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1. When you install a floor / bottom in a basement, do you still need a load of insulation. If a basement is underground on 3 1/2 sides. Just a lightwell exposed. If that floor is say 4mt underground is the temperature not stable, and quite warm at that point ? Yes you do, although not quite as much 2. I believe that to comply with building regs you have to have Two methods of keeping water out ? Any idea what is normally done ? I was thinking about a french drain around the base to a sump with a pump which would take that water to a suitable soakaway ? I'm not sure what other methods might be used ? Often either waterproof concrete or external membrane and perimeter drain plus type C internal drained cavity. 3. I know that sometimes basements are constructed using formwork, and waterproof concrete. Any ideas as to what other methods might be suitable ? Concrete block 4. If a bathroom was to be fitted in a basement, i take it that a macerator pump would be required to take the waste up to ground level where it could be discharged into a normal 100mm soil pipe ? Mini pump station is better and quieter as it does not need to blitz, only runs occasionally and has a decent bore discharge pipe.. 5. Any directions to web sites, or you tubes, that might give me a better idea of methods available ? 6. Anything else you think i might need to consider ? Ground investigation will have a large impact on the engineering. Also consider ventilation and fire escape.

All finished now. And an animated MQTT dash info panel showing the Joule bucket filling and emptying: screen-20220613-135047.mp4 In the final configuration the Black box with the CT clamp goes next to the Electricity supply meter and has no external indicators or controls. Everything is done via MQTT over WiFi (where the power measurements are broadcast) and via real-time X10 style signalling to tag 'cycles to divert' on the mains wiring around the house. The Heatsink box goes in the airing cupboard next to the hot water cylinder and has a single LED showing green (standby) yellow (Joule bucket filling) red (Joule bucket emptying). All told very satisfying and at a materials cost of under £30 (many parts already lying around) quite a saving on buying an eddi/harvi combo. But I don't want to add up all the hours spent building it!

Almost ready to cover up with APR and plasterboard. I used Kilmat as @Nickfromwales suggested to help with any noise. The clips are 40mm clips used on 32mm pipe with foam tape wrapped around to reduce noise transfer. The pipe exits the wall within a 100mm square from the floor and the wall. At the other end you can see the pipe exit at around 500mm from the floor and with H and C written just above where I am going to send the water feeds through. I think those holes are 60mm higher than the waste hole and 80mm apart. The plan is for the feeds to then split inside the room to feed the two basins as that puts fewer fittings in the wall. I'll need to use elbows on the feed pipes as the wall cavity is only 70mm and the bend radius is 120mm/80mm for 15mm/10mm pipe. I could exit the wall at an angle but I think that could look bad.

Yes i went in for planning permission for a basement that was the full size of the house above. with a decent sized lightwell to the rear. The reason for the basement was because i'm in Greenbelt and i knew that there was no way to go bigger on the house. Just got it through. I'll do some reading re the above advice. Thanks folks. I am pleased that i have managed to go from about 650 square ft to 3881 square ft + a double garage, and my posh shed. So about 4450 square ft in total. Ive had A and E permitted development rights removed. A i can understand but E is a right cheek. I will try and post up my floorplans, so you can all pull them apart.

yes, but you don't 'need' as much as at ground level. Have a read of this post for more details as to how depth underground effects U-values: also there are other threads in the basement forum on this subject. e g. 2 methods for a habitable space, yes. we used waterproof concrete AND waterproof membrane. details in our blog: we also have a land drain around the base of the basement going to a sump. very much belt and braces here. we used formwork and poured reinforce concrete but you can also use ICF and @pocster used another form of blockwork that he DIY'd but can't remember the name of it. yep, saniflo basically. or you could go to great expense and have a very deep waste pumping station externally. the basement sub-forum of this website! 😉 make provisions for utilities to come in to the basement if you're having a plant room down there.

Scroll compressors only need apply by the looks of it - I think we kind of knew it but confirmation is valuable.

This arrival tells you all about the heater etc. https://buildequinox.com/news/?id=4711

Build a garden room at the bottom, put in stairs and exit onto a flat roof garden (with railings) that extends all the way up the rest of the slope.

Why are you wanting a gshp and not an ashp? Lot more effort for the gshp for little extra benefit I would say. what is the power consumption of the house at the moment (heating and water)?

love it! and can't wait to see the progress once you get started. a few comments... 1. what is the area circled in red for? it's much more cost effective to build the square basement. adding that kink will add extra cost and I can't see a reason for it. 2. I would put the cinema seating in the middle and have the walkways at the sides. otherwise no one has the prime position of being central to the screen! Also, tiered seating would be amazing so consider your ceiling height when digging/building the basement and ensure you have room to allow it. it's exactly what I'm planning with our basement cinema if/when I ever get around to fitting it out. we have 3m high ceilings in the basement so plenty of room to allow tiered seating. now I've seen the plans, another few things to consider for your plant room. If you're having MVHR (and I presume you are) and it's going in the plant room then you'll need a condensate drain unless you're having an enthalpy exchanger. our RWH has a 'brain' to it that flushes out the header tank if no use is detected, i.e. holiday mode, so that rainwater isn't sat in it for a prolonged period. As such I need to 'drain' from the controller which will be in the basement but as it's drained by gravity the controller needs to be above the RWH tank or drains! this is a problem for me and if I knew then what I know now I would've run a drain from the plant room to the sump in our sunken courtyard (same as your light well) so that any water that needed draining from the plant room could easily use gravity out to the sump. maybe you won't need it but thought I'd mention it now so you can consider it if you might need it. what's more frustrating is I did put ducting under the slab for electric cables from the plant room to the courtyard for powering the pump and lights, just never thought I'd need to drain anything....how wrong I was. how big is your plant room and have you planned everything out? I thought ours was and it is just about ok but the MVHR ducting has taken up a lot more room than I anticipated. I have a separate plant room and comms/electric room to keep those items separated. I'm now a bit worried about the comms room as the Loxone cabinet for our HA system is quite big, and then when I try and fit a rack mount cabinet and the fuse box etc I think it might be a little tight. basically, don't underestimate how much room you'll need in the plant room. think that's it from me for now as dinner is nearly ready. if I think of something else I'll let you know. good luck! 🙂

You could always use the posh shed as a Gym. I might apply to get my Part E back. (There is no way it passed the six tests) just so i can build a pole dancing posh shed down the bottom of the garden. Obviously it would include a hot tub, sauna. arcade games etc (+ dancing girls) I would obviously invite the buildhub gang.

The other similar option is Fresh-R. When I was looking, they looked better flows and price. This is the scheme they quoted for me. House is 190m2.

Big apols for being so tecno rubbish, hence the 3 posts. Thanks again for all the replies gang.

Oh, don't forget the zip line.

Yes But if the temperature is no more than say 14⁰C in the summer, and closer to 8⁰C in the winter, all year round you are losing heat to the ground. Even if that heat is free, it is still leaking out. Don't matter how stable the temperature is, if it is too cold, it is too cold. The Atlantic around here is stable, still not going in without a very thick wetsuit.

As mentioned if going weather compensation, don't waste money on flashy thermostats, the radiator just need TRVs, UFH as single zone. Set up weather compensation so UFH runs all the time without overheating the house, flow temps will be closer to 25 than 45 degrees. Radiators are you too late to increase size to future proof, set up with a max flow temp suitable for a heat pump. Boiler sizing can be difficult with a combi, as you want a big one for DHW, but they tend to be huge in a well insulated house for heating. So may benefit from a buffer to ensure long boiler run times. We have a big combi (Atag A35ECX) with only a max heating demand of around 3kW. Have a 160L buffer with a DHW coil in it for pre heating cold water to combi DHW. The buffer is also heated by solar, so big reduction in gas consumption in the summer. The water leaving the preheat coil, if it is above 45 goes straight to the taps, below 45 goes through the boiler heated to 55 degs. We can run three showers from a combi. If you are thinking combi, the only real way to get consistent performance all year round and the ability to run multiple outlets properly is with pre heat on the cold water. Not sure where low loss headers come in on a domestic install, just use close coupled tees, £2.50 instead of £250. Or if you have a buffer that gives you hydraulic desperation. I would have a pump and thermostatic mixer on each manifold for UFH, as it easily allows you to run different flow temperatures and it also automatically give hydraulic separation from boiler pump and also acts as limit stop on flow temperature to protect the floor.

Go as big as you can underground because neighbor objections mean feck all to ‘size’ of dwelling they can’t see . Avoid having it that you must park on it - that’s a bit tricky 🙄

Yo Jimbo I'll chuck my pennies worth in. When you install a floor / bottom in a basement, do you still need a load of insulation. If a basement is underground on 3 1/2 sides. Just a lightwell exposed. If that floor is say 4mt underground is the temperature not stable, and quite warm at that point ? I installed EPS insulation under my basement slab. I also needed to make it a 'raft' form. 2. I believe that to comply with building regs you have to have Two methods of keeping water out ? Any idea what is normally done ? I was thinking about a french drain around the base to a sump with a pump which would take that water to a suitable soakaway ? I'm not sure what other methods might be used ? My twat council said 3 forms to keep water out. I have french drain type affair at the base outside the basement ( this is expected to fail ). I had plastic sheeting lapped over all the external basement walls ( this is expected to fail ). The internal perimeter drain with floor and wall membrane is IMHO the only thing you need as this shouldn't ( can't? ) fail. So basically (expletive deleted) about doing the other 2 but don't spend too much time/money on them as they will fail. 3. I know that sometimes basements are constructed using formwork, and waterproof concrete. Any ideas as to what other methods might be suitable ? I used interlocking concrete blocks ( can find the brand name if you wish ). All dry fit. Nice and easy but lots of labour. I then tied thousands of steel rebar through the lot because I'm as 'ard as nails. 4. If a bathroom was to be fitted in a basement, i take it that a macerator pump would be required to take the waste up to ground level where it could be discharged into a normal 100mm soil pipe ? Yep. But it all depends on where your soil pipe will be. I can't do this so I will need underground WC to macerate to a pumping station outside. 5. Any directions to web sites, or you tubes, that might give me a better idea of methods available ? Yes. Just ask me. Because I'm (expletive deleted)ing brilliant. 6. Anything else you think i might need to consider ? How much cash you got?

My understanding is... When an overseas company exports to the UK they should do so free of their VAT or whatever it's called in their country (BTW in Belgium). Depending on the value they should either charge UK Vat or no UK VAT. I think the break point is £135 but that may have changed. On arrival in the UK you will/should be charged UK VAT if not already paid and possibly customs Duty. Any UK VAT charged can be reclaimed subject to the normal rules that apply to UK purchases. Any foreign VAT paid in error cannot be reclaimed but I bet HMRC miss some hidden away in the spreadsheets. If it's a lot of money best consult an expert.

Yes Not necessarily but as said GSHP pull heat from the ground but at a very low level, at least there is no “wind wash” effect which can cool an above structure quite a lot.

We went low loss header and divicons with a Viessman W200 system boiler on weather comp, so no thermostats just one outside temp sensor, and a300l UVC. We have UFH on the ground floor and small rads and towel rails upstairs It was the ability to run two or three showers simultaneously that made the choice for us with regard to the tank. The divicons are not cheap but the system works really well. You would not need pumpsets on the ufh manifolds or any thermostats or actuators of you treat each floor as a zone. We were going to use wunda and Heatmiser as thought we wanted/needed that level of control. In reality if your house is airtight enough to warrant MVHR then you could treat each floor as a zone. It works really well

With regards to insulation (Q1), Yes loads. It is a brave assumption that the ground under a house will act as a thermal store. Even if it did, you have supplied the energy to heat it. GSHPs work on the grounds that they extract the energy in the ground being the mean of the annual air temperature, so around 12⁰C for me. Always ask the question 'why is wine kept in a cellar'. It ain't because it is (expletive deleted)ing hot.

Two schools of thought, a bigger gap will drain, get air to the back of the timber etc. Too tight might encourage say wasps and or get full of damp retaining crap. I'll cut the tubes to whatever you want.

Works both ways. If you point an IR thermometer or camera at a shiny surface it looks colder than a matte surface at the same temperature - hence the shiny surface not radiating away as much heat. Conduction is cancelled in those areas where the air gap remains so double win. Also this all helps in the summer when roofs get stupidly hot.

Yes, well I did.

Like the above but I am going to have to suggest a slide for the kids …. Just build a decent landing zone ..!!!

Can anyone recommend brackets or instructions for a floating bench please? I’ve built a wall but the brackets I’ve cemented in won’t be strong enough. I ideally don’t want the brackets to be seen either. Thanks

No. They are so big they are not interested, however there are a couple of eps manufacturers that are willing to deal with smaller orders. I know a few people who have ordered all their eps for insulated raft directly.

Keep internal. Hardly any flow from and mvhr unless in the depths of a cold, damp winter. Even then it will creep down the sides of the pipe. Fyi my condensate drains are only 22mm until they connect to a 40mm branch at an appliance.

Really good questions, I'll try and answer them as best I can. Doing it myself was definitely not taken lightly and it wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination, but at the same time it also didn't end up as difficult as perhaps I'd thought once I got on with it. My project is technically a renovation/extension so I didn't have any VAT questions to deal with, but I went for self-fit mainly because I got such a huge variation in quotations for the fit. Lowest was about £4.2k, the hightest just under £8k. None included lifting equipment and I knew I'd need lifting equipment even if it was just to get the windows across the front banking to the house. Having personally seen (and read on here about) poor quality installations, I cynically surmised that I'd be better off ensuring detailing was done on installation rather than once the installers had already legged it from site, or further down the road. I know someone who used a known reputable company to supply and install and have had years of headaches down to poor installation, a fight probably going all the way to the courts because every time the company promises to come and fix the problems, they cancel a few days before visiting, or don't turn up. If I did it myself I'd only have myself to blame! Another reason is that all my ground floor windows are fitted externally to the walls to sit within the new EWI. I needed some additional detailing information about this for the most appropriate approach. But also to put it into context, I have built the whole house entirely myself, with the only exception of a 2 man team and crane to install the steel frame. I felt I'd be cheating on myself if I got someone else in to do this 😁 I measured, and re-measured, and re-measured, and re-measured.... the as-built rough openings. I know this part is a worry for a lot of people but it's just about being careful with the tape measure and re-checking the readings. I went for 8-10mm clearance. This really wasn't a problem. I ended up switching supplier having received a final massively inflated quote from the supplier I'd originally selected. This meant a change from aluminium to timber sills and a change in position of the frames within the openings - I had to move the frames slightly out from the timber frame on the first floor. All the relevant technical details about minimum frame support were available from the manufacturer. Then, in terms of weathering, it was just a case of doing the math to specify to total cill extension needed for either the cladding or render portions of the house. The more difficult process was detailing the rough openings within the timber frame and the EWI as I couldn't find a great amount of easily available and reliable information about this in the public domain. I got some from the window/door manufacturer which was very helpful, but then had to spend a lot of time doing research on this. I made up my own window and door sill trays where necessary too. I also got some detailing information from the EWI manufacturer. This part of the process was fine but time consuming. I've used a mixture of expanding tapes and airtight tapes internally (on the bay returns and EWI), and Soudal's SWS window system which comprises and external sealant, foam around the frame, and then either an airtight internal sealant or the LQ airtight liquid membrane. As a note of experience from the inexperienced, I've used a lot of the expanding foam tapes from several different manufacturers in the detailing of the EWI as the EWI requires a lot of extra careful detailing around any openings that comprises several stages of weather protection. What I've found is that when it's the middle of winter and the tape has been in the freezer, you've got loads of time to install the stuff before it expands. In the summer, when it's warm and you're using the expanding foam tapes to fill between about 3 - 12mm, it's expansion rate means you've got to work really fast even if it's been stored in the freezer! In this sense, when working alone, I prefer using the Soudal SWS sealant so you've got all the time you need to get the window into the rough opening, set it all true and plumb, get it fixed and then seal it all up and once set, fill the gap with foam. JMHO. Another tip is to have a section of soft plastic tube on the end of the foam gun so you can push it full depth between window frame and rough opening to ensure full fill of the foam. For the smaller windows I made up a simple dolly and used vacuum lifters as hand holds. For the larger items, I made up a trolly using kwikstage scaffolding with wheels (I bought the wheels with the kwikstage scaffolding). On the trolly I made a lifting arm for a chain hoist and vacuum lifter so I could lift the window/door onto the trolly from the pallet, then pushed the trolley round to the lifting point - with the really heavy items like the french doors I towed the trolley with my mini dumper. For the heay windows I used a rented vacuum lifter hung on the end of the chain hoist but for the smaller units I used a Grabo together with some Faithful heavy duty manual vacuum lifters used as handles to make it easy to move and position the unit.

So 18kWh total per day, less 5kWh other use means the ASHP is using 13kWh per day, so in round figures that is like a continuous load of 0.5kW 24 / 7 Something is not right here. It should be easy to tell when an ASHP is running, you will hear the compressor going, and the big fan on the outside unit. Do you observe the ASHP running nearly all the time? or do you notice it turn on say once an hour for a period? If you don't know that yet, then I would watch it like a hawk on your next day off and find that out. We use roughly 25kWh per WEEK heating DWH for 3, less in the summer because solar PV heats a lot of the hot water needs. Just the simple laws of physics begs the question where is all this energy going? 13kWh into an ASHP each day will be at least 26kWh of heat coming out of it. You can't lose 26kWh of heat without warming something up, so either your cylinder will get very hot, or all that heat will be going into your house into perhaps unlagged pipework?

Mice is all ours will catch! Amazed it can move that fast tbh:

Pretty vacant. Makes sense.

On a pro-rata basis it is similar. I do just have resistance heating and I cook on electric. You could get loads of PV on your roof, and at different angles. This time of year you could rent your drive out for EV charging at 25p/kWh. For a real laugh, you could convert your kit car to an EV. Two advantages of that, it would cost nothing to run, and it would run.