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@joe90 will tell you how to win at appeal, he had loads of trouble with planning. Timber frame is initially fast. Then you can finish at your leisure. Consider getting loads of PV on the roof at this stage, that will, to a certain extend, set the orientation and the roof angle, and banish things like parapets, chimneys and anything that caused shading.

15kW. 10kWp array and 5kW from the PW2. the G99 says 17kW max so I can potentially reapply to change the battery storage to discharge at 7kW as I don't think I'll be going Tesla for my battery storage. but, for the moment, I have the 15kW in the bag!

Well @SteamyTea, I've yet to see a build where Durisol is the outer skin. In terms of what I have written about it, I think its fair to argue that my own incompetence, inexperience and openness should not be taken as a factor in the criticism of a product. I may be wrong, but I think I might be the only person to have written quite as much about Durisol on this board. One person's musing on one discussion board is hardly a good evidence base on which to make fairly large purchase decisions. I had absolutely no prior experience of building. None. I appointed a company that was over-trading to help build the house. I sacked them far too late. So I (we) just got on with it. And now I'm sitting in a warm house that I've built by my (our) selves. I would have made just as many stupid errors with any other build method. Come to think of it, had we chosen brick and block, the errors would have been worse. A combination of opportunity, Durisol, effort, commitment and guts has constructed a house worth about £500k. And nobody knows or cares what the build method was. But what I find of most value is the learning experience I've had along the way. That's priceless.

Thanks for that. If this is just a shed, why are you spending ( wasting ) any more money with plasterboard / other finises? I painted my ceiling rafters with the same grey floor paint, and all looks perfectly fine to me. Maybe time to stop now, and stop making any more problems to solve. Certainly do NOT fit recessed lighting!! Surface mounted for sure with low profile trunking. Will be plenty neat enough.

The problem with unheated workshops is that throughout the year there are times when the internal temperature is considerably below the outside temperature - unless it is deliberately ventilated (think slatted cow sheds). Then the relatively higher humidity of outside air condenses on relatively colder internal surfaces, tools etc. So yes, insulation can have a detrimental effect if it delays the two reaching equilibrium. I think you were initially considering the reverse of this situation - where internal warm/moist air would condense on cold surfaces on the other side of the insulation. This would be non-negotiable in a normal living space but for an outbuilding you can consider increasing ventilation all round. It's somewhat frustrating I'll agree. My own workshop is insulated and marginally heated by a dehumidifier and small electric convector. The dehumidifier is a compressor type that consumes around 250W and consequently raises the room temperature by a degree or two. Thus it serves two purposes. If I had to replace it I would get an electric Desiccant Dehumidifier which works better at cold temperatures but has the same positive heating effect. Even a marginally heated workshop is proving to be a luxury though so I'm looking at other options.

Well, it’s been quite a while since my last blog post but we’ve not been idle but I do admit to having been slack in updating the blog. At the end of the last blog we had a superstructure and the roofer was about to begin his journey up the scaffolding. This is where that tale begins….. ’Twas a sunny November morning when all was quiet that a white van man arrived at our site to felt, batten and slate our sloping roofs. And he wasted no time at all in cracking on with it after the site orientation was complete. With his dad along to help with the battening it didn’t take long for the membrane (or ‘felt’ if you’re a roofer) and battens and counter battens to be done. After discussions with our BCO it was decided that we would fully fill our rafters and use a breathable membrane (Proctor Roofshield) attached to the roof trusses and then 25mm x 50mm counter battens and then slate battens which gave us 50mm ventilation. This allows us to not need soffit vents (or indeed soffits) which fitted in to the design of the house better and also meant we don’t have to worry about creepy crawlies living in the soffits. We started with the southern elevation so that the solar PV array could be installed and the roofer (Chris) fitted the first few rows of slates and some flashing leaving it ready for the solar team to arrive before moving on to the northern elevation So while Chris was busy working on the north side of the house the solar installers arrived and fitted our GSE trays. Once done they started to fit the panels. But it was then discovered that the company who did the ordering ordered the wrong size GSE trays and the panels wouldn’t fit. So the solar installers took all the trays down and left site after wasting a day’s work. Meanwhile the flat roofers attended site to single-ply membrane our flat roofs and balcony. A great bunch of guys from a company recommended to me by Chris so I had every confidence of them doing a great job, and they didn’t disappoint. DPM, PIR, OSB then single-ply membrane. First roof which will have a wildflower green roof being overlooked by our bedroom balcony Second roof above our utility room which links the house to the garage which will have a sedum roof They will return a little later on in the blog to install the green roofs. Meanwhile the solar installers returned after the correctly sized GSE trays had been delivered and managed to fit it all in a day. We think it looks brilliant. 28 x 375W LG panels, each with Solaredge optimisers as we have lots of trees around us. And when they’d finished each panel was giving out 1V and was confirmed each was working by being shown the 14V on each string in the loft. Job done for now until we get electrics first fix done and they can come back and fit the inverter. The only real issue we had with the solar is that the panels were resting on the slates making them lift up in places. I created a thread about them (https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/topic/24530-slate-tiles-lifted/) and after much discussion and deliberation I decided to simply use black CT1 to stick them down which worked nicely. A bit of a bodge but you can’t tell from the ground and a lot less disruption to timelines than other solutions. While all of that was going on Chris was busy slating the northern elevation and it was all coming along nicely. During that I had another discussion with the BCO about vent pipes. I asked if I could have one by the STP but she was adamant that I had to have one through the roof. When I mentioned I didn’t want a pipe sticking out the top of the roof she said that they do slate vents. A quick google search revealed what she was talking about and I purchased the item and it was installed. Looks fab and from the ground you can barely notice it which is just what I wanted. And now the solar PV install was finished he could move on to the southern elevation. But while he was doing that the flat roofers came back and installed our green roofs. The wildflower material So that’s those finished although we were still waiting on a Velux roof light for one of the roofs which was delayed but the flat roofers came back to install that for me and finish off that roof a bit later. They also installed our patio paving slabs which we think look ace. So, back to Chris and he’d now finished the main house roof slating and it finished off around the PV panels nicely. He did make a start on the garage roof but as we were still waiting on Velux windows he couldn’t finish that so he left site and would return once the Velux’s were delivered. During that period our windows and doors arrived! We used Norrsken for these and went for alu-clad triple glazed windows and sliders. The majority of our windows are fixed and we had quite a small profile for the frame which means more glass. The installers, Elite Installations Nationwide (https://www.eliteinstalls.co.uk) were brilliant and Jim and his team were a joy to have on site. They brought their spider crane with them which made lifting our windows up to the first floor a breeze for them. We decided to be bold and went for a red front door. We love it. As the window install was done the week of Christmas the installers couldn’t finish them all in time before the Christmas break so we wished them a safe trip back to York and would see them in the new year. Happy new year!! (Belated). With the new year came the return of Jim and his team to finish off all our windows and doors. Once they were installed it made the house feel so much more like a house. Closing the front door had a feel of shutting out the outside world and we were (almost) water tight at last. We also eventually received our Velux roof light and sloping and vertical windows. So the flat roof was finally completed and so was the garage roof. So we are very nicely watertight at this point. All that’s left now is the time-lapse video for this period of time. Sadly our camera only shows the south side of the building so we only get footage for stuff that happens on that side but it still makes for an interesting watch and I hope you enjoy it. Until next time.

They should be visible in a week, then ready to plant out 2 weeks later. The sooner any robust plant is in the ground, the sooner they grow fast and you get your beans. The slugs will be mustering now in anticipation, hence a bit of stem height is good, and clear away any nice stones they might be breeding under. Worth putting down a few old bricks that they might hide under in the daytime. I lifted an old tile yesterday when preparing the bean bed, and found 20 slugs.. Do you get rabbits? 50 is a lot, but they are easy to find homes for.

@Nickfromwales beat me to it. In general, UFH is unsuitable for houses without very good insulation and airtightness. Unless you tackle these first the UFH heating will be very expensive to run as it'll need to be on long before and after you need it due to it's slow response times. If you concentrate on heating the house only when you need to via high temp radiators or air heaters or similar with quick response times it'll be much cheaper to run.

Thanks. We were very happy with the TF company and erectors. DNO signed off the 10kW array and PW2 on single phase. 😊

@Marvin. Nope, still not got a base made for it yet. Not needed heating for a few weeks now. The 3kW immersion is doing all our hot water. Have it time for during the day so largely covered by the PV.

I have done many bathrooms with the shower screens bonded with the clear CT1 and never had any issues with discolouration. All very much on show so I'd have been pulled over it by now. The white does discolour, and should never be the finish left on show. Around the backs of WC pans etc I use the clear CT1 for fundamental sealant, wiped back slightly with baby wipes to leave a gap for a microban / forever white silicone sealant to go atop. When that gets a bit funky, it is very easy to strip and refresh.

Hi. What you need to do, sir, is take the rest of the day off and plug yourself into the BH search engine. Delete everything you think you know, or what you've heard elsewhere, and go dig up the wealth of gold-standard information that resides here. Don't be afraid of blowing the dust off topics and adding new questions, as that is the best way of keeping our library here in good order I've installed many ( for clients ) which ( subject to them not buying cheap 'Chinese' units ) have been whisper quiet or completely inaudible. MVHR does not move / control heat, that would be HVAC or forced air systems with huge ducts and monster air flow rates

Thats for 3 phase systems to declare there wont be more than 16A per phase difference in export on each phase

Exceptional attention to detail from the timber frame producers and erectors. Not seen work as neat and presentable as that for quite some time. Love the red front door, what a great signature Have you applied to the DNO for capacity of A/C coupled batteries as well as that whopper of an array? The A/C capacities ( PV and intended battery ) combined seem high for a 1ph installation? Tres bien.

I love this house! You’ve done such a great job, amazing to watch.

Mine comes from the amateurish looks of them, and all you wrote about them. I have seen better formed fake Weetabix and Shredded Wheat.

If the roofing company are supplying the roof tiles and also fitting them, the whole contract should be VAT free - no VAT charged on the whole contract (project/job/task) .

Other manufacturers may have different settings but the UK spec SE inverters we have are set to shutdown at 262v Yep spreading the array round will help but I guess a battery bank is going to put a fair load on the PV which should keep things in check. On an SE inverter there is supposed to be a power control feature that you can use to throttle production as voltage rises and so keep household voltage sensible. Im waiting to hear from SE as to where in the menu it is as Ive not been able to find it despite installing the latest software!!

Err, nope! A trap is formed when the pipe rises again, after the basin has discharged, 'trapping' water eg blocking the pipe. Yours both show continuous falls so are fine, however option 1 would be the quietest method. You hear much more nose / sound from water changing direction and from significant drops before the invert. FYI I have started wrapping soil and waste pipes with Kilmat / other sound deadening mat as a solution to banning the higher frequency noise, plus as much acoustic rockwool insulation as is practicable for the lower. It is imperative that the pipe runs do NOT contact the metal frame as that will be like an amplifier.

When figuring this out for our house I looked no further than some old farm buildings. Sand cement sponged finish. It's lasted 70 years with zero maintenance or paint on a cow stall grandad built. No cracks and still as level as the day it was applied. Also materials are hella cheap. €2k buys a tremendous amount of plastering sand, cement and lime. Some planting near the house softens up the look nicely thereafter.

I did some graven hill designs, and I wouldn’t be so crude as to slander anyone on this show but holy lord, they were hard work. I don’t think I can watch this show because it’s still pretty painful.

You would need to alter all the doors ( internal and external ), the stairs would have a dangerous half step at the bottom, all the countertops would be the wrong height. Your windows may be too low for Bregs. Unfortunately it's normally not a practical solution. Like @Conor says UFH is enormously wasteful without a well insulated floor. A u value of 0.16 is mandatory to install it in a new build in Ireland. This is about 150mm PIR. The concrete below the floor is probably only 50mm thick and could be removed very quickly. Otherwise stick to rads.

Works for me. You can safely and easily draw 50 or 60 amps at night if you want to, though I really draw more than 40 (two storage heaters and the DHW). During the day, when I am about (work evenings) I used about 2 kWh (cooker/oven and just about nothing else). It would be good to have that amount of storage as there is now a 20p/kWh price difference, shifting that would save £73 a year. And that is the problem, I don't use enough to invest in alternatives, even at todays elevated prices, which may well drop in the next year or two.

You won't be able to get the correct fiber that a future installer wants so you'll just need to leave that as an empty duct. For telecoms now I'd get the provider (virgin or openreach) in now to do the installation. I actually signed up to a rolling one month virgin contract, they turned up a few days later and left a giant coil of cable in duct at our boundary, so I immediately cancelled the contract and then pulled that cable through the garden and house to the AV cupboard, then contacted them 6 months later to terminate and commission it. Internal wiring I'd suggest 2x CAT6/CAT6A to each data point and up to 4 to the TV (especially and main TV location, for future proofing) I did cat6a everywhere but cat6 is more than likely fine. Also consider pulling data cable to other useful places like the PV inverter, heating system, outdoor equipment, doorbell, CCTV camera points, etc.

Is a nighttime tarrif an option for you? Consider that and do most of your car charging and hot water heating overnight. That should cut your bills. Then your PV will cover your daily appliances and dump excess to your hotwater. It's what we're doing. We're down to about £1.50 a day now.

Go with what the planners will dislike the most. E.g. if the issue with precious application was render, include render in your plan. This means if you change your mind and want more stone, wil be less of an issue getting it passed as a non material change. Our architech included porches, overhangs, railings, balconies, garage etc that we are not likely to build... But as he says it gives us the option.

No. Stick to rads. Would be a criminal waste of energy. Only other thing I can think of is to remove the existing floor structure, clean up the slab, put down a DPM, 100mm PIR, UFH and 50mm liquid screed (assuming you've got about 150mm depth to work with). That would just about do.

With an SE Storedge system theres a CT on the grid connection so the charge controller knows if theres generation going to export and then diverts excess to battery charging. As far as I know any decent PV charge controller would need a CT to govern whether to charge or not?? The G99 need for installer details is a stupid requirement! Until you get your G99 approved you dont know what youll be installing... if approval needs an export limitation system with a commissioning demonstration thats likely a specialist system outside the abilities of your local part P spark whose details youve put on the application. I put TBA on our applicatiion and the DNO wouldnt process it. I then told them I was installing myself with a test and inspection carried out by our local Building Control department...that was accepted.

That kind of 'fliament' LED bulb is often a bit crude in terms of the driver electronics inside the screw cap (note there's not much room down there). Despite being claimed to be dimmable I wouldn't put it on a dimmer. If it isn't on a dimmer then it's even cruder than the usual Chinesium offering.

You can cut some say pir to the same size as a brick / block and build that as part of the wall. Then later remove and it'll give you access to the steelwork inside. Tbh I'd be fitting the hinges now and blocking around them.

Ok. So how do you envisage the batteries knowing that you have excess, and for the software of the BMS to initiate charge for those specific / sporadic pockets of opportunity? If you’re already getting FiT then you have your cake. Divert excess into hot water and you get the cherry. If the other areas for PV are not optimal, and you factor in scaffolding, wiring to / from etc, the economics soon head for the nearest window. If you wish to pursue this, then I’d recommend a dual input hybrid inverter, set to zero export, with your new panels feeding into input 1, and your batteries on input 2. That will put all the new micro generation on the D/C side this not upsetting the DNO when you register. Also, you can put as much battery storage on the D/C side as you like as the A/C side ( grid ) never ‘sees’ it. The biggest issue you’ll have is with finding equipment that will communicate with / support optimisers. That’s the current issue with the system I take delivery of shortly has, but I will likely just add further inverters to take each effective string. Puts the cost up, and elongates the payback, but I’m owed a lot of favours so am getting my equipment for a song ( thankfully ) otherwise I doubt I’d have gone for so much battery storage ( 24kwh intended at this time but will likely double that to 48 in the near future after 12 months of statistical data had been recorded / reviewed ). I’m putting panels on a lot of outbuildings +newly ( purpose built ) “solar gazebo” , as well as the rear of the roof. Do as @SteamyTea says, and work out what the new arrays will likely produce. Then the cost of all the equipment, and have a good think. Optimising your use of peak solar / high load devices and divert to hot water may mop up all of your current excess

@saveasteading Could you make something like this. Probably need a simple jig to hold it all in place, then glue and screw/nail. Maybe @Gus Potter could have some input.

Welcome to the forum, another ex hill runner from Argyll where I have three old stone cottages in various states of repair / renovation, my walls are natural sone with a rubble core. I went / am going with building timber frames on the inside, infilled with PIR and then PIR over the top of the frames and plasterboard as the final covering. Taking the detailing very seriously and aiming for very good air tightness.

As Nick said above. I did a refurb in 2007 and used speedfit from the incoming mains. I always pressured with air when i ran new pipes and left it overnight. 5 months in and a pipe above the kitchen ceiling came apart. It had an insert, and had been marked with a sharpie to ensure if was fully pushed home. Then another One went on the central heating. I switched to Hep20 pipe and fittings after that and fingers crossed, never had a problem since. (Fingers crossed) Good luck getting it sorted.

This Anyone who has been down the Wye Valley recently will have noticed the normally clean waters turn bright green over the last couple of years. Its disgusting and all because of chicken farms' run-off into the river. And no action is taken against the big chicken famers that supply our free range barn raised eggs. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/05/river-pollution-leads-to-welsh-demand-for-halt-to-intensive-poultry-units

the wildflowers have started to bloom

Slow progress due to a combination of learning curve around window profiles and limited time on site, but it's moving in the right direction.

Chances are you're gonna have to before you get a sensible answer... anyway, welcome to these forums 😃

So where were the leaks that were still left?

Why I was suggesting others but one. There is a new 'pulse test that has been approved. Compressed air is released, then the pressure profile measured. Similar to farting under a light blanket, or so I am told.

This is the Masons, not the golf club where they 'like to play around'.

Our @joe90 has a CAD system that he drew his whole house up with. Called Crayon Assisted Design. you don't need to have computer printed stuff.

Cornwall got to you then. While not mechanically heated, it will still have a temperature gradient that can cause condensation problems.

Having an interior designer is like having a personal shopper spend all your money on sh*t you don’t need, don’t like and will never use in a month of Sundays. Oh and don’t forget the “iconic” piece of furniture that we found in a flea market in Hong Kong which we shipped x thousands of miles that we “just thought was typically you” which will go with the £1000m2 roll of gold wallpaper from Venice hung by a trio of Italian circus tumblers. Not for me thanks.

You're kidding?