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Yes tread carefully. They will argue the existing one is derelict and likely refuse. That's why I say do whatever it takes to get the existing one habitable and move in, then get a certificate of lawful development. That certificate basically acknowledges that the existing use has been ongoing for so long that the council cannot enforce any change. Applying for that certificate once the caravan is habitable and occupied, should be your first contact with the council. Only when you have that, should you start discussing a permanent dwelling or replacing it with a new caravan. You can self build a caravan compliant well insulated building as pointed out already done on Grand Designs. To be a "caravan" it has to be within certain size limits which is just a little over 100 square metres if you go to the maximum size, and single storey. And it must be moveable. But it does not need to be on wheels, built in sections which can be separated and then lifted by a crane onto a low loader is sufficient to comply. You can get lots more advice on the details if that is how you proceed. But keep quiet and get that existing van patched up and occupied.

Here are mine.

Are you looking for a full design and is tall package, DIY, or mix n match? Probably full design, supply and install for a direct comparison? Your house will have a very low head load, you'd be looking at a 5 kW heatpump at the most, maybe a 210 or 300l cylinder, depending on how many live in the house. DIY, £5k, purchase and get a plumber / spark to install, £6-7k. If you go to an MCS installer for a full package, expect £10k. MVHR similar story, but prices of units vary a lot so could be anywhere from £3k to £5k depending on unit and who installs it.

Update I'll dispense with all my frustrations this week, mainly getting groundworker to give a firm day/time and then awkward BCO tel con when he was very offhand with me. In the end, the trial pit excavation this morning and the inspection by the BCO turned out to be a pleasant experience. So two trial pits were dug to 1.2 m this morning. The ground is loam and is great, therefore no problem with the tree roots from the trees in the churchyard. The BCO was lovely and helpful when he came out to inspect and is allowing us to dig a trench the length of one side of the elevation - he emphasised that this is a concession to enable us to have deemed to have commenced work before 15 June. Digger man coming next week to backfill the trial pits and dig one elevation trench 8 m x 1.2 m depth (BCO said all trenches to be 1.2 m deep unless we hit anything unusual). Therefore no especially deep trenches where the stump is. He says once dug, we can't backfill the trench we are digging as this would in effect mean we had not "started" so at the moment we intend covering the 8 m length with OSB boards and strong plastic sheeting. (I suppose we could backfill once we have confirmation of commencement?) The digger man will also excavate around the tree stump as much as possible and then, I think, get stump grinder man in. He doesn't seem phased with it at all. All in all a successful day and fantastic news about the loam soil. From this experience I would say trial pits are a must. I'll report further next week after trench is dug and tree stump out, hopefully with photos.

Going with 300mm full fill knauf dritherm 37. Got 130 packs for 17euro a pop from BnQ when on offer normally 53 euro a pack.

Turn of geolocation.

The reason I say patch up the old one, it is will be easier to prove it has been there and in use for a long time. A new one arriving on a low loader and the old one taken away, would be easy for someone to say it's use is new. Post some pictures of how bad the old one is (without anything in the photo to give away the location)

For those who don't know, the Swindon National Self Build & Renovation Centre is hosting its second public exhibition of the year in one weeks time. The exhibition is repeated again in September for any who may miss this event. For more details: https://www.nsbrc.co.uk/ J16 - M4.

Interesting I did get a quote for a Dutch system, that had limited inlets, but you have to be clever to ensure you get flow through the dry rooms. For interest I have attached the layout for our house. I didn't go this route in the end but used coanda effect supply nozzles, which does limit the duct lengths considerably.

You don't need to be a man to self build, but you do need to have balls...

Mineral wool batts or blown beads. 250mm cavity here with blown beads. Have you seen the denby dale videos from green building store? Also @tonyshouse did a blog.

I plan on doing this for our extension, when I looked into pricing last year, there was very little difference between it and the cost of material + labour for the bricks to fit batts as they go. Plus with this method, you don't risk gaps etc (the companies I spoke with also do a few inspection holes to confirm a full fill).

I buy packs from here: https://www.ukdrills.com/sds-drills good value and last absolutely fine with most of my holes being 6mm dia too. I did use the Bosch bits for a while but for some reason the tips kept on shearing off them so stopped using them. All used with a Bosch SDS 18v with 2.6J impact but it has a fairly slow rotational speed with a 70% switch for soft start and slower speed.

We have 2 bathrooms, downstairs W/C, utility and kitchen and ran 32mm MDPE from our meter (I think it's a 1/2" connection at the water board's side of the meter, but could be wrong on that). We plan to add another en-suite soon but so far it's holding up well. I haven't tested our supply flow/pressure since running the 32mm, but previously on our old 15mm supply, it was pretty poor, around 11 LPM, 1.1 bar working pressure, 3 bar static. I suspect a lot will come down to your internal pipe design. The 32mm MDPE changes to 28mm copper at our internal stop lever and then reduces down to 22mm at the MultiBloc valve. From there we have a "spine" of 22mm that we tee off as and when we need it; 15mm to the bathrooms, kitchen and utility, 10mm to the downstairs W/C. Bathroom W/Cs and basins use a 10mm supply (as the basin's aren't massive), 15mm for the bath/shower. The only run we continue in 22mm is to the master en-suite where we enjoy a more powerful shower (15mm in the family bathroom is fine, but 22mm in the master en-suite provides arguably the best shower I've every been in). We have washing machines running, toilets flushing, up to 2x showers on at once, and the only time I've noticed a noticeable drop in water pressure/flow is when the master en-suite bath is being filled at the same time as the master shower being used.

I shall sit back and wait for a super @Nickfromwales and @PeterW special which could involve a large diameter mains supply, a mega accumulator, minimum 500l uvc and whole lot more besides - hot water recirculation maybe? In my case, having gone through that kind of design from the kind help here on this forum and costed it up in terms of price and my time, I went down a slightly different route. I only have me,my wife and 2 teenage boys to contend with but still a lot of hot water demand. I currently have limited 15mm mains supply but great pressure and decent flow (I will be trenching and laying upgraded supply pipe at some point), so I opted for a 210l thermal store and have then used relatively small diameter pipework to showers and bath. I've also used flow regulators allowing max 6 liters flow through showers etc. Sounds like too little but is actually fine even with a drench head and allows simultaneous use of 3 outlets without pressure or flow loss and plenty of hot water long enough for showers. I did do a lot of pressure loss calcs with the pipework so flow can be increased when mains is upgraded but so far so good and it has my wife's approval...

Not in a bungalow...............

Bag that up with a bit of fertiliser and sell it as John Innes compost to clay areas. So, non shrink soil, dead or distant trees. 1.2 may not be necessary but i wouldnt argue. Good news, well done.

How wide are you cavities? I'd get up to wall plate, fit cavity closers and blow it full of EPS beads (drill holes from the inside, then fill and plaster). 150mm cavity should get you well within building regs. 200mm cavity should see you reaching PH numbers.

Well B n Q won't have been selling it for a loss, so shows how at full price it is overpriced.

@Temp Yes. Otherwise 7 extractors required.

The point of an inlet in bedrooms and living rooms and gaps under the doors, is fresh air circulates all around the house. Your proposal would leave stale air in the bedrooms not circulating anywhere and not getting refreshed.

Because its been there more than 10 years it's too late for the planners to take enforcement action against the static caravan. To legalise the situation you could apply for a Certificate of Lawfulnes. However I would strongly recommend hiring a planning consultant to advise you on the best way forward before you do anything. Planners are aware of the tricks people use. For example if you applied for a CoL to change the site to Residential Use and a static caravan they might visit the site and decide that what you actually have is still agricultural land and you only have acquired a right to store a caravan on it. The fact that council tax has been paid doesn't necessarily effect its planning status. A planning consultant might advise you to do (or not do) things to the site and static caravan before going anywhere near the planners.

AFAIK PW2 can be set to 0kw, 3.68kw(for G98 compliance) or 5kw export. Your SE3680 is limited to 3.68kw as it is without any other export limitation. If youre only see max 3.68kw from your PW then that seems set wrong. Maybe needs upping to 5kw if youve got DNO approval for that. Not sure that photo of your schematic from your other thread is correct as the Gateway doesnt seem in the right place??

>>> I can check for dogs and cats You just can't stop technology advancing - wait till they integrate advanced AI into everything: 'Hide event received - mother-in-law detected"

>>> Seems like such an obvious design, I wondered if anyone else here had already built something similar? Yeah, I built a bunch for our garden. Some 1 sleeper high, some 2, some 3. I got the supplier to cut them which made things easier. To reduce rot, I lined the sides with DPC and stapled it in and just screwed big screws through the ends to hold them together. For long thin beds I also used threaded rod between the sides to stop them bowing apart. I'll put up some photos. I'll probably use the same method again on our new build when the time comes.

This is the Octopus Flux tariff. As far as I know, there are not many alternatives for export. Though I may be wrong. You'd definitely need a smart meter.

And me!! 🤷‍♂️

Hmm, might put concrete in my sons bedroom when we do it up then, with a channel drain in the middle.

If you are counter battening at 400mm spacings the 1200mm joint is already sorted. You could then repeat the following pattern: 1800 1200 + 600 1800 1200 + 600 Numbers coloured to indicate which boards the sections come from. That way you don't need any extra counter battens and you don't have any neighbouring joints in a line either.

Put less showers in - is it a house or hotel ?

This was during tape-up:

We used PIR, fully sheets with foamed and taped joints. Bricklayer put the internal walls up to a level first, then left all the wall ties sticking out, I worked out I could just push a full 4x8 sheet of 50mm PIR over the ties and they just poked through, I added the retention discs and could install about 8 sheets in 30-40minutes, it was comical how fast it went on, we got a really tight fit, jointed and taped it all and it looked like a perfect foil box. If I was doing it again, I would probably use 75mm PIR, I would even look into stretching it to 100mm PIR, but it makes the walls thick at 350mm, but then, not really that much worse than a TF and block build using block 100mm, cavity 50mm, and 150/175mm TF. So only 25/50mm in it.

It’s what I did using rockwall batts (200mm) as long as your brickie is good at keeping it clean (mine were) or consider blown beads.

I wouldn't bother.

Yeah, I guess it’s not too difficult to do this - certainly within my capability. But I will be sawing by hand as I don’t have a circular saw. I’m also not that keen on the chunkiness of these floating shelves. Ultimately the nook these are going in is in the corner of my room, and the shelves will be painted same colour as wall (a darkish green). So I don’t think the battens would be that visible once books are in.

How I did mine.

Floating shelves are made like a box and then slid onto the supporting battens. You down want 40mm or whatever thick you want 2x 18mm and make a box

Hi - thanks for directing me onto the all in one heat pump water heaters. Been trying to get all info and also quotations to install. I have settled on the Dimplex Edel 170l as it has quietest operation, and it will be in the attic above my carer's bedroom. There's only the 2 of us, and only one of us uses hot water so 170l should be more than adequate. I have had trouble getting prospective installers to understand what they are and to quote. I've had a quote of £1000 that was withdrawn, and 2 quotes of £2500 - that's installation and materials and vat on those. but not the cylinder or ducting. Could anyone advise me if that is reasonable please? How many half days of work should that cover, please? Its to put marine ply, in the attic area, where we are placing the cylinder, bringing up a electric cable up from the boiler cupboard below, and removing the boiler from the kitcehn, and capping the gas, and installing the new system. It going directly above the boiler cupboard so I hope that reduces the amount of change to my piping. Also could anyone comment on the VAT, please? I have reviewed the energy saving materials and 2.20 includes heat pumps and does say spare OR WATER HEATING. So I think 0% is right... "2.20 Air source heat pumps Air source heat pumps use the air as a source of heat. They absorb heat from the outside or surrounding air and transfer that into useable heat in the home for space or water heating, or both." https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-on-energy-saving-materials-and-heating-equipment-notice-7086 =============================================================================================================== For others who are interested in researching them. I found that these are being installed in Australia (heat pump HWS), America and in various countries on the continent - with government subsidies and rebates too. There's a facebook group MEEH where the australians discuss them, and a dutch group called Tweakers. Durability is a key issue, but the prevailing view is that buying good quality removes that worry (one australian has had one installed for 20 years!) Noise is also a factor if the cylinder is being installed in a sensitive location. In Europe there are many brands LG is interesting ,with its 10 year guarantee, Daikin, Panasonic and a brand called Atlantic... LG told me that UK regulation is an obstacle *sigh* A british heating engineer reviews his experience (all good) on Youtube here

It’s more for the fire brigade to access the window as opposed to an occupant hanging and/or jumping out.

@Gerhardt This?.. https://victoriaplum.com/browse/all-plumbing-accessories?csi=BAW1001A&gclid=Cj0KCQjwr82iBhCuARIsAO0EAZwUU4vj91wuqIKD_7RPfw7CMANz0_zB22AEbHle3YPO_Ds40fqf1MIaAoH-EALw_wcB

Planning is the crux here. Others may know the local policies in this area. But I would quietly patch up the existing static caravan so it is habitable, if not very pretty or desirable, and make it look lived in, even move in for a period over the summer? then apply for a certificate of lawful development. That gives you a fallback to rebuild anything that complies with the legal definition of a "caravan" which can in fact be a very well insulated bungalow of about 100 square metres. With that secured as a fallback you can then investigate planning for something different.

Block house here. 0.31ACH. Airtight paint to wall floor junction. Airtight paint to all chases. OSB window boxes taped to windows and airtight painted to walls. Wet plaster to all walls. Airtight membrane below cold attic continuously ran over all internal walls. Returned to wall and sealed with airtight sealant. Service cavity for ceiling. Airtight attic hatch. Our Tony Tray ripped under the hollowcore plank so I cut it away and sealed later with foam and airtight paint. DIY blower door was the secret though. It really showed up any faults. Things I would change. Pour the ground floor slab over the internal foundation walls continuously and continue the walls from slab again rather than introducing lots of separate areas for leakage. Use the green building store detail for plywood window boxes rather than fitting OSB ones post window install. Ust the green building store detail for a timber ledgerplate for the first floor. Pretape the windows before install. Tape wasn't that dear. About €15 per 25m. Much tidier than foam or sealant.

I was told that running horizontally isn't a bad thing, in fact it can be advantageous. if your board horizontally starting at the bottom you have the bottom board to 'rest' the top board on when you get to it. also when cutting for the bit at the end of a run it's easier to cut a horizontal board as you're only cutting 4' instead of 8'. it made sense to me! but @nod is the plasterboard/plastering guru around here so maybe wait for someone who actually knows what they're talking about to respond! 😉

Scaffold hoist, usually 110v, pretty bullet proof.

110v or 240v? http://www.tumac.se/uk/t275.htm ???

It makes no difference having tapered edges I can’t remember the last time I used square edged boards More than ten years ago You don’t see them on sites

Well, where to start. Thank you all so much. Two detached houses were built lower down this site in 2013-2015. The site furthest away from us eg 100 m away had medium plasticity clay and masses of it - and it was pouring with rain when the trenches were dug. I do know there was a pond in close proximity many years ago. Everything with the foundations was done retrospectively which left the trenches open longer for the elements to play havoc. No preparation was asked for or done beforehand. Hats off to the lovely builder and the warranty inspector. The other house (built first) and nearer to our house seemed to have no problem with their trenches but I think that was more because no-one asked or knew to ask. A row of sycamores within 2 m of their footings had been totally removed 12 months before they started and I don't believe they bothered with trial holes/soil test. The footings were approx 1 m depth. They have a wooden suspended floor. As far as I know, 10 years on, they have had no problems. We live in South Yorkshire and I am expecting to find clay. Some members will be aware of our situation ie excavating one trench to get a commencement notice before 15 June deadline for change in Bldg Regs. The stump is on the north elevation and the trench to be dug is on the south elevation so this gives us time to sort out the stump problem. However, we don't want to be digging a trench only to find out when we return to finish the footings that we need piles - hence why I need the stump/footings situation sorted and a plan agreed before any work is started. My initial draft plan of action is: Stump remover chap coming out tomorrow so I will get his opinion about removal of the stump and a quote. I'll email/speak to the BCO on Tuesday and get his opinion about the stump removal and advice on footings in that area. Would it be wise to pay for a foundation plan to be done by a structural engineer, then I have something to refer to and insist on. I still find some "people" taking instructions from a woman doesn't always go down well. When the stump is out, could we use this as a trial hole and take the sample from there for the lab test. We could do the same with a holly stump on the southern elevation. Very happy to put reinforcing rods into the concrete and again a SE plan would help with this I would imagine. If we get to the point of digging the one full trench we are now thinking it would be wise to do the concrete fill and then cover lightly with the excavated soil. I'm not sure how this would affect the future fills ie where it joins. Again, the SE presumably would advise on this. If anyone has anything further to add or suggestions on what else I should do, I would be very pleased to know. I can't emphasise enough how much this has helped me. I will post updates regularly and photos of any work done.

Oh what an "interesting" thing you have there. Good points made by all so far, make for good reading. Yes, you have a special case. I'll throw a bit into the mix here and come at this from a maybe different angle, excuse the spelling and grammer please. Bit of context first. Let's look at the tree and the old wall. Yes looks dead. But here are things I would like to know about it's life, the ground and the old wall. 1/ What kind of ground do you have, clay, compact glacial till or a post glacial material (~younger than 100 k) years.. low nutriant/ higher nutriant.. harder / easier for roots to penetrate respectively with a topping of garden nutriant rich soil. . Also you may find the roots have grown up the sides of the wall where the ground has been disturbed. Do you have sandy or gravelly type soil, chalk or thin soil with bedrock below? Reason for this is to try and determine where the secondary and tertiary roots will might be. 2/ Which way does the prevailing wind blow from. Trees need structural stability and will aim to grab a hold of a chunk of soil to enable them to stay stable, call that ballast. Some trees have a big tap root and that also contributes to the stability. Reason for this is to try and gather info on where the roots may be going. They may be prevelant towards you neighbours and less so on your side... good news. 3/ What do you know about the ground water level. Do you live up north.. more rain or down south where you get more water stress. If in a water stress area roots can be deeper. 4/ What can you observe in the old wall. Does it look like it has uplifted, been repointed, leaning over. Again this provides information about what impact the tree has had. The old wall will yield clues as to what effect the tree had . All good stuff to know. The above is intended to allow you to understand this particular case and gather information to enable you to look at the other options. Lets say that the stump falls somewhere along the side wall and not at the corner for the moment. One downside of the trench fill is that it needs a big hole that could destabalise the wall as other poster have mentioned. But what if it turns out that once we know more about the roots it turns out that we have just a potential soft spot in the ground that could settle.. as the main stump / primary roots rots away over time. As it has been dead for a good couple of years the ground has probably recovered a good bit ( swelled back up).. Ok maybe settlement is the governing design factor. Let's recognise that we have a single story building (low loading) with a soft spot somewhere along the side wall but not too close to the corner. Can we just do a strip found here but make it say 250 - 300 mm thick and chuck in some 16 - 20mm diameter rebar to make a reinforced concrete beam that will span over the soft spot. Or if the roots are a bit deeper, put in a little trench fill and cast a heavier type beam to span a larger distance. This may need extra what we call steel rebar links which are much more like a reinforced concrete beam you may see in a carpark. The above options may mean you can avoid deep excavation near the boundary wall and all the problems that go with that. Also in some ways you want a foundation that moves about eavenly. Trench fill can create hard spots and that causes unwanted stresses. Last, what about the existing house.. if you start digging deep founds next to that then old house may be moving up and down while your extension is anchored solid. This leads to differential movement that can be undesirable. If you can get handle on these things you can put together a design that BC and all will be happy with. Once you see it all laid out you may think.. how simple is that!.. and if you think that then you probably have a good cost effective and sound solution. Now if the stump is near the corner you can deploy the same concepts but here you have a cantilever found and that is more complex. How complex you need to establish and then compare with trench fill.. but the trench fill might not have to go all the way round as you can do a bit of mix and match.. the bridging and maybe trench fill running perpendicular to the boundary wall. Hope this helps you a bit.

If it helps I've compiled a list of ways you can connect blinds/curtains to Loxone.... Option 1: Hardwired Power with Loxone Wireless Control Example motors: Geiger Solidline Air - this is the motor Loxone promote Loxone Parts Needed: Loxone Air Receiver Pros: Loxone wireless protocol built into motor makes integration easy and no additional hardware needed at the window location (such as a wireless transmitter) Hardwired power means no batteries need re-charging No need for wiring back to a relay or main panel or plant room Only need 240v power at each window which could be taken off a socket or lighting circuit Cons: This is a 45mm motor which means it will only go in a 65mm+ tube meaning the minimum rollup size is going to be around 70mm which is quite large High torque motors (great for RLs but overkill for standard blinds) Wireless control limits distance from transmitter to receiver Wireless control is not 100% reliable although it is good and always getting better As more devices become wireless there is more radio traffic and more risk of interference 'Dumb' motors with no 2-way communication or feedback to the system Option 2: Hardwired Control Switched through Power Example motors: Somfy WT, Nice Action, Vestamatic MM or ME Loxone Parts Needed: Loxone 240v relay appropriate to the number of blinds you have. Pros: Total reliability of control Hardwired power means no batteries need re-charging Easy to trouble shoot Wide range of motors Cons: Home-run wiring needed from the relay to every window Intermediate stops need to be done via a timer rather than using logic in the motors 'Dumb' motors with no 2-way communication or feedback to the system Option 3: Hardwired Power with Wireless Control Example motors: Somfy WT, Nice Action, Vestamatic MM or ME Loxone Parts Needed: Shading Actuator Air Pros: Hardwired power means no batteries need re-charging No need for wiring back to a relay or main panel or plant room Only need 240v power at each window which could be taken off a socket or lighting circuit Wide range of motors Cons: Wireless control limits distance from transmitter to receiver Wireless control is not 100% reliable although it is good and always getting better As more devices become wireless there is more radio traffic and more risk of interference Intermediate stops need to be done via a timer rather than using logic in the motors 'Dumb' motors with no 2-way communication or feedback to the system (Loxone say it is a pain to setup) Option 4: Hardwired Power with Dry Contact Control, 0v Control, DCT Example Motors: Nice Edge AC or DC, Gaposa Sileo XS50 AC or DC, Somfy Sonesse 30 DCT, Glydea DCT, Movelite DCT Loxone Parts Needed: Loxone 0v Relay with number of channels appropriate to the number of blinds Pros: Total reliability of control Hardwired power means no batteries need re-charging Easy to trouble shoot Cons: Good range of motors but mostly in a higher price bracket than the switching through power option Home-run wiring needed from the relay to every window Intermediate stops need to be done via a timer rather than using logic in the motors 'Dumb' motors with no 2-way communication or feedback to the system Option 5: Hardwired Power with Digital Control Example Motors: Sonesse 30 RS485, Sonesse 50 RS485, Vestamatic SMI, Nice Smart, Glydea RS485 Loxone Parts Needed: Loxone RS485 extension Pros: Total reliability of control Hardwired power means no batteries need re-charging, power can be local to the blind Easy to trouble shoot Easy to set multiple intermediate limits and get hembar alignment at the stop positions Data can be daisy chained making communications wiring easier 'Smart' motors with 2-way communication, system can see blind status (open, closed, etc.) Cons: Slightly limited motor range although some good options available Potentially more complex commissioning needed, especially when intermediate stops required Power and communication wiring should usually be separate, therefore two cables to run (although power could come off a socket or lighting circuit) Option 6: Wireless power with Wireless Digital Control Example Motors: Sonesse 30 WF RTS Loxone parts needed: Loxone RS485 extension Other parts needed: Somfy RS485 RTS transmitter; Pros: Easy installation as no cabling required Long battery life (8-12 months depending on frequency of use) Cons: Maintenance required, battery charging once a year Wireless control limits distance from transmitter to receiver Wireless control is not 100% reliable although it is good and always getting better Slightly complex commissioning for AV integrator and blind installer Option 7: Wireless power with Wireless Dry Contact Control Example Motors: Sonesse 30 WF RTS, Nice Edge Battery motor Loxone parts needed: Loxone Dry Contact Relay Other parts needed: Somfy DCT RTS transmitter or Nice 0v radio transmitter Pros: Easy installation as no cabling required Long battery life (8-12 months depending on frequency of use) Cons: Maintenance required, battery charging once a year Wireless control limits distance from transmitter to receiver Wireless control is not 100% reliable although it is good and always getting better