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Not really having much information to go on when installing an ASHP on my flat roof, we decided to go ahead anyway. Questions that arose were about things like will it blow over, can the warm roof take the weight, can the warm roof take all the vibration, will it wear away the EDPM, is the condensation OK to go into the soakaway, is there much maintenance required, how heavy is the ASHP, can we get it up there, can we get the power up there, will the control cables reach where we want them, can we drill through the roof to get the pipes into the utility room without going through any services, can we waterproof the water and cable pipes to the EDPM, can the pipes be insulated. Well we couldn't find definitive answers to all these questions but we decided to do it anyway. So far, if we were to install it again, I would add to the list auto vents to both the flow and return pipes just before the ASHP as one has not been enough, and fitting later is a pain in the ... M.

Cement board fully bonded to insulation would be my initial thoughts. I haven’t researched it much but seems to be a thing. To date I have always gone with pvc roofing mechanical fixed to insulation. But acknowledge risk of insulation being compressed if subject to ANY traffic even window cleaning. So if I am ever in that position I will then fully consider alternatives to plywood. Id welcome anyone’s thoughts

Whatever size heat pump you choose it will be oversized for most of the time because most of the time the outside temperature will be greater than the design temperature. And probably undersized for those rare days when temperatures get to seriously sub zero. On that basis I don't see that an oversized heat pump can be too terrible because they all spend most of their days being oversized. If you plan to run your radiators 24/7 then that's unusual for radiators but your choice. If they will be off some of the time (e.g. at night) then the bigger the output the faster you can increase the temperature so it might be worth boosting your radiator output to match the heat pump.

You do need some headroom to allow for DHW heating, unpredictable thermal losses, and unusual cold. If you have some time, record your daily space heating energy consumption over the next month then plot that against degree days at your location for the same period and you will be able to determine both the heating load and the required weather compensation curve for the system when it’s installed.

As they have UFH downstairs this will have been a major renovation (as well as the extension) adding a lot of insulation. Shame there is no mention of this, or what they have (or have not) done to the walls of the original house. It confirms my belief that an ASHP can only be applied to old properties like this as part of a major upgrade. The major upgrade is the bit being quietly missed out of the "replace your boiler with a heat pump" mantra.

You will need a switch fuse to connect to the caravan, you need one with a metal enclosure to take the gland of the SWA cable. Terminate the SWA at the supply end but at the caravan end, insulate and do not connect the SWA (use a large plastic stuffing gland) and connect the caravan to a TT earth. Get a door on that cubicle, the meter and it's connections are not waterproof and it would not surprise me if BG refuse to connect a meter without a door on the cubicle.

We bought everything for the bathrooms from Bathstore around five years ago. The quality was good.

Usually the more popular brands cost more. Silestone, Cambria, Caesarstone and Compac are more well renowned and are bit dearer. Your situation is funny because technistone is somewhat of an established brand. I have worked with it a lot. Sinquastone just seems like its exclusive to some company called Lamont Stone. Maybe I am wrong but something is wrong. Technistone should be costing more. Whoever is selling Sinquastone may just be too greedy in my opinion. Could be a pushy salesman trying to convince Sinquastone must be godly. A lot of stonemasonrys these days, also order their own range of quartz from China. It must follow the same legislations and will consist of 93% or so quartz with resin materials. End of they day, the labour remains the same but the quote varies due to material. The average person will not be able to tell what is the brand and name of the worktop. I work for a stonemasonry and we have our own in-house cost effective option. However, we do not push it down anyones throat if they do not like it. Thats why we work with all the suppliers. Classic Quartz for example is getting popular too. Their products are from China. Great quality too. They adhere to what is right and they seem to market very well too. Even they do not cost that dear. You should go with whoever gave you the Technistone quote.

A post a few months ago said that the factories categorise their ceramics after manufacture, according to how the glazing turned out, and the top-of-range stuff had an extra/better coating. But I expect all the big names do QC on everything and chuck out the sub-standards....they really do not want them rejected by users.

So that is just the 50mm of screed, as the precast slabs will have absorbed very little water. That isn't a lot of free water. If it feels that damp in the space, then it must be evaporating. But I note your very tight time-frame, and so some expense is justified. I agree with some of the above, but not all. If not already using heaters and dehumidifiers, first open all windows and doors to get a draught through and clear the currently sopping conditions. then: 1. close all the doors and windows, so you are not drying the world. Site instruction to all: never leave the outside door open. 2. close the doors to the area with the wet screed, to contain the water for removal. 2. An electric fan heater, probably commercial quality, so that the whole space heats up and the air is moved around, 24/7 3. Powerful Dehumidifier, with big collector tank so that it doesn't need emptying in the night. A week of that and you should be sorted, and it should noticeably change from sauna to dry atmosphere. I would not want the screed to dry too quickly under and in front of the heater, so best raise it. After a few days, put some plastic down on the floor for a few hours and see if it gets sopping wet underneath. It should be possible to do some sums on how many litres you are looking to capture. If you keep this room closed then you are not drying out new air from elsewhere. I cant see why bringing in replacement air is necessary: either use natural drying or this forced method, but not mixed. And you will know this BUT just in case the plant-hire company suggests it: Don't use gas heaters as they create water.

I have used RAK sanitary ware in the past. Very good value and the quality seems fine.

It is a good idea to have the stop at mid height of the door. By doing this the door is not distorted, as it is when the bottom of the door crashes against the buffer. The centre of a blank door usually has a structural section at mid-height, but aim for another horizontal bar to suit your door. The height also prevents the post from being a trip hazard. In simple terms it can be any sort of post with a doorstop fixed to it horizontally. If this was a rear service door then it can be as functional as you like: a 2x2 timber will also flex when hit so is good for the door. A scaffold tune is firmer. Then work up from there to something prettier as appropriate to the location.

You may find it difficult to mount the post you are looking at without it being a trip hazard. How about an overhead door closer with hold open?

Definitely get the MVHR going as the heat recovery will lower the RH of the incoming air and help with evaporation.

Something like Silirub LM (colour matched if possible) would do the job.

Hi. Alu spreader plates will work A-OK, used them a load of times in clients houses. Just make sure you have the joist detail done at 400mm centres not 600mm!!! Using an electric or air staple gun is my preferred method of installing the plates, and it’s important to make sure the butt up to each other and do not overlap. That will allow you to get them fixed down snug and be squeak free. If possible, you are best off keeping the underside of the finished floor exposed so you can go underneath and staple the plates up tight against the 22mm deck boards. Staple either side of each of the pipe “omega” channels so 4 runs of staples per joist void. That’s to make sure that the spreader plates are in very good contact with the deck board as it’s that which is then the emitter. If you cannot get underneath, you’ll need runs of 11mm osb set down between joists to make a cradle / support for the plates. You part fill those cradles with rock wool to make the plates distended, so the plates are then forced down under compression when you lay the deck boards. It’s very important that the plates are in good contact with the deck boards or results could suffer significantly. You’ll also need 2 manifolds, one upper and one ground floor, if it’s screed / slab ground and plates above, as you’ll need 2 different flow temps, ideally.

Being a bit more serious, and as much as I like SI units, some times it is easier for us to visualise things in imperial measurements. 45 kPa is 6.5 lb per square inch. Now I have just measured my size shoe and estimated that the floor contact area is 3 inches by 9 inches, so two of them will be 54 inch2. Now taking a mass of 105 kg, that is 230 lb. Assuming that larger people have bigger feet, shall call it 60 inch2. 230 [lb] / 60 [inch2] = 3.8 lb.inch-2 Now on the face of it, all seems fine. But is engineering, we don't work at the limit of the materials, and a safety margin is used. A safety margin of 2 is not very large in my opinion. I am also not sure if the @1% and @10% numbers are what happens when a load is applied, and it springs back, or after a load is applied and it is permanently deformed. That would make a difference to floor movement.

Mains water comes in at the tap end, the supply to the property connects at the other end, and whether a meter is fitted is irrelevant. Understand also there is a checkvalve inside to stop backflow. If you're unsure about the connection status you could try undoing the meter cap and opening the valve, to check for an early shower...

@Newbie1 OK. Instead of lifting the floor, I have an alternate solution which can at least be tried first. The problem here is the much higher heat loss from this area, so there either needed to be twice the amount of pipe, or a much higher flow temp. I see this a lot where plumbing merchants just bang out a generic design for the plumber, with little or no regard for its intended application, thus it doesn't always perform as promised. What you could do here is buy a single room - single loop UFH kit ( for garage conversions / conservatories etc ) LINK and remove the "cold" loop from the current manifold. Some UFH pipe connectors will be required, but do not worry about cutting / jointing this pipe, it will be fine. You can then choose 2 different flow temps, and bump up the flow temps to the "cold" area. I think this has a good chance of working, and e few £hundred is cheaper than a few thousand ( fingers crossed ). Don't worry about the thermostat atm, just fit that and make sure you run it with the other loops calling for heat, for the exercise of proving, and measure results. From there you ( we ) can decide a long term solution according to the results this quicker fix yields..

As I recall they are only needed in walls over 11m long. Thought they were normally put in the middle of the wall. We have one. Looks like its sealed with a foam sheet similar to perimeter insulation used around concrete floors.

This is highly likely to be your area of concern. Run a bead of mastic along here, leave it to set and the hose test. Be specific at the location you're testing and don't just spray the door. Do you also have a further out picture, it's difficult to see the full picture from the zoomed in picture.

santa claus works at least one day a year

Santa wouldn't demand you carry out a flying reindeer survey on the 26th of December.

@SuperJohnGWe were in this predicament exactly a year ago…we decided to go with the Skyforce system, looks excellent and worth the extra money. https://www.glassparts.co.uk/on-level-skyforce-balcony-system

The liner is clamped to the plate to support its weight and is left long enough to let the cap slip inside it, the cap is clamped to the pot with three “legs” and a long jubilee clip around the pot.

Any one thinking of installing HEAT PUMPS should read from page 62 onward of this report.

Have used Envirograf for decades. A small company with good customer service and very good technical advice: they wont just sell it if it is not the right product. They even made up seal coat to a special colour to avoid an additional decorative coat (but that was internal use).

We coated the wooden cladding on the gable ends with envirograf https://envirograf.com/product-category/fireproof-coatings/ which was accepted by building control. We used envirograph primer, two coats of fireproof coating and two coats of osmo. Envirograf are very helpful if contacted.

My guess is that the stink used to vent in the attic, but the valve now prevents that. Now when there is any pressure in the drains it forces bad air through any weakness. I would check the wc drain seals. the tiniest hole can allow smells through. I once found a tiny gap in the plumbers' mait seal, but only by getting into very uncomfortable positions. Problem solved.

The panels are now installed. Some thoughts: This is my first build, so I have no experience of other methods. The roof boards went up very quick. They come pre-cut for length and pitch angle from the factory. Only the valley junctions need to be cut on site. They have a special circular saw with 30cm cut depth. Surprisingly on the flat sections the boards do not stop the water coming through. You need Wing Tek self drilling screws for attaching the battens, this is straight forward. Attaching the barge board to the gable ends is more tricky, screw depth is >170mm, the C section is 100mm high and you need to affix the board with 2 screws. With my tests I found that it is harder than you think to keep a drill perpendicular for that kind of depth of hole, easy to have 5mm of travel in your hole at that depth. I have a free AutoCAD DWG viewer on my iPad, DWG FastView. This has been an invaluable tool. Thermohouse have PDF and DWG files for most construction details: https://thermohouse.ie/download/thermoroof-details-cad-file-dwg/ When you look at the soffit detail, this is sort of backward to a normal roof, because there is no joist to affix too. The wall batten is the main fixing point. We have not done this yet. I will upload some pictures when I get the chance.

Might be worth getting a plumber to pressure test the drains to find problems like that. I wonder how many houses actually get a proper drain pressure test?

Just apply

Statutory undertakers are not the same as statutory consultees. In relation to a planning application, the council need only consult the statutory consultees and not the statutory undertakers. The list of statutory and non-statutory consultees is on the government website and gas utilities are not one of the consultees. In relation to your original question, if it is a high pressure gas main (>7bar) then the developer (in this case the homeowner) should have consulted the gas network owner/operator. It is their fault if they don't. Although as noted above, there is a lot of cables and pipes in places not mapped, high pressure gas mains are generally known about. If the existence of the pipeline is noted on the house deeds/title then ignorance on the part of the developer is no excuse. If there truly is no record of the pipeline being there then I'm not sure where that leaves the developer. More generally, it's worth distinguishing between matters of planning and other matters. Just because something is possible under permitted development or planning permission, doesn't mean there aren't other permissions required or aspects which could still stop development. These are not the councils responsibility, they are the responsibility of the developer.

Spend a bit of time on here and you'll know not to wait up for me on this. I've a list of unfinished projects here, so long, I've forgotten some. Yes, the water rose by pure convection is the thinking but relatively slowly given the small area and the fact of no pump. First tried this expecting it to be heating/lifting water like a mad thing. The intake hose stuck in a bowl of water. It didn't work: This configuration didn't work either: Had to put the barrel horizontal like in the earlier photos. Hot in on the right, cold out bottom left. Had a few hot car washes out of it and a couple of al fresco showers much to the kids amusement. Tbh my south west facing hip cries out for PV panels but I want to change to a gable end. I had thought of building some neat, full height, can heater panels and fitting either side of the sliding doors. As it stands SWMBO is rather attached to the rose on the left and jasmine bush on the right so that won't be happening. This site is good: https://builditsolar.com/ It's run by an American lad called Gary. He was I think the site owner of the Simply Solar forum which was an absolute mine of info. https://ecorenovator.org/forum/showthread.php?t=7393 Tbh most on here look down on solar thermal projects like this. The thinking seems to be if you can afford PV why bother.

Google found ... https://www.brocross.com/Bricks/Penmorfa/Pages/initials.htm W D C : W D Cornish https://www.brocross.com/Bricks/Penmorfa/Pages/england5b.htm "W. D. Cornish, Enfield. Middx. started around 1990's along with several other brickworks in the area. His Bush Hill Park works flourished until the price of land increased & his works was the last to close in the Enfield area in 1936. Info by Martyn Fretwell and photographed in a Kent reclamation yard."

Room size is the factor not total area. If you've got big rooms you may need to double the 75mm, 2 ducts to a single valve adapter. If you've got really big rooms then the larger duct may be necessary.

Yes, possibly. Research research research. Pays off almost every time. My other half is the researcher in our family. I have re-named her the Glow-Worm. All I ever see of her is the reflected light of a small screen in her face. A gentle glow.

Trust your gut on this one. Or reduce your gut and wear oversize shoes.

I have just crossed wooly tie off my Christmas list.

Santa can stop time, which enables him to travel the whole world in One night delivering presents. The other one is a total wanker, who works for a Council. Is shite at his job. Rubbish at working to any sort of timescale, but knows he is never going to get the sack for being crap. Oh yeah, and Santa brings him a new woolly tie ever year, because even Santa thinks he is a wanker.