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There is no rule saying your consumer unit can only be 3 metres from the supply head. What there is, is a DNO rule that you can only rely on their supply head fuse for cable protection for a run of up to 3 metres from the meter to the consumer unit. If you want your consumer unit more than 3 metres away, you fit your own switch fuse with an 80A fuse in it, in the meter box, and then your cable can be any length you want it.

This is the difference with car showrooms hotels etc that I price for ALL the floors are level and flat before we start I have a floor laser for measuring fall and undulation I mark out the bad areas and they can either sort them out Or pay us We have floor planners and will often have to use a pallet of self-leveling on a floor that’s only a couple of hundred m2 Most floor problems are caused by to much adhesive under the tile and to little in other places

It stems from BS7671. In the 18th edition it's regulation 433.2.2 (page 90 of the one I have in front of me). (Don't forget the regs aren't statutory but may be used as a defence in law etc). Put a switched fuse in between the meter and cu if wanting more than 3m.

I'm a bit late to the party on this; I made a ladder hoist some years ago when tiling my roof I used a 7m ladder to get to the height I needed. A friend borrowed it recently for his own place, assembled onto a 4m ladder this time. I'd happily out 100kg on it. Wouldn't need much extra work to take more weight. Hoist was a 125kg jobbie for sub-£50 at the time.

Just roughly. The drawing looks like you have a roof load. The 3no 150 x 50 vertically is fine and this is what I would expect to see. Using three timbers in this orientation gives you more capacity; strength, deflection and so on. You''ll often see this when you have a 6 inch TF kit (old money) metric sizes - 145mm deep studs or similar. If you have a 4 inch kit (89 mm deep studs or say 95mm) then you'll often see just the two lintel timbers vertically aligned, but they need to be deeper to carry the same load as 3no 145 mm timbers forming the lintel on your drawing. Using three timbers means you get a shallower over all lintel depth, all other loads and so on being equal. The thickness of each timber is often 45 mm (actual timber size as opposed to nominal size) so you need to pack out by 10mm on the inside ( 3 x 45 = 135mm but the studs are 145mm hence the 10mm) , you carry your inner insulation envelope round the lintel on the inside and this is a recognised way of mitigating the cold bridging. The horizontal lapping and the orientation of the timbers you may be thinking about is to do with how you connect each timber frame panel together at the top, bottom and where you have a corner. This is essentially to do with tying the panels together rather than supporting a roof load say. There is other stuff to do with TF shrinkage. Wood shrinks by differents amount in each direction relative to the grain. In summary you are best to put the timbers the way your drawing shows rather than on the flat, although they still may be strong enough.

Thank you all for your great analysis, discussion, explanation and references. You have all been a great help. I had this thing at the back of my mind that the fuse board could be a max of 3m even with 25mm^2 tails. Thanks again for the time you have taken to write your posts, it's much appreciated. You all have just solved what I thought was a problem for me! It would have taken me days to figure this out on my own.. and I would have needed a good bit of luck to boot. Gus

A really good old school tiler doesn't need a levelling system. A bad tiller will mess up the job with or without a levelling system.

Nope, not seen that before. Usually only 2 and laid flat. A stack of 3 like that vertically is usually used as a lintel over a door.

Ah yeah in that case doesn't sound like a good plan.

Personalized Granite ebay

I would imagine that would look smart and last a long time.

My wife Harriet & I are in the process of buying land with planning permission attached in Staffordshire. We're both new to this process but it's been a life long dream to build our forever home so we're looking forward to getting started!

Welcome. Do not believe a word of it ... buttercup is a Duracell Bunny. In between sleeps.

Thanks Ferdinand, twice over ?

This is exactly what we did. We arranged for SW to connect us from the Mains supply across the single track lane, into the Boundary box and then through our hedge into the plot, whereby the plumber fixed up a standpipe arrangement for the builders. [We had to pay for the road to be dug up and the trench to be dug through the hedge mind]. Eventually, when we were ready to move indoors so to speak, SW came out and connected us up completely, burying the connection at the standpipe junction. I can't recall whether or not I paid up front or at the conclusion of the job but nonetheless, the total costs back in 2018 was £976 of which I reclaimed £19.68 in VAT.

Get the supply to the site ASAP. Water co's responsibility ends at the boundary box. Just connect a stand pipe for now, and run the pipe to the house when you are ready.

We were supposed to put in a standpipe just after the boundary box for use during the build and the pipe going into the house was our responsibility although they wanted to check we had run the pipe to the house properly (depth and no sudden turns) as it happened it took so long to get the supply the house was built and we had used neighbours water supply, they did charge us £200 for building water which I should have reclaimed but couldn’t be bothered by that time!

They feed into another similar looking box just to the outside of the meter box, which the shed power and lights also run from. For completeness her is the overall picture !

I would suggest that badgering utility suppliers does nothing, an individual householder is small potatoes - this however gives you all the aces and is probably the reason why the DNO decided to play ball. Leverage is king in this situation.

Can’t tell but that is just a switch behind the yellow tag not a fused switch ..?

No, that's just an isolating switch. But you have space in the bottom right of the meter box to put one of these https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/CGMSF100.html

Welcome. Keep hold of that enthusiasm. Reminds me of the Good Old days when we started 4 years ago - God only knows I'd be glad of some of that Vim and Vigour today.

Great professional input from Nod and Nick so here is my experience from the DIY side. Many systems are available but I chose an Italian branded wedge system. Can’t remember the name (Feram........ or something) it was highly recommended on the tiling forums and I liked the wedge idea the best as it looked stronger and provided good surface area contact so I reckoned on having a better chance of getting tiles level. The floor was levelled and checked prior to tiling. Tiles are 300 x 300 quartz. The area is a long hallway which I wanted no lippage to be felt underfoot or to be seen as it would drive me mad and the job needed to be finished quickly. None of my tiler contacts will work for me personally (too picky) and none have used such levelling systems as it adds to the cost and most clients won’t want the additional costs or are not that knowledgeable about the finish. So, tiles went down quickly and at the time of working I could feel no lippage using an engineers straight edge. Next day after snapping the wedges and grouting I could and can see that the surface is not the perfection I had hoped for. My prep was spot on. Did I check the tiles before laying for flatness? can’t remember. Inexperienced user? Yes, but I am a skilled guy and have done a lot of tiling (modest too). I reckon my finish would have been just as good without using these only it would have taken me a lot longer to do. I would like to try another job to see if I am putting too much faith or expectation in my tile levellers. In theory at least, you should get a perfect finish, hmmm. I had a couple of the lads around for an honest opinion and they think the job is fine and can’t see the problem. My parents have just had their extension tiled with large format tiles and the tiler (builder recommended j didn’t use such a system. Lippage is obvious. No right or wrong here, just what people are comfortable working with I suppose but using these systems does not guarantee a perfectly level tiled finish IMO

I will definately have gone towards too much when i did it .lol but no problems so far

You should be able to adjust the aspect ratios of the font by up to 15% each way without detriment using stretching or kerning horizontally or tracking vertically if several lines, or just switch your font. Those were the sort of adjustments which were possible when I used to design publications (though 7-10% was better). So I think that should be manageable, depending on how much control you get.

I can see the attraction for DIY and also if the surface is not totally flat to start with but probably comes down to getting the prep and the base surface right before any tiling starts I know i had a problem with 600mm tiles on my wooden suspended floor over my ufh - my fault made the assumption that it would be flat all over as it was chipboard --only when i started did i find some floor beams were not same height caused dips etc i should have checked better and got it flat before commencement of tiling the result was I used twice the flex adhesive i should have done to fill in undulations get all things level and edges all correct 20 years on it all still fine and yes for my job they would have been very helpful measure 3 times, mark twice ,cut once needless to say i won,t get caught that way again

Sorry sold it, you all had your chance. HE WHO SNOOZES LOOSES

An easy way to do this could be to feed the alarm relay output into something like a Shelly 1 smart relay (~£10) and set its 'Auto On' timer to, say, 30mins. After the trigger signal is received from the smoke alarm it'd power down the MVHR and restart it after 30mins - if the smoke still persists the cycle will be repeated. It'd allow manual override (on or off) via your phone too if desired.

@Bored Shopper - I can't help regarding the facts but our meter box is a good distance from our CU - In fact it is in the outside carport [ well protected] and the CU is in the utility - the distance between the two is at least 9 metres. The cable runs from the meter box underground, into the house underground and then pops up in the utility room. A no point was this an issue for any tradesman or BCO - I would question the Solar Panel guys and ask on what authority do they say that is the case. Good luck.

It may be a case of 20 years time tilers looking back and saying I can remember the older guys not using self leveling kits When I started all the wall tiles had lugs on them So there was no need for spacers Up and till 20 years ago we would mix a bucket of floor grout and simply tip it on the floor Push it around with a squeegee on a broom handle That way a tiler could grout a 100 mtr Or Yard ? section of floor in an afternoon Then tip wood shavings on and sweep for a clean polished floor More importantly it filled any voids under the tiles and gave you a rock solid floor Car showroom standard If someone in my employ wanted to use these kits I wouldn’t have a problem As long as they didn’t expect me to pay for the kits With most tilers laying 30 m2 per day on large floors It would soon add up

Yes, it was about £250, but I got a 5% off voucher when I initially clicked away from the website (union mart), delivered next day free. I will also rig it to the scaffolding to lift the sarking and other stuff.

The problem is one of airflow. If you stop the airflow when smoke is detected, you then need to pulse the intake fans regularly to see if the smoke has stopped otherwise you won’t have an airflow to test for smoke...

That all makes sense.

A very good summary of the benefits and how we use our system. I would add no condensation on windows etc in the house. As @Cpd says, we have MVHR here, without much if any shelter and winter wind speeds of 60mph plus in winter. Genuinely, not an issue, it just works away. I fitted the inlet and exhaust vents on the leeward side of the house. Occasionally you do hear the fans struggle when the wind gusts at extreme / is swirling multi direction, due I think to pressure differentials. Having rented a 15 year old house here while we built, that slight occasional imbalance was far better than the whistling and howling gales that would come through extractor fans and trickle vents! We have had MVHR in 5 houses now, the first back in 2003 when airtightness and good levels of insulation weren't really a consideration! The difference even then to the house before which had trickle vents and extractor fans was night and day and it's something I wouldn't go back to by choice.

There is normally a vapour control/separating membrane between the insulation and the screed which then inks to the VCL in the wall. If not done then above both seem to be reasonable solutions though a full membrane over the floor may be a bit of overkill.

Is the concrete floor your finished floor / do you need to bond to it (eg tiles)? If not (e.g floating floor) then you could just lay a plastic VCL / DPM over the concrete and below the finished floor, bring that 100mm up the wall and tape it to the VCL. That would totally enclose that junction. May need to wait for the concrete to fully cure.

I had to prime the concrete floor, PVA or SBR and then used the appropriate tape for timber to concrete

The problem there was your neighbour, not your MVHR. Suggested Rationale: External air needs to enter the house somehow (MVHR, upon doors / windows trickle vents, leaks) and stale (usually damp) air needs to exit the house somehow (extractors). If not, you will suffocate and the house will be damp and smelly. B Regs also insist on this and you need to satisfy them, so you need to choose something. Now that the 'need to ventilate' principal is established, you can decide if you want an efficient system that, when you want to, will preserve the internal heat you've paid for or just flush it our and you pay again to replenish it. You can also decide if you want to filter the air that comes into your house or let all the dust, pollen and other stuff come in with it. I'll send you a pic of my next filter change and you can see what didn't make it into the house. Now, whether you keep every door and window closed year round is up to you. During the summer months, we tend to have the living room slider cracked open as the cat likes to come and go, as do the kids, plus the atrium Velux windows and the wife occasionally will open the bedroom balcony door at night if she's feeling warm. If it's particularly hot out, we'll 'cold purge' ventilate at night and try to keep closed during day to keep cold air in, winter obvs we're sealed up. MVHR also helps clothes dry quicker inside. MVHR is NOT very efficient at drastically raising or lowering room temperature as the airflows are, by design, low and air is a poor conductor of heat. They can be used as a 'trim' but if you want central air cooling then you need to use a separate system that has much higher air flows. However the MVHR will play its part as it will help keep that nice cold air you paid for in the house vs have it escape out trickle vents etc.

The clicking noise is most probably the relay turning on and off when the unit is in cold start mode. It needs to be continuously powered to complete the cold start cycle, as it pulses power on and off to the heating element in order to melt the solid PCM around it without risk of overheating. Once the temperature at the base of the unit is high enough to indicate to the control unit that the PCM around the element has all melted, the unit will keep the heating element on until the unit is fully charged. There are other clues to listen for. When doing a cold start there will be a crackling noise, a bit like a crushed up crisp packet, whilst the heating element is on. If you are not hearing this, and the unit is staying in cold start mode, then this indicates that the heating element is not getting hot. There are two things to check, as this exact problem happened with our unit. Firstly, check that the over-temperature cut out hasn't tripped. Isolate the power, test to make sure the power is off, and then unscrew the cover at the left side of the unit at the bottom. Behind this are the connections to the heating element, and at the far left of the opening there is a reset button. If this clicks when pressed in, then it has tripped. The other failure mode (and the one we experienced) is the contactor in the control box. If your unit has a Finder contactor at the lower right side of the DIN rail inside the control box there there is a chance this has failed. When ours failed it was still clicking on and off, but the contacts were stuck open. I replaced it with an ABB single module 20 A contactor that I happened to have in stock and the unit came back to life. At the time, Sunamp were just not responding to complaints, and didn't even acknowledge this failure, let alone do anything about it. Our unit was about 3 months old when the Finder contactor failed. Sunamp have since changed the design of the control unit, and after much badgering they supplied me with a complete new control box. I noted that this new control box has a different type of power relay, so my guess is that they may know full well about the poor reliability of the Finder units. If you get stuck, and find that it is the contactor that has failed, then I'm not far from Somerset and I still have the ABB contactor I used to fix our old control box.

I believe they're quite hardy?

With me it's can, not should I.

“work smarter not harder” an expression I heard years ago and follow whenever I can, anyone can knock their gonads off!!!

Did you pay up front or stick it on the slate?

This is why you look after the clever technical bits of BuildHub and I do the occasional backup

About £250 for the 1500kg one last time I looked - they probably do a WiFi version that can be used to lift walk on glazing for about £800 which would be better for you ......