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We left you with a poured slab and we were chomping at the bit to get the ground floor Nudura walls up before the end of the year. Well, I am glad to report we got there - almost ? After getting the slab done, I figured I'd get ahead a bit and it would be a good idea to talk to someone about the waterproofing we would have to put on the outside the walls before we started backfilling. To cut a long story short using waterproof concrete in walls such as these is a complete non-starter, so Type-B waterproofing cannot be used. Visqueen's R400 Radon barrier is not an effective waterproofing method and so we now face having to use a Type A and a Type C waterproofing method - basically this will mean for us a waterproof screed being added to the floor with channel ducting where the walls meet the floor and the "egg-crate" plastic material across the screed and up the inside of the walls. That should eat into our contingency ? ? ? But also it meant a dash to get some waterproof slurry to paint round where the Nudura blocks would be laid the following morning and mixing and painting it on under floodlights (it's the dark grey stuff in the picture to the right). Oh what fun!! But, the following day we were up early to welcome out walls, the bracing and two fine chaps (Louie and Harry) from The Fell Partnership who would be helping us Day 1 to get the first row in place. We then scurried around unloading things off trailers and flat beds, and installing the waterbar between those pieces of upright rebar. By 10am we were ready to go. By about 2pm we had most of the first row in and part of the second row (see below). If it hadn't been for some non-standard corners in the design, we would probably have been at Row 3, but that's what you get for following a design religiously ✝️ (FYI - the T-corner is all to do with the design - don't ask yet) On the second day we were left to our own devices, I had to make a dash to collect some extra Nudura parts and some waterproofing equipment (due to the direction our waterproofing system now had to take) so we made a later start but still we were very pleased to get up to 4 rows installed. Day 3 we were ready to begin installing all the bracing system, and after hitting her head SWMBO was made to wear the Christmas present from her children. and on Day 4 it inevitably rained in Cornwall ? , but before our help arrived again we had managed to just squeeze a block on to Row 6 (the final row before the first pour of concrete) After the help on Day 4, we continued to finish things off on Day 5 by constructing part of an internal load bearing wall, and a wall with the only window opening at this level which will be for the family bathroom. FYI - the rest of that side of the house will consist mainly of windows into bedrooms plus some extra small sections of walling (to be determined) Where we were not able to complete things before the pour happened (time didn't allow) was where the internal wall meets the external wall and there are two doorways to construct (this is why I said we almost made it). I will have to do these in the New Year, mixing and pouring the concrete by hand (just under 1 cubic m) so that'll burn off the Christmas pudding ? A week later (during which we had some more high winds) I came back down to finalise a few bits (like lack of scaffold planks and bracing in some places) to be greeted by a snaky ? wall. so that was all straightened up, the rest of the bracing fitted, and the Nudura joist hangers inserted. (Between straightening and the pour we had Storm Barra, but my remedial work held up nicely) I won't bore you with pictures of hunky men doing manly stuff with concrete pumps etc. but suffice to say it all went very well, with no leaks or blow outs so "he who shall not be named from Channel 4" would have been very disappointed if he was allowed onsite. And so, last weekend (after a midweek pour in the remnants of Storm Barra) I was able to deconstruct the bracing and we are now the proud owners of some freestanding, high-wind-proof walls. Really happy at the attention to detail that Louie and Harry paid to ensuring the walls were straight and true before the pour began - right up my street. So now we have a tidyish site again (for a short while) ready for steels installation in the New Year. We have to finish off the internal wall, then waterproof and backfill outside, and install joists and flooring before we can continue with building the upper floor walls. We're hoping that by middle of next year we can start on those upper floor walls. So until 2022, and the inevitable next lockdown, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas ? and a Happy New Year ?

I installed a Vortex and can recommend it, yes it was noisy initially as the pump was mounted on the lid which acted like a drum, I moved it into the ground next to the unit and lined it with acoustic foam, hardly noticeable when next to it and silent a few meters away.

Happy user of the Conder plant here. I avoided the likes of the biodisk as I have seen first hand one with a jammed gearbox, and I firmly declined the job of trying to fix it for the reason you have mentioned. There is in some designs of the air blower plants a lack of detail in the designs and some have found the blower is noisy as it has in effect been sat on the skin of a drum and a few have done modifications to improve it. I believe the Graff plants deliberately mount the blower remote from the tank and a small in ground brick chamber would be a good place to mount the blower so it could not be heard.

A proper VCL won't break the bank if you want to do the job well. You'll need some for details and window reveals anyway. We paid about €1.15 per m2. You'll save a chunk of tape too which is much more expensive.

It is very messy and does not come off your hands for a couple of days.

A tumble drier is not allowed in our build ?, use too much lecky when there is ample windy stuff outside.

A larger hot water cylinder is a pretty cheap battery. 2 adults 2 kids here. DHW 3650kWh/year. Space heating looks like (its our first winter) about 2000kWh/year ,185m2 passive class house, direct electric heating. Everything else 2920kWh/year. We plan on solar PV at some stage and should be able to use everything a 3kw array produces on DHW , about a 7 year payback. With a bit of careful timing of appliances 4kw should be easily consumed.

Yes and have a limited life, not like insulation ?

But what are they built on? ?‍♂️

22mm all the time even at 400 centres, plenty of glue and screws never have to think about it again.

Yes, it's a good point that not all smart TRVs are alike. I assumed they all had some kind of sensible call for heat behaviour but obviously not! With loxone it's fully (and infinitely) configurable, but be default a heat source only activates when >30% of zones are open. It sounds like the Drayton system is functionally no better than dumb TRVs in this respect: can help avoid a room overheating, but not address the "one room is too cold" scenario. Agree with the other comments on calculating it, but I've seen (but now can't find) a "rule of thumb" sizing on here of 10-15L per kW of heatpump output, which "feels" reasonable? I stumbled on https://homemicro.co.uk/download/lzc_buffer.pdf which says: "BS EN 14511 recommends for the purpose of defrosting, and as a guide, a buffer tank should be sized on approximately 25 litres per kW output of the heat pump." which sounds on the higher side.

Why would you want to leave out the glue or the screws??? save £20 and regret it later, glue the bugger out of it.

If the stacks project into the rooms and the blocks ARE on the party wall then the stack must be yours …. Or am I missing something

Coffin tank?

Monitor where walls meet floors, a lot of noise actually comes from a 'silent floor' with a bit of flex in it...but stud walls sitting on them & skirting boards etc rubbing against the floor creating the noise. I cant suggest a fix (I only ever drove screws in between floor:wall flex after we moved into mass produced new builds) - but one to explore/think about as well.

Section 2 of Part M may assist: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/access-to-and-use-of-buildings-approved-document-m

Unfortunately you do need to proceed at risk in the initial stages and spend some money. Simple maths exercise - either take your budget and divide by £2000 or £2500 (depends where you are in UK and how much you can get involved in the build, PM etc) to get a m2 of you house (i.e all internal floor area) OR take your proposed house design and multiply the floor area by the same number and see how it compares to your budget. If the resultant house is too small for your taste or the budget is way over your resources then you need to stop and think of a plan B. If you choose to refurb, reduce your budget by 20% and repeat the above exercise. For architects, make sure you compare apples to apples. Most architects will agree a staging process where the initial stage (usually the most creative) is based on the plot design, high level concept sketches etc. When you settle on a scheme you progress to the next stage of detail design which enables you to submit drawings to planning. At this stage you can start to get costings but again, if you work to a rough £/m2 budget then you know if you're in the ballpark. Once you have planning you can then proceed to building drawings (SE gets pulled in here) or in our case get a TF company to do all the drawings etc. Building control get involved at this stage to make sure the scheme is compliant and you can then start to get tenders from turnkey contractors or PM it yourself. At this point a QS detailed estimate is invaluable. You don't need to use an architect for every stage, some self builders have a clear idea of what they want and just use a technician to get the PP drawings and drive it from there on - we took over post PP but the architect completed the first few stages and we were very happy with their scheme. Also WRT refurb vs full rebuild, remember that the frame of a house is usually only about 20% of the overall project cost. Was 16% in our case. The rest you will spend either way (roof, services, interiors etc) but refurb will attract 20% VAT unless you're eligible for the 5% scheme (but that has a lot of strings attached).

screw the boards down too?

You could read the info as it discusses buffer tank sizes and I think hot water tank sizes as well.

I used 22 mil at 600 centre 3 years on No creaks If you use plenty of glue it should be fine While it doesn’t look pretty with glue all over the joists below You do need to make sure that every joist is well coated

@IanMcPIf you are considering Durisol have a look at Isotex its a much nicer block

I'm a bit late in responding but I thought I would because I have a 14kW Ecodan. Mine is definitely oversized because my house will need nothing like 14kW most of the time. My ASHP can also deliver quite a bit more than 14kW if it has to. My house is a 160m2 bungalow with 13 radiators. I keep it at about 21C, running the ASHP 24/7. I don't use thermostats but control through weather compensation/flow temps only. From the published data and my own observations my ASHP's minimum output is about 4kW. An 11.2kW model looks to be about 3.7kW or so minimum, so not that different. In practice, this means that my ASHP cycles when it's warmer than about 7C ambient. The cycling is about three times per hour. Any colder out and it runs steadily. At its minimum steady running it's consuming about 1.2kW. I think I would have been OK with an 11.2kW model but I went with my supplier's advice and got the bigger one. As you said, the smaller model will be a bit cheaper, smaller and quieter. Looking at the published data, it's clear that these ASHPs (and I assume others) are less efficient when working hard. https://library.mitsubishielectric.co.uk/pdf/book/ATW_Databook_R32_2020#page-72-73 It's a bit fiddly but if you take a winter's day of 0C and assume yourvhouse will need say 9kW to heat it at 45C flow then you can compare the COP with the different models. I think what I'm seeing is that the bigger ASHP is providing its heat slightly more efficiently. I think also that the smaller model may have the edge at the lower end. If I had known what I know now I may have gone smaller but for me I don't think there is a lot in it. But if I were in any real doubt I would gone large. Hope this helps.

You could do something very impressive with 2 lots of sliding doors & a floating corner!

Estimators online at around £180, has proven quite accurate. You do need a set of drawings first though.

How true. A successful project needs collaboration and that includes a good client. Not a soft one but a fair one. 1. Be clear 2. Be fair 3. Pay the bill in good time 4. Listen to suggestions and make clear decisions. 5. Don't stand for any nonsense, but use civil discussion not threats. The stress as a contractor with a difficult client can be immense. Some contractors chase the big chance and extra money, while others welcome having a choice of project and client.

Your LPG system is probably set up for a larger temperature differential across the radiators than a heat pump would use. So the best simulation would be to turn the heating right down but double or treble the pump speed if that were possible and safe to do (I suspect it's neither).

working on both at the moment, you'll find that the costs are up on everything! trying to get steel on site has provide quite challenging on a couple of jobs so I don't think you'll find any method which is a signifanct saving over the other, but in Argyll most companies will be used to timber kit which might help with costs of labour

Most of my experience is in steel buildings, but even I tend to propose other methods as soon as large clear spans are not important. In a normal house with normal rooms, the walls carry a lot of the load and allow timber to cope with the stresses. Also bear in mind that steel is not ideal for any shapes other than rectangles, and that you are dependent on local skills. Most builders only like what they are used to. Discuss with locals as your nearby builders may prefer to build traditionally, and that might save a lot of cost and give you more flexibility. For steel? Very quick construction and your works are then all in the dry. In some rural areas the planners will allow a steel building to look like one, and that can save money in aesthetic finishes.

We had LPG until the heat pump this year. (We still have about 1200l which we can’t use and it looks like we will have to pay for it to be taken away!) Anyway Google says there are 6.9kWh in a litre of LPG. We used about 3000 litres a year which is just under 21000kWh. EPC says our heat demand is about 24000 but there’s only the 2 of us in a family house so I reckon it’s about right. Our gauge was quite difficult to read because the plastic cover was perished, but we also took readings when we did elec/FIT readings and I made a reasonable demand curve. (Tank is 2000l so 1% is 20l or 138kWh) With LPG we tried TRVs calling for heat and it was hopeless, took them all off. With the heat pump we only have 1 in the bedroom to stop it getting too warm. Finally, WRT oversize or not. Ours is oversized “in case we build the extension (that would be nice but we don’t really need)”. A 16kW Samsung comes on at about 5kW and rarely is on long enough to drop down much lower. I’m trying to fine tune it but mostly to make it run for longer to get the lower kWh figures. I wish we had known this as we would probably have gone for a smaller HP and dealt with it if we did the extension.

I think you will find most opinion here is based on real life usage (like my own).

... and so, in mid July, we had just a few things to do before we could pour concrete. <CUT, CUT, CUT> That's wrong again, you forgot the three spur walls and you've order some wrong parts. Go again, from the top ... and so, in mid July, we had an unknown quantity of things to do before we could pour concrete ? But before all of that happened, as a family we were all brought together for one of the inevitable things about life - every one must some day some to an end, this time it was my Mother-in-Law, a real matriarch, in the best way. After having gone through several operations and rounds of chemotherapy, her cancer got to the brain, and all other plans went on hold. We were able to get back to site shortly after she passed away in late August to continue. She did get to visit the site, and was so pleased with where we going to be living. So, first on the list was the starter bars for the retaining walls with this amazing double row being installed by my erstwhile wife and with all those complete, it was onto the underfloor heating loops and then the bolts that will locate a couple of steel columns Now, the eagle eyed amongst you will recognise those as M16 bolts (well done to all the bolt nerds), and when a steel fabricator came along, having seen the plans, he fortunately pointed out that they should be M20 bolts. So, if anyone is in need of some 300mm M16 bolts and fittings, tap me up for a deal ? And, so we thought we were ready for a bunch of concrete, until we visited our friendly ICF supplier to talk about the walls and realised I had omitted the shoring for three extra pieces of wall that needed to be tied to the main slab. So after a stupidly self-imposed extra delay, we managed to get everything in place to have some jolly super chaps (Tom, Phil and Ross) to bring along a concrete pump and other wonderful paraphernalia to pour, tamp and float our insulated slab foundation. . We can almost smell the completion of the house ? ? ? ?

? I'm a twat. I got disorientated in the loft. I was 180deg out. They're my stacks!

Water bed? ?

Paintwork seriously faded here, various age related issues. Almost impossible to start at any time of the day, underside has seen better days etc. Tried different lubricants but a lost cause I think. ECU very erratic of late.