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I'm hoping this site will be both a source of inspiration and a shoulder to cry on over the coming months, if not years. My partner Helen and I purchased a disused Severn Trent Pump House and DSR (Distribution Storage Reservoir - great big concrete water tank) back in February 2018. The half acre plot came with full planning consent to renovate the existing brick Pump House, build a new section to link the Pump House to the concrete water tank and to convert the tank into living accommodation. It was a very contemporary, flat roof design, not really us, so we've spent the last year coming up with a new scheme and starting to clear the site ready for the build, once planning have given their seal of approval. This is the first time Helen and I have taken on a project like this. We've both undertaken extensions and small alterations in our separate lives, before we met, but nothing on this scale. Whilst a slow start, this has given us time to think. I can't count the number of visits we've made to the plot with a picnic in hand, to sit on the grass roof of the tank and get a feel for the place and to imagine what it would be like to live there. We've also had time to look into the history of the site and helped by John Simpson from Severn Trent Reunited - http://www.st-reunited.org.uk, we've been able to find out quite a lot. We've even had the pleasure of meeting the children, who's father worked there and his father before him. Some of the old photos have also been passed on, a lot of which are on the reunited web site, but I'll post some of these as we progress. I've attached a few images of the site, as it was when we purchased it back in 2018. We've since removed the earth banks from two sides of the tank, so I'll upload some more recent shots later. We're both very excited about the build, but realistic about the challenges ahead. We couldn't have wished for a better location and the opportunity this has given us. Happy days! Dave & Helen

If you chose to connect an earth electrode to a TN-C-S supply PEN conductor, then you're adding another intermediate earth to the network, and that earth conductor then has to deal not just with local earth fault currents, but also those from the distribution network itself. The normal CPC sizing calculation uses the prospective earth fault current to determine the current carrying capacity of the CPC (in this case perhaps the steel armour of an SWA cable). The chances are that the cross section of the SWA wouldn't be adequate for dealing with the PEFC from a network fault, which may well result in the PEN at the incomer rising to a voltage above the maximum allowable of 70 VAC above the local true earth reference (because of voltage drop along the under-sized new intermediate earth CPC).

I am not sure how I feel about this. During the 20 year credit boom up to 2007 young people disengaged from politics, philosophy and activism, they were instead seduced by brand label consumerism and easy credit for junk-bond higher education. Brexit, Trump, housing and student debt have had a shock effect. A 16 yo lecturing the establishment is a positive sign of change.

@Oz07 We used smart ply propassiv https://www.buildingcentre.co.uk/news/smartply-propassiv-sets-industry-first-standards-for-airtightness which is the airtight version. The joints were all taped. @Russell griffiths Fabricator who did the flashings was ACL Sheet Metal in Hereford. https://www.aclsheetmetal.com/ I would recommend them. If they had any questions they asked, the order was turned round quickly and we were pleased with the quality of the final product.

Just to add, we used a black Multipanel board behind the basin, to contrast with the white panel around the shower and white floor tiles.

Good choice. For balance, I ordered enough panel boards for two showers (Mermaid trade I think). I did one, and returned the rest... (visible joints, difficult to fit full floor-to-ceiling lengths). It pi$$es me off every time I look at it, but I'll have to live with it for a while. Much happier with the other one I had tiled. The rest of the rooms are just skimmed and painted, with the exception of approx 150mm splash-backs; its ok, but doesn't match the look of fully tiled.

£4 !!!! Mega money !!!!

Hi @Thedreamer We are looking at our glazing option at the moment and taking this into consideration. My sisters house next door also has a lot of glass and they have been in for 3 years now with no major issues thus far, but still something we are looking into! Prehaps over the weekend I will start a blog, will be interesting to look back over it once completed. Josh

Hi Josh As others have suggested, the glazing will probably lead to overheating. There are solutions such as SageGlass, brise soleil and external shutters but they are expensive and best considered early on. The plans look like traditional blockwork walls, so you might want to look at fully filled rigid insulation or if you increase the cavity, polystyrene beads. Traditional render and set internally is best for airtightness. I don't think the cars will fit the garage. Maybe 2 doors or one much wider? A lovely big house.

We were originally going to build using a different construction as we had planned to do a lot more work ourselves. We had even laid the foundations when Henry was diagnosed with cancer & we realised we had to look for an alternative method. We decided on an I joist, closed panel TF with cellulose insulation. Reasonable cost, £64k, 147sqm. Foundations had to be adapted & it was a steep learning curve with regard to soleplate, membranes, ducting to outside etc & all that goes with this method. Ebuild & then buildhub were invaluable sources of info with regard to these details. Structure was erected in a week, walls & roof. This method allowed us to have the seamless vaulted ceiling upstairs that we wanted. It is not finished but I will be moving in in June. It has a solid, quiet feeling to it. Of course, I have not moved in yet & the MVHR is not on. The temperature is easily regulated. It does not overheat, even in last years hot summer. It has never felt cold, even in the winter with no heating, just a bit chilly on the coldest days. This will be sorted with the MVHR & UFH when needed. You do need to think ahead with this method & plan where you will want to hang things & put extra noggins. The TF company did most of the airtightness taping, however, I went over every inch myself & did a lot more. It was worth the time & effort. I think the rigidity of the I joist structure works well, most of the plastering was done about 8 months ago & I have not had any plaster cracks, but I have used 15mm plaster board. I would happily use this method again. It would depend on what was built really, if I wanted vaulted ceilings again I would use the same method. If not maybe ICF.

Arguably any job or profession is in an international market, but, like any career, only a small minority ever choose to work outside their own country. Academia isn't, by any stretch, the only, or even the most popular, choice for scientists, either. In fact there's a well-known saying in labs outside of academia that goes "those that can do, those that can't teach", which tends to sum up the views of many scientists working outside academia. Anyway, as far as the UK is concerned, climate science has been effectively part of government for years, as historically the Met Office (and hence the Hadley Centre) has always been a part of the Ministry of Defence (hence the reason for one of the Hadley Centre scientists being seconded to work with me). The MoD has no reason or cause to try and direct the outcome of UK climate research in any particular direction, as the reason that it's funded by defence is because it helps to inform future decision making, in pretty much every area, from future equipment requirements to tactics and predictive war gaming. Procurement and training changes take a long time from the research stage to operational readiness, usually a couple of decades, maybe longer in some areas, where equipment replacement may only happen every 30 years or more.

I don't want further polarization of wealth globally and so far the thermogeddonists have triggered panic policy responses that have amplified polarization of wealth. I propose we continue to refine the material and manufacturing science behind low co2 energy production so that if there comes a point in the next 100 years when the human race needs to control the climate we have the ability to do so. What troubles me is that on current trajectories the global economy will be damaged while we attempt to implement impossible co2 reduction targets. If in that same period a true threat to humanity appears we will not have the spare capacity to respond, for example it we discover in the next 10 years that emulsified plastics in the oceans are triggering a collapse of ocean biology there won't be the $ trillions available to fund the clean up.

Having spent ~35 years working in science I'd be the first to say that scientists are all different, with a few observations as to the sort of people that are attracted to a career in science. Firstly, the pay is pretty poor. People don't generally become scientists to earn a decent salary, most decide on a career in science because it's fascinating, probably one of the most interesting jobs going, as you have no way of knowing what may lie ahead. As a consequence I'd say that the majority of scientists I knew weren't really interested in money. Secondly, as a part of the programme we ran to try and understand why scientists were so reluctant to collaborate with each other, our psychologists (who were running this programme) found that ~75% of the thousand or so that we looked at in our lab were on the autistic spectrum. I think we probably already knew that this might be the case, from anecdotal tales of behaviour, but having it confirmed did go some way towards explaining why collaboration was so difficult and also why communicating with non-scientists was often far less effective than it could be. I'm not convinced that the offer of either money or fast cars would be that tempting to the majority, to be honest. An offer of enhanced status over their peers would be more enticing, I'm sure, as we had far more heated debates about job titles than we ever did about pay. As an example of just how daft the job title thing can get, before I shifted into management my job title was Senior Principal Scientific Officer. Before that I'd been a Scientific Assistant, Scientific Officer, Higher Scientific Officer, Senior Scientific Officer, and Principal Scientific Officer, how mad is that? I should add that as a PSO in the 1990s I was paid around £28k, so not exactly a high earner.

The idea of a conspiracy by scientists can only have been dreamt up by someone with no knowledge of the behaviour of scientists! Getting scientists to collaborate on anything is damned difficult, and one reason that the few successful collaborations tend to attract media attraction. One of the programmes I ran shortly before I retired was aimed at encouraging better collaboration within the same lab, as it was recognised that there was a strong tendency to not wish to work with others, a tendency that was hampering an interdisciplinary approach to research. The process of peer review prior to publication encourages scientists to be as critical as possible when looking at the work of others, and builds up a level of healthy scepticism, where there is virtually no implicit trust; everything has to be checked and proven to be valid before it's accepted. As for young people protesting, then frankly protesting is cheap and easy. Anyone can stand on a soapbox and be critical of others; what's needed is for dedicated people to get off their protest soapboxes and make the effort to get into government to bring about the changes they want. That's nowhere near as easy as just creating sound bites for the media, as it takes hard work and dedication for years.

No, I don't find these adjustments at all odd. This is critical science - possibly one of the biggest global challenges we've faced. It's hugely difficult and complex. With that context, I can't understand why it strikes you as odd that scientists continue to work to improve the quality of the data for the models they're using. As others have said, some of the adjustments result in less temperature increase. I only had time to read this one (need to finish something this morning before heading out for a bit). In summary: One guy claims that data wasn't handled properly, but admits there was "no data tampering, no data changing, nothing malicious". He believes his boss had his "thumb on the scale", but only in relation to "documentation, scientific choices and release of datasets". He states that his boss rushed to get a study published before major international negotiations. If you were in the boss's shoes, why would do anything but rush to try and get out your report in time for it to be be considered as part of such an important set of discussions? A subsequent independent study looking at the same corrections came to the same conclusions using different methods. The data involved was only in relation to ship-based measurements of ocean temperatures. On balance, I can't see anything in this article that supports some sort of conspiracy among scientists to corrupt any significant proportion of the data upon which the consensus position on ACC relies.

Well, I've just made a load of beeswax cotton wraps to cut out the need for clingfilm. A very small contribution but a positive one, nonetheless.

If doing this then there's no point in running three core, as the PE conductor in the core won't be doing anything. All that's needed is two core, with the armour connected only at the supply end.

Dara, as ever, is on the money here...

another vote for full tiling of walls and floor

My wife insisted on every piece of the walls and floors being tiled in bathrooms and ensuites. We did this excluding areas where there are mirrors. TBF the issue with part tiling things is where does it make sense to stop/start. As you say a couple of tiles above a sink doesn't look great. Any wall behind a sink and WC will get wet. This needs a proper waterproof covering, whether it be tiles/panels/glass. Otherwise it will look bad over time. You are going to need to cover the wall to above the taps. Are you not planning a mirror? I would tile to above the taps, then have a mirror cut to go in the space between the tiles and the ceiling. I don't have a finished picture to hand, but this is what we did and there is now a mirror in the space above the sink and WC. That is a lovely sink and taps. You are probably talking only around 2.5 sq metres of tile plus a mirror to finish it off. Why will the tiles be a different size? Why can't you continue the tiles across the wall from the shower? If the walls aren't tiled yet i would also put a niche in the shower to hide bottle of shampoo etc and I would put the controls for the shower opposite the opening if possible. We have done this in most of ours, we only realised too late that we couldn't do it in the shower above due to the wavy tiles not being flat enough to put the controls on.

Another vote for Multipanel, that's what we have. Get it from a builders Merchant, Jewsons stock it, a lot of the "bathroom" showrooms charge very inflated prices for it. Available in loads of colours and patterns.

Can get 140mm splashbacks in glass in a number of colours.

Re: Large tiles. You could use what I think they call "plank" tiles, which come in sizes such as 1000x200. A single one might do it. Or something like this - a 600x600 white tile, which could be sliced in 2 and give 1200mm run at any depth up to 300mm. https://www.tiletown.co.uk/en/alaska-white-floor-tile One sample might do it. F

The sometimes laughable penalties for destroying bat roosts is another sore point for consultants and conservationists alike - I've had clients tell me to my face that they'd knock a building down and take the fine rather than pay for the necessary survey work and licence to do it legally. Cases like this where even a successful prosecution for someone knowing committing a crime results in a penalty that is such an insignificant amount in their overall project budget is little deterrent to that sort of developer. There are however several cases from the last few years where the penalty has been levied under the 'proceeds of crime' legislation, which allows the courts to seize a substantial percentage of the developer's profits - a far better deterrent than a fixed penalty.

Yup, I used aqua panel like @JSHarris but managed to use whole sheets for the showers so the only join was in the corner. I also used smaller pieces to make the basin splash back to match

What is the width of the washbasin? I think that several things could work as an splashback there. 1 - Large format tile. Ideally a single tile, or two, about 100mm or half to two thirds of the way to the taps, or past them (Can you put something behind the taps etc - ie will they come forward by 5-20mm?) 2 - Glass. Could be coloured or annealed. 3 - Something like a sheet of stainless steel or anodised ally. Powdercoat may not be good enough. Copper would be tempting, but would not match the taps. Perhaps something with engine turning? I think various colours could work or a pattern. On MultiPanels that could be from a single piece or the whole wall. If a single if it is just the splashback it might look chunky-clunky, though their edgings are in satin or gloss alu iirc, and would match. If you use the version with aqua-lok joints, they are invisible unless you choose a strange pattern. If you want, you can have them printed with a roomsize photo of your own. Ferdinand

I used AB Multipanel instead of tiles, for exactly the same reason as @joe90: You can't see the panel join unless you look really closely, and even then you'd need reading glasses on!

Go for a large format tile effect panel and the joint can be a pseudo grout line. https://www.ukbathrooms.com/products/april-identiti2-wetroom-panels.html

In that area you should run the same tile that's on the wall of the shower area, but step down to the height of the window sill. If you don't want that same tile then just paint, a different tile will not look right. Be prepared to repaint frequently. Look at basins which keep the water in a bit more with up stands etc. Depending on your design /modern/classic finish. https://www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/premier-carlton-2-tap-hole-basin-with-pedestal-2-size-options

After years cleaning grout out and retiling for myself and others, I now hate tiles. I have used aqua wall board in both my new bathrooms and they are great and sooo easy to clean

Thanks all - I really appreciate all advice provided - if anything it is really making me reevaluate the “decision” to go down the UWH route (it’s always been lovely when we have stayed in cottages in the highlands etc - but always in “small” rooms!) - perhaps I now need to look at the wider plan for the kitchen and find a better route forward - maybe that will need me use rads at one end of the room and UFH at the other for specific areas to warm the floor. I’ll start a new thread in the right area in a bit, no doubt wiser minds that me will point out some winning ideas once I get some plans up etc ? thanks again Jim

Who wouldn't? But I sometimes long for someone to give our J a really serious, well-argued run for his money: if only because we'd all learn far more from the back and forth. Expert power needs to be handled with care (because it's Personal power French and Ravens 1958 ish) . Otherwise, I do what Sue (above) does.

You need a mix of materials. Cellulose is good but very thick - 400mm in a roof to get decent values. I’ve used a mix of Rockwool and PIR/PUR for sloping ceilings. 190mm full fill of Rockwool followed by 2 layers of 25mm PIR internally gives a decent vapour barrier from the foil, decent uValue and a fairly long decrement delay. Sound reduction is also pretty good too.

One thing I know about scientists is that they are human beings and we know a lot about how humans behave. Scientists like fast cars and travel to exotic places, so offer a juicy big salary career position for on-message scientists and some will discover that message. Offer podium time at an international conference in Cancun for on-message papers and the result is new papers with appropriate discoveries. Of more concern is the systematic hostility formulated at western universities against rebel academics, did you watch the video about the ousted physicist in Australia?