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Do you not need to conduct ground infiltration test in order to correctly size a soak away? It's all well and good knowing how much water is coming off the roof but a key component of the problem is how quickly that water drains away?

The AECB have given free access to their webinars during the Covid-19 problems. They cover a range of subjects and may be of interest to some. https://www.aecb.net/webinar-recordings/# There is also an airtightness webinar on 19th May 12.00 to 1.00PM. https://www.aecb.net/airtightness/

...ish ?‍♂️

It was decided that four houses would be classed rather than the wet sash like the other 42 Cladders are on Furlough so I was asked if we could drop off the framing and make a start on the cladding With there Cedar that was already onsite Weve just one gable to finish off and who should arrive onsite Not happy bunnies

Found one here.. https://www.yourspreadsheets.co.uk/soakaway-design.html Scroll down for download link. PS can't view it using the tablet I'm on. Needs macros enabled.

It’s a myth. Expansion coefficient of chipboard is tiny - 0.03-0.04 mm/m/deg C so a 20 degree change summer to winter will be around 3-4mm at most over the room width of 4m. A 10mm expansion gap both ends means the whole floor has about 500% expansion capacity. The downside is that BCOs expect to see a static 8-10mm expansion gap, but as I said I would fill that with cheap acrylic sealant and then put a skirting over it when it’s all been boarded and you’ll never see it. @zoothorn if you’re putting Lino down then fill it with sealant and go over the top with the Lino at the doorway and job done.

@joe90 That is the obvious answer but I want to know how to do it myself because as it stands I think he's wrong and I think I have all the data I need to produce an answer myself. I don't want to be fobbed off. @LA3222 As I said, I've got the results for the percolation test, I take it they are one and the same thing? And from @Temp's link I've got a BRE document with lots of formulas, pictures wiggly lines and graphs so I think I'm on my way to an answer.

Understood. But why didn't I just butt the floor up to the threshold.. because I had to have an expansion gap (aparantly), so how would this wood addition not negate the whole idea? this is why I thought PIR so it could expand into it, if it had to, in theory.

@Russell griffiths as requested. You can probably spot the earliest efforts as we learnt quite a bit as we went through it. The lean to turned out quite nice as we were able to use single boards from top to bottom (third photo). Any questions, ask away.

Oh, and 7: You should look to make a great hunk of your margin on the way in not the way out.

As a rule of thumb, a 1m3 soakaway does about 60m2 area, so take you area, divide by 60 and that should give a suitable soakaway size in m3.

Maybe just get a couple of packs to keep you going. I think more places will open in the next few weeks. Might be worth a call and haggle?

photoshop.... ?️‍♂️

That's how I got a ~150kg Sunamp up the stairs on my own. Took me the best part of a day, and was damned hard work (and it slightly damaged the stairs). That was before I discovered just how very useful an electric stair climber can be.

The BRE have a guide. They normally charge for it but I found a copy online here.. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.ecomerchant.co.uk/productattachments/index/download%3Fid%3D29&ved=2ahUKEwig2frsr5DpAhWUtXEKHYSmBFMQFjABegQIARAB&usg=AOvVaw3u7CprWtvZacdYCQlxh2OX&cshid=1588257907298

The push seems to have been a result of lobbying that started way back before the big boom in renewable generation, and before the marked decrease in electricity consumption that has happened over the past few years. Pretty sure it was a few of the big suppliers who lobbied hard initially, and then managed to convince government to set a target. The volatility, particularly upwards in peak times, of the 24 hour buy-ahead 30 minute period wholesale market was creating significant problems in terms of setting tariffs, and the big suppliers were also being squeezed by OFGEN with caps on the maximum they could charge. The situation seems to have changed a fair bit, with peak generation capacity having grown to the point where negative pricing events are now becoming more frequent. We've had an in-house energy monitor for many years now, initially one that was given away free by one of the energy suppliers ten or twelve years ago, and since this house went live we've been using my home made energy monitor display. Having a smart meter would make zero difference to our energy use, as we've already tuned our demand as best we can. The things also won't work here (no signal) and when I was chatting to the meter reader a year or so ago he told me that he had to do exactly the same meter readings on houses with smart meters as those without, apparently there's a legal requirement that they do this. I suspect that other technologies may well prove to be more effective at ironing out the peaks and troughs of demand vs generation, distributed storage already seems to be making some contribution, with the payback time for relatively small commercial energy storage installations, particular those associated with renewable generation projects, looking to be fairly short. Controlling generation capacity in this way seems both simpler and potentially more profitable for generators, as they then have some control over when they supply energy, and can choose to reduce output (and store it) during low wholesale price periods, then supply from storage during higher wholesale price periods. Smart meters in homes can't really do anything similar, and it seems unlikely that they will make a noticeable difference to demand patterns.

Don't forget you can run cables around a wall horizontally from socket to socket or light switch to light switch in safe zones. Some electricians and a LOT of builders don't realise that is allowed. (the one time I had a stand up finger wagging argument with a joiner who was trying to stop me doing that)

Yes great

Yes, that's fine, no problem at all, just a single run is all that's needed. You could go up to about 9 kW on 6mm² over 15m.

And there we have it. Thats what happens if customer and trades folk don't talk to one another...

We had smart meters installed several years ago at the request of our supplier at that time. And even then they sent a meter reader around to double check the readings. None of our subsequent suppliers have been able to collect readings remotely, but I think the newer meters will allow this. In my opinion smart meters won't help you to reduce your bills unless you really want to reduce them, and then you could probably get most of the savings by using a plug-in power monitor (costs about a tenner) and a modicum of common sense. The in-home display did allow me to double-check the consumption of some ceiling lights, the oven and the security alarm, though. Might have saved a few quid.

Some of us believe the real reason for smart meters is their ability for half hourly metering, i.e. to charge a different tariff for each half hour of the day. That is optional at the moment and some suppliers do offer that sort of tariff now. We fear once we all have smart meters we will be forced onto that sort of tariff which usually comes with a VERY high rate for the late afternoon / early evening period, just when you want to cook your dinner. That sort of tariff also makes it much harder to compare suppliers and switch to a better tariff. We are being "sold" smart meters on the idea they will save you money, It is NOT the smart meter that might save you money but the in room energy monitor that might save you money if you watch it like a hawk and find you have left something on that you don't need. but it is very unlikely to save you much, and you can have that sort of device with a normal meter. One has to ask if there is no real benefit for the consumer to have a smartmeter then just WHO is benefiting from them and pushing us to have them?

Avoid. I intentionally use suppliers who do not require a smart meter.

Looks good.

I would plug your drain pipe at the lowest IC and then fill it with water. A water filled pipe won't float. An EMPTY pipe will. That is what you don't want to happen. If you have any rocks, or spare concrete blocks kicking about, lay as many as you can on top of the currently exposed run of drain as further measures to prevent it floating should the tench fill with water. Get those pictures off to BC and get the trench refilled ASAP.

Back at the old house it would have been to cold At the new house we have 156 of Italian Porcelain Lovely under foot with UFH

@SuperJohnG The thresholds of our doors were of various depths, 3 of them significantly deeper than 30mm. Prior to the slab being poured wooden formers were made to provide the required depth in the finished concrete to ensure that once the doors were dropped into these depressions then the threshold would be 30mm above the finished floor level. Which was too high. It would have been incredible simple and free to make those depressions 10-15mm deeper, not doing so cost hundreds of pounds. Twas my fault, I didn't check the drawings closely enough until I saw the problem, by then it was way too late.

I was recommended it on here. It is very, very good. Possibly the best paint I've ever used tbh. It's got a very subtle sparkle to it to my eyes. For the pre coats inc a watered down 1st coat I used Leyland Super Leytex that's high opacity and good on new plaster. Tbh that looked bloody good on it's own. Any imperfections I filled with Easy Fill 20 before AND after the Super Leytex. (No I don't work for Deluxe or Leyland or British Gypsum!).

My detached workshop is insulated, heated and cooled, yet building control just weren't interested, as it wasn't a habitable building. Building control did no inspections at all on the garage/workshop, as it was detached, not a habitable building and under the floor area where building regs would apply.

I completely agree. I doubt the current owner planted that tree if it’s that big, I have many trees on my borders been there fir years.

What is it that you can only get from BPC and not the other supplier? Can't the other supplier supply everything you need? What's the advantage of not splitting an order? I'd personally go for 160mm if you have the chance and the runs will fit. All else being equal, bigger ducting will perform better.

Just to add to your dilemmas, if you throttle the airflow at the room terminal you will find that as you close them down (on rooms closest to the unit) the noise increases. Its been said that if you throttle the flow at the manifold the noise created is less noticeable. Some suppliers sell knock out restrictors for this purpose.

I wish one of my neighbours would offer me £10K to take a tree down.

Now this is extremely interesting. I had looked at this, but only found screw piles for garden buildings (in fact the websites are clear that they can't be used for houses). When I designed our house it was with the specific intention of happy coexistence with the neighbours tree, and as much as my head knows that trying to have it removed is the sensible option, my heart still wants it to stay. I always liked the idea of it as a backdrop to my house as viewed from my garden. Trying to make that happen has cost me about 3k in engineers fees and at least a year trying to get someone who is willing and able to do the piled foundations and raft slab I had designed, taking into account the difficuylt access to my plot. All to protect the tree. End result: It costs an awful lot of money, and stress, and time to get pretty close to nowhere. Turns out there may well be a method using trench foundations (with which I am far more comfortable in terms of experience, how forgiving they are, the cost, the logistics etc). This method doesn't involve the expense and risk to nearby property of piling, but should protect the tree, so that's what I'm set to do, though I will look at these ground screws. Thanks very much for the link. Yep. Hired one, used it to survey the roots. Its great, so long as you only want to know about the top 30 - 40 cm of root structure and nothing else. Beyond that I was into the clay, and the air spade didn't want to know. That said, if your not in clay these are amazing machines.

Good job you and I aren't neighbours then! In all seriousness though, if you were my neighbour and it was your tree I'd respect your right to adopt that position.... if you always loved that tree, and cared a lot about it's vital role in your lovingly tendered garden. Even then, I'd also expect you to respect my right to develop my own land, and at least explore the issue with me. If it turned out you were an absent landlord using a tree that you actually didn't care about just to hold me over a barrel to line your pockets, I'd perhaps think a little less of you. If you were an absent landlord who wouldn't even respond to my polite enquiries, I'd probably start a thread on BuildHub asking how to force the issue!

I decided to wait and see on silencers, never specced any in the original plan. MVHR unit is in basement plant room so plenty of space to retro fit one there - would be on the 160mm fresh supply port of MVHR, not the specific flexi as I probably don't have access to that anymore. Not sure why that port is particularly troublesome - all I can think of is that it's on the same side of the house as the MVHR (wasn't able to centrally locate) so the pipe run is relatively short compared to others. Also, as it's running along roof joists and not pozis, it needed to run laterally in the ceiling void to the eaves and then cut back, so maybe the relatively tight bend at that point is causing an issue. Almost (but not quite) motivated to crawl into the loft eaves to check, but pretty sure I boarded over that bit to enable storage

@Big Jimbo IMO there is nothing stopping you, crack on mate ?

This thread is making me laugh. Somebody bought a piece of land, and designed a house, which they put in for planning permission They did all of that knowing that the tree on neighbouring land was there, and would be a problem. They now expect somebody to be happy to remove, or have the tree removed. Please answer me this One question. WHY SHOULD HE ? ........."I won't be giving him any £10k" ...........Fine then you crack on and move your house somewhere else. Why do you all think the owner of the tree needs, or should do anything ? The owner, and the tree were there a long time before matey came along, and designed a house that he is now going to struggle to build. Who is really at fault here ? My £10k offer now expires in 28days. It then becomes £12k for 28 days, etc, etc. And building that close to the Boundary.....Don't expect any access, scaffolding etc......which i can arrange.... for a fee.

Replaced that cable in the end . Still ordered 4 of those maintenance free connectors - bound to come in use at some point .

When I retired and cleared my desk I found around 2 dozen completely pointless certificates that I'd been given for attending all manner of training courses, many of which had been about as useful as giving a fish a bicycle.

It won’t expand. It’s a myth. Cover it with a piece of timber and move on.

Sometimes you just have to take a punt, though. We bought our plot knowing we needed to take two trees down to have a hope of being able to build on it, so were taking the risk that someone would come along and just bang a TPO on them (very quick and easy to do - seems a favoured trick by some professional protestors). We took the risk, and the day that we completed the purchase I instructed a tree chap to take both of them down, as quickly as possible, in order to try and pre-empt any objectors causing us pain and grief. TBH, if I was faced with a tree problem like this, with a non-native tree right on the boundary, I'd probably still go ahead. I think the main difference is that it would be an ex-tree before I ever mentioned it on a public forum, as it would have met with an unfortunate accident that necessitated it's removal. Reminds me of a telephone pole that was at the end of the garden of a house I lived in, and prevented me being able to take out a section of fence and get a car into the back garden. That pole developed severe rot around the base, and was reported to the GPO (as they were then). When the chaps came around to replace it they were slipped a few quid to stick the replacement a couple of feet to one side, giving me enough room to get a car in. (old battery acid poured into drilled holes just below ground level tends to cause very rapid "decay").

Imagine going to court. Please judge, can I remove a tree? Judge, I don't know. Do you own a chainsaw, and have any skills?...... Well that's not the issue judge. The problem is that I'm a bit of a muppet. I've designed a house, and to enable me to build it more cheaply, I need to chop down One of my neighbours trees.......The old judge would be dining out on that one for years.... And guess what. The judge would be confirming that you were indeed a muppet.

Only got insulated plasterboard! i need good old plain plasterboard!

I don't know if you've used Manomano before but I have and I wish I hadn't. I thought I was buying from the UK as there was no indication to the contrary. In fact I was buying from France and I haven't received the goods and trying to get your money back when all you get are emails in french is a right PITA. It's not an ideal time to be buying from Europe with the lockdown.

Oh they did talk several times conversation went as follows Get your arse back on site We haven’t closed

There wuz I, a' diggin' this 'trench - by hand - so I got to know it quite well. The dogs, the cat, the chickens all came to review progress, and comment on progress. Hot, sweaty work: deep enough to be eye-level with the chickens. Why they even picked off the baked beans stuck to my T shirt. It hurt - a bit. But they were kindness itself really. I blame too many totally knackered suppers, slob-like, slumped in front of the TV. The hot weather lulled me into false security. Hadn't thought much about rain. Until yesterday. See, the guttering discharges a hundred mm from the trench. Talk about a laxative moment. Visions of a one meter deep swimming pool. But then I had a thought..... This is the trench How useful is a spare bit of gutter to re-direct the flow from the downpipe? ? Half way down the trench (red elipse) is the land drainage piping that's supposed to stop ground heave in ice-cold weather. That pipe takes the water flow down to a spot in the garden about 10 meters away and about 2 meters lower than the slab. From there it drains into a pond. Can I just duct the rainwater from the roof into that pipe?