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This is why I was trying to avoid using them. Many of the ones used in my house had slipped down over time and I just don't trust them to stay put. By sealing the PIR to the wall plate and filling the cavity, you would have a continuous insulation envelope that followed the contours of uneven wall, rafters etc. Sure, but there are different types of insulation and often installers only fit one type. If you talk to a company that only fills with blown fibres, they'll tell you its not advisable to fill - full stop. EPS beads are a different matter altogether as they don't saturate and allow water on the back of the outer leaf to drain down rather than track across. 70mm is a long distance for moisture to transfer from bead to bead and make a damp bridge. Also, the beads don't choke-off airflow entirely. I suggest you contact an EPS installer, check that they use bonded graphite beads, and ask if your location is suitable - and what guarantees they give. The bottom line is that beads are the easiest to remove in the extremely unlikely event of trouble. But I've yet to hear of anyone having trouble. We are in the highest risk zone 1, about a mile from the sea and I researched this extensively before signing-up. But if anyone can point to a case of EPS beads being a problem with driven rain, I'd be extremely interested in hearing about it!

You may not need special 'socks'. Rockwool can be cut and then folded or rolled tightly and squeezed into gaps. Thus it is much cheaper and always fits. If you use the cavity type it is also dampproof.

We moved from Manchester to Cornwall 6 years ago and we are very happy with the overall location. Our existing converted barn, was converted by the previous owner and is very nice but is built on three levels and has 4 double beds, kitchen, dinner, lounge and snug and 3 baths so it is far too big for us when we retire. When we bought the house I always say we chose it for the working barn apx 300m2, not the barn we live in. We are building for our future in the hope that we can continue to live her a long time, if it takes us 10 years to build we will be 65 when we move in. My husband has a history of bad backs a bungalow with no steps and easy access is high up on our want list. More recently our Greyhound is refusing to go down to the snug in the lower ground floor at night preferring to stay upstairs in the kitchen. He is incidentally another reason we bought the property, two fields he can run off lead. We don’t want anything too large, a well insulated bungalow that will be cheap to run and maintain. We have a small cow shed on our land and although our property is listed the cow shed is outside the curtilage of the property and built in the 70’s so does not require any listed building planning consultations. When we purchased the property a new build was never on the agenda, but it is now. In September 2021 we engaged the services of a planning consultant with a view to demolish the small barn and replace it with a new build, his view was favourable. In January we then approached an architect who suggested full plans would be best since what we were asking for was in keeping with the surroundings, not that much larger than the existing barn and since it was visible from the listed property more detail such as windows and cladding would be required. Two months of absolutely nothing happened then in March we met up to discuss our requirements and finally in May we submitted our plans. In June we had our necessary bat and bird nesting survey, the gentleman who conducted the survey nearly started looking at another old stone barn until we corrected him and he then told us that bats wouldn’t like the old cow shed as it would be too hot in summer (tin roof) and too cold in winter due to the holes, drafts, and thin wood walls. Then in August we had the Phase 1 preliminary risk assessment, required because we were previously farm land. From the survey I learned that in 1884 there were two wells 165m W of the site another 580m SW of the site and two quarries quite a distance away and in 1906 a smithy in the village, no surprise there as there is a house called ‘The Old Smithy” . The geological map indicates that the site is underlain by the Bude Formation - Sandstone. Sedimentary Bedrock formed approximately 310 to 319 million years ago in the Carboniferous Period. The report was very detailed but returned very little about the land the barn is occupying, that a visit to site wouldn’t tell you. Nothing bad was reported so we were happy and we continued pushing more paper around. Eventually its our turn for the case officer to look at us in detail and we get conditional approval in mid October 2022. Mid March 2023 and we have submitted our building regs drawings and my Part O Spreadsheet, window amendments to the planning department and the SE has quoted and is starting on his work. We are over 150m from the fresh water main so will need chlorinating. I found a great guy who has dug the first trench for the Water, Electric and Openreach, he will return when the new build is ready for the second trench to install the services into the house and will then chlorinate the pipework. Site electric is in from the pole in our neighbours yard towards the Old Cow Shed. We were offered a good price by National Grid for 3 phase, they would have struggled giving us single phase due to lack of supply network and another new build close to us in the village has gone off grid because there connection fee was too expensive. We wanted 3 phase any way as we hope to fill the roof with 30 solar panels facing SSW with no shading. As soon as it warms up and the field is firmer we plan to start clearing the site and moving the spoil down the field into our larger field. Doing it now would be like making a mud bath. Sometime between October and February we will demolish the barn and this time next year the new ICF build will go up. In the meantime lots of planning continues and I’m going on a short plumbing course. The husband is an Electrician by trade and can do some plumbing but hates getting down on his hands and knees now. Last year I tanked and tiled our existing en-suite and have learned all about wet wipes and silicone so another job moved from the husband to me. 😀 The main photo shows the site electric and the drive leading up to the cowshed to the left at the end and just on the edge of the photo are the old stables used as workshop storage each stable bay has a different items stored. A new entrance to our field will be made diagonally from the site electric to the left of the old cow shed which will make our farmer happy as he currently has a very tight turn left just in front of the cowshed. He comes twice a year to cut the grass and in return he usually takes at least 15 round bales away. The other images are from the architect but are already out of date. To pass Part O we are submitting an amendment for the removal of 4 windows on the North elevation and replacement with 6 roof windows that offer more ventilation. Costs to date Planning Consultant £600 Council planning application fee £500 Bat and Bird nesting survey £370 Phase 1 preliminary risk assessment £740 Architectural Design and planning £3000 Building regs Drawings £1250 SE £900 Trench and ducting etc for Water, Electric and Openreach £2830 Site Electric £2470 Openreach cable and ducting £0 Total £12660

Metal cladding needs plastisol with double thickness and the cuts treated. Other coatings can be OK if exposed to rain. You can see the difference where a wall is protected from rain by an overhang. Moral: everything near the sea gets salty but it washes off. But it is easy to specify to not be affected. I bought a b and q satellite dish. 10 miles inland it rusted and fell apart in 2 years.

Found this in a guide, "Sustainable Renovation. A guide to improving homes for energy, health and environment." ... airtightness is important is because it is usually the most cost effective way we have to reduce energy consumption. The difference between the construction costs of creating a leaky and an airtight one is perhaps no more than 1%, yet it could mean a 40% improvement in performance. For those looking for “quick wins” there simply isn’t a more cost-effective solution. Taken as an isolated item, the proportion of heat loss in a typical building due to draughts is very roughly 40%. This means that for every £100 spent on heating bills, £40 is due to air leakage. Also, as buildings are responsible for around half of all UK carbon emissions, and that draughts are responsible for nearly half of that amount, then draughts are responsible for nearly a quarter of all UK carbon emissions, comparable to all carbon emissions associated with transport, that is, all car, bus, and train journeys, every year. So while airtightness can feel like a rather mundane subject, it is also extremely important. While I am sure everyone on this site already knows this; to see it so clearly laid out how important it is, I thought it worth mentioning. https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3.spanglefish.com/s/31974/documents/[digitalv3]-guide-to-domestic-retrofit-compressed.pdf 150 page of good stuff which I am slowly workingmy way through. What I particularly like about the report is the important of the health of occupiers and how that goes hand in hand with a reduction in energy use while considering the environment too.

I only have a very large septic tank but I feed it with “muck munchers” every month, it’s been installed a few years now and I took the lid of to check it recently , virtually no smell at all, just some dark water and no scum layer. No maintenance beyond feeding it monthly, and no electricity usage 😁 I understand it’s not possible for everyone but for me it works just great. KISS - Keep it simple stupid was what I based my design on, but I have plenty of land for a leach field which most plots don’t have.

A customer of mine is off to China next week to nail down an order for several hundred MVHR units rebranded with his company details on them. He says everyone else is doing it so why not him ?

Fit 50mm battens to each rafter. Fit 100mm PIR between rafters maintaining a 50mm gap above the insulation. Fit 62.5mm insulated plasterboard across the face of the rafters. Fit 400mm mineral wool insulation above the flat ceiling. Staple the TCB cavity barrier to the back of the wall plate.

Is the wall plate on the inner or outer leaf?

A chap who used to be here, .Jeremy Harris, used to get stuff from China, he cited electrical equipment as a possible problem with safety and used to take stuff apart to see if it was safe (a lot was not). He once asked about certificates and was told “we will print whatever you want to see” (I.e. fake) the best one was he complained about a product that had a “CE” mark on it and was told “CE” stood for “Chinese Export” 🤷‍♂️

I have not worked with them myself, I need to buy some for a small area where cavity closers are missing so have been looking into them. Looking at the info online, it seems like the socks are 20-30mm wider than the gap you need to fill. You'd probably be looking at a 100-110mm sock. As rock wool is very compressible, I would assume there is quite a bit of leeway. You could always buy one and give it a go. I am not sure you could just push in insulation as without the plastic cover it would be hard to manoeuvre. I had assumed you couldn't insulate the cavity or had some other plan for the walls. I am not sure it will make a big difference not having cold air coming in at the top of the cavity, but it is better than nothing.

Generally a cavity barrier can be calcium silicate board, timber, steel or sleeved mineral wool or mineral wool slab. The easiest to install around windows and doors and at the eaves and verge is calcium silicate board. In a timber frame building the easiest is timber around windows and doors and sleeved mineral wool at the top of all cavity walls. However, where there is a called external wall the difficulty will be maintaining a ventilated and drained cavity and installing a cavity barrier. The only way I can see this being done is to vent and drain above and below all horizontal cavity barriers. I have seen intumescent barriers specified for cladded walls but they technically are not listed as a cavity barrier in ADB and you will be relying on the intumescent properties of the product to activate once a fire starts.

Granny and sucking eggs. Speak to your BCO about the extent of cavity barriers required. Normally in a masonry built house they are required to the perimeter of all openings and at the top of all cavity walls In a timber framed house they are required in similar locations although your timber frame supplier may also ask you to install them horizontally at an intermediate floor level. Where an external wall is timber cladding fixed to a structural insulated timber frame the requirement for cavity barriers should be similar as well as the requirement for FR of the wall depending on the distance of the wall from a boundary or a notional boundary. Check out ADB and speak to your BCO. There are specific locations that the BCO will require cavity barriers.

I have used BT1 before but think it's a bit more "permanent" than ordinary silicone, as in it has good adhesive properties like CT1 but with an added fungicide or something. The white BT1 isn't supposed to yellow either like the white CT1 does. I wonder how easy BT1 is to remove/renew... For a white, non yellowing silicone I really like Forever White which I used in the above pictures. The grey was Mapei. Ref gaps, what I did, following sage* advice on here, was brought my wall tiles down with a nom 1mm gap to the floor. It's pretty easy to do and get right to end up with this: You place your bottom tile like this and cut allowing for the grout line. When you flip it over, the cut edge is sitting on the 1mm packs. You force clear CT1 into the 1mm gap and tool it flush. When set go over with a cosmetic silicone of your choice. * Aka @Nickfromwales 👍

Or alternatively do what I did, and stick an appropriate euro cone in a standard TRV and Lockshield, and have the 16mm MLCP straight into the radiator, no connectors needed. Let me know if you want any photos, and I can get some. As for laying MLCP in concrete, i can't see an issue, pretty much what they were designed for.

Ironically I would !! Use 15mm pipe and make any joins above ground and then use 15x9 insulation on them, duct tape the joints in the pipe insulation and then bury in the bottom of the screed.

If you are concerned just use ufh pipe (pert-al-pert) and use a 16mm to 15mm adapter at the radiator, you can do it any length you like with that pipe joint free.

looks like a cold roof. dont block the airflow by insulating tight to the underside of the felt.

I would say it'd be prudent to block the top of the cavity to prevent any EPS beads escaping if you full fill it later. From a fire point of view it would preferable too. I would stay away from PIR between the rafters and use a 50mm mineral wool or woodfiber batt and then more insulation below the rafters. Something like Rockwool Flexi or steico flex. Woodfiber is particularly good for summer overheating protection. Ease of fitment, noise, heat protection, fire, cost, thermal drift, are areas that PIR doesn't cover itself in glory.

I'm sure you can easily picture a 'continuous insulation envelope' and that's what you need to achieve. ...So insulate the cavity by getting it injected with EPS after you have fitted your PIR. So long as you don't go mad with it, lay in some expanding foam on top of the wall plate before mating it up with your PIR. If it were me, I would start by cutting the PIR into short sections with the angled end to meet the wall plate - just to get you out of the cavity area and up to where you can see it all. Then you can use an inspection mirror to look at the bottom where it meets the wall plate to make sure it's closing off the cavity. If for some reason you're unable to get the cavity wall injected, at least it will be decoupled from the ventilated soffit area and improve it's insulating effect. 50mm PIR is very little insulation, I hope you're going to lay another 50mm across it, under the rafters. Now's the time!

I would be considering filling the cavity while you are at it. Any chance of a DIY pour something into the cavity (genuine question, is is possible, would it work?)

I am not an expert on this. Your BC officer might be the best person to speak to. But I think you need to use non combustible cavity closers. They are usually rock wool socks. Something like these. https://snsbp.co.uk/product-category/brickwork-construction-products/cavity-closer/cavity-fire-barrier-stop-sock/ The reason is that a fire could get into the cavity and then move up there are set fire to the PIR and roof. I am assuming that you can get something down to the top of the cavity without blocking the ventilation at the soffits. It would also mean less cold air getting into your cavity from the roof ventilation which will slightly help with insulation of the walls.

AFAIK grid losses happen primarily through transformers and a bit from cabling over distance. House 1s PV is generated at 230vac at a ready to use voltage so no transformer losses. The PV will also likely supply nearby neighbours so minimal cable losses. For anything gas generated theres always transformer losses and unless you live next to a power station therell be some cable losses. Exactly how that impacts on your house 1 and 2 comparison I dont know as theres a multitude of variables!

It is all very exciting! Good luck - I'll look forward to following the build.😃

Worth a read https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/reviews/products/motorcycle-maintenance-and-servicing/best-rust-corrosion-preventer-inhibitor

I have read lots of articles about extra coatings that can be specified for ASHP and also for windows. I think for allu windows the marine paint is for when you are within 2 mile of the coast. Personally I think the distance is a bit misleading as I’m nearly 2 miles but the sea mist comes in quick up the valley and can hang around for hours. If I forget to bring something in from gardening it will rust up, even things in the barn get the sea air pitting. The ASHP you see nice and clean white outside doesn’t mean it’s all ok inside like @Jenki says protection is the answer and regular checking.

I've coated the fins on my A2A units with ACF-50.

Drawings are just structural but I have had free drawings completed for the UFH and the MVHR and shall be looking at those again in the next few weeks. David will do the Electrical drawings and I will do the plumbing. I need to look up loop cad I think it’s called and get a free trial. I think the rectangular shape will make it easy and the plant room is a decent size. The hall goes straight down the centre of the building with the plant room at one end and the utility just after half way. I was always thinking how pipe runs would work just not got it out of my head yet and onto paper. I know where the Christmas tree will go and it will have a power socket near by. 🌲 I’m never going to say which Christmas we will move in by although most likely 2030 something. The architect was definitely not the most expensive quote we received but he has been very very slow, it’s a good job I’m not living in a caravan or paying rent whilst waiting to start the build. Just getting an email reply takes a week. I’m not sure if it’s the Cornish ‘dreckly’ way or because I’m so organised that it seems so slow, it does take a bit of getting use to down here.

Loads of ASHP down on the harbour side at St. Ives. They often get a good soaking from a decent south west hoolie. To be honest, I can't think of one that is showing signs of corrosion. Here is one that has been there years.

Grant Aerona 3 heat pumps *used* to recommend an annual application of something to the fins, but the most recent models say: > Aerona³ heat pumps are now suitable for installation in coastal areas without any special treatment. https://www.grantuk.com/media/5143/grant-aerona-r32-installer-uk-doc-0136-rev-2-2-november-2022.pdf I also got a Panasonic A2A heat pump installed up in Shetland - where you're always close to the sea - and the installer was emphatic that, not only was nothing required, but also that no ongoing maintenance was required. Even though... ...my freesat dish rusted away and was torn off the wall by a gale (the dish itself seemed fine, it was the arm and mountings that got rusty). Time will tell if it's actually fine or not. Might be worth finding a manufacturer that states their unit is good in coastal areas *and* that you can keep the warranty valid on, just in case.

If you are a "few miles" from the sea I doubt you will have a problem. but go and look at peoples satellite dishes. My own one here, 3 miles inland is probably 20 years old, and still sound. I can tell you for a fact that houses right by the sea, they would be lucky to last 5 years before they have turned into a wilting mess of rusted metal. If the satellite dishes around you are fine, then so too will be an ASHP.

This doesn't make sense. I would think you could buy an ASHP, wear it out and replace it with another one before you reached the cost of installing a GSHP. In the long term a GSHP might be cheaper to run but you will see an immediate saving if you get an ASHP, which could be eroded over time.

Sounds like you have it. Plastic skin inside the insulation, so that humid air does not get from a room into the insulation. Breathable outside it, to let any humidity escape.

I don’t know but I do know there’s a specific coastal Ecodan model which suggests there is a problem.

in a nutshell, cold roof doesnt need a VCL a warm roof does.

I have often though about this (sad I know). When you compare thermal properties of PIR, those covered in foil and those not (other materials not aluminium) the not reflective coating PIR, always seems to have a worse figure for thermal conductivity. So does the 0.022 thermal conductivity already make the assumption there will be an air gap? I am assuming so, as the aluminium foil is actually a heat conductor if its a reflective surface.

I like it. We've got to lose our obsession with houses being beautiful in the UK. And by that I mean lots of brick, quaint-cottagey modern builds, that planning committees love judging by the fights people on this forum have to get designs passed. The continent survives fine with rendered everything (pretty on some but the new estates in Normandy aren't) and heading for the same look would make EWI retrofit - done this way or other ways - cheaper. I am amused when I meet people who are vocal about "buccaneering Britain" but also "preserving our built heritage". If we really wanted to be that country we'd stop holding progress back and get on with knocking stuff down and rebuilding without a second thought, as they did in previous, more "bucaneering" times. Rant over

Whilst all this talk of insulating existing housing stock is all very well, there are some real world problems to overcome. Given that few people understand old houses, any such program i gurantee will result in a bunch of new, expensive problems. There will be air quailty and mould/condensation problems. There will be all sorts of damp related issues with the structure/walls. As someone who has just bought his 4th old house, its patently obvious that the "trade" by and large dont have a clue. (join some traditional proprty groups and weep at the cobstant "undoing" of inappropiate works) If you could properly insulate an old solid wall house, properly, without creating a load of new issues, for £25k, let me know who they are? Let me tell you, that isnt going to happen. Even if you could get a design, which, by necessity will be very much a "per house" excercise, a program of work, the cost of doing, which again will involve moving out, will far exceed £25k. To be honest, i will struggle to do mine for £25k with me doing ALL the actual work and no design costs. And that doesnt include the actual heating system. Meanwhile, out in the real world, the insulation solutions wont be designed correctly, if at all, the standard of retrofit will be woeful, so wont achieve anything like its stated aim, there will be damp issues galore. And there are not enough people to actually undertake a project of this scale. Theres no possibility of large scale ASHP fitment, never mind tacking on insulating the majority of the UK housing stock It wont happen, cant happen. If some system comes in mandating an EPC of x prior to sale, all that will happen, just like building control, you will be able to buy the certificate you need. Keep on daydreaming chaps(esses) In my case, they will need a court order before i let a bunch of government funded cowboys anywhere near my house, and even then id likely refuse.

There is a design principle that we first design for draught proofing, and then ventilate as necessary. That is for energy efficiency. Control. The pir is taped to stop draughts or other air circulation. Ventilation of rooms is then controlled by windows, vents or fans. The vapour control is about protecting the timber structure from damp and rot, and so is a separate issue. The membrane allows humid air to vent out, but is waterproof against rain coming in. Thus the structure inside the vcl is always dry, while outside it the dampness gets through but is stopped and the ventilation lets it dry again. If you get an offcut of vcl, play with it. Fold into a cup shape to see if it holds water (it does). Then blow or suck air through it. Even when you know this, it helps to demonstrate it. It also avoids any thought of using leftovers as filter membrane, or vice versa.

Also take a look at the period house forum and the Haynes manual

Weep holes just allow any trapped water behind the wall to escape, as you are using blocks a small (plastic conduit or even 15mm plumbing hep20/etc. is ok) spaced about 2m apart. Put foundations in, first layer of blocks, weep pipes,build rest of wall, pebbles or gravel at bottom behind wall for drainage and to stop weep pipes from blocking up) dpm up inside face of wall and then backfill compacting layers as you go

My experience omg! Been mixing and Laying concrete since I was about 8, built a two story timber frame building when I was 15 (with a 17 yr old labourer) since then I put up loads of steel and glulam buildings and then construction engineer/manager on bridges, football stadiums, underpinning, mining and and and …

Our path and patio is laid to these but weeds grow in the gaps and I have to pressure wash to blow the weeds out annually. As an aside ours is laid on granite grit rather than sand and the pressure washing does not wash the granite away that can happen with sand.

Cut a piece of timber batten and slip it behind the existing plasterboard at an angle and fix through either end with a screw. If the hole if too fiddly for you to get in, mark it out and cut it bigger. Cut a new piece of plasterboard the size of the hole and screw it to the batten. Fill, sand, repeat. Paint.

Invite the neighbours round for a poo and eat more fibre.

And I'm outraged for you. Not one newt, - not a single one - will benefit from your payment. Instead contributions will be made to ecologists mortgages. My whole GCN exercise cost about £6k all in. And - this I hope is a smile inducer for you - it was our children who 35 years ago went round with buckets and 'stole' GCNs from other local ponds and put them in 'ours'. Gave them names, looked after the 'nests' - the works. 'Nest' = a single blade of grass snapped, bent over, both halves stuck together to protect the eggs. I've recently been trying to reclaim their pocket money. Not going too well that. Have you tried suggesting you could create a hibernacular as compensation? We made three or four (out of waste-wood and rubble). NE liked that ....

Maybe you could write a summary for each scenario described. There’s almost 6 hours of video in that link alone. That’s a lot of shit to wade through.

I thought for a minute that you were somebody from around here, where aitches 'ardly 'ever 'appen, talking about controlling your hedges. Favourite anecdote. Sister announcing at breakfast table: "We are gong to have an arbour in the back garden." Niece, at age about 6: "With ships?" F