Leaderboard

Stud it out, put sockets at TV height, inset storage. That nook is made for it .

Yes, because the context of the discussion at that point was about the vehicle, as I was responding to: Which, I quoted. The EV manufacturer can't offer V2H, as that requires infrastructure at the property. The Vehicle manufacturer can only offer V2L, it's then up to the property owner if they want to take the next step and utilise the vehicle's V2L for V2H. It will suit a lot of users, but not all. The automotive manufacturer wants to increase the value of the in-vehicle battery by replacing the need for a home battery, (or significantly reducing the required size of the home battery). A combination of storing excess solar PV, and low rate, nigh time electricity, can be used by the home when the solar is meeting demand, and still leave enough charge in the vehicle for the regular, short journeys. Some scheduling on the vehicle or charger side will be needed if there is an irregular, longer journey planned to ensure the vehicle has sufficient charge. Faster charge and discharge rates at home (than standard 7kW), will make V2H more effective.

Wall stud framed and TV bracket mounted. Lower studs were cut and altered to fit the sub box hidden enclosures. And rear wall was cut and recessed to allow flush fitting speakers in the TF of the house. Left and right sub boxes installed. Nice. The two sub boxes are where the two locator holes are. Centre in between those, and FL and FR are either side of TV recess. Atmos in the ceilings and away we go. This is for my current clients MBC TF PH build and we’re doing turnkey, so included a cinema room. Because why wouldn’t you if you could? 👍👌😎.

You could use the wooden slot boards and mount a TV unit on the wall. Much easier than a media wall with none of the issues of you fancy upgrading the TV to a 75 inch unit!!

Depends on your usage. It wouldn’t suit us right now as my other half is away a lot. But your average driver does very few miles per day or the car spends it’s time mostly sitting outside. I could charge it on a cheap night time rate and then discharge it into the house when the sun isn’t shining.

Thanks for all the support! After a really good chat with a wonderful women at National Grid (previously Western Power) she confirmed it'd be an estimate of £1950 for the 3 phase installation, including meter, and two holes dug in the verge. Builder just needs to the dig 3-4m trench to where the meter will be installed. Very happy chap here! Just need to be mindful of future proofing for a 3 phase Solar Inverter etc, but a problem for another day!

You can't drive your batteries to chuffing Sainsbury's though !?! Roll on V2G!!! That will end this madness.

Have you modified your bad behaviour because of it?

My batteries are outside the house. I disconnected them when we had those sub zero days recently, but that was probably over cautious, as the batteries never got to zero. We don't actually get many days of very low temperatures in most of the more southerly parts of the UK. The issue is that LiFePo4 cells don't like being charged at low temperatures, you can still discharge them if yoou don't use high discharge rates. When I rebuild my batteries I'm going to put heating pads under the cells, thermostatically controlled, for the 2 days a year when it might be an issue.

Birch ply worked well on our windows, but you will need a track saw to make a decent job of it. My wife spotted a post on build hub which we copied using birch play.

One of the most common posts from new members focuses on peoples opinion : what do others think of what we want to build? The answer is derived almost exclusively from the opinions a series of people all of whom - one way or another - visit the site of your proposed build. They either have a statutory duty to attend your site, or are interested locals, some deliver stuff, yet others simply stop and chew the fat. Not all are sympathetic - and decide one way or another to let you know how they feel. In person, or by anonymous comment in the Planning Process. So I thought I'd give an overview of our experience. Reading many of the other posts, it seems that our experience is remarkably similar to most. The Councillors We've been 'at it' now for about 8 years now. There's nowt like a house-build it seems for turning otherwise normal folk into Nosey Parkers. We live on a one lane road - it's also an official cycle track, so loads of folk drive, walk shuffle or ride by most days. I wrote a few years ago about passers-by: the white van driver, forearm on the steering wheel, driving as slowly as he could - chin straining to get low enough to see as much of the site and house as possible; the little boy wondering aloud to his mum whether it was Darth Vader behind the shield while I was welding the container roof; the retired doddery old builder walking past slowly, wife proudly on one arm - his broad wink and grin always makes me smile. In twenty or more years I've never spoken to him. Ever. But what about those who make the effort to stop and chat, or - as some have - sneer? Visits to the site by others begin before Planning Permission is given. And make no mistake, those before Planning Permission visits tend to be high-stakes. We lived next to our site: lucky in some ways, others not . Read on. The doorbell goes and the unmistakeable profile of the Chair of The Parish Council peers through the faux glass whorls in the door. "Just passing " was the introductory lie. He had the grace faintly to wince when he heard himself say that. His real agenda was to protest at the design we wanted. Sharp Scandi, clad to look like the old local barns which litter the countryside here. In a previous life, I used to run Conflict Resolution Courses but - when it comes to my own conflicts…. managing the irritation flushing rapidly into my cheeks was difficult. The technique runs loosely like this …..Repeat the question, rephrased if helpful, show you understand the problem, offer some sympathy for the challenger's situation. Stuff that mate. This is my place, my house my build my… my… my …. And up yours if you don't like it. It is very lucky that I am married to a consummate diplomat. Lucky also for me that a local builder had - using PD rights - just erected a wooden barn within sight of our build. (see image below) I swivelled on my heel and waved my hand in the direction of his beautifully clad barn 50 meters away. Same size as our proposed house. I swear the Parish Councillor nearly swallowed his tongue. I couldn't resist it: "You mean you don't like that either ?" Further waffle only dug him into a deeper hole, and instead of being kind, I continued "Our current chocolate box house is built of stone isn't it?" Nods sagely. "And we are proposing a timber build, but you want ours built in stone." More sage nods. "How long Councillor, does it take to create stone? A few million years? And how long does it take to create wood? " "Well we (the Parish Council) are all agreed you should be building in stone" came the -now- tart response. "Our whole design philosophy focusses on sustainability. I'll use the material that only needs a few hundred years to reproduce over a material which takes a few million to recycle itself anytime." Managing the local politics of a potential newbuild is a nightmare. At the time, I'd had not made time to think about how to manage this issue of the build. Learning fast though. We parted on the worst of terms. A significant error on my part. Other Councillors came and went. One even told us that our newbuild would spoil her Sunday morning run. Five years later, that same Councillor obtained Planning Permission for her own garden and built four executive houses on the land. At the same time, she had the effrontery to campaign for 'starter houses' in the area. At least , once she had sold the newbuilds and her own house, she had the decency to move out of the area. I'm looking forward to meeting her one day. Can't wait. And then last week : on another matter, I had the singular displeasure of a knock on the door from another hissy weasel of a Parish Councillor. One who had shared her ex-colleague's opinion: we should have built in stone. She wanted to tell me wonderfully our new house was blending in to the countryside : you can hardly see it from the canal-side. (see image below) Mountains sometimes do pole vault to Mohamed. Conclusion? Tolerate - but only just and for just long enough.

Our new build has divided opinion as well. Massively it transpired. We fitted a Ring doorbell as soon as we had power and internet, long before we moved in, and we and got to hear the comments of passers by whilst the build progressed. We live in a ‘chocolate box’ village and our house doesn’t quite fit with the local vernacular. The Ring picked up an almost 50/50 split of “I f*cking hate it” to “I love it!” The older generation were mainly the former (I’m one of them now I guess, but I love it!) and the younger generation mainly the latter. And that’s why we - and ALL the locals - call it ‘Marmite House’ We we’re more fortunate than you @ToughButterCup in that the Parish Council had no real objections, but our nearest neighbour has told us how much she hates the place and can’t bear to look out of her window to see it. We don’t like they’re chalet bungalow with numerous different finishes as it’s been extended over it’s life but we kept that to ourselves. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I'm trying to plan a media wall at the moment, unfortunately I'm about 9 months away from buying a tv to fit in it. There's some lovely crisp/clean looking ideas on google images, without the obligatory fire undeneath (not a fan tbh). Openings either side for shelves if you want, with some LED strip lights for a bit of mood lighting etc etc. Makes a nice feature I think.

I cut into the green AT plywood and inserted pieces of 5"x2" where the TV bracket needed the most strength. I then put the off-cuts back in, screwed them to the timbers, and AT taped everything back up. That's an opening that is to take a 65" TV with a 6mm shadow gap all around, when the TV is pushed in flush to the wall ( after cabling up ). Should look the Dachshunds danglies when done. Should sound awesome too. Ignore the bunch of white cables, they're for the various cinema / living / dining / kitchen and landscape lighting, controlled via Quinetic WiFi + RF receivers which are to be hidden up inside the TV wall ( so I can access them for service / replacement etc ). Seemed a good place to put them as the TV can be pulled in / out with ease on that lovely German bracket

Definitely

We did it on an internal block wall- studded out 50mm to allow for sockets etc, then brought the surround out around the TV another 200mm. Put a sheet of 18mm ply on the TV recess so just screwed the TV mount to it with 30mm screws. Don't need much to hold a modern TV on a flat mount. Made the TV recess a good bit bigger than needed to to cover any change of use in the future.

I give a no quibble five year guarantee Any issues will surface within that time

Definitely

100%. Defo don't go outside. That'll cause all sorts of problems.

Problem is that magply is not a ‘cement’ board it is based on magnesium oxide. Problems were identified with these ‘MgO’ boards several years ago including not being compatible with some render systems. Several warranty providers, including LABC and NHBC, banned their use.

They don’t really but it’s pretty good they spotted it. Having the whole system accurately report in one place is handy unless you’re bringing that together somewhere else.

It should but not convinced it will. Ours has V2L and technically supports V2G (well it obviously has the inverter) Whether they ever update the software to support it is an open question. Few of the current generation of EVs even support V2L which really ought to be a standard feature. Given the current state of the PV/battery storage industry and the relative complexity of getting it all to work successfully I think we are quite far away from plugging your car into your house as an additional power source/storage. I’m trying to future proof our build to allow us to do just that if and when it’s available. I reckon we are another generation of EVs away.

It’s a quick and easy repair on a small area As a contractor I use 1000s of meters of cement boards and there’s no difference between any of them Other than Knauf are 40% more expensive than what I usually use Over lockdown I was bringing them in from Poland without any issues It’s pretty poor Johnson’s are looking for lame excuses Rather than getting to the bottom of it I’ve stopped quoting for Webber Rend jobs Due to the reps all following the same line when there’s a batch match issue

I had you marked as an M&S boy.

NEIN!!

starting to pick up, the 68.3p kw/h is very nice

That’s tricky for a lot of reasons ! So no I haven’t . But in 12 months I haven’t spent a penny on electric . I.e my export in summer covers any import . This was my intention. That includes 4K mileage on an EV also .

there is some intelligence to it for sure, it 'knows' what your solar profile is so keeps a bit spare.

Nope

That’s just front drainage cap, easily replaced, easily lost. Nothing to be concerned with. I’d be looking at the following. 1: Scuffs/marks on frames 2: Scratches on glass if not visible from 3m away (looking through and not at the glass) it’s not a complaint. 3: That the fixings look good/solid 4: Window / door operation is good 5: They are installed plumb/level & square 6: Correctly foamed/taped (i.e no visible light/tape flapping). 7: Handles working, applied straight and no scratches 8: With doors that the height is installed correctly taken into account the finished floor. 9: no damaged hinge covers / drainage slot covers whether visible or concealed 10: External cill is the correct depth, taken into account external finish/stone cill etc. 11: That all gaskets/seals are good, correct lengths and not twisted/damaged. 12: They were cleaned prior to installers leaving from excess residue.

I find trades have no respect for anything already fitted unless told to be careful. Point out the new windows, discuss methods to protect them , go and buy the stuff to protect them and install it. Point out very clearly that any damage must be paid for by them and then leave them to it. Hold back enough money at each stage until you are happy. Regarding the window position, this is down to design, and making sure it works brick sizes. You should not have any cut bricks in the face of a wall unless it is actually part of the bond. Design the problem out, before it occurs.

Vat is a tax on consumption, anything exported does not attract VAT. No reason for any organisation to charge VAT as long as the goods are transported by courier or haulage company etc. as that is sufficient proof it will not be ‘consumed’ locally. if you were to buy and collect yourself then you would pay VAT but be able to claim back when the goods cross the border.

This is a good approach if you are worried. It is a very low chance of a screeder doing something wrong, which impacts the UFH. Long as the pipes are clipped properly (you can check) and capped properly (you can check)... The screeder will just pour the floor. I don't see what could go wrong from a UFH damage. The UFH pipe is very very robust, we had ours trampled for a few weeks due to delays with screed, then had a week of -5 to - 8 degree temps and no issues at all.

40ft

Pretty sure you can't reclaim Polish VAT from HMRC any more. Was possible pre Brexit. Think they are meant to export free of Polish VAT. If they say they cannot export without charging Polish VAT you might have to live with that. But beware you will probably get hit for UK VAT as well. At least the UK VAT you can reclaim. In some cases EU countries can register with HMRC and charge you UK VAT (20%) but i think this is mainly companies like Amazon ES.

I ask if the company has exported to the UK since Brexit and ideally direct to end customers not just companies. Ask for any numbers they need from you. In the EU companies are used to asking for an EORI number which is a bit like a company ID number. I don't think they need one to ship to the UK but I suspect some shipping companies always ask for it just to cover all bases and avoid hold up at ports. If I remember correctly someone on the forum was able to register and get an EORI Number but as I said I don't think it's needed to import to the UK. Remember to try and pay at least the deposit (>£100) on a credit card if you can.

Is there any way we can destroy this picture? This immaculate bit of plumbing excellence is giving me an inferiority complex. I'd only just started to go outdoors again, and here the bloody thing is again. Tidy.

Willow burn as most of the trees are Willow and the burn passes through the garden. But one deciding factor from the shortlist of names, was a reasonable domain name was available for this choice.

Ours are oak veneer with a solid nose.

I guess that’s a blessing ! . DIY whilst maybe not the prettiest ( depending on your skill level ) is frequently done better than the alleged professionals 😁👍

Think you should tell the brickies about the new invention called a trowel. By the looks of they just throw their cement from about 6 foot away and call it a job done. No insulation?

This is one reason why I am not a fan of rigid insulation, it needs to be detailed WELL. Rockwool / frametherm /batts type insulation cut slightly over sized and squashed to be a snug fit is less hard to mess up like this. Tell the builder ALL the joints want foaming and taping, ALL of them, at their expense.

No, absolutely not fine! But depressingly common. I have had a contractor tell me the same thing, but being told it is fine does not make the insulation value any better. If the 2nd (under-side) layer is not completely tight to the first (between-rafter) layer, and the ventilation is working as it should, then you may even get thermal by-pass - cold ventilation air getting between the layers of the sandwich and effectively negating the effect of the between-rafter layer.

Single self build dinner again with my Dewalt friends . Homemade Bombay aloo and chicken tikka , oh and pouilly fume 👍😁

@Drellingore It is all to do with exceeding electron shell energy levels and electron 'holes' in the atomic structure. If you can imagine a book shelf and you are hurling books into it, some will hit the wall and bounce back (reflection), some will be too high and miss (jumped up 2 energy states/shells), and others will be too low and fall to the ground (below shell potential). About, in perfect conditions, 40% will land nicely on the shelf. These are the photons that are in the Goldilocks zone. Now the real fun starts. As a photon is easiest to model as a mass less particle at the speed of light, and a massive particle at rest, two different physical principles have to be used. When the photon hits the silicone it has to instantly change states and become a particle with mass. That mass then has to act like a snooker ball and knock an electron out of place. Sometimes this works and the now free electron has to find a hole to fill. This happens about 50‰ of the time. That, and the 40% earlier, account for the efficiency of around 20‰ efficiency of PV. When it does not happen, because the electrons have mass, and are moving, they have energy. There are two rules here, momentum and kinetic energy. Depending on the speed and angles involved, some will heat the module, reducing efficiency, but importantly, reradiating photons (why the module mass does not increase, apart from birdshit and wood smoke particles). Some of the particles will easily find a hole to make a temporary home in, others will have to travel further away. Luckily the silicone is doped with other elements that means, in the lowest energy state, there is an excess of holes. On average, when the sun is shining, there is deficit of holes, so spare electrons find their way out via the wires and to any load in the circuit. If the module is unconnected, it acts like any mass with an energy input and rises in temperature. A similar cycle happens in the load, but in reverse. Why your light shines and your motor turns. As for the 'direction of flow' this is where the very poor analogy with mechanical plumbing breaks down, it was never a good one anyway. Electrons have a negative charge, empty atomic shells (the ones with holes in them) cause the atom to become positive. This creates a 'field' that, like a magnetic field, can do work, but only where the field is disturbed I.e. the load. So basically photons dislodge electrons, electrons then find a new hole, the ones that can't find one locally keep moving, and will eventually do some work, while re-emitting photons. This is only a partial model of what happens. If it was easy to describe, it would not be worth a PhD.

I’ll tell you all something- it’s a slow night tonight for sure on here . Ask @Nickfromwales …. 😋

As above, a lintel is not the answer, a beam yes, no idea why the SE is saying it must be aligned with above. The existing wall has obviously worked for many years. Keeping some of the existing wall is easier but you then increase the load locally on the foundations which can cause the clay the be compressed - hence the goal post on new pads. Had this been a bungalow then no problem but the floors above make getting this right very important

Assuming the 200mm offset means that the wall above is support on joists which are supported by the wall, then a lintel probably wouldn't be suitable. This is because lintels shouldn't be used to carry point loads without distributing masonry above. However a steel beam could be used. Lateral stability is another big reason to use goalposts and without one I'd be looking to leave at least 600mm return of the existing wall (just above 'A'). There are also construction challenges with this although that's not strictly the SE's remit.

certain of these just ask for a letterhead and money. I am very experienced in finding and choosing new contractors and still find it difficult when in a new area. You can't really tell how it is going to go, so I treat them with total respect, but am actually suspicious for quite a long time. Hence our policy was always to retain trusted companies, for many years usually, unless they let us down. Of course the trade you want in a hurry is likely to be fully occupied already, and you end up with the aspirational ones, or chancers. Bad luck. I would just say that I don't recall ever getting a good tradesman from the recommendations of a merchant. Ask at the local BM by all means, but beware. Do you by any chance have a 'Nextdoor' community in your area? You can ask for recommendations on there. https://nextdoor.co.uk/