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Unexpected consequence of Corona Virus - you need your 8.5 month pregnant partner to help you pull the house down as all the hire places are closed and you need a long chain and a VW golf in lieu of a telehandler... VID-20200328-WA0006.mp4

I've finished the house roof

I have read a couple of posts on this, haven’t read them all life’s too short. But my thoughts are why does something have to add up money wise, if you think it will improve your home environment why does it have to add up that it equals out what it costs. Do you never ever go to a restaurant and think I would really like the big 24oz T bone steak, but it’s £29 and the 6oz burger is only £12 do you buy the burger because it represents better value or do you want a steak. I dont understand the comments of my MVHR cost £3000 but it saves me x from my heating, who gives a toss, from everybody on here who has it I haven’t seen anybody who regretted it, if it makes for a good living environment who cares what it costs.

15 5+5*2 Silly game 5+19*2 43 but i blame the poor resolution

43

One problem that seems looming on the horizon (may already be here) is that some very useful disinfectants may be in short supply, driving up the price. I have a (now diminishing) stock of isopropyl alcohol, for making surface disinfectant and hand sanitiser, but this is now getting to be really hard to buy, and when it is available the price is very high. There's an alternative that is very safe to use, and which can be produced using just water, salt (sodium chloride) and low power electricity, hypochlorous acid. This can be produced using electrolysis, but it needs electrodes that are pretty inert, and ideally also needs a way to separate out the three reaction products, chlorine (which we want to dissolve in water), hydrogen (which needs to be safely vented) and sodium hydroxide (which we don't really want in the end product). There are some (fairly dubious) Chinese made "hypochlorous acid" generators available (for around £20) but they clearly don't make any attempt to remove the sodium hydroxide, and that creates two problems. The first is that sodium hydroxide is caustic, and undesirable in any disinfectant, the second is that it's a strong alkali, so will encourage the premature breakdown of the hypochlorous acid (ideally, the pH needs to be around 4 to give it a reasonable shelf life). The raw materials seems to be fairly easily available, like titanium electrodes. What's needed is an easily made device that can separate out the three products from electrolysis and produce relatively pure hypochlorous acid in solution. This doesn't need to be concentrated, as it's pretty powerful when very diluted. It's been proven to have a strong effect against both bacteria and viruses, and it's safe to use on or around foodstuffs. I've ordered some titanium for the electrodes, and plan to try and make a useful hypochlorous acid over the coming days, making sure that the output from the thing is properly tested, both so I know it's safe and to determine how effective it is. I believe this can be done with easily available test kit, as it seems that hypochlorous acid is already used to disinfect some swimming pools, in preference to using hypochlorite dosing and pH balancing.

43. Boy =5 Shoes=10 Cones=4 Boy 5 + cones+ shoes = 19 19 X 4/2 cone =38 38+ 5 (one shoe) = 43

It's down to the chemistry, rather than the physical stuff. You start with water (H2O) and salt (NaCl), and when you chuck some energy into this solution, via the electrodes, then you get diatomic hydrogen (H2) liberated from the cathode, diatomic chlorine (Cl2) liberated from the anode and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in the remaining solution. To make hypochlorous acid, the chlorine needs to be dissolved in pure water. To make it stable, the pH of the water needs to be reduced to about 4. I think that just using acetic acid (vinegar) should do this OK. The mechanical stuff will just be devising an easy way to collect and disperse the hydrogen from the cathode, collect and dissolve the chlorine from the anode into the acidified water solution and coming up with an easy to use, charge and clean reaction vessel, without resorting to lab glassware.

I think it will be difficult to get it removed because appeal inspectors put a lot of weight on approved local plans. One reason is because these plans have (in theory) been put out to public consultation so the public approves of them, democracy in action and all that. It's not the government fault that few people read or comment on local plans. I think you would need to find evidence that Similar conditions have been removed on another house nearby. Or perhaps prove the 2003 plan is somehow out of date. Eg the area is no longer in the greenbelt or significant new development has been allowed that changes the character of the area since 2003 so that it probably wouldn't be considered green belt today.

Ok, ok. I up my offer to 68. Final answer.

In these uncertain time’s this is very interesting. I for one would be very interested in producing my own “brew” so will be watching this thread closely. Thanks @Jeremy Harris fir sharing ?

It doesn’t make any difference for tiles Though most commercial jobs that I price are including Ditra matting in the spec

If you are tiling it needs to be flat, so check it with a long level and some packers to see. If you can easily slide a 5mm packer under in lots of places then it may need a fair bit of levelling compound. Localised bits the tiler will get over.

Same here. I sealed our slab with diluted PVA, made it a great deal easier to sweep up dust, shavings etc. Ours was powerfloated pretty much dead flat, and we have a mix of large format travertine tiles and bonded bamboo flooring (the latter stuck down with Sikabond 95) fixed directly to it.

I had a good finish on my slab but I wouldn't have described it as dust free.

Couldn’t agree more !!

Bull floated should be fine if you are tiling.

it depends if my tenants are still paid and they pay me?, they are good tenants and I want them to stay. I am sure we can come to an agreement.

Just to close this thread: I have just found this document (below) which describes the Permitted Development classes from A to H. It turns out that in may planning permission letter I have only had removed Class A and part of Class B. Therefore I still have my permitted development rights for an ASHP. Good news! Thanks @joth for correcting me. I am still tempted to add an ASHP to any non-material amendment I choose to submit so that I can get cooling as well as heating, but that's a separate matter. The document, Permitted development rights for householders, Technical Guidance: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/830643/190910_Tech_Guide_for_publishing.pdf

@Adam2 the last house I did was timberframe in this one icf I intend adding a service batten then screw osb, then stick plasterboard, no screw holes in plasterboard to fill,just joints to tape, nowhere near ready to do this yet so this is just my first thoughts.

it’s the way I read the guidance and the way my “tax man” has declared stuff fir me.

Why not ply it and then cover in plasterboard and paint, I will be doing this to 90% of my walls 15mm osb then plasterboard i did my last house like this and it makes an amazing difference solid feeling, easy to fix to, adds protection to plasterboard against puncture and dents. Peter beat me, must learn to type faster.

15mm OSB then 9mm plasterboard would be cheaper ..? Doesn’t the CU still have to go onto a non flammable surface ..?

There are varying interpretations among electricians so the first question is what does the spark that will be signing it off (if any) think the regs mean? I would say no : the only way they could drop is once the joist fails. That is not "premature" : at that point the building is structurally unsound and any emergency services will be withdrawn anyway. I'd say yes, plasterboard may be dislodged during firefighting operations (by water as Jeremy says, or pulled down to access/check for fire in the ceiling cavity). Which would leave these cables and clips exposed. I'd say no, as option one if the 50*50 timber itself is burned through then you're well beyond "premature" collapse. Firefighters may remain if small bits of plasterboard are falling/being pulled down but if whole sheets are dropping off the ceiling complete with their battens that's a very different situation. The concern is primarily surface mounted cables / trunking systems. You're right to consider fixing though - a metal clip in a plastic rawlplug is likely to fail early in a fire. But a metal fixing direct into structural timber is not a concern as it will survive at least as long as the timber (and therefore the structure) itself.

I had a special 32mm high flow meter fitted which is approved for sprinkler systems, hence the 32mm mdpe to the house. might still not be enough flow but give me a chance

Loads of 32mm Double check valves out there for MDPE..?? Not sure why you are struggling to find them ..?? TBH I would not bother trying to do this in MDPE anyway - terminate the house 32mm with an MDPE stop valve and convert to 28mm copper. Tee the copper into a pair of supplies, put a DCV on each and then a full bore lever valve and a drain tap, then reduce the house supply to 22mm and leave the 28mm to the sprinkler guys. House can then convert back to Hep2O or similar but you’ve essentially got a fireproofed supply at that point using standard parts.

That’s me. The Porotherm was recommended by the SE. Really though having looked at the specs and the build I don’t see any benefit versus any other blocks using a thin joint system. The blocks were laid by normal brickies. They flew up on a straight wall with no openings but they struggled when it came to cutting openings. In the end the blockwork took massively longer than expected to go up. The blockwork has a parge coat for air tightness but there are still all the issues you get around windows and joints that require good detailing by the builders no matter how you build. The main issue they created build wise was attaching the windows to them. They crumble when you put fixings in them. For some things you can drill a hole and fill it with adhesive but windows have so many fixings. In the end we had to put ply frames around the window openings to attach the windows. We have a cavity wall 100mm porotherm 50mm gap 100mm pir 100mm block 37.5mm insulated plasterboard on dot and dab. The quoted u value is low. I wanted to build in ICF and think it would be much better, I just couldn’t find a builder who had used it before. I would actually stick with timber frame unless you need to use blockwork. We have concrete upper floors so it was necessary. There might be a big efficiency benefit on a single skin wall but that would be a quite unusual build.

I bought the oregon cordless at start of my major site clearing operation I have to say it has been as good as you really could expect cutting 14" sycamore,ash etc --blackthorn not to happy with (hard as hell) biggest tree a 20+" 60ft sycamore I have the 6amp batteries --and they last around 50mins-1hr15,depending on how much you lean on it and what you are cutting -to be honest 2 batteries worth on sloping ground is enough for an old man in a day but it is not a direct swop for a petrol saw i have found -- so if garden work,logs on saw horse --it will be fine most annoying thing is the anti kick back auto shut off --but maybe just me asking too much of it---but makes it very safe for most users would I buy again for sensible use -yes-on my third chain for site clearance -- - NO

There is a new house down the road from me built in them, I called in to have a look and was very surprised at the amount of insulation they had to add to the blocks, it was in effect that the blocks added very little to the insulation value. have you looked into the u value you can get with them.

The building regulations set only set the minimum standards for ventilation, and it's more-or-less accepted that those standards are fine for day-to-day living if the users use them properly. If the turn off the MVHR, don't change the filters, close off the trickle vents, don't open windows, etc, there will be a problem - and that's more likely in poorer households where people struggle to pay for heating. However a new house may or may not have a VOC problem, depending on the products chosen, particularly during the the first two to three years. I have seen a study on this but don't have the details. At the moment, in the UK, there's not even much awareness of the issue. France, in contrast, has had a mandatory labelling scheme for key construction and decorating products since 2013, linked to the levels of 10 key VOCs, plus the voluntary 'intAIRieur' auditing scheme for the indoor air quality of new housing. Since you have time for research, you may want to check out the Natureplus database (an Austrian initiative, so mainly Austrian / German products) and the USA Healthy Building Network and Healthy Materials Lab. Plus the work of the UK Green Building Council and Alliance for Sustainable Building Products.

I'm a bit late to this thread but I just want to say how interesting it is and to thank @DavidHughes for his view / findings on an MVHR system. I know a lot of members on here are converts and I can understand why that would be but for those members who are debating whether or not to install one, the arguments being out forward by David are valid..After all, it is my understanding that he isn't questioning the benefits of such a sysyem, he is just pointing out that they may not represent good value etc. As I have previously stated, I haven't installed one because on balance i could / didn't believe it represented good value and I took my lead from a well established House building Company who also shared the same view. Therefore we should thank David for putting such an argument forward to allow others to become more informed etc??

Would platinum be the best, can get that from underneath cars.

Shoe = 5 Boy = 5 Icecream = 2 Shoe + (Boy x Icecream) = ? 5 + (5 x 2) = ? 5 + 10 = 15 I always feel assaulted, after a bit of battery, with these things.

One shot only: 28?

Ha ha, I hadn't spotted the half a pair of shoes, so that surely must be the right answer.