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I have been lurking in this forum for some time, and I have to say, it has been a really useful source of information and advice. I am grateful to @Jeremy Harris , @Nickfromwales, @joe90 and many more for their many informative posts on ASHP, UFH, insulated slabs and so much more. Our plan is to build a masonry cavity two-storey passive house on a KORE insulated slab. Plans are approved, construction starting hopefully in the spring. The heating system will be ASHP to buffer tank to single zone UFH downstairs (to the horror of some of my paid professionals) with some electric towel rails upstairs (more tutting from the M and E corner). I'm keen to fit external blinds (architect not quite so keen) on the South facing glass but need to research this some more and decide pretty quickly. Warema? Internorm? Gaulhofer? KNX will ideally be controlling the ASHP and MVHR as well as lower the blinds and cooling the slab when the sun is out. Which after this summer looks like it could happen more often than one day a year, even in Northern Ireland. The house will be connected to 3-phase power, with two banks of solar on the roof. WIth divertor(s) to EV charging and immersion heater, this is way beyond my level of knowledged so hopefully my M and E guys can spec this all out to work nicely and balance the phases etc. Generally speaking I have no idea what I'm doing so expect to see lots of stupid questions from me in the forums in the coming months!

Disclaimer: I am by no means a lime expert, but I have mucked about with it over the years, and intend using it in my build (if I ever get the PP sorted). But, I fear you may not get the results you want, by doing this. The first question is, why are you trying to make a lime mortar when you seem to have used a cement mortar for the rest of the wall? More fundamentally, hydrated lime really isn't the thing to be using. Lime terminology is confusing, but at a basic level, there is hydrated lime, hydraulic lime, and non-hydraulic lime. Guess which is referred to as NHL? Answer - hydraulic lime (as in Natural Hydraulic Lime)!. All these go through the process of 'burning' (heating) to turn them into quicklime (which can be is quite hazardous to handle). Hydrated lime is quicklime that has met with just enough moisture to set off the initial slaking reaction. The heat of this reaction drives off excess moisture, so you are left with a dry powder again. In this state it is safer to handle, and is usually used as an addmixture for mortar made with OPC - you'd use it instead of plasticiser (or washing up liquid). As the main chemical reaction has already occurred, it will be less effective as a binder on its own. People say it can be used, but is often less than satisfactory, and should be soaked in water for a couple of days (at least) to make a putty (see lower down) before use. I've never used it, so can't vouch for it. Hydraulic lime is the one that will behave most like OPC, in that it has a quick initial setting time - depending upon brand, this can be as quick as 20 minutes, to 24 hours or so. This is because it has, either naturally, or added to it, impurities in it that cause a fast initial reaction - they are called pozzolanic additives. It typically comes in three different strengths. Mix it up much like OPC, without any other additives - sand, hydraulic lime and water. Like OPC, this stuff can even set under water. Natural hydraulic limes all seem to come from France. Alternatively, you can use non-hydraulic lime, preferably in the form of lime putty (eg. www.limebase.co.uk/lime-putty/singleton-birch-lime-putty-21l). This is quicklime that has been fully slaked (a violent reaction, so be careful if you do it yourself), and then left to sit under water (to prevent carbonation) to mature. A couple of months may be enough, a year will be better. Or buy a tub of it ready aged. For mortar add it to sand at a ratio of 3 or 4 to 1. You can also add pozzolans at this stage, to speed things up - brick dust, apparently, works, though I've never tried, so wouldn't know how much to add. Don't add water when you first mix the sand and lime - the lime putty will work up with the sand and become more pliable after a bit of mixing. Add water later if it is not usable enough. It's also important to realise that lime fully cures by absorbing carbon dioxide out of the air, and needs moisture to keep this process going. It can take a long time - months, even years - before full carbonation takes place. To an extent, you have to take loving care of a lime mix, especially with render and plaster. In return, lime has the property of being self-healing if the building should settle - if carbonation isn't yet complete, any cracks will re-seal. And it is vapour permeable, allowing wet masonry to dry out better. And produces less net carbon dioxide that OPC. Plus, I think it's lovely to work with.

@saveasteading I am saving a Scottish stone farmhouse too. Deep retrofit rather than demolition, for sustainable reasons as well as heritage/feelgood reasons. Hardly changing the original layout at all. Airtight, breathable, MVHR design. Having added 100mm to the inside walls with the new internal timber frame I now have entirely got used to the reduced rooms size. To the extent that I am now adding an additional 50mm service void and insulation layer. In retrospect I wished the original TF design had been for even more insulation thickness. The building has been derelict for more than 10 years so qualifies as a new build for VAT reclaim purposes. A mixed blessing because newbuild status brings almost full building regulations with it, regs which often clash badly with old parts of the structure. In this case the only remaining parts are the old stone walls (everything wooden - stud walls, lath&plaster, windows, roof, floors, lintels - was removed) and their openings but they almost entirely dictate the design layout. If the property HAD been lived in less than 10 years ago I would have had many more options and a much easier ride. The main issues I wish I had known right at the outset: Digging out the ground floor in order to provide foundation for internal timber frame plus damp-proofing plus insulation is compromised by disturbing original stone walls which have no footings under them. 'Solved' by raising ground and mid floor levels a little, rounding the new slab edges a little away from the old walls and limiting insulation on top of new slab to 100mm PIR. Because the existing window openings can't practically be raised this makes all the windows a bit lower than is natural. The effect is slightly worse upstairs because the new mid floor (posi-joists) is thicker than the old one. The professionals that provided my drawings and calculations for planning and building control approval did not seem to be aware of any of these issues. Through previous experience renovating an old house I anticipated the stone walls disturbance issue and had the confidence to completely veto the first design suggestion of building the entire new roof structure onto the new internal timber frame which would have increased the loadings a lot and needed even deeper excavations for stronger footings alongside the old walls. The trouble with a mixed newbuild/renovation is you never quite know what regs you need to adhere and what will be relaxed. Not everything was resolved before work began so things that changed as the work proceeded meant asking the authorities for a clear in-writing answer and they have often taken weeks or months to respond. Building control insist that if an element like a mid floor is replaced in entirety then that new floor has to adhere to full regs. So that meant I couldn't re-use the existing really nice staircase (750mm clear width does not meet current regs) and the additional combined width of new stairs and wider upstair landing and corridor has added to the reduction in size of all the rooms (already reduced from the original sizes by wall insulation). The wider landings, wider door openings, extra landing space needed for future chair lift parking has made the new stairs steeper and right at the extreme limit of what is permitted and so a lot less comfortable to use. As there was no functioning sanitary equipment present in the derelict building the rebuilt shower and WC room in the main entrance lean-to extension had to fully conform to regs, basically had to be bigger, making the remaining space within the lean-to extension, the house entrance hall, already pretty minimal, smaller. Building warrant required putting 25mm diameter vents in the old stone walls every 1.5m. Achieved for all except the gable end walls (for which no drill long enough could be sourced) by purchasing 35x700 masonry drill, inserting 30mm (25mm internal) blue water pipe to line the holes. The drilling was difficult and potentially weakens the structure of the walls due to disturbing the loose stone fill which also falls in and jams the drill. The thicker gable end wall I put a single 4" drain pipe into located at the back of the fireplace where the wall is much thinner. This will also provide an air duct direct to the living room wood stove. PIR: As a test, I kept in my garage a leftover piece (made by one of the main manufacturers) from a loft conversion we did to our first house 26 years ago. 4 years later it had bowed noticeably and the edges had become crumbly. I vowed never to use the stuff again. When the builders were fitting it I queried the gaps I saw between the roof rafters and the cut edges saying I thought they should be filled with flexible sealant but was persuaded by them that it was not needed and when the Building Inspector agreed that plenty of ventilation was important I gave in. Nowadays it seems that people tape over the joins to prevent thermal bypass and in the hope it will keep it in place if it shrinks. Gapotape looks like a better solution. Whatever you do it may look great when it's fitted but particularly when directly under a roof that harsh heating and cooling cycle is bound to affect the foam on one side differently to the other side. And then there's the waste issue - it can't be recycled after end of life and there are quite a lot of off cuts to dispose of. With woodfibre and the like you can quickly and easily use a lot of your off-cuts because there's no precise cutting to deal with. 4 years on and some way away yet from finishing, in retrospect I would have left the original building as is, keeping it as a garage/store/workshop and self-built anew alongsided. Similar approach to what people have done for 1000s of years, when I think about it!

Most contractors will absorb Or like Conor split small increases But when materials double or more like many have You the client will be expected to step up regardless of fix rate contracts

You'll remember our quote for ideas for our dressing room/walk in wardrobe being about £7k purpose built. Ikea PAX was coming in a about £2k for just the frames plus we wanted island, dressing table etc and it didn't quite fit our space. Have just got around 10 metres of Porcelanosa walk in wardrobe/dressing room units plus 1.2m island and dressing table for £1000. It's more units than what we need but we can adjust the configuration to suit and due to the height I'm thinking they will need to go through our windows (good job it's a bungalow) and potentially hacked in/may need magic man to sort out any minor marks. Hopefully won't be noticable when they are fitted. Unfortunately didn't include the granite island top and dressing table granite top but we can explore alternatives to use as worktops. So excited!!!!!

We are getting quotes at the moment. Brass is not particularly expensive, so I’m hoping it will be affordable; will report back soon.

Thought I'd seen you under Amateur in Categories... ?

It’s standard practice to have a switched spur control an appliance, you could put 2 side by side or build something with grid switches

They’ll definitely be on channel 4s streaming service. All ones I’ve seen so far have been in England, but may still be useful.

I was going to say all that aswell

13A unless there is a good reason for lower.

Thank you, Wumpus. You’ve given me some hope! I’ll be on to them.

Just seen this, gives me a solid 30% off everything. Agreed TP aren't the cheapest for most stuff, but with the code, they're looking very good. Use code: DEADLINEDAY Even works for things like Velux windows, but they don't stock all the sizes, and sods law not the ones i'm after!

After a bit of deliberation I was lucky and the company that supplied some lesd work managed to get some ridge tiles made to order for me. Were very reasonable cost wise too. Happy with the result. Bonded on the inside of each ridge tile and on the joining faces and then finished with some sharp sand mortar on the tile side.

A very poorly advertised item on t'internet that didn't mention the make in it but we went to look at it 3 hours away, original invoice was close to £40k. Builder removed items from a swanky house he is working on so presume he had them for free or at a low price and thought he'd take the chance on storing them and selling. Also had some very expensive kitchen appliances that he was told to skip which I guess he will try and flog.

Do tell, where did you find such a bargain Ebay, FB market?

Don’t blame them. Why should a contractor take money out his back pocket and gift it to someone to build their home? I’ve drawn a line under it now, and will absorb 3% max ( so a 6% uplift is 50/50 between the client and my company ) but after that the client pays or takes a hike. The uplift is not the fault of any contractor so expecting them to be met regardless is just a ridiculous stance. ? The client gets to hold onto these things, and enjoy them for the duration and not the contractor, so get your hand in your back pocket and stump up!!! The construction industry is on fire atm, and contractors will just migrate to the next willing client, so beware playing devils advocate as good trades will just move on and then you’ll be left with the barrel scrapes. That’s a step backwards not forwards, so no savings or value there, quite the opposite.

I could buy flint panels off the shelf, trim them down and fit those. However.....all of these flints going in were collected by SWMBO's late cousin, a keen amateur geologist. He saw something in each be it a fossil, quartz etc. They're thus being used for sentimental reasons. To be referred to as "Martin's Flints". The fact I've never played with lime mortar is just a bonus!

On that diagram: 1 is permanent live 2 is Neutral 3 is Earth 10 is switched live to the boiler (shoudl be from the zone valve orange only) You also need switch lives for the following (which you can use any of the other spare terminals for. Switch live from the Wunda wiring centre to the buffer stat Switch live from the buffer stat to the zone valve (brown) or directly to the boiler (terminal 10) if you aren't using the zone valve.

Whilst the colour is blue this isn't neutral. This is switched live as mentioned in Vala's earlier post (Brown goes to Com and blue goes from 1). Strictly the blue shoudl be intalled with brown sleaving to indicate that is has 230v live on it.

Some amendments are required to this diagram as wiring it like this will mean the boiler will maintain a hot buffer tank over the summer. I'll start with the BS (assumed to be buffer stat). The brown wire to BS needs to be connected to the blue from the Wunda wiring centre that is currently wired in to 10. Thererfore you need to use a separate terminal (4 for example) to connect these 2 together. If you don't use the zone valve as mentioned in my earlier post then this is all you need to do. If you are going to use the zone valve then the brown from the zone vavle will need to connect to the blue from the BS (buffer stat). The reason the above diagram is not correct is that you have the wiring centre, the buffer stat and the zone valve potentially all asking the boiler to fire, however only one item shoudl be connected to the boiler directly and everything else should switch in sequence up to that point. Trust this helps.

What was the spec given to the contractor for the blockwork..? If it’s perps full filled and pointed then that isn’t to spec, but if you’ve not asked for that then you’re not paying for it. TBH it only looks like the corner being set up so I would want to see it when they have done a couple more courses before passing judgment.

Yes. You don't need a zone valve in this system. Zone valves are to stop the flow of water to a part of the heating system when the system pump or main circulator is running for another element of the heating system. In your system you have basically substituted all the zone valves for pumps instead. There is a pump that will circulate from boiler to buffer and nothing else. There is then a pump that will circulate from buffer to ground floor manifold (nothing else) and a pump that will circualte from buffer to first floor manifold (nothing else). Therefore as all pumps are only circulating one part of the system each and not affecting the other parts, this effectively negate the need for any zone valves.

Yes, sounds like the planners considered the proposed changes were too great to be an NMA and requested a MMA instead. But your architect went ahead with an NMA anyway.

For our roof, the material costs went up 6%. We split the difference at 3%. I'm finding it hard and harder to get people to do supply and fit, they (joiners, roofer, boarders) want me to buy the materials and they just do the labour and sundries.

Add a half of white cement to the mix ..? 4:1 sand and white cement gives a nice sandstone type finish

The longest we had were 7m 300x96 I Joists and we slid them up. I also lifted our ridge beam 8m x 240x320 Kerto assembly with headboard by building a scaffold above it and lifting it on a chain hoist, just got the hoist at the balance point which worked well - managed it all by myself! The picture is the smaller front beam lift but used the same approach on the main beam on the left.

Mortar still looks green-were you there whilst they were at break? Should be jointed up even in the footings-it encourages full joints as they’re easier to joint.

Fake chimneys. I am with you in getting rid. It is difficult to budge the planners on this but it can be done. I argued against them on a large development by a Typical Well known company. The chimneys were fibreglass, positioned a random spots on ridges that did not correspond to the fake fireplaces inside. The planners, I think, were a bit surprised at first, not realising that these were fake, and plastic. The initial response was that they reflected the rural style and they like them. (Partial success, as the developer was quite happy to make the saving, and just kept a few) The argument that can persuade is sustainability. Anything fake cannot be vernacular, the word they like. Vernacular makes use of local material to suit local need. No fire, no fireplace. The fake chimney cost £2,000 or more, which of course uses materials which are utterly wasted, and include GRP, with plastic in the title. The fake chimney normally imposes a load (vertical and wind) on the roof and has to be flashed in, creating a need for additional support, and areas of vulnerability. I know from people that have them that there are leaks. So if I wanted rid of it I would make it sustainability. As a champion, which I assume you are, you could not justify the waste of resources for a plastic thing stuck on the roof. Would they like a plastic bird on top while you are at it? You could add that in 30 years the bricks will look like 30 year old weathered bricks and the grp will be either faded to white plastic or bright and shiny...who knows? One little thing. you can probably avoid saying Spanish slates. For example one name, for no logical reason, is Hastings, even though from Spain, so say 'Hastings or similar' or some other good name.

Good advise

Depending on the scale of the changes you need to go one of three different routes. Discuss the changes with planning first to see which route they say you need to go down. The first is the easiest.. Non-material Ammendments: If the changes are minor there is a form for "non-material ammendments".. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/faqs/faq/66/where_can_i_find_the_non-material_amendments_form Minor Material ammendments For these you use the Section 73 form which is normally for varying conditions. I've not done one but I believe you cite any condition that refers to the existing approved drawings. (They normally say things like "The house must be built as per the approved drawings"). Then where it says "Please state why you wish the condition to be removed or changed" you put something like "See the attached schedule of changes to the approved drawings". The schedule should list all the changes and the reason why you are requesting them. Include a new set of drawings. Major Material ammendnent I think you need a new planning application.

Our planner wanted a chimney too. I wonder what it is about planners and chimneys. On our house the addition of a chimney made the house look like a ferry sailing off to sea. I've built the house without the chimney but if there are ever any questions I can show them that the structure has the base for the chimney so we can add it on in the future. Nothing in the planning rules to say by when you have to finish the build. Anyway, could you do something similar to avoid the chimney yourself? Just an idea like ?

I'll bet my bottom dollar that it's 150mm PIR with a u value of 0.15. Its a very common detail and the 70mm screen just happens to add up to 220mm which is the height of a block. With 70mm screed over 120m you still have 16 tons of "storage heater" if you run UFH pipes through it. Every degree you raise the temperature of the slab by is about 4.4kWh of energy added. Say your heating load at is 2.2kw if you manage to heat up your slab by 5 degrees on cheap night rate electricity your it'll keep your house warm for 10 hours. Thats my grasp of it anyway. Read @TerryE blog for a better explanation. Although you have a lot of heat storage capacity in your walls don't over estimate the effect it'll have on day to day life in your house. If your sitting room is 17deg it will take an age for the 20deg stored in the centre of the concrete wall to release its energy to the room. Practically by the time it does something else will have already heated the room or you'll have given up and gone to bed. In reality its only the first few cm of a wall that absorb and release any heat on a daily basis. The slab is slightly different in that actively heating it you are taking into account this time delay. If done well you can gently (and cheaply) heat your slab well in advance and enjoy the slow release later. However it's not much good if you need heat NOW! We didn't install any heating ( in Cork). Mostly due to be pretending to be brave (read stubborn) and also being tight. There was something like €7k uplift for UFH and a heat pump and at our very small heating needs I couldn't make it break even anytime before 25 years if ever. We'll have to see how this goes this winter with our single electric rad in the hallway but in hindsight I would have copied @TerryE and @Dudda and just done UFH and Willis heater with the option of a ASHP later if a cheap one appeared. With regard DHW we have a direct 300l UVC. This performs well leaving aside the issues we had with the plumbers. I think I would get one with a spare ASHP coil and even larger capacity next time round.

+1 to what others have said about waterproofing and gel/resin filling the boxes. Air expands and contracts with temperature changes and can suck water in past seals.

I used Icantaffordthosesoi Castmyown Stone Ltd...

Looks a nice brick.

Design & cast your own? I did.

Up to lintel level all round now! Roof also turned up today

Unless any wind turbine is mounted up high and clear of buildings and other obstructions, they will be very inefficient. About the only advantage if a vertical axis turbine is they are easy to DIY build if you like tinkering. But generally they need higher wind speeds to generate any useful power. And do your sums on battery storage. Batteries cost, and don;t last forever. Factor in all the costs including end of life battery replacement, and I will be surprised if your "free" stored power is much cheaper than just buying it from the grid.

It’s her job to keep it tidy then ?

None here either.... I'll just nip out and get some.....

& you just can't hide it. Can't get The Pointer Sisters out if my head now...

The worms seem to be intended to unblock a soakaway, rather than as a sewage treatment process. They say their non-electric plant uses bacteria and enzymes, as would any other plant, though it uses 'worm' graphics to illustrate this. The first video that I looked at (www.septictank.co.uk/ecosystem-non-electric-domestic-sewage-treatment-plant) doesn't seem credible, but I'd be interested in what others who use treatment plants would have to say: The chap's five year running costs for a 1-12 person electric treatment plant (most people would use smaller): Electricity - £3,750 - £5,000 (this equates to over 500W consumption 24/7) Servicing - £1750+ Repairs - £1500+ So, a minimum of £1,400 per year running costs - nearly £27 per week. He then compares that to a non-electric plant, which he tells us would cost £5 per year (a £25 bag of bacteria every 5 years). He is, of course trying to sell his own brand plant. I get the feeling that in another life, he would have been selling pyramid schemes, but that's not to say the treatment plants themselves are no good. But the prices take a bit of, err..., digesting: 1-6P £11k + VAT + delivery (reduced for Covid to £5K + VAT etc.).

If there was a big gas leak in a super airtight TF house could it break free and float away? ?