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My reading is the "dwelling" was deliberately hidden inside the caravan, so remains illegal. Reference the guy that hid a house behind a stack of hay bales, then after he thought the time was up removed the bales. It was ruled that because the dwelling had deliberately been hidden, the time limit for enforcement did not apply. Someone will no doubt find a link to that ruling and that would be my argument for suggesting the appeal decision in this case is wrong, that the "dwelling" had deliberately been hidden.

Hi All We are building a SIP house on Easdale Island in Argyll. The house is being handed over at the basic wind & watertight stage after which it's down to us. My partner does not keep well so most of the work is down to me to research, organise, order and execute! I'm one of those people who, even if I'm not actually doing a task, needs to understand how it's done and why. I'm a bit of a novice (renovated before but not built) so please bear with me if I ask really basic questions! Reading through topics on here is helpful. Thanks in advance Ruth

Fire rated doors should have a coloured inset plug. That way the BCO can easily check it if there is any doubt. Re complex regulations. I find it best to do an old-fashioned printout of the relevant pages, go into a quiet room, magic marker the clauses that appear to be relevant and draw arrows between them. Once the logic is sorted, keep the notes for when you inevitably forget it all. This works especially well if 'discussing' with a BCO.

Maybe I'm paranoid, but I think it is sometimes best to be anonymous. Who knows who is reading this, and you might want to discuss builders/suppliers/consultants and, dare I say, local authority? I don't give my name and the location is vague: enough to provide context but not where it is. I'm sure it would not take much detective work to find more, but it avoids chance discovery on google. So if I was you I would start again as 'made-up-name' , Argyll. But that is entirely up to you, and others may disagree

You are in the right place: that is the attitude of most on here. Welcome. Get these questions coming in, but also look back using the search function.

Welcome to the forum Ruth, I am local to the Oban area ? so your not that far away. There is so much good information available on previous threads so have a good read. basic questions are a good starting point ! Best of luck.

Others can probably do a better job but.. He's been working out the size of rafters you need. He assumes they are about 4m long in the title. The next bit is the load they need to carry allowing for things like: Weight of materials, normal loads, an allowance for someone up there doing maintenance and for solar panels. In the table he assumes the rafters will be 0.4m centres. He concludes by checking that rafters 47mm * 150mm C24 will be ok. The C24 bit is the timber grade.

You should also silicone the verticals on the tiles where the walls meet as they are a weak point.

Agreed. Every cavity ive ever had the misfortune of being involved in has LOTS of air movement in it. Even when its not that windy.

Yep, and I've given a lot of detail there, but hopefully it might be useful to someone in future.

Time for an update here, as I've managed to sort out all the issues I was having with the Daikin Altherma 3. Shortly after installation I was getting a COP of 2.5 in a mild autumn. I managed to get this to 2.7 by being more careful with target temperature, etc but still way below the target scop of 3.7. The dining room radiator that was cold at the bottom was clogged with sludge. I took it off the wall, emptied and hosed it out. There was a lot of thick black water and it probably collected in that radiator because of its shape, being a column radiator, and is the last rad on the circuit. I think the installers should have done a powerflush, but at least now it's sorted. The installers said this about the Zilmet vessel, ""We have installed a Volumiser vessel which provides additional water volume to the central heating system, this is required when the system goes into de-frost." They offered to lag it, but I just went ahead and did that as I had some leftover from lagging the water tank. See pic below. Also I replaced heating circuit pipe lagging in the loft with all 25mm wall, instead of the standard 9mm they had fitted. 9mm pipe lagging makes a huge difference compared to bare pipes, but using this calculator https://kalk.pro/en/heating/pipeline-heat-loss-calculator/ I realised it would be worth upgrading to 25mm. It cost about £50 to buy but I reckon I'll reduce heat loss by 3kwh a day. If that's 1kwh consumption, that's about £6-7 a month saved, so it pays for itself pretty quickly. Still no idea why the DHW cylinder loses heat so quickly. That hasn't changed. I finally found the leak! After checking nearly all pipes, I noticed the copper below the lockshield valve in the bathroom was a bit stained. There was no feeling of damp, but I cleaned up the copper and tightened the lockshield, and finally the pressure stabilised. Luckily I didn't have to resort to Roger of SkillBuilder's YouTube suggestion - putting poundland purfume in the system and waiting a few days until one room "...smell's like a Tart's boudoir!" (that's a quote) After much badgering I finally got the installers to agree to move the condenser unit in mid December, so it's now 300mm from the back wall and 250mm from the side. However they did also say they've found Daikin send out the condensers pre-charged with refrigerant, but haven't been putting enough in. So he weighed the gas out at 1.35kg, but put back in 1.6kg. Both these things would have been contributing to low COP, so in a way I'm lucky they put it in the wrong place and had to empty out the unit anyway, because if the cop had been a little bit better I might not have persisted in getting it moved. After this fix the COP improved 25% overnight. One other important point was I miscalculated radiator capacity downstairs. I basically increased capacity x 1.5 throughout the house, but I'd forgotten that the open plan lounge/diner/kitchen was always a bit cold, which I used to overcome by turning the gas boiler up, and the upstairs radiators down. When I checked the heat loss calculations it was clear I needed more capacity, so changed one rad from a type 21 2.2kwh to a type 22 3.2kwh, and that's made it much easier to keep downstairs warm. With all these fixes the cop is probably now around 3.3ish. I'm now testing dropping the flow to 40c to see what's the lowest flow temp that will keep the downstairs warm. I'm also trying out a thing called a Speed Comfort, which is a bit noisy, but I think a good idea - it's basically 3 computer fans in a block with magnetic catches, and a thermostatic switch. You put it at the bottom of the radiator and it blows air up through the convectors to distribute heat into the room better. I've only got one on a 1800mm rad, (they say you need three) and it was £55, but I think it might prove to be worth the money because so far the room feels warmer and heats up more quickly, even at this lower flow temp. I'll reserve judgement for now, and we had a lot of very mild weather so I won't know how good the cop and consumption is until we've had some cold weather to compare. Before the fixes listed the system was using 16-17kwh daily average. In similar weather I reckon that's more like 10-11kwh now, so a huge improvement. Thanks again for all the advice given, and happy new year to you all.

Why not use compression onto plastic pipe @Nickfromwales? I've used this (with soft copper olives not the useless brass ones usually supplied) everywhere I've filled from 15 mm pex to copper for radiators... PTFE tape is naff IMO. Loctite 55 every time; after roughing up the threads first. Much more forgiving of how far you turn it up.

Like this:

My reading of Para 32 is that the statement is not absolute, but is in the context of this Appeal, where as noted in Para 42. "the Council have offered no evidence of positive deception in this case". Since they were incorrectly enforcing against the caravan, they wouldn't have initially considered concealment. I believe the Council could enforce against the building under 171B(1), on the grounds of concealment. There is no immunity after 4 years if positive deception is proven.

Good points, both. Only saves money if it saves water piped in. If you have a rainwater harvester your sewage bill becomes very small though, even if all your waste water heads that way.

Foam egg shells on the back of the door? Has it been cleaned recently? Try moving blankets to dampen sound or more radically a noise cancelling system (can't find any off the shelf though only ones like Quiet Bubble - Silentium). Bulk up door / draught strips as suggested. Reduce fan speed / prevent boosting but that reduces effectiveness.

The Inspectorate kept the door more open for further enforcement than I remembered. He's not found in favour of the Appellant for anything other than the Council incorrectly enforcing against the caravan, rather than a building. Concealment is still on the table as the Council hadn't argued that, since their focus was the caravan which had not been concealed. Having re-read the Appeal decision, I am surprised that the Council haven't restarted enforcement. The current situation is a no-man's land. The building has not been found to be lawful and the Inspectorate has implied in para 41. that the the Council have 10 years to enforce as the "appellant's suggestion ‘without planning permission, the erection of a building and material change of use of the building to a dwelling’ would not (based on the available evidence as concluded in paragraph 39) accurately reflect the breach of planning control." The Inspectorate is saying that the Appellant has not provided sufficient evidence to define the planning breach to be within "Section 171B(2)" where it is immune from enforcement after only 4 years. If the Council takes no further enforcement action, then the appellant just has to sit tight until 2025 and then apply for a CLEUD, for the 10 years he will then have lived in the property.

No thats the radon barrier. There's a seperate DPC 150mm above ground level in the outer leaf. Ground level is 150mm below floor level. We also have a substantial gravel filled French drain all around the perimeter.

It's all off unscrewed completely now. I'm going to clean everything today. Then tomorrow CT1 clear around tray corners where it meets showerwall, let it dry then Forever White over top around tray (only the sides against wall). Then screw channel back on, put back on glass and CT1 clear on OUTSIDE ONLY none elsewhere inside. Hopefully then this will solve everything....

Have you taken legal advice on this? I know someone who was able to put a 2nd charge on a property regardless of the first charge having a clause in the agreement not to allow this. I think there is also now something called an equitable charge which doesn't provide the 2nd charge with the ability to force a sale of the property.

No mate, it’s inside the lower connection and only visible by removing the casting from the rails. It’s not that I want to remove it, it’s just that it lets water through it too easily so when the pump is running it’s easier for the water to bypass the pipework from the buffer tank, it just circulates water round the UFH loops. My blocking it off works well as long as the TRV is removed otherwise the pump could burn out pumping against a full blockage. I am relying on the buffer stat to regulate water temp and will monitor it regularly. The heating (manifold pump) is controlled by a room stat.

Decision made! It'll either work or fail miserably but it will have kept me out of the house for a good bit and is deliciously complicated. I've an off cut of stainless mesh been kicking around for years. 304 I think. Bought some similar recently for work and it was nigh on £100 a sheet! It's about 16SWG/1". (Saying that I do want to make an oil flue mesh guard so I'd get my monies worth out of a sheet doing another 3 panels for the pillars and that). The plan is then to add another 4, M5 studs, resin anchored in. These won't need to be as long as the existing two as they're to anchor the coach lantern. The mesh is held in place with st/st M5 penny washers and full nuts. That'll give me a rot proof, mesh "base". I'm then going to glue the individual flints on with Sticks Like Sh!t or something similar. I'll cut the mesh as required if the flint needs to sit a bit deeper past the mesh. Some flints are not so deep though, guess I set my mesh depth near to the shallowest one. Duct tape if necessary to stop the flint slipping. Once all positioned and the adhesive set, I'll use a mortar gun to pump lots of the mix below in through the gaps, let it go off a bit and brush in around each flint. The biggest problem is whether my mix will pump through my mortar gun! Really I should be out trying that rather than charging up the batteries getting ready to drill... This is the test mix I did back in October 'ish this year after a lot of experimenting - 3 soft - 1 sharp (figured it'd add strength and maybe some interest with the fines in it) - 1 opc - 1 lime (for plasticity/self healing) The sample has sat face up for the last 3 months through multiple frost's, freezing days and nights, torrential rain etc. I'm quite pleased how it's weathering. In it's final position it will get some added protection from the pillar capstone overhanging this flint face. I'm hoping that the lime will aid it going through the gun along with the liquid waterproofer. Only one way to find out!

Hope my wife doesn’t read this Noise was her argument 2 That stopped me installing on our last build ?

This is what I was getting at back on this thread: I believe that yes, that LPA could challenge the C3 status of the building, but not the building itself. "IF" the LPA has evidence that the building was first Used as residential, then it has up to 10 years to take enforcement, so can still be enforced against, but if the Owner can "say" it was used for a different Use initially, which is immune from enforcement after 4 years, and was then lived in, so went through a Change of Use, again only enforceable for 4 years, then it is now immune from enforcement. I don't believe the first Use has to run for the full 4 years, it just has to be Used for something other than Resi, before it was then used for residential. Having lost an Appeal, I doubt the LPA have the appetite to challenge it, now the Owner has the necessary info from the Inspectorate on how they should set out their case. [I haven't re-read the full Appeal (I did from the previous thread), so will re-read a little later when I have more time, to make sure I have my thoughts aligned with the Inspectorate's decision.]

Rainfall is just measured in inches or mm (depending on your age) i.e. a parallel sided bucket here would fill up with 750mm of rain each year. It does not matter what size the bucket is.

It took us 6 1/2 years to "complete" our house. It will probably be another 2 before it is "finished"

as someone who has lived in Le Rouret for 20 years I did find this insulting to the locals. Like any trade there are complete cowboys and some really good people just like the Uk - it’s no different at all. Perhaps learn the local language and little better , immerse yourself with the locally born and get recommendations like you would in the Uk…

Ideally the window frames would be installed inline with the insulation layer. Presumably the aluminium frames have a thermal break in them. What is the RH value near the windows. We have single glazing in one window and an air temperature of 23C and RH 50% near it and we dont get much condensation on that window.

Stopping the air getting to the block work is the main thing Parge is a waste of time and money As a business I’ve used 1000s of m2 Mainly as a sound coat Even the housing associations have stopped including it for airtightness

No i didn’t do white. (Completely)

Matchboard is wasted at high level But looks stunning at low level

Exposed soffit? I’m looking at what to do for ours. We built the separate garage already and have gone for an oak clad traditional look. The soffits we left exposed and painted with good quality black paint, 8mm ply prior to roof work and all the rafter ends. Then spent money on oak fascia’s and barge boards with galvanised gutter. I’m really pleased with it. Just now concerned how I replicate it on the 5 bed house going next to it!

You need to work out the flow temp your emitters require to deliver the heat in to the house to offset the energy losses. You then set the Flow Temp on the ASHP space heating to match this. The larger the emitters, and lower overall heat loss, the lower the required Flow Temp and better SCOP. From this set Flow Temp, you can then use a weather compensation curve to increase the Flow Temp as the outside temp drops. This allows a lower general Flow Temp, and even better SCOP, raising it only when needed. I found it better to run without weather compensation at the start to understand how the house reacted to a known Flow Temp, and then set up Weather compensation.

I would guess that you either choose the flow temperature for a constant temperature or there is an optional control system thaht uses either weather compensation or load measurement to adjust the flow temperature. I'd guess the F is for HW heating with a high flow temperature. If you scroll down on the page you linked to there is a more detailed spec to look at (although it's not detailed enough). There's an interesting BRE page which will estimate annual efficiency of a heat pump system. .https://www.bregroup.com/heatpumpefficiency/index.jsp It lets you select the heat pump, flow temp etc and shows a graph of the estimated COP.

And when they go, they go. Just because they shatter into tiny pieces, if you are holding them at the time, your hand get cut !

You mention there are two bits of roof. Would the rafters in the other bit be shorter than 4m? If so you can use same size for both pitches. If the other bit needs longer rafters there might be other calculations for that.

thanks to this thread we are now aware of wall panels! not something we'd considered before but they are now definitely on our radar so thanks to those who have recommended them. ?

Yes!

I don’t think it is way too much. If he is award winning, then he is in demand, and if he has direct experience in your area, that is also valuable. But I think you need to make sure that the plans he is going to prepare for the tendering stage are really detailed, and clearly show most of the essentials, like build ups of walls and roofs. I found that our tender pack, which comprised 48 pages, was not detailed enough. We just didn’t give the builder all the info for him to quote in full. Much better not to rush the tender docs. Planning on the other hand does not need to be that detailed. So I think of the £15k, I would want a significant chunk allocated to the tender drawings.

@paul evenden have a look at this thread:

It's a big "thing" on here. Absolutely magic. Forget any pretenders. The rubber or whatever they're made off will take wet silicone of a tile cleanly. I've got this basic kit. Picked at random: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cramer-Grouting-Silicone-Profiling-Applicator/dp/B07H8K5W8D/ref=asc_df_B07H8K5W8D/?

Never seen one was taught the glass cleaner thing by an old boy twenty years ago and been doing it ever since, I’ll google that tool now !

Fugi Cramer tool for me. Makes glass cleaner unnecessary.

What I do (but its too late to help now) is set the bath up level and mark the top edge on the wall, then if the wall isn’t straight (and depending on the tiles at other times too) I chop the plaster off to rebate the edge of the bath into the wall. Work out the tile spacing, take the bath out and fix a batten one tile higher than the top edge of the bath then tile the wall above the back of the bath (to save standing in the bath to tile it) then fit the bath sticking it to the wall with ct1 or similar (fill the bath while its going off) Take the batten off and put in the last course of tiles, grout, leaving the gap between tiles and bath clear, when the grout is dry, silicone the gap. To silicone ,neatly fill the gap, spray it with glass cleaner and wipe it off with a wet finger (the glass cleaner stops the silicone sticking to the tiles and bath when you wipe the joint) If the walls are studwork or one solid and one studwork etc then silicone instead of grouting the vertical corner joint too as a grout line will crack. Proper tile shops (not diy sheds) will sell silicone to match their grouts. paul

I applied to build two flats on a corner plot that I had run as a car sales site for fifteen years. A neighbour that I had been on very friendly terms with the whole time for some reason decided he didn’t like it. First of all he told the planners the site had previously been a petrol station (it never had and a desktop historical survey proved it ) but the planners made me have a contaminated land survey ‘just in case’ £3500 Then he objected to four windows overlooking his house (the other side of the road) so we took them out of the plan. Then after they passed it he had a heart attack (with all the stress he had worked up ?) and died. I let his family use my site as parking for his funeral (I pretended that I didn’t know it had been him stirring up all the objections) My architect had a site meeting with the planners and put the windows back in and we duly built the flats and sold them. You just have to try and ignore the objectors as most of their objections have no basis in planning law. It helps to put professionals in between you and the objectors , the pros will usually know the planners anyway. (Having your main objector drop dead is obviously quite advantageous) paul

Sockets. TIP #1: Mark some sockets on the plan to satisfy BC there are enough, typically one each side of the bed, one on each wall, etc. THEN when the shell is up and you can see the bulding and visualise how you will use it, go round with your electrician and mark the ACTUAL positions you want them on the walls. TIP #2: Agree with your electrician that he will route socket circuit cables around the entire room at socket height. As long as there is one socket on each wall that is a safe zone. Then you have a cable in place to add extra sockets any time you want to.

What is this?

You could try sticking acoustic foam on the inside of the cupboard doors, overlapping the gap. If it works make something more permanent or, if you are like me, leave it until you have finished everything else.....

There's got to a market for caravan owners wanting to make work for their local councils... Simply put curtains up, patterned on the window side to look like brick or blockwork.

@SteamyTea @joe90 I assume our Kerradeco panels wouldn't be to your taste then. ?