, which would normally be the case. The ones for the ground floor are currently getting their NASA-style coats and I'll show some photos of those in the next post. This also means that it's given a reduction on the cost of all the MVHR kit as the insulation for the ducts isn't particularly cheap. Aside from the window/wonky frame drama, it's currently a time for figuring out and juggling details. My flat roof guys should be back in a couple of weeks and I really need to get the parapets and east balcony finished off as until these are done, the main house won't be watertight. I need to check with the team at County Flat Roofing, however, as I also have my balustrade to go onto the balconies. The balustrade has posts that are fixed onto the parapets by way of a square/rectangular base plate, about 10mm thick. These can go either on top of or underneath the roofing membrane, but I need to check which will give the best finish and then press the button for whoever goes first. I know that if the plates go under the membrane are too thick, it will look bumpy and not very nice but, more importantly, might not give a good seal. I shall check and report back, but I suspect that we will end up putting the plates on top of the membrane and sealing it up again afterwards. Although the balustrade hasn't been installed yet, I've been chatting to the guys at Balustrade UK, including the lovely Trevor, and they've been very understanding with my needs for flexibility on timing, so all is okay there. Moving onto brise soleils, who would have thought it would be so difficult to track down a firm to do these? Certainly neither me nor my architect. We tried a couple of local firms, including one that is on the same industrial estate as me and OH, but it was like tumbleweed blowing down mainstreet in an old cowboy film. Nada. In the end, I contacted another Birmingham firm, Vincent Timber, who mentioned them on their website. In the event, the only supply the timber for them rather than the whole thing, but they passed my enquiry onto a firm in St Albans, Contrasol Ltd, and they came back with a fully specced brise soleil for the stairwell window which is just the thing. Not cheap, mind, but not far off what I thought it would be. The metal supports will be powder coated aluminium (RAL7016, of course, the same as any other bit of metal on the building) and the fins will be red cedar that will be allowed to silver. When OH and I originally discussed this, we were hoping to get something that would retain its colour but this has proven to be tricky and we have no intention of painting anything on the brise soleil fins every 8 years or so to retain its colour. It can go grey with dignity, just like us. I was out on site today getting the trench dug for the re-routing of our electricity supply cable. Currently, it comes in via an overhead wire and a dirty great pole that's right next to the building. We've planned from the outset to have this buried and the SSE guy, Dave, will come along next week to lay the cable and, in due course, run it into the garage. It's a long old trench, mind you. It took just under 4 tons of sand to put the blinding layer down and it won't take much less than that to cover the cable once it goes in, before back filling. Still, another job to tick off the list. I need to get another couple of bits of groundworks done in the coming weeks. First off, I need to get the spec from the Highways Agency as to how they want the new driveway onto the lane to be constructed. My sunamps will live in the garage and it will be very tricky getting them in through the house as they're hefty things, so I may as well crack on and get the driveway done. The only slight hitch is that there is some scaffolding in the way right now, but I'm hoping that by the time we get around to making the new opening, I'll be able to do away with a fair bit of the scaffolding. The other groundwork task is to start digging out the pond. OH has decided on the shape and size and I used a couple of cans and left over EPS to mark out the perimeter this morning. Before anyone asks, these are the answers: no swimming, no fish, no fishing, no duck shooting. It's a wildlife pond and that's it. But it is a bloody big pond and I'd like to get it dug before we get some serious weather in as we can then start to get a feel for just how well or not our clay soil will retain water and start to plant up the margins once we have a better idea of what we're dealing with. It's hard to see the line marking, but this is the view from the top lift of the scaffold. That's all for now, the next post should hopefully have a bit more interior detail and a lot more roof action. Stay tuned.

Sauvignon Blanc actually ...

Can we have a pic of the end of the fitting ? It should show flat edges on the circumference. I said pump assembly not pump Union ? Large cabernet? ?

There isn’t a washer from memory as it’s a pair of machined faces between the bottom of the mixer set and the isolators. If they are worried then a smear of JetBlue or other PTFE paste will suffice. They must use a reamer to sort the top edges of the pipe as it will snag the O Rings and they will leak otherwise.

If you'd have rung Wunda today before 6pm they'd have dispatched for a delivery tomorrow. As for your guys not rating either Wunda or ( astonishingly ) Grundfos, then the title of this thread summarises nicely. Grundfos are pretty much the industry standard and feature on every single one of my jobs. The flat face has the nylon washer against it and the nut tightens against the pump assembly Union. That cause the lot to tighten up. If the nut freely slips over the fitting it has parted company with then it may be damaged or slightly oversized, but the norm is a nut and flange which have flat spots to allow the nut to slip over and become captive, then the nut will rotate flat and tighten up without coming off. Check with Wunda, as I really can't remember.

After busting two L shaped ones earlier that were bigger I didn't chance it. The saving grace is there's a blind going there.

About 8" long? It's a reflection, I'm just out of the shower...

I have actually found them surprisingly helpful recently. I feel like there has been some kind of change. Many time I have called recently and they have answered the phone, something which never used to happen.

It was around £350k for 0.2 of an acre (800sq metres) As suggested there are a few plots for sale in Edinburgh at around £450k that are a little bit larger. There is also a plot I know of that just came on the market for offers over £150k but it is quite small and hemmed in by the adjacent houses although in a nice area. My parents don't want a large garden to look after anyway. As has been said though you have to see the value to you. The plot is at the other end of the street to us, around 5 minutes walk away. It is one of the nicest streets in Edinburgh and also within 2 minutes of a bus stop, 5 minutes of a few shops and 10 minutes walk of a GP. Perfect for retired people, the average age in the area is over 50 I believe. It is exactly what my parents would like and if they enjoy it and everyone is happy then I don't really care about a few thousand pounds either way. Of course the value of money is different to everyone. The wrinkle is that the plot only had permission for quite a small house, around 110square metres. That might be worth around £450-500k so wouldn't justify what we paid. In extremis we could fall back to building this. But the plot is easily big enough to take something much bigger. We plan to apply for a single storey house of around 160sq metres including a single garage At a guess it would be worth around £650k and so we can spend around £300k building it, 2000 a square metre and come out even. The plot is part of the garden of a listed house, the council told me that they didn't want a house with a larger footprint when I called and asked, but the application for the existing planning was on half the plot, I believe the owner hoped he could then apply for another house. The council also allowed a much much larger house to be built in the same situation at the other side of the street and have just approved for another garden in the street to be split in two. Plus most objections were to overlooking from a two storey house and this house would basically not be seen. We made a condition of the offer that we need to know if there are services through the plot to the house next door that would interfere with what we want to build, so are awaiting confirmation of that before the architect goes to work.

Do they have to bring in the aggregate via ferry? That must be a face melting cost!

We are a tiny family business, experienced but disillusioned with buy-to-let. After successful housing conversion & renovation projects we are moving onto our first new-build venture. Lots to learn!

I want to see him arrested for stealing make-up ??

Re-cut the L shaped tile. Just broke that too.

Sharpie Pro = SH!T - Washes off Chinagraph = SH!T - Doesn't touch the tile

You did well to cut a straight line in that stonework. Must have been a nasty job to do, especially so low down.

If you are going by car, its £16 to park if you pay on the day, or £12 if you pre book!

Now equipped with a Sharpie Pro and Chinagraph pencils

Just watched it - luckily at my desk at work... Quick note - I would make sure you're not with the wife and your kids are out at swimming when watched because the combination of smart batteries, mention of things being cheap and Maddie Moate bouncing around, is enough to send Pfizer bankrupt...

This may help others in the same situation but my TV came with an integrated shelf for storing remotes and streaming box...

Certain things can be zero rated if they are a planning condition but they are still all ‘doing’ things rather than a desk exercise. So demolition of existing house, removal of asbestos from existing house, or on the reclaim front vat reclaim for plants and trees detailed in the planning permission etc.

@joe90 I bought one on eBay from France which was £90 including delivery... no idea if it will be any good mind you! It’s due to arrive tomorrow, so will see if it’s just plug and play then!

Clean it all up well and it may be OK.

FFS! Use some goggles at least!

....new eyeballs. Please don't try this at home, folks.

My gut feeling is the wet product shouldn't get to the frame at all. Foam for the bulk of the underbelly, cut flush and then a tape so the frame and whichever wet product is used will never convey anything to the frame. Assuming these have been packed and mechanically fixed, there will deffo be a void underneath and a path to atmosphere. Have the fitters detailed the outside of the frames at all at the footer? Pics please! Remember that the frame will separate from the product ( SLC / other ) and airtightness will be lost. The frames need to be taped to the floor afterwards so you'll probably need to have tape continuing from the frame upwards to the underside of the threshold, and then a full width run of tape applied to the underside of the threshold but with at least an inch or so exposed ( so sticky side up ) so you can tape down onto that and the slab when the wet product has cured / dried fully. It will be a PITA to do, but I'd try and remove the backing from one half of the AT tape ( 2" wide tape so 1" strip of backing removed lengthways ) so you can ( clean and dry first ) stick to the underside of the threshold and leave the backing layer protected tape showing 1" out ready to peel off and tape back to with the final 2" strip of AT tape. Ultra SLC can be put down in 50mm layers, so I'd look to fortify that with 10mm aggregate and use that. That should ensure a void-free filler material and flow nicely into every nook and cranny. Beware, that if you leave a pencil sized gap under the frame its bye-bye SLC and it'll all just run out of the slab and onto the ground outside. Foam the ? out of it first

I use the force, and cut all mine blindfolded. Honest.

Pencil. sill got pencil marks on my tiles from 3 years ago.

@vivienz What's the provision for damp course / wet to dry transition from atmosphere to slab? I'd have thought the window fitters have done this before, but of all the level threshold stuff I've seen there has been a rubber type membrane that the window / door has been sat on which is turned down at the outside threshold and upstood at the inside. Do you have pics of before / during fitting? My concern would be a too wet / runny mix migrating outward under the frame, so maybe the first step would be to inject a high expansion foam to seal, from the outside back through under the frame, and let that cure before back filling the slab from inside. Remember the airtight detail needs to be high integrity and last the test of time at these few junctions and that needs a plan, and a beady eye to execute it effectively. ?

Here you go, had to go to the States to find this: https://www.callmendel.com/blog/can-your-air-conditioner-cause-a-power-surge-how-to-protect-your-home/

If the vfd goes t!ts up can't it become a regenerative load itself? RCD won't protect against the resultant overvoltage.

No , no , no . @Onoff is doing this all wrong ! . Put a crack in every tile then it will look right ! You know it makes sense

I feel somewhat stupid having read but barely understood any of the clearly informative text above. Sorry to slightly hijack the topic for a moment, but is there anyone who understands everything above and knows possibly as a supplementary area, about various heating and hot water setups, who would either be willing to have a probably lengthy conversation with me either on the phone one evening or bob over and do the same over a cuppa. I want to understand it all but i'm a complete amateur at most DIY type stuff, so some of the bits above are properly confusing...

Actually I had mentioned to the lawyer I don't know if I should buy it or my parents should be buying. I would just be organising it. Hadn't thought of the VAT issue., Using a main contractor and with a lot less bespoke stuff than in my house most stuff will be zero rated, but it is definitely worth thinking about. I guess I am in a different situation to most people, I can afford to retire and earn way more than I spend. In that situation I think I may as well make other people's lives better so frequently pay for things for family members and friends. I enjoy it and they do too. I even paid for my wife's friend's divorce lawyer when her husband hid all their money and she was at risking of losing her kids. I prefer direct action, to giving to unaccountable charities. My parents are 71 and 72. Their health is fine and I'd like to hope they will be around for a few years yet. They could afford to buy the land and build the house, although they probably couldn't lay their hands on the cash next week to finance the plot. But they wouldn't know where to start to organise getting a house built. If I can make their life easier then I think its the right thing to do, I am sure most people would want to do the same if they could.

without fannying around. Bingo bango WFABB Can you add that one to the acronym list please? I think #ferdinand might like it too...

What about a small drain hole into the cavity just in case it does leak? Just trying to help.