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We use 4 phases from rainwater to flushing the loo with it and they are: Collecting, separating and storing in bulk tank. Fine filtering and storing in barrel. filling the gravity tank in the loft Filling the cistern This is not the only system that is possible but one that works with our property limitations. This design and its controls take into account freezing conditions. We use two 12V pumps run from batteries and PV. Here is our system: We were limited for space and you can use gravity to your advantage Here is the design of the catch pit: A circular chamber with a flat base side entry pipes angled to make the inflowing water circulate around the edges. A Tee set vertically with the branch horizontal. Construction details could be concrete slab and engineering brick sides with manhole cover and frame like ours. Needs to either be under the ground or drained before frosts if using a plastic tank. Ours was 900 internal diameter, really the bigger the more sediment settles, but this is for about 200m2 catchment area. If your going for smaller I would go for as tall as deep as you can. The separated water goes directly into your bulk storage ready for further filtering. Ours has just been cleaned out and I will take photos tomorrow. M

This info relates to a DIY rainwater harvesting system, not a commercial system, and therefore the water must not be drunk! You should be careful using rainwater not to mix it with mains (Potable) Water as it is not suitable to drink and you could poison your house supply! To be clear birds poo on your roof and then it rains. However there are ways to elevate the problem in a DIY system so there is no smell or colour problems but it still cannot be drunk! You should not use the recycled rainwater for cooking, bathing or showering. SHMBO will not allow it to be used for clothes washing either. The main uses are for garden watering and toilets, and some people use it for car washing and some for clothes washing (we do not have enough storage). How much rainwater are you going to use on loos? Rough estimates suggest that you use about 70 litres a day flushing loos for 2 people. That's about 25m3 a year. More people more flushes more water... How much rainwater are you going to use in your garden? Well that's a good question and trying to work that out is basically a waste of your time because when its raining you won't need to water the garden. Is it going to rain when you need it is the impossible question to answer. so we used a pessimistic view. Our calculation about storage volume went like this: The averages on the isle of Wight where we are suggest typically 4 rainy days in each month from April through to September, however the actual events over a year are much more uneven. In 2 months, it was assumed no rain for 6 weeks: So 2 people 70 litres a day for a 6 week drought = about 3000 litres or 3 cubic meters. and Garden 200 litres a day for a 6 week drought = about 4200 litres or 4.2 cubic meters. (This was based on 200 drippers supplying plants (no lawns) 0.5 litres a day each) Total requirement about 8m3 Well, we don't have room to store that amount of rainwater so for us it came down to what we did have room for which was about 4.5 cubic meters. If we had the room I would have gone for 10 cubic meters. So this is what our loo water looks like after 4 years: No smell, no clogging up valves no discolouration. and the garden: Yes we run out of rain water, and have a backup from the mains. Based on the volume of water used and the cost of, our DIY installation, we will not save money doing this for many years, however it will reduce our bills going forward for as long as it works and we prefer to use rainwater on the garden. Good luck M

Wednesday 26th June, I spent most of this day travelling, in my van and my two helpers for the next few weeks. The trip is 433 miles door to door, the goal before the boss arrives for 9 days was to get the caravan (home) connected to the treatment plant. plus get ready for concrete. other blogs to follow. To connect the Static I needed to install the treatment plant, install some of the drainage for the pods, confirm with BC he is happy and basically crack on with the long days that far north. Previous work had the pit dug out of the rock, so the basic plan was to sit the plant onto compacted, level, stone and backfill with gravel. Then put a top of concrete to hold the whole thing down. In the 8 weeks the pit was open there was no filling of the pit, so I was quite happy the rock was porous, but couldn't be convinced in heavy rain it wouldn't fill with water. The rock at the bottom wasn't going anywhere, so didn't see the point of fully filling with concrete. I backfilled with stone up to around 350mm from the central rib of the TANK (a Tricel Nova 12P) then put 3 cube of concrete over this. this concrete is now bonded to the rock sides to the pit and if my tank floats its going to have to bring the bed rock with it. The observant of you will note it sits a little higher than the ground. This was for two reasons. - to assist with the outflow depth for the rubble drain, and secondly I am going to raise the level of the ground in this and the rubble drain area, to soften the impact of the house, that will sit further East on slightly elevated ground. (I also buried a 5 ft earth rod in the concrete for the future) I got my levels from the pods to the tank a distance of approx. 46.5M, and worked out my fall, the levels of the land assisted this, i..e the pods to the West and the House to the East of the treatment plant are both elevated, with the treatment plant in the lower part, and near the existing rubble field drain. (our initial survey and plans worked. Phew) The trench for the waste pipe was also used for services (Water, telecoms, electricity, Ethernet) , backfilled with stone and fill from site. I then laid the pipe, with a fall, and supported this on flat rocks. Connecting lengths of pipe together on your own is not easy, (I asked the dogs to help, but the lack of thumbs became an issue. ) Top tip, long ratchet straps make this an easy process. the picture below shows this, I broke the length of the run up with branches for rodding points, not required at these distances, but makes sense and easier rodding if required. The ratchet strap is 15 m long, at one point I had two connected together. simply loop the hook around the chamber, or branch and the other end around the pipe you are connecting and a few ratchets later the pipe slides into place. Once all in place and re checking the levels I used stone (lots of stone) to fill the voids under the pipe, re-checking the levels (falls) and compacting as I went. I tested this run of drainage with bungs and water manometer. Building control were happy not to inspect before backfill, as long as I was happy that if it failed the pressure test later that was my issue... My initial meeting with building control, laid the ground for our relationship, I asked what he wanted, showed him my proposals, chatted about this and that and hopefully from this he could see I wasn't a muppet, so we agreed to move forward with a few photo's here and there and he might pop in at anytime if he was passing. works for me. One of the branches that will be a rodding point is doubling up as my caravan connection. For now the Treatment plant is running by being plugged in. I Will run the SWA cable but this will be powered from a house yet to be built, so for now, comes from a Caravan hook up point, with RCBO protection. Part two will be the rubble drain this is still work in progress..

Hi all, We are installing open rain screen vertical cladding on our TF build, but my worry is that we will be able to see battens through the 10mm gaps. How do people normally go about it? - paint battens? crazy time consuming - throw another layer of cheap breather? perhaps even geotextile? expensive given the m2 - not do anything?

Only if dragsterdriver pushed a piece a wire up the inside of both MC4 connectors at the same time and held them. Probably no more lethal than working on the roof?

Evert time I think I have the answer another alternative comes up👍👍👍

To finish my 22 days on site. I started timber framing, decided to start on the amenity block, as this will initially be for our washing machine and dryer, plus some storage. My aim was to get water tight -ish. before I had to get home for the weekend. The poly tunnel (constructed this visit) - is my cutting shed, I set up my chop saw and worked to my cut list. This was proof of concept on my build plans, and it needed tweaking, the roof to wall junction has been modified and will work, but I want a better / neater solution for the cabins. here's my first attempt with the Binno camera. amenity.mp4 The wind picked up (20mph with 35mph gusts, so I needed to get some structure and racking boards in place, so the camera set up didn't happen day 2. I left site with it wrapped, and with the vapor barrier on the OSB roof. (with some 6x2 to reduce the wind uplift. I'll need BC to have a look before I put the insulation on the roof, as I want the insulations and rubber to go on on the same day. This block and the cabins will be clad in Scottish Larch. There's a gap above the door, that needs the final framing to be finished, but generally happy with the result. so far.

Here's an interesting concept about drinking rainwater untreated lifted from Farmers Weekly. It seems too logical and straightforward to possibly work.......... Water supply To reduce costs, rainwater is harvested from the roof, with two separate pipe feeds set up to supply the shed and grazing block. Water is stored inside a 100,000-litre tank, which has a valve at the bottom to monitor the water level. If it dips below a certain level, it is automatically topped up from the mains. Still, with 70% of the water supply coming from the roof, it is saving about £2,000/year on average. Mr Rowe has also saved on a UV-system by turning to the Australian industry for advice. “When using rainwater harvesting systems, there is a risk of bacteria getting in the water from things like bird droppings. But the work done in Australia suggests the bacteria live in the top and bottom one foot of the tank. “The theory is: if you suck water out of the middle, you are never exposing the cattle to risk water. “I spoke to an Australian cattle vet who was using the method to provide drinking water for his house.” © Richard Stanton Subsequently, Mr Rowe has designed and engineered a system to do just that. Hoses are suspended from two buoys that are connected to 18in-long chains to prevent the hoses from floating to the top of the tank.

Hi @Jenki No. But will do in the next few days (at least start it....) M

My dual roles for the first 10 days of the June / July trip was to get ready for concreting. This breaks down into two slab / raft foundations for the Cabins, 1 slab for the amenity block, and some backfilling of the treatment plant, and while I'm at it, concrete for the Polycarbonate Polly tunnel. another blog to follow. In my opinion, the structural calculations for the slab rafts were well over engineered. the slabs will be ground bearing (rock) foundation and thinner slab, all poured at the same time. The Radon barrier and timber frame will sit on this, with an insulated floating chipboard floor. I know this will give some thermal bridge on the timber frame, but these are camping cabins not the house. Costs said this was the way forward. I'd already exposed the rock for the cabins, so BC could see this, and was happy for me to crack on. I framed the the cabins with 6x2 timber, and levelled this formwork. Then used crush and run to raise the central slab area up, to leave me a 100mm thick slab with thickened foundation perimeter. This perimeter varied due to the level of the rock. I used around 6 ton of MOT in each cabin., then A252 around the base of the foundation and A142 across the slab. At the corners of each slab I ran the WC waste, and also a feed for H&C water, power and internet supplied for the amenity block. The amenity block was a simple 150mm Slab on compacted hardcore. With this prep done, my wife, (the now only breadwinner for the next 8 weeks), was due on site, for a baptism of fire..... To be fair Saturday and Sunday consisted of me and Mandy getting the mesh in place and getting the post support for the extended roof of the cabins dug, tying the mesh, getting the post support brackets ready. and some land clearing/ hole digging for the Poly tunnel. Monday is concrete day..... The plan was simple. the truck would reverse up to each cabin, drop around 5 Cube in the cabin, whilst I'm levelling, then the remainder would go into the amenity block. we would float this, and then when the truck came back pour the second cabin, finish the amenity block, and whilst waiting for the truck to come back get this floated off. the last load would be the treatment plant (this would be using the loader bucket) and leave a little for the poly tunnel.. easy 15cube, no problem.. It didn't work this way, Mandy, who is game for anything, but being an engineer needs to know what she is doing. She has never laid a slab.. didn't matter, because I was going to do it, no problem. she was there as a go for, and edge trowel-er (I must point out, I knew that the surface finish wasn't important, as its being covered with insulation and membrane - but) The wagon turned up around 10, after a 30 min trip to site, the day was damp, with slight rain, not overly hot, the driver would not drive on to the earth next to the cabins. So I had to use the loader. (an old Ford 550) the first half bucket was solid, I could tell by the colour, there was a lot of cement in the mix, I told him to add water, lots of water, but he didn't have "loads" so the best we got as a stiff slump, I loaded as fast as I could, and Mandy was trying her best to rake / shovel this level, and she was doing a great job, but she didn't know what she was doing, and it was hard work. I thought the concrete was wetter than it was. after about and hour we had the concrete out and some in the amenity block, but it was far from level, and starting to go off. I had to use the loader to level some more, than then used my beams to get it flat. This was hard, and the bull float wasn't bringing up a lot of cream..... I asked for a wetter mix for the second drop and asked for 2 hours to get set. I got the slab flat and fairly good, but not great. Whilst Mandy was teaching herself to drive the digger, (she wasn't having round 2 with the rake). Round two was worse, the mix although a little wetter, was setting faster. Mandy put the first few loads into the amenity block and I levelled this, then started on cabin 2, it was a real graft. Again the loader was used to move the setting concrete, there was some concrete left, so this went into the treatment plant pit. With the running around the site, cabin 2 slab was far from finished and I had to resort to putting water on top to help. Not my best day. I get the slab level., but floating was not producing a smooth mirror like finish. We also had to set in the post support into the 4 shuttered blocks. and had around 3/4 of a bucket left in the loader. We rounded the day off with setting the posts in the poly tunnel. We got cleaned up around 18.00. The amenity block and 2 cabins were flat and floated, but not fantastic (hence no photos). the treatment plant had around 1 cube of concrete and the 14 posts were set. 13Cube of concrete, and Mandy politely informed me, she was never concreting again.... Tuesday, we needed to finish off the treatment plant. but couldn't get concrete until late afternoon. The morning we started on the poly tunnel, but decided that we needed more concrete, so created a shutter to link all the posts with a plinth. The 3rd Batch of concrete was the worse, we did about 9 loads with the bucket and it was setting again. we left a full bucket for the poly tunnel, levelled the concrete around the treatment plant. (the driver informed me, that I probably had got more than 2 cube, as there was some in the mixer when he loaded mine, so that explains it going off real quick then. Anyway. we persevered, were still married and talking to each other, and we achieved the goals..... The future house slab pour will need more people, a different concrete company, and a solution that doesn't need my digger, PUMPS are not common this far north, thinking cap on. thanks for reading.

Yep that’s how I’ve asked the quotes to be worded and the drawings

I called my workshop a garage as it’s only a garage you can claim the VAT back on with a new build.

Sounds like you are after multi split AC heatpumps or Air to Air heatpumps as they are known in some circles, reasonable pricing... Depends on how many rooms and the amount of area you are looking to cool/heat. They can emit via radiator looking things, ceiling ducts, wall mount units, built into bulkheads, ceiling cassettes etc. Usually the same mfr's as the regular ASHP's so likes of Daikin, LG, Panasonic, Hitachi, Midea, Haier etc. Panasonic openly market heating and cooling on some of their units and have fan coil units to spread the cool air. The only issue - i think may be around the number of units you are allowed to site before getting planning involved. Something I'm looking into at the moment, it'd be nice to have a solution I can integrate now for heating/cooling whilst I'm at first fix.

The systems in offices normally work by heating or cooling air and transferring it via very large ducting. MVHR systems in dwellings is only for efficient ventilation and will not do heating or cooling to any significant extent. If you want a system that heats or cools the air you could look at a split or multi split a/c system.

Chalk doesn't necessarily rule out clay (broadly speaking there are four types of chalk, going from A to D, which D effectively being silt, i.e. clay). Would look different to Marl / mudstone clay. Can't remember the susceptibility to shrink/swell, though. Have a look here if you want to find what soil type you are likely to have : https://mapapps2.bgs.ac.uk/geoindex/home.html?layers=BGSBedEngGeol,BGSSupEngGeol,BGSEGFSReports,BGSUSAReports However - as others have said, could well be a copy and paste detail. Not the worst crime but your SE should be able to clarify for you. You can change the TOC level as required, so long as the thickness that remains and the dimensions of the step meets the general building regulations requirements for steps and the depth needed for the anchors. If there's a significant cost saving then I would certainly do it - just run it past the SE. The architect doesn't need input on the foundations. As already said, the frost depth refers to the formation (bottom) of the foundation. If in non-shrinkable soils this is typically 450mm in the UK. (the 900mm minimum for shrinkable soils is not related to frost but to water content of the soil) Mass concrete foundations are wonderful simple concepts - you are just replacing the higher level soil which might move around due to water content and frost with concrete which won't. You just need to make sure they are wide enough and thick enough to distribute the load on the lower level soils.

For anyone else reading this thread, I make that £36.3K total i.e. £291 + VAT per m². Alan

We have MVHR so it can’t be the humidity. Tado tells me humidity varies between 19% and 41% in that room. The paper was actually put up twice. The first time, the installer used too much paste and ended up staining the paper and adjacent walls. Those walls had to be repainted. The second time, he bought new paper and probably used slightly less paste to avoid staining. Maybe he didn’t use enough?

Seemingly now clear of blackfly. Not sure if it's because of my efforts with manually getting rid, the accompanying dusting with peppermint spray oil or that I now have spiders and ladybirds living on the plants. Probably a combination. No beans yet but a good few flowers.

Thread resurrection. Having made the decision on standing seam I’ve started getting quotes. The first one back is from Catnic supply only. 310sqm @ £15,000 (garage @ 95 sqm and house @ 215 sqm) It includes fascias and ancillaries. This ex VAT. Delivery is £1100. I’ve yet to haggle so possibly a wee bit less. Was expecting it to be more so under my roofing budget. They’ve supplied a big roof near me in Arbroath so will do a driveby and knock on the door 😂 as I think I know the house. I had ruled out zinc as my expectation is significantly dearer.

No extra sensor no. The sensoComfort (VRC720) controller has this incorportated

I have been running the UFH cooling at 14ºC I have thermistors embedded in the screed and if they ever drop below 15 I have an automation that shuts the UFH pump off until it comes back up. (And inverse threshold for 25º in winter). This very rarely fires but looks like it was tickled a few times in the last month so I might just tweak the flow temp up to 15. Anyway the floor finishes on top of the screed are alway a few degrees warmer than the sensors/pipes embedded in it.

Why?

That's impressive service from your installer! Where in the UK are you based? I'm sure now its enabled, you can adjust the minimum flow line temperature as you wish in the heating settings menu. The Nibe recommendation is 18C and if you put anything lower it gives a warning about condensation, but it will still let you set a lower temperature. To prevent condensation build up, you need to know the RH and current temperature. The dew point here is around 11C right now. I am currently running my system at 11C and some condensation is forming on the supply from the heat pump (around parts not insulated in the cupboard such as valves) The radiators and floor obviously never get as low as 11C and therefore are not forming condensation. (Albeit there is a slight misting on the radiators) (There is also a risk of any un-insulated pipe runs between radiators etc forming condensation. Once this heatwave has passed I will up the flow to something around 18C and see how the house performs.

If it wasn’t optimised that was a lethal cocktail.

No, the return will be lower than 55. If it's reaching 55, then the coil within the cylinder is not suitable for a heat pump. Assume you changed the cylinder when you upgraded to a heat pump. If you didn't or just installed a normal cylinder that is your issue. The coil within the cylinder is too small to transfer the heat from the lower temperature heat pump, compared to a gas boiler which with would be flowing at around 70 degC. The cylinder name plate will have all the info. You take a photo and post on here?

Found a WhatsApp number and got through to support and got this answer " Both inverter and battery are compatible and working great" then this "but there is a small issue" then "the 8KW inverter is still in testing with the battery and not released for support yet" then "if you wish you can get them installed , they will work" I also asked when they were arriving ang they said as batch has arrived in the EU warehouse not sure if that means any will make it across the channel.

How well do you know the installer? I guess you've already had discussions about the extent of works? My concern is that there are a few areas open to interpretation that could allow shortcuts to be taken. For example, 'prepare walls reading for tiling (special plasterboard...) and 'prepare floor for tiling (boards etc.). I once had an installer lay plywood as the bathroom subfloor on top of exiting floorboard saying it was a great job only to find that once he'd gone, the floor flexed as he hadn't bothered to screw done the plywood at the required 100mm centres as specificied by the floor product manufacturer and the plywood should have been thicker. He also bent the plywood over a dip in the floor instead of filling it. Within 6 months we had to get it all re-done. I would re-look at the specification of works to make sure there is no room for interpretation, providing specs. of the subfloor and even the type of plasterboard you require as the substrate for tiles, bearing in mind you might need to take into consideration the weight/m2 of the tiles on the boards. Is plasterboard the best option or could a fresh plaster and skim suffice instead? I would personally be inclined to specify the overall wall and floor areas for tiling - e.g. is it just the sink splashback, half wallheight around sink/bath, full wall height somewhere else? Also, don't give your installer the cart blanche freedom to buy materials for re-imbursement, define a controlled process of request, approval and purchase that gives proper oversight and works for all of you.

You can build in blockwork and leave it exposed indefinitely as long as it is properly jointed and there are no gaps in the mortar.

Can you see what the return temperature is when you flowing at 55 degC? Also what make/model cylinder are you trying to heat? Is specifically for a heat pump?

Twinwall. Tough as old boots. Will deflect rather than shatter, unlike PVC. Just allow a generous fall to allow for any deflections.

I have the SMO 20 controller and F2040 8kW heat pump. I had to enable cooling in the Service menu (Holding the return button for 7 seconds brings up this menu) (At your own risk) I have no idea if the SMO 40 controller is the same? https://www.nibe.eu/assets/documents/23958/231765-5.pdf (See page 32, your system would be 2 pipe cooling) I couldn't see anything on the SMO 40 controller about how to enable cooling mode. There was a simple check box on the SMO 20 controller.

What they do in St. Ives. Costed in at the start of a project.

Don’t shoot the messenger, that’s what they said …..

Looks like I have managed to find an option 2 based solution. My preferred sand and cement based screed layer has a delayed job so if I add some labour to the team we can get everything done in a couple of days. With any luck it will all be done (and I will need a chiropractor) by this time next week.

They just called me. £133/m2! Why anyone would use it at that price vs. concrete-effect porcelain or real polished conrete I don't know. (apart from maybe in a wetroom). Be interesting to know how happy @SimonD is with his result and roughly what the Cemher system costs per m2.

To be clear - much lower than gas boiler fed radiators. I considered UFH but in the end went for properly sized rads with my heat pump, and I'm very glad I did, they work brilliantly, always within a temperature range of 35 - 50degC, similar to UFH.

What is needed is that spark to read this thread, grow a pair, and connect the DC cables from panels to DC isolator after testing with his megger (other brands available)

@FrankGWhat model Ecodan?

My Ecodan heats to 55 degrees so there's no reason yours shouldn't be able to. What happens when you try to increase the temperature on the controller?

My ASHP is an Ecodan and gets the water temp up to 55 fine without using the immersion. I can't see what has 'physically' been done to cause you this issue, my gut instinct is that something is not quite right with your settings in the FTC controller. A good read and familiarisation of the manual will help you to scroll through it all.

Sounds like a load of old tosh. Almost all heat pump will provide 55 degC water some over 60 degC. Does you cylinder have a heat pump coil in it? If it doesn't that may be reason. What is your flow temperature, when heating you hot water cylinder?

Timber frame is definitely the best way to go - built on site is easy and cheaper than buying panels - lots of good videos on You Tube!

Option 1 - cash settlement and you top up Option 2 - Have the insurance do the full job on their dime, then you follow on with your work separately. Looking at the plan there's the internal wall to the from room, and the back structure. So doing all the other works that the insurer will cover (like bathroom, flooring, plastering), you're not losing much of it when you make your changes. Splitting it also gives you a jumping off point, as if the insurers builders are good, you can ask them to carry on with your works. If they aren't, or you don't fancy investing, you can cut and run without outlay. I'd vote option 2, personally.

I’m surprised your builder has any say as to weather you use BB or slab It’s normally dictated by ground conditions and a Structual engineer Slab is by far the cheaper option

Dwelling footprint is 125 m² approx. A bungalow. Prices from 2020 through to mid-2021. Foundation design: £1,762, no VAT. Screwpile design was £780 ex. VAT. 26x screw piles were £7,886 ex. VAT. inc. delivery. Screwpile installation was £3,840, no VAT. Raft installation was £‎16,240, no VAT, including the concrete & steel, etc., but excluding the insulation and heave protection panels. Insulation (PIR): £3,421 ex. VAT. Heave protection panels: £2,400 ex. VAT. Hope that helps.

I have a cellcore-alternative in my build. With screw piles, as I have, then it doesn't get attached, no. And it does need to be. And it doesn't matter if it sinks anyway so long as it stays in place until the concrete sets. The cell core is there to create a void while the concrete sets. Afterwards, it does not really do anything other than "be a void". The concrete & piles holds the building up. If the cell core sank, it wouldn't matter. You'd have a bigger void. However is it is unlikely to sink. In reality, when ground is excavated to make space for the cellcore the soil will slightly heave anyway, quite naturally, as the pressure of the overlying soil has been removed. This is not the major tree-based heave you are guarding against, just a very slight reactive heave.

Hi, First post here. I am a first time self-builder. My partner and I are just about to receive planning permission to build a 4 bedroom 1.75 storey traditional-style house on a plot in West Lothian (167m2). It will be a timber Kit - we are currently working with Claymore Timber Frames who have so far been very good. I am still ironing out a lot of the details - so looking to speak with people here to help! Thanks, Mark

welcome. don't be afraid to start your own introduction thread where you can give details about your project. 🙂