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A lot of people don't realise you can run cables horizontally in a wall (I had a stand up finger wagging argument with a builder who tried to insist I could not do that) As long as there is one socket in the wall, it creates a safe zone both horizontally and vertically from that socket where you may run cables.

I had a planning condition to install bat boxes on my property. So I discussed their requirements and agreed to put three suitable boxes on a south facing tree. I sent numerous invitations to the bats, but they didn't move in for a while. But one evening last autumn I saw a bat inspect one of the boxes. So far, so good. Now I find that some very noisy neighbours have moved in next to the bat, and he's complaining about nuiscence hammering all day. Someone shoud really write to the greater spotted woodpeckers in question about the noise and damage... They aren't getting the security deposit back, that's for certain. Better make some more bat boxes before the council complain about contition number 6 no longer being met.

In case anyone is reading this and considering buying a router, before using it, do some research about what direction they're supposed to be pushed relative to the edge you're working on.

Look forward to reading the tribunal report ?

They hold all the cards sadly unless you want to go to tribunal.

Would again: - Architect - designed an ideal layout - Timber Frame - quick to erect and easy to adjust on site - Passive insulation - can't feel the outside at all - triple glazed windows - great at noise reduction - MVHR - air always fresh - Sunamps - no gas, compact - ground floor UFH only - all you need - recessed skirting - easy and never have to dust - IKEA kitchen - DIYable Would do better: - acoustic insulation - more, everywhere. - double up joists - reduce floor bounce - Battery - capture solar power for self use - Fixed price - no hourly paid jobs - Completion payment - never pay in full until 100% satisfied Doubtful: - Project management - definitely going main contractor next time - Fermacell - cheaper and easier to double up on standard PB or back with ply - Graven Hill - worse than you can ever imagine (the developer, not the community) - Larch cladding - high maintenance, would go composite

Thanks, I'll post in a relevant sub-forum

No anyone, but fancy drawing what I am trying to describe with your expert CAD skills?

I can't comment on any particular product but the vast majority of devices on the market are total woo. Normally they make a lot of claims in terms that sound scientific but are just plain nonsense. Pretty much the only proven technology is salt based chemical water softening or similar. This is what wikipedia has to say about magnet based devices.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_water_treatment#:~:text=Magnetic water treatment (also known,regarded as unproven and unscientific. This is what the Advertising Standards Authority has to say.. https://www.asa.org.uk/advice-online/water-treatment-devices.html

Digging further, looks like you're supposed to insulate them for 1m away from the cylinder if it's heated by a gas boiler: There isn't any equivalent guidance for heat pump systems - I would just insulate the 22mm pipe from the cylinder the the manifold since that pipe will be seeing far more frequent draw-offs so would probably benefit from it. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/697525/DBSCG_secure.pdf

The only bit I can find is: Note that primary pipes are those between the heat source (ASHP in your case) and the hot water cylinder - lagging these is a good idea anyway, as is keeping them as short as you can. Pipes from the hot water cylinder to the point of use are secondary ones. The reality is that unless you use the secondary pipes very frequently they will have cooled down before the next use no matter how well lagged they are. The one exception to this is if you are running a secondary return hot water system because the hot water cylinder is a long way from the point of use - if you are, then the pumped circuit absolutely needs to be well insulated since being shared across a large number of draw-off points means it will be running far more frequently and will be kept hot to minimise draw-off time.

I'm doing bits and bobs of various things at the minute one of which is to run all the pipes in the next couple of days. I'm doing manifold in plant room, one set for cold, one set for hot, one set for hot return. Using 15mm Hep for the big hots/colds like shower bath sink, 10mm for all other hots/cold. I'm insulating everything, hot and cold. Bought a load of armaflex in 35m coils. I'll just have to slip it over the pipes as I go - won't be the worst job I've done. 22mm copper to the manifolds, plastic out. Just running pipes for now so sparky can then first fix. I've got a floor deck to lay over my first floor ufh then I'll be on the plumbing again. 300l UVC and ASHP should be here by end of April at latest.

you don't need fast broadband to stream live tv. Ours is 3MBPS on a good day and it seems to work okay, it can start to get a bit blocky if 2 in the house try and stream different things. My grip with iptv is whoever said broadband is "always on" was an eternal optimist, or a liar. It's the occasional stop and start that gets me. Plus it just feels "wrong" trying to use what was designed as a data service, and is already struggling as a replacement for broadcast tv. Our terrestrial tv signal here is pretty poor so we watch most stuff via satellite. You need to look up "freesat" you do NOT need "sky" or any other pay service unless you actually want pay tv. You will need the larger "zone 2" dishes up here in Scotland.

Is there any benefit to lagging pipes from cylinder to point of use? If it's 10mm the amount of energy lost in just letting it cool down should be pretty trivial unless you've got very long runs. The primary circuit from ASHP to UVC does definitely need lagging though.

We're trying to. We've had a lot of time to think about this - we originally bought the place almost 4 years ago with the intention of doing a major refurbishment and loft conversion, but the more we looked at it the more we found was wrong and it's ended up being cheaper to knock down and rebuild. Unfortunately, that required a significantly larger budget and we didn't have that until recently. This particular practice seems to make very conservative assumptions about cost of ~£2500/m2 based on their previous projects, which seems to come from the fact that they primarily do Passivhaus and that tends to attract the sort of clients who tend to gold-plate everything. Given we've been pretty clear our budget is quite a bit below this, they're trying hard to keep things small and simple to control costs, and I suspect that if you strip out the gold plating they're maybe trying a little too hard to keep it compact. QS report (due in a couple of weeks) should give us a good understanding of whether that is the case.

Pretty much matches our thinking, there are several details that should let us get a few hundred mm more height and 2400mm internally is definitely our next priority. The ground level at the front is ~200mm higher than at the back for instance, and the street scene is very varied so we really shouldn't have any issues getting a higher ridge line than the neighbours at planning (to the extent that the parish council recently had to employ a barrister to oppose the district council granting permission to a load more new builds outside the settlement boundary in direct contravention of the adopted neighbourhood plan). This particular practice did a very similar sized house in the next village over where they had a major issue with the council about ridge height, so I think they're a bit once-bitten. However there are a number of differences (for instance it's inside an AONB, we aren't) which I'm gradually getting through to them. I'm not too concerned at this stage - what we've got is acceptable, and is very representative for costing. Plan is to go for pre-application advice with a strong steer to push for an increased ridge height over next door by maybe 300mm, but we need to get the QS numbers back first and then revise the design accordingly if needed - we'd quite like to stretch it a bit front to back if budget allows, probably adding ~1m on the front and maybe a little on the back.

Take a quick walk around and see what nearby houses have. Aerials on tall poles on the chimneys mean you have a poor signal and will need something similar. Lots of little aerials on the eaves and you have a reasonable signal and you "hidden" type aerial may work. No aerials on any house and you have a really good signal and they are all in lofts.

No particular feedback on the layout, but I'd be doing everything in my power to get more ceiling height, particularly downstairs. Even going to 2400 will make a big perceptual difference imo. Could you move both ceilings up a bit and accept lower head height in the loft? How tall is your hoarder wife? You could also increase the height of the house by 50-100mm without making much of a difference relative to next door. Certainly, before submitting for planning, I'd remove the numerical ridge height, not include the line between the adjacent buildings, and remove the ceiling height numbers from the sections. Draw it slightly higher than the adjacent property and I think you'd easily add 50-100mm without it being at all obvious that you're building taller than next door. Then when you build it, add another 50-100mm, which is well within building tolerances. Overall, I think you could go to 2400 on both floors without materially risking your chances of getting planning. Worst case, if ridge height were the only issue reason for rejection, you could always resubmit with something slightly lower.

Love the translation of some of the reviews of the thing @Nickfromwales linked to, such as: "the previous model was much better. This does not properly evacuate the faeces because the water flow is insufficient. You have to do it twice. On the other hand the command button is hard. Finally, the shape of the outlet has a circular relief like a collar. In short, Disappointing for the price."

https://www.google.co.uk/shopping/product/4377885970909317457?q=macerator+wc+system&client=safari&hl=en-gb&biw=414&bih=699&tbs=vw:l,ss:44&prmd=sivn&prds=epd:9412868297746174998,cdl:1,prmr:1,cs:1

If you have a bad signal then an amplifier won't help. It will amplify the noise just as much as the signal and you end up no better off.. In these situations a high gain yagi aimed correctly is the better option. But they look nasty in a lit of situations. It sounds like you are not in this situation though so a simple dipole antenna might work well enough.

Hi all. I am currently doing a kitchen extension under permitted development with plans submitted. Structure has been built but we are onto the details such as groundwork/screeding etc now. After having bad builders in and ended up putting things right it brings me here to try and gain some extra knoledge from you self builders. So yea, hello!

The specification page is what they call "content free". No information on gain etc. Thats never a good sign. Amplifiers are also a poor alternateive to aving the correct aerial. Something like a small log periodic might be worth considering. Cheap from Toolstation or Screwfix. Some rate the Optima L 20 F Element for areas with good signal. Just bear in mind that some locations and transmitter combinations have specific issues that make correct aerial choice more important. Any trees in the way

That sort of an aerial is always a compromise and will be less good than a conventional one and the only way to know if it works is to buy one and try it. Point of interest, I would not buy from them on a point of principle as their website makes it IMPOSSIBLE to decline tracking cookies that kind of makes my blood boil just a little.

I'd like to join. Happy to service the ladies, plugging holes.

You can run multiple outlets into the same unit fella. I sure that there is the potential for the pump to reach capicity, but with a couple more items only it will be fine fella.

I don't think so. From memory, that pipe will be full of water. It won't pump air up behind it to empty the pipe. The pipe won't start to empty till it starts running downhill. Turn the tap on again, and i'm sure it will kick in. That vertical pipe will always be full of water.

Hi, welcome. I am sure you will have lots of questions : thats why we have lots of sub-sections in the forum - its best to ask questions in the relevant forum because it helps people make sense of tha mass of information there is. To answer some of your questions here quickly: if the land is not identifiably yours, you won't get a mortgage on it - so get it changed to yours on the land registry tax liability -- hmm, in relation to what ? ring your planning office and ask. In general, it is advisable to appoint a planner to work for you. It is also essential that in everything you do in relation to the build that you follow a due diligence process, without fail. We're not experts who have the relevant PPI, just interested, helpful amateurs. ( Apart from @Onoff who knows everything ?.)

If you are going with ply and want to have the edges visible you need a good quality Birch Ply, also known as Baltic Birch. This has 13 ply build up (18mm) with virtually no voids. Or you could use compact ply which is similar but more resin in it - this is the board you often see used in fast food places where the edges are visible. It is very tough, doesn't splinter etc.

Pretty much. Essentially the limit comes from the load on the three phases not being balanced, which gives all sorts of issues all the way back through the system. Any 3-phase load or generator will automatically be pretty well balanced. There are other limits - for instance on how much you can put back into a system designed to deliver power - but the unbalanced load one is typically the one with the most impact on domestic supplies.

We have no heating at the moment. Maybe forever. The mixer bars have these buried behind them in the stud wall. The wastes are cleanable but they can leak. I think that’s what’s leaking in our bath ? Plastic pipes are the business. On the farm there’s a mix of copper, brass and plastic. The copper lasts about 10 years on average, The brass maybe 30 and the plastic pipes never ever leak apart from at the joints. My ideal system would be an electroweld all plastic one. I don’t know if it even exists.

Hi, Just joining Build Hub today. We bought an unmodernised 1930s semi detached in September last year and have planning permission for a new two-storey extension to the rear and major renovations to the original property. Much to to do, navigate and learn and I'm sure we can learn a lot from you experienced self-builders on here. My partner is project managing everything (long term dream for him which I'm sure he already fears could turn into a nightmare!) and also getting stuck in himself where he can. I know we will need help! Liz

We are doing it all again UFH again ASHP not included on the first Lack of gas supply on the next two has forced our hand German Kitchen again Instant hot water tap again I thought we had maxed out with insulation Add even more this time Things I thing are a waste of money Bifolds Look great Hardly ever use them Sliders or French doors more practical Woodturner Looks great lit Novelty soon wore off Radiators in the bedrooms and bathrooms We’ve never needed to use them Solar panels Look horrible Take forever to pay for themselves Electric gates If we hadnt of intended selling we wouldn’t have installed the gates I joists Posi a little bit more expensive But much easier to get all the services in I’m sure there are things I’ve missed ?

Stack to me is all of the 110mm pipework. Technically the SVP is only the piece of pipe above the last part of all the ‘wet’ 110mm stuff eg the section that only takes the whiff up and away. That branch has quite generous sweeps to it so should be fine. Others are very abrupt and would / could promote cross flow. If the horizontal parts of the stack ( branches ) have just the minimum fall then last nights byriani will not be doing 125mph when it gets to the vertical drop, so not such an issue anyway.

As Peter says they are crap and there are far better options, this is what I did with the one on my chimney!

In at last! Building controls came out and checked the site and have issued a “temporary habitation certificate”. Big sigh of relief especially for a self build where you’ve been the main contractor. Lots of bits and pieces jobs, as you would expect at this stage of the project. Adding stairs to second floor, making lights work, finishing off bathrooms, the last bits of flooring etc… it’s a long list but getting shorter by the day helped by being on site. The stairs are a feature of the build and getting them right was a tricky path between the minimalist look we wanted and compliance with building controls. The main problem we faced was that the kit stairs we used from Fontanot did not have a stock solution for stairs installed in a void rather than from a solid floor. A modified mounting was ordered. When it arrived it was the wrong colour! And of course the colour was not RAL. Getting it re-manufactured was an option but it would have taken a couple of weeks. Fortunately we have a local powder coating firm K and N we have used in the past. They were incredibly helpful, managed to get a powder coating that matched for the manufactures copper-black. Two days later we had our newly powder coated bracket and we could start the installation. Working from a staircase is a little more tricky than working from a solid floor, a case of don’t look down. Again we started from the top of the flight and worked down. On the first flight we supported the assembly with props from the floor. This time we needed to support the second flight from the first flight. The lower stairs are rock solid, all the same we added supports to it to transfer all load to the concrete floor. This being our second installation it went fairly quickly. It proved more difficult to keep the structure square with no walls to gauge from. With the last tread in place and all bolts torqued up we removed the props. The stairs promptly sagged a good 20mm, some of this was due to the temporary supports being to long, but not all of it. After a bit of head scratching it appeared that it was down to flex in the modified bracket. Walking up the stairs showed another problem, the lateral stability was not brilliant. On the lower stair this was taken care of by stabilising brackets attached to the walls, not an option on a staircase with no walls. The stair kit comes with a very heavy duty mid-flight support bracket made to either attach to the floor or the wall behind the stairs. In our case, the wall is a window. The window is however flanked with 150mm of concrete inside the ICF. Plenty of structural strength to stabilise the stairs. More calcs and a design for a suitable structure was drawn up. Luckily for us one of our daughters is an artist blacksmith with more than adequate welding skills, steel was ordered, bracket constructed. We did a test fit before getting it powder coated. All looked good so it was off to the powder coaters. Installing the bracket was a three man job due to it’s weight and the need to get the position spot on. High tensile studs resin fixed into the concrete and left to cure. The stairs had been supported during this process and I must confess I held my breath as the supports were removed. I need not have been worried though, it didn’t move a bit or drop and lateral stability concerns resolved. Result! In addition to the internal staircase we also have an external spiral staircase. We had poured a footing for the stairs when the concrete pumps were being purged after the ICF pours, so the prep was done. Assembling the stairs was very straight forward, a central boss fixed to the concrete, onto which an armature is bolted. The steps then get added. Once all the stairs are on the armature the top platform is added and bolted to the wall. So that the bolts didn’t form a thermal bridge we anchored glass fibre rods into the concrete. The rods were tapped to take 8mm threaded rod. With the platform bolted in place the steps get rotated to form the staircase and are held in place by rods through the stairs. The whole armature is then put under compression by a large nut. All very neat and simple unlike the internal stairs. With the stairs done, it was back to work on the bathrooms. Before the covid outbreak we had stayed at Centre Parcs and rather liked the woodland pictures they use in their showers. After some research Pat found a company Reco Surfaces who manufacture them. We contacted them and decided they were a good option for providing an alternative to the run of the mill shower finishes. Interestingly it reduces the cost if you supply your own image. In hind sight we would have gone for this option, the only reason we didn’t was image size. The resolution needs to be a minimum of 300dpi to avoid pixalation. In our case a three panel screen would require a 48 megapixels image. Sounds a big image, but it’s not exceptional and even available from some phones. In any event we went with stock images. We decided on the images we would use to brighten up the showers and also one for the kitchen splash back. The panels were ordered and arrived in three days, really good support from the guys at Reco. The panels are easy to instal on a flat surface. We put ours on 11mm water resistant MDF. The track saw paid for itself again making accurate cutting of the panels possible. All in all the panels are a great way to add interest to an area, at around the £120 mark for a 2400 by 1200 panel much more affordable than glass. The pictures really don't do them justice they are very eye catching and with the option of using your own images very versatile, a real find. Next on our list was lighting. We’ve installed some lights during the build but not implemented switching or dimming. Lights get pretty complex, not in technical terms, but just what you want ,where and from where do you want to switch it. Lots and lots of decisions very early in the build when you have more important things like walls and roof to do. Our lighting very simple. All our lights originate from a single point allowing the switching to be changed at some later date should we need to or want to go to an automated solution. All lights are wired with a combination of remote controlled dimmers and battery powered touch sensitive wall switches. It’s a simple system that means the lights can get turned on from the wall switches or the remote. The dimmers retain there last level setting so come on at last setting when the wall switches are used.

Hi BuildHub (especially the timber framers). As it says, replacing the horrible conservatory that "(dis)graces" the rear gable end of our Victorian home is our next project. With over 50 years experience of house building and refurbs, we are finding this project problematic. All of these previous projects have been self-build, quite literally, with no involvement of professionals, ie architects & structural engineers - unless we consider my BIL - but let's not go there! The project is the removal of said conservatory and 'dropping' a nice timber-frame garden room in it's place. Simple, I thought, but though we have a good vision of this building we now need to work with an architect/designer to realise/enhance/improve our vision & detail the design. We don't know any architects and a stab at MyBuilder.com got lacklustre results. The next move is to put the project to Design for Me and see what occurs. So, my fellow self builders, can anyone offer any leads or advice as to how we secure this expertise BTW The space is W5.5mxD4.3m across a gable wall. Windows above limit the roof options, so the vision is: - a 2/10 transverse,monopitch roof, with standing seam zinc roofing (budget permitting); siberian larch cladding; floor to roof facade windows (in part); clerestory lights above and NO bifold. We know, very George Clarke/Kevin McCloud - but we have to start somewhere! Concerns: 1) Due to windows above, the roof needs to be as thin as possible & the ideal pitch is 2.5/10 (ie quarter pitch). I'm getting to grips w. moisture/ventilation & I'm taken by a US approach to fully seal the the space & sealing joints, etc w.PU foam. 2) Back in the day, framing was 4x2 studs; 50mm fibreglass; 1/2in ply sheathing & building(breather) paper! I'm leaning towards keeping it simple @ 140mm studs & appropriate(?) insulation. Bearing in mind this is an addition to an inherently leakig victorian structure, I can't see the need to get any more sophisticated. 3) Connecting the frame to existing brick? I've read threads re. differential settlement, but I don't think this is an issue. My inclination is to, somehow, connect by gasket/mastic. Any thoughts. Thanks for reading down to here, all contributions appreciated.

I thought that they gave you a reason (see this post) and it was because the primary function is as a hob? That doesn’t explain the position with an aga but that’s been allowed for donkey’s years so I doubt that they could alter that now. https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/topic/16488-vat-claim-on-hob-with-built-in-extraction/?do=findComment&comment=270033

Hi @Colin Shaw Have a read of these two entries - may answer some of your questions.

@nod I think it could mislead others when you quote your build costs, as you are a very experienced contractor and you and your partner did all the work yourselves. The OP is looking at getting trades in and should budget at least £1,500.

Hello there. A new joiner from West London. We’re just about to embark on a first floor extension to our bungalow! Learnt a lot from the forum so happy now to be a full on registered member!

A normal house supply is typically rated at 18kVA which translates to 80Amps at 230 Volts. Your 100kVA transformer will comfortably supply 6 or more houses, usually a lot more when you allow for diversity. We currently have 8 houses sharing a 100kVA transformer here. If you really have bi phase, then you could get up to a total of 44KVA from that, but bi phase is not common in the UK. What is your business doing that you think it is going to need anything like that much?

Hi We've very recently moved to a lovely smallholding in Herefordshire. Unlike some of the houses we considered buying, the house we've bought is watertight and is blessed with electricity and hot and cold running water but we still have plenty of work to do including adding an annex for my Mother and some internal re-configuration. We are going to try and do as much as we can ourselves so whilst we're all practical, we're on a steep learning curve and we are going to need lots of advice along the way but we're always happy to share what we learn. I look forward to 'meeting' you all. Happy building everyone!

I would not even begin to be worried about it. (the 'start'). Take a photograph of the work , upload it to some photo-hosting service: that'll date stamp it. When ( more likely if) anyone asks, point them to the documentary evidence.

Novy make the quietest ones on the market. Look at their Pureline range. Ultimately you have to accept that anything you put in will come with compromises. And a no compromises system will cost money. So you need to find something that sits within your budget and make your peace with the compromises it brings.

Look into Novy. Excellent product and very very quiet.

Thank you everyone, it seems that the general consensus is Novy. You have helped me make up my mind! ?

Between Novy and Bosch you are comparing chalk and cheese. Novy makes some superb products, very high build quality, very quiet.

Sorry you’re not allowed to use that statement. It’s been copyrighted by @Onoff for all his projects .....

I had a bit of paint on a wall that kept bubbling up. sanded.re-painted, and back it came several times. Eventually dig it out. It was a six inch bit of bacon rind in the plaster !