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It's just dried out to quick in the sun. Should have put a hose on it as it went in keeping a mist on it. Hack of any lumps and a few bags of self leveling and no body will be any the wiser.

They believe there is a genetic susceptibility to it but are not sure exactly what. They are doing lots of testing on it currently to try to identify the gene(s) responsible. As an example there was almost an ‘epidemic’ of mesothelioma in the Cappadocia region of Turkey where families were exposed to erionite (the mineral has properties similar to asbestos). Whole families were affected by it and died whilst other whole families who lived alongside those affected escaped it. I imagine most of us have come across asbestos inadvertently but most of us will escape being affected by it, but for those who are affected by it it’s devastating. One of the most painful and aggressive cancers you can get and always terminal. If you know there is asbestos there it must be treated with respect and is not something to cut corners on.

Thanks for the replies. Caught up with the guys today and they really did get caught in a sh*t storm. The cement had to be dumpered 100m to the pad which they did quickly to reduce waiting time but then the track came off the 8T digger. They were forced to push a 8 cube pile by hand with one man trying to get the track back on. As @Construction Channel said it simply got away from them, nobody’s fault and nobody died. Im not one for shouting and screaming or blaming. Self buildings hard enough without falling out with people that have worked bloody hard for me over time. As as for the solution well we’re going to add a concrete screed cap.

I would still be wary of supplying it for all that it will save, if you supply bead that the renderers don't normally use and something goes wrong with the rendering, even if it's completely unrelated to the bead, they may blame the bead. We had an issue with some of our windows not opening, because some of the block work was build too close to the windows. We were lucky that for two of the windows a small section of render could be removed, a thinner bead added and render reapplied. However for 2 of the other windows large sections of render would need to be removed as you can't really path or repair it. I just don't want to see you getting into a situation where you have a crap render job that the render company won't fix because you have saved a few hundred pounds supplying the bead.

I think my comment would be take expert advice, then follow a course of action recommended by the expert (who may offer you more than one possibility). I am someone who also lost a father to asbestosis - in this case probably from being the supervising architect on a ventilation system incorporating asbestos back in the late 60s ie not even working with it physically. If you encapsulate, then there are regulations that apply - and presumably possible future liability issues. This is imo one of the times not to cut corners. Ferdinand

Ta. 6GB HDD, 8GB CF.

If you're happy with using Linux live systems and the CF card is as big as or bigger than the HDD then just use dd to copy the whole HDD to the CF. No need to format or anything. Just be careful that you get the right output disk otherwise ? If the HDD is, say, sdb and the the CF card is sdc then make sure none of the partitions on the either disk are mounted then something like: $ sudo dd if=/dev/sdb of=/dev/sdc bs=10M and away it should go copying one disk to the other byte for byte. bs=10M sets the blocksize for the copy, it doesn't make much difference but will likely speed things up a bit. If you've got spare space on the in the CF card you can expand the file system later to use it all (fdisk, e2fsck, resize2fs). If the CF is smaller than the HDD then it's all a bit more complicated.

@lizzie thank! and no worries, we keep just discussing abstractly whether this would suit us, and would love to see a nice example or two (IRL, ideally)

As someone who doesn’t have enough insulation in the floor here it’s still an area of massive regret and not one I can now fix so I would definitely take the advice above and see if you can incorporate more insulation, and definitely see if you can get a quote for the whole ASHP supply and install as that should just make life so much easier for you in terms of ongoing support. The minute that chain is broken somewhere it starts to get tricky. It may cost a bit more than people here think is necessary but I think it will be worth it.

And another unlucky person was my husband who never worked with it directly but came across it in his job years ago and died a horrible painful death. If you are susceptible to the fibres it only takes a single breath which is why teachers are dying of mesothelioma because older schools are full of it and in the past they would have been in contact with fibres simply by pinning children’s drawings to the wall. I wouldn’t wish that death on anyone having witnessed it!

Easy Fill first! ? Then Leyland Super Leytex followed by Dulux Trade Diamond Matt.

The window tape isn't the same as the airtightness tape used elsewhere, from what I saw of the stuff we used. The tape used between the vapour tight boards etc was Siga, which is yellow, and the stuff used to seal the windows was white and had a very different look and feel to the airtightness tape used elsewhere. It also had a split backing, so that it could be carefully lined up on the window frames (to avoid it being stuck on too far and end up showing) and stuck down neatly, then the larger backing could be peeled off and stuck to the reveal. My concern if you have air blowing through gaps around the windows is that you may end up with condensation between the timber and window frame. That's not at all good, and really needs sorting properly, IMHO. The chances are that the silicone won't stay bonded well to the timber side, as silicone isn't really the right stuff to use for this application. An MSP sealant might have been OK, but even then I think I'd be a bit concerned about movement. The window sealing tapes are designed to seal and allow movement, when they are properly applied. I have to say that I wasn't impressed with our window fitting either, but I chose to not have them seal the windows, and said I'd do it myself. I spent a couple of days going around adjusting the fit of the frames and sealing up around them. I'm glad I did, from what I've heard of the experience of others with some window fitters.

When I had some fence posts to put in, I just pushed them in with the digger. I took a trusting volunteer to stand there and hold them upright while I swung the bucket round........

Following @dpmiller's lead I got the CF card and ide adapter. Good news in that the bios recognises the card as the primary hdd: Now I guess to format the CF card and somehow clone the old clunker hdd.

Bet the hairdo wasn't cheap @lizzie

Sound advice above. Can I just say well done for keeping your cool and not giving the trades person a roasting, which would be the default approach for many I think.

@ProDave To you it may well seem expensive. To us it was value for money, given the net cost as you say will be £7600!! I posted these details in an attempt to provide some guidance rather than to generate a debate as to whether or not we paid too much for the system. As @joth said above, there will always be a discussion about price so perhaps it is sometimes better to just provide figures as opposed to judgments. Just a thought that's all.

Buildhub - the site that creates homework. ?

We have these. Working fine for the last 4 years - haven't even looked at them to be honest (they're on the roof under the panels, which in our case are mounted on weighted frames on a flat roof). The latest update to the app gives per-panel info (per day, I think, unless you pay), so you can see whether there's a problem with any particular panel.

The unlucky person was my father in law. He'd inhaled a fibre of what was almost certainly chrysotile some time in the 1960's, he thought, when doing walk arounds pre-flight on the Comet (he was a Comet pilot at the time), which had chrysotile asbestos insulation exposed under the engine cowlings. His death was extremely unpleasant, and not something I'd wish on anyone.

conversely our GF is around 145m2 and I've a 12-port (inc 1x for the upstairs bathrooms) although I based this on a pretty conservative design off LoopCAD.

Cementone Cempolay Deep does up to 50mm. Think it's changed it's name. https://www.bostik.com/UK/products/Screedmaster-Deep-floor-levelling-compound

Payment of the whole thing before delivery looks questionable. Can you make that match their cost profile more closely? And I would want a retention until after commissioning and proven correct functioning.

So that floor construction is bare building regs... lose 50mm of RC35 and add it to the insulation layer to make it 120mm I expect the Nu-Heat quote is about £18k..?? £8k for Heat Pump and install, £3 for the tank, £5k for the UFH and £2k for the bits and pieces ..? Who’s done the heat loss calcs for the building ..??

Unfortunately 30 mil is too much for self levelling You may have to use Grano Quite cheap. You can make a semi dry mix by adding some cement

One advantage of microinverters is that their commutation capacitors only need to handle modest currents, and so they can use non-electrolytic capacitors. These don't suffer anywhere near as badly as the long-life electrolytics used in much bigger inverters, so realistically I suspect their life could be many decades.

So we now had the follow up survey to check for roosting bats, despite the lack of evidence in the first report. I've just had an email: The survey was a good one. We found no roosting bats, and it was quieter on the activity front than we would have expected from the location. There were soprano and common pipistrelles foraging around the edges of the garden, and a myotis bat that was foraging along the bank behind the house. We didn’t see any birds nesting, but there was plenty of birdsong around us and some quite active blackbirds at dawn. I’m hoping to get the findings written up this week but there shouldn’t be any restrictions from bats, a generalised method statement is usual as bats have been known to just show up sometimes, but the only timing restrictions will come from the nesting birds as detailed in the original report. So, basically no issues. Annoying we had to pay for the follow up report to check for roosting bats even though there was no evidence, but there we have it. Hopefully we will now get a decision re planning as they wouldn't do anything until we had this....

You could use a steel or cast fire back - they would look pretty good and easy to procure. They need a 25mm stand off to stop the plaster scorching.

Think we used vermiculite fire board and fire bricks for the last gas fired kiln we refurbished in work. Was not cheap to buy but easy to work with. Si

According to Mrs NSS there's a large fossil in our bath/shower.... ... every time I step into them!

Productive weekend. First few sheets of PB up downstairs, more tiling (both side wings complete, ridge tiles on etc), and the main ducts in place for the MVHR. Still need to strip them all back out to seal joints/ make up hangers/ insulate etc.

Windows and doors are complete, finally. And very pretty they are too, another piece in the puzzle. Tiles etc arrived on Monday and the Solar kit should be here at the start of the week so then it'll be time to practice the batten-walking.

We are just commencing our second self-build (started onsite last week). In both cases we have used Architects and in both cases have been very happy with the results. We have outlined how in both case we selected and worked with our architect which we hope will assist other people starting out on their self build journey. 1) Start thinking about which architect you are going to use when you start looking for land and not when you have found land. 2) Draw out a requirements list. My approach is to provide a brief / framework for the architect to interpret rather than prescriptively dictating to the last detail. Requirements should be no more than 2 pages. By making the requirements generic, you can apply them to most plots of land. Include in the requirements why you are building as well (develop and sell, house for life etc) 3) Checkout your architects previous designs. There is likely to be a common design pattern and if that is way off what you want then maybe the architect isn't for you. Also go and see a couple of houses - just viewing from the outside can tell you a lot. 4) If you see a plot that is a potential candidate, email architects on your shortlist for feedback. Most architects will provide feedback for free within reason and the reply will help you to decide if the architect is thinking along the same lines as you. Also, meet with your architect before you engage formally to check that they are a person that you can work with. 5) Be completely upfront with the architect about your budget, put it in your requirements list and be very clear what that budget includes and doesn't include. 6) Be completely upfront with your architect about their fees. Fees based on a %age of the build cost are OK as long as the build cost used is your budget for the build at the outset (fixed) rather than the actual build cost (variable). 7) Good architects are in high demand and don't need to advertise so you will need to research (a lot) and do your legwork. Be prepared for the fact that you might need to wait for the architect you want to become available. 8. Check whether the architect has any experience in the build method you want to adopt and the energy standards that you want to achieve. Find out what the build costs have been on recent build projects and how these compared to budgeted costs . 9) Check with the relevant boards that any claimed registrations are correct. 10) Fees may seem expensive, but for the amount of work that goes into a design I have always felt I got good value for money. In the context of the cost of the project it is a small percentage much of which can be quite easily recouped with a little restraint on the fixtures and fittings. 11) If you use an architect local to the build, it is more likely that he will be able to advise on securing good contractors based on experience of previous builds. My architect has more than recouped his fee by drawing up an attractive house that is straightforward to build. Insulation is what we need to get to passivhaus but no more and the size of the house is what we can build to meet our budget (based on his previous build costs) and requirements. Listed below are the requirements we drew up which may assist others going through a similar exercise: Build Budget: £325K (House, Garage) excludes landscaping, external works and professional fees. The Plot There were a large number of objections to the development from residents but planning permission was granted on appeal. Plot width is around 16.7m. Plot length is 44m. Electricity, Water and mains sewerage (but not gas) available at the plot boundary. Functions of the Building Home for ourselves and the dog. Enough room for friends, grown-up children to stay and family get-togethers. Building a house for life as we can’t get what we like on the open market. We love cooking and the outdoors, so it should support that. Combine open plan living combined with a segregated quiet room downstairs Provide a comfortable and healthy interior environment with a stable temperature and no drafts. Design Direction and Requirements Good natural light to rooms is really important with dual aspect windows in as many rooms as possible but not too keen on huge oversized windows that require complex and expensive shading solutions Designed to Passivhaus standards in a cost-effective manner but don’t over-rely on technology that has high cost to install and maintain. Downstairs Open plan kitchen, dining room and seating area Utility room (able to dry clothes in using pulley) Lounge Small Study if possible WC / Washbasin Good Storage – larder cupboard, cloakroom and cupboard for cleaning utensils Somewhere to sort out a muddy dog and muddy boots (A covered porch with a stone floor and bench maybe). Sliding doors or similar out to the garden from the sitting area. Bottom of kitchen window to be level with the kitchen worktop. Back door into the utility room No large step into front or back door WC away from front door if possible Upstairs 3 to 4 double bedrooms. Small study if not room downstairs (or 4th bedroom) Built in wardrobes Cathedral ceiling. Master bedroom should be able to comfortably take a king size be. En-suite in master. Separate shower in bathroom. General Heating / DHW – no mains gas. Solar PV with a diverter? ASHP (noise?) Consideration given to some acoustic insulation between rooms and between downstairs / upstairs. Doesn’t need to be completely soundproof however. LED lighting throughout and up the staircase Point for charging electric car. Ability to use battery storage in the future should it become more cost-effective. No requirement for chimney or wood burning stove. Agnostic about whether the garage is attached or detached, but should have storage for bikes and a little workshop area. Could be modified for easy access upstairs in the future (Straight staircase maybe). Point for charging electric car. Low maintenance exterior for windows and wall facings. House to have a more contemporary feel inside. Outside to tie in with planning / design code. Window frames recessed into the openings. Other Stuff Recess in shower wall for soap etc. Built in bookcases Lots of sockets Sockets in cupboards for charging hoover etc. Room in utility room for dog crate Built in water filter Water softener Lighting on dimmers with switches that gradually turn LED lights on so they don’t blow. Good outdoor lighting (pathways) Outdoor power point / tap Phone point in every room

The lady I bought my last house from was married to the head of ICI at a depot where they made asbestos products, so she told me he even went on TV to say it was harmless, a few years later he was unwell and on examination he was eaten out by the stuff and died quickly afterwards. She was embarrassed by the situation and rarely went out. ICI paid for an annual checkup for her as her husband almost certainly brought fibres home on his clothes. She was lucky but died of unrelated health conditions years later. The stuff is not to be messed with.

Are there no tapes around the windows? The window tape is designed to take up a fair bit of movement and still maintain a seal all the way around, unlike some sealants that may pull away. If there is air flowing through gaps around the window frames with a timber frame then something's seriously wrong, and needs fixing, and that won't be that easy, as it will mean removing the plasterboard around the reveals and looking to see what's gone awry.

No harm done. Critical HDD back in its own lappy and booting up fine / back to normal. Result on this newly purchased one too. Same screen above trying to boot from the HDD it came with. Problem with the "modular bay" turned out to be the CD drive. Whether it wasn't sited properly I'll find out shortly after a bit more playing. I did buy it with the rider saying it booted to the screen in the OP so all's good! Now to delve into his JPEGs and deleted stuff! ? Christ...hit the mother load here. Folders such as "berlin", "amsterdam" & "naughty". EDIT: Nothing "naughty". Plenty of ripped male torsos taking selfies in the mirror though. Squaddies possibly. What looks like an Army wedding. WTF couldn't I have bought a fit lesbian's laptop??? I've contacted the seller asking if there's anything on here they want. He's come back and thanked me for informing him but said feel free to wipe clean.