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Blimey, hope I answer everyone! No, although the posts do contribute a little the primary load bearing is done by the bales. In theory if the building had no doors or windows the roof would be sitting on nothing but bales. It's absolutely not an infill design. By the way, the roof is temporarily held a little higher while the bales are inserted, then the roof is physically dropped on to the top of the bale walls. That was flippin scary... The wiring is in metal conduit, which is then sandwiched in scrim and rendered over. We also have some internal stud partitions that can take wiring and plumbing. For sockets, we hammer in a hazel stake around 250mm long and screw a little square pad of Smartply on to that. Socket boxes then screw to that.

+1 - it's funny how all the best opportunities seem to come at the wrong time in life!

Mostly eBay Its surprising how many people have one or two items to clear Or like the Geberit Just surplus to requirement The chap who sold me those said they had been meant for under a windows on a job and the window was to low The client had paid for them and they had been in his yard for twelve moths We bought all our Hager Rcbos From eBay Mostly Electrician’s with a couple over Manage to buy 19 of the 20 needed Saving a couple of hundred quid The list goes on

yes or just buy an old trawler and moor it next to my jetty used to be 2000ton boats came in for the granite I have a picture somewhere of the last boat than came in the 90,s --a russian one -it went back with granite and 6 ladas as deck cargo --still very sought after in russia and very cheap here not sure how that would go down but the simplest if planning end up being very hard to work with would be to refurb "the Glebe" I reckon 150k tops would totally rebuild that to modern specs rip out all interior and build a kit house inside it basically but the idea was to sell the quarry and the jetty and the glebe anyway we,ll have to see how things go once I get somewhere with planning then other bits will advertised so many options its mind blowing OHH to be younger

I would open windows and point an office fan at the effected area. When it feels dry keep going for a few more days.

Yes, 8.5kW monobloc with 300 litre cylinder. Generally, the packages offered with the 8.5kW came with a smaller cylinder, my feeling that these are primarily marketed at developers and installers as 'about right'. I simply specified what I wanted. Being brutal, a developer probably isn't interested in whether you have the right capacity cylinder for family use, they are concerned with what SAP says you should use, and cost. We have run with a 8.5kW and 300 litre cylinder for over 3 years without problem - have never run out of hot water (which I can't say in a previous house when we had a 200 litre cylinder). The only issue with a small ASHP and large cylinder is the reheat time is longer, but if you don't run out of water in the first place, that really isn't a factor.

The whole of our TF house is clad in OSB3 racking and as it was to be part of the airtightness layer we fitted it without any gaps. That was nine years ago and there don't seem to have been any problems.

With your new bridge supplying 5.1 to each room, all opperated from your phone. Did the speakers make a chuckling sound when the door unlocked. On a more serious note:

One thing with the automatic locking function is there is no snib feature, so I take a key with me whenever I go out.

No taping of nail holes. The theory is it is not a problem, unless you pull a nail out and then leave an open hole. The OV10 vents I used are supposed to give a ventilation area equivalent to a continuous 10mm gap. the vents are somewhat thicker than 10mm but I don't know by how much. All my OSB is just nailed. I used a 3mm gap because like you I was not sure.

For a loft conversion I did years ago I did my own drawings taking details from two different other loft conversions where I borrowed their plans. The BI was intrigued as he said plans were like a finger print (back in the day) and they could recognise the architect By the drawings, when I told him what I did he was well impressed and it all passed.

Yes when heating DHW the HP runs at full tilt most of the time, unlike when heating the house the compressor and fan runs much slower. The HP is just outside a small living room window and that is the only time we can hear it at all inside. The default with mine is to only run in DHW mode for half an hour at a time (you can change that) I speculate that is either to reduce risk of icing, or the designers were worried if the space heating was off for more than half an hour at a time you might notice it (you would not in our house) A typical day when you are only re heating what has been used it will get the tank up to temperature in one half hour cycle, but if the ladies have both had a "hair wash" shower, or a bath, it will take longer. This week, which has been a pretty grey and quite wet week, so poor solar PV generation, we used 15kWh heating DHW with the heat pump.

That means just unlocking, they can open it - although in the Covid era maybe better of the 'entertainment' does not touch the door handle - no let them open the door, once unlocked, but fit these new fangled Silver Ion coated door handles that kill Covid. Simples!

Did a course a while back and the instructor had had to park in a local NCP. Asked for a couple volunteers to go to his BMW and grab the course material. He watched us remotely from his phone and unlocked the boot when we got there. Said it's dead handy if out shopping and the wife / kids get back to the car before he does.

Like putting the key down in the boot to pick up a box, closing the boot and the car locking itself automatically five minutes later, because that’s how it’s programmed by the manufacturer!

He wants to let the ‘entertainment’ into the house whilst he’s supping a cocktail in the hot tub ?

OK - assuming this is a rectangular box going on the back of an ordinary detached house, and there is a single knock through (??) and it is of standard construction with no unusual quirks such as corner glazing or full width bifolds.? If so, why the drawings..?? If you are going with a main contractor then tbh a standard plan and elevation annotated with the standard details would be fine, and I would even go with a building notice instead of plans and let the contractor crack on with it. Standard Details

PD...just seemed expensive for a few drawing sheets and spec, 70% of which will likely be generic cut and paste.

Sounds OK to me. Maybe get a couple of other quotes? I have a quote of £6,350 for detailed design for 3 flats which works out at £36 per metre.

Surely the door is smarter than to make you go around the town to lock it again. I recall having a car, I might still have it somewhere, that you can unlock remotely but if you don't open the door in 10 seconds it locks again so if you accidentally hit the unlock it protects itself and of course you could always hit the lock button!

The few times I have encountered that, when you "buz" the door, that means it can be pulled to open it. But if you don't pull it and stop buzzing it it remains closed and locked. The daft part of what you have is not only unlocking the door but springing it open.

Brill Thanks for all your help

That’s just crap design ... and no fail safe..? I’m assuming this stuff is all insurance approved..??

How you finding this, is it functioning as predicted? dont know why it keeps attaching @Jamesp post, cannot get rid of it. What chance have I got running something complicated! Just spoken the to the people supplying ours, he said all the calculations work out and it would be fine. The only advantages would be higher flow rates and quicker recovery time for the hot water. To be safe I’ve opted to upgrade to the 11kw it was an extra 900. Just told the misses to cancel the curtains ?

I am running a (different make) 5kW ASHP with a 300L tank.

https://www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/bauhaus-low-height-wall-hung-wc-support-frame?gclid=CjwKCAjwi_b3BRAGEiwAemPNU0knLBdTR9e53d9TeZRqZfqE84B5GL_DkzAsnrJ550v2TrFlzjDZfBoCTHgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Couple of pics as requested. Load-bearing strawbale walls, lime render inside and out (starting that this week).

Hi Alex, I've given this a little thought. Although initial impressions mightn't stun, the house isn't actually that bad. Just wearing the wrong frock. I think on a modest budget you could make huge improvements. There is no visual break from the hard brown surfaces running from the driveway through to the low wall, the rockery/garden and the walls. The expanse of plain brick above the door also jars. I suspect this was done for ease of maintenance but lends to the "quarry floor" appearance of the whole thing. The windows are flush with the external wall giving a caravanesque, depthless quality, lacking the 3D appearance of solidity and quality. The roof and the dormer are what they are, but the combination of weathered tiles and various shades of brown give that feeling of putting a three course meal into a blender. My suggestions: 1. Simplify the colour pallet, choose 3-4 main complimentary colours and stick to them. 2. Improve the appearance of the house openings by adding some depth. 3. Break up the hard surfaces. You could remove the roof and replace it with 400mm I Joists, pumped with cellulose, externally insulate with 300mm rockwool with a modern thin layer render, new triple glazed windows €100k plus etc etc etc Meanwhile back in the real world with bills to pay, and if your primary objective is aesthetic improvement rather that comfort/energy upgrades, I've made some suggestions below, see what you think. Jonathan I don't think brick and a contemporary aesthetic are mutually exclusive. Buy some tile paint, and give the whole roof, including the shingles on the dormer a new lease of life. Consider some contemporary window mouldings to give the windows depth. Paint the windows and the fascia+soffit a tasteful colour. Update the front door to a more modern design. A coat of paint,some new glazing and some ironmongery might do this. Add a tasteful porch overhang to break up the large area of brick above the door and provide shelter. Change its colour as required to achieve the contemporary aesthetic. Dig out the area of limestone and plant lawn or tidy shrubbery in this area. Take up the last 2-3m of brick paving nearest to the house and replant with lawn or similar if space allows. This terraced effect would settle the house into its surrounds and reduce the feeling of living in a parking lot.

Yeah yeah yeah !! Inadvertently hit the “unlock front door” whilst deploying the latest code . ffs ! Drove to the other side of town to close my own door ffs ! Will add a “yes/no” prompt followed by a 4 digit code to prevent said happening again ffs ! Where’s my wine ?!

Thats a cable I woukd say. My last car was a 330D BMW. You can start it with the key in the car..then remove the key leave it in the house. Then get in drive 30 miles....turn it off.....and then and only then realise you have no key to restart it. I learned that the hard way

No it isn't, it is under the mat.

By the sound of that you’ve drunk it all. (PS Yes it did give me a larf.)