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@BadgerBadger @saveasteading Thank you both very much. I took about half a day off or so from brainstorming. I had a meeting with another structural engineer (a consult) to explain to me how the loads are calculated. Then I shared the SE’s calculations with him and he pointed out where the excess load came from. I believe the extra load was from the roof. He put a much bigger load forgetting that the roof sits on other walls too, hence the confusion. I have been given about 4 options and need to spend time this weekend doing the financial maths to see what choice would be feasible. i will start a new Thread and keep posting as I am sure I will need all of your wisdom and advice for everything to come.

I’ve just taken 10 upstairs for wind racking When I get time to build the timber studs You don’t see them that thick on site Im not sure what they use them for It’s nice to have something coming down in price

Why not put a bit of insulation in as well, you know it makes sense.

Yep. My relative bought me a laser level. Made the job so much easier:

Couldn't agree more. ASHP, have a defined min flow rate, if they don't see it they shutdown on an error code. The only reason you need a buffer is if you do not meet the min flow limit, by having small zones that can be run independently of the others. If you can meet the min flow rate by having zones big enough the buffer just adds inefficiency. Withholding info because they have just priced (with plenty of fat) not done detail design, and will not until they get the job.

I had an old international digger with 3 into1 front bucket on my first build in the 80's, this time I've got a small Volvo 360° with 3 buckets but I've purchased a ripper which is great for removing tree stumps x26 and redundant footings and concrete piles. I've hired in diggers over the year's for various projects, so I consider myself a skilled operator. It's handy to own your own so you can use it when you get a dry spell. I never use it when the ground is wet because in a short period of time you can turn the site into a quagmire and end up making more work for yourself. If your confident in operating one, buy one but be careful you can cause some expensive mistakes. Never trust a CAT Scan for pipes and cables, a tooth on the bucket will find them for you. Wear a seat belt when pulling out as it is easy to get the machine on its side and also when tracking backyards when you find yourself in a hole you dug out earlier. In the right hands it's a precision machine, in the wrong hands it's an extra 6 cubic meters of concrete in the footings. Insure it, they get stolen daily. You can't get your VAT back on one. Buy from a dealer if you don't know what your looking for. Resale weekly site has most of the dealers advertising on there.

I called at the plywood merchant today for a pack of structural ply and was told if I hang on till next week ALL there prices are coming down Makes a change So anyone buying Hang on a week or so I picked up 15 sheets of 25 mil OSB while I was there £12 per sheet plus vat Massive place but stocked to the rafters

They are frequently rubbishing heat pumps.

Not building related.. 1. Favourite for a while The Sampson Boat Co. Leo and the team give a fantastic insight into wooden boat re-building https://www.youtube.com/c/SampsonBoatCo 2. Acorn to Arabella - start here with the keel pouring: 3. The various Linus Tech Tips channel. Tech yes - but also a really interesting company to watch from Canada talking all things tech/computers etc. https://www.youtube.com/@LinusTechTips

Can you make 1220mm doors work as that is the width of a sheet of MDF, at 1250+ there will be lots of waste and more expense I suspect. A thin strip across the top of the doors of 30-40mm would let 1220mm doors work and may give a neater finish.

That makes sense as wind forces are much greater at the perimeter. In a sheltered area it might not matter so much. I have been told that lots of roofs are damaged by poorly fixed panels.

I'm not sure how much science designers/installers really need to know. Some obviously, but nothing much beyond the difficulty of O level physics and maths. They do need a good problem solving brain, a good toolkit of options, some common sense, and some sound techniques. It seems that they aren't currently given this by MCS. On another thread I dispute the idea that system sizing, which is the fundamental building block for the system design, should, in a typical retrofit, be based on purely theoretical calculations. There is ample evidence that the fabric assumptions simply aren't good enough on their own. But it's drummed into them by MCS that the spreadsheet does the job. In a sense it _does_ do the job, in that nobody is likely ever to succeed in suing an installer or getting MCS to take action if the designer has followed the rules, even though it may result in a poor and overpriced system. From an installers point of view, and even more so from the pov of a grant harvester, that's all that matters. The hydrogen ready/fossil fuel sharks must be rubbing their hands with glee.

https://heatpumps.co.uk The author has been doing this for 30plus years, some good info, you tube videos etc worth a look

To be fair, unlikely to be the same people at the far ends of this scale

My personal theory is increasingly that it's not the ashp industry that is doing this, it's the grant harvesting industry. It seems to me that many of the people in the business can't possibly care about the long term, which they must know doesn't matter to them because they are there only to harvest grants and go bust when or before they run out. Of course there are some gooduns, but they seem to be in the minority. So much for the grant stimulating the training of the industry. The question is, how to recover? I've thrown out a few radical ideas on the ASHP forum to try to stimulate discussion but they are, to a significant extent, shouted down.

We are going with stick build. I went to examine the t and g kits, only to find that the show field had closed. So I looked at how I would build a t and g, and wasn't comfortable for anything other than a small building. Then looked at stick built ....easy and stronger. We are going with t and g boarding. I know that BigJimbo is correct, from expensive experience. But having used t and g with success 6 times and a problem once, I know it was a bad batch. So let the boards sit for a week or 2 before fixing. Avoid any long lengths, and either stain before fitting, or wait a month for gaps to settle down We have decided to build the roof the old fashioned way, with a joist at eaves level, then mid verticals and a tie, then the rafters. This uses more wood but is much easier to build diy, ie no ridge beam and no unsupported rafters to juggle with. It loses a bit of clear height. It will be much slower, but stronger and won't warp. The joists also provide a working platform and an attic. Costs.?..don't know yet but I'd think similar with skilful buying and waste avoidance. It will be under 30m2 GIA, so no building regs, but timbers, fixings etc as if it was.

Is it worth stick building with dung boards. https://www.moleonline.com/dung-walling-200mm-x-47mm-1055312

The smaller the temperature difference, the longer you need to run it. So within reasonable operating conditions, probably no difference. I think, as tried to explain in my previous post, the whole thing is a lit more nuanced than people think. The same us true for a gas boiler setup, not many of them are close to efficient, but when NG was tuppence a kWh, no one gave a (expletive deleted), which just shows how little the is understood. Yes, really needs a machine to do it, better than a plumber's mate.

But if installed with a normal, instead of a large well designed buffer, you get mixing of the flow and return water, leading to heat pump having to run a few degrees hotter. Leading to a lower CoP. If installed as volumiser in the return leg that's ok but doesn't seem to happen that much. If you have a single or a couple of large zones designed to exceed the min flow rate, you shouldn't have an issue. Also don't install modulating radiator valves, as these slowly strangle the flow. Just balance the flows, which seems to beyond of most ASHP installers for some reason.

I think Solaredge have ditched the fire extiguisher in their current batteries. Don't know if they've changed the chemistry or just a bit more confident??

@joe90 Do yourself a huge favour, and stick build a decent garage. Those log things are often sat outside for months or longer before you buy them. That thing is going to move up and down every year. You could knock up a stick One (Frame) in a couple of days. Don't T and G on the outside. The connection is just not deep enough. Just use a simple lap cladding outside, which will allow for a bit of seasonal movement.

I bought an old Jcb 3cx which proved reliable luckily and is useful for many things I have going on. Not the best for precision trenching though. Had access to small diggers for some things. but….. you can get a lot done quickly with the right equipment and a good operator and I had an old boy who used to do groundwork’s help out and it was invaluable. If you don’t have a use for the machine post build and have a clear plan of what you want to do I would be tempted to hire someone in if you can find someone good.

Yes hopefully just some arse covering. The planning officers reply to my emails really makes me wonder if we will ever see a final report 🤯 Hope you are well received drawings and will try and deal with soon. I am so sorry for the wait , a report is already in the box I only need to tweaking. I am of the mind of approval. Kind regards

Almost. You may get short cycling when close to the minimum flow rate, especially if you are running at the lower end of the temperature window. If the buffet/volumizer, and associated pipework is properly insulated, then there not many thermal losses. Mostly, but as you have found out, it is hard to get decent information, this leads to customer ignorance. Ignorance in the proper meaning. Trying to explain, via a sales or remote technical person all the nuances, when the basics are not understood, leads to customer confusion. Let's face it, many people still struggle to understand Economy 7, let alone the multitude of ToU tariffs available today. Terms like 'refrigerator in reverse', 'low grade heat', 'only work in a well insulated house' (how often do we hear that unqualified statement on here), 'they don't work when it is cold', energy and power constantly mixed up, and no explanation about what they are and what uses of the term means, and even the experts on the radio getting latent heat and sensible heat mixed up, just adds to the general ignorance. A first year science students does not learn any new science, what they are taught is 'unlearning'. All those simplistic, basic ideas and examples have to be broken down and rebuilt. It is why, after 120 years, the public really don't understand Quantum Physics, they had 400 years to badly understand Newtonian Physics, then get told it is wrong. No wonder there is distrust in science. We can create an effective vaccine in record breaking time, while still believing that Bill Gates is implanting microchips into all humans, and 5G masts caused COVID. Lots of education is not helping. There is a thread on here from someone that had never heard of a heating system that stays on 24/7, said it was ridiculous. I wanted to point out that most heating systems are in 24/7, just that during that window they may not be consuming any energy, and may, or may not, be releasing energy. Economy 7 is a classic example. It is on all day and night, the difference is that it only received energy for a limited period of time, it is always releasing energy. If it goes 'cold', that just means it is either incorrectly sized, or being used badly, nothing to do with the underlying technology. Explaining to a customer what the problem is, during an hours sales visit just ends in useless soundbites.

I will update with the soil report when i get it. What i can say is that there was about 300mm of very high quality topsoil (100 years of pig shit, it was a small holding and Orchard) Then below that 700mm of lighter, slightly sandy soil. At about 800mm depth was the underlying ground. Some clay at the bottom. Sides of the trenches stayed very square and solid, and dry. Dry except in one of the 3 trenches which began to collect a little water as the ground sloped away to the east for this one.

If they do that, you have dodged a bullet, they would not have been a company I would want to do business with.

I've done a couple of garages over the years, each time with fibre reinforced instead of steel. First was about 8 (6x4) years ago, no cracks or issues. Both of ours were 100mm, the current is bigger 6 x 10m. That was pour a year ago, no issues.

When a cat walks over it and you can't see the paw prints....

The "ASHP Industry" is really doing it's best to sully the reputation of ASHP's and drag it down to the level of cheap double zlazing. For a new build that we assume is well insulated an ASHP makes a lot of sense. It is just a shame you get silly things like this where they won't tell you anything or the other thing you get is the silly over inflated prices of MCS installers. As it is a new build do you have the insulation levels and expected air tightness, then you can easily do the heat loss calculations yourself using the spreadsheet available on this forum and design your own system. And if you want to avoid all the cloak and dagger nonsense you have , just buy the kit and employ a plumber and an electrician to install it. The Grant one is probably the easiest for a DIY install.

Possibly no need for a buffer may be more accurate. I am still of the mind that a buffer/volumizer is always worth fitting. They do have to be designed in from the start, not added as an afterthought.

2 approaches really to install and control. Lots of zones and buffer, or 1 zone then no need for buffer. In all cases you really need to run on weather compensation to get the best efficiency. The approach taken depends a lot on how you live in the 24/7, or out at work for 12 hrs. If the later radiators may be better than UFH due to response time. Basically you need low flow temps to heating and for DHW a cylinder with a big heating coil (3m2). UFH design is another topic really. Download the Grant manual, that will tell you exactly how it will be installed. Pipe sizes depend on circulation rate required, for the ASHP, pipe lengths and bends and the resulting pressure drop. It's sized to suit each install (or should be).

Will depend on the window system and whether there is reinforcement in the frame. Get an installation drawing or guide from the manufacturer. Obviously don't want a screw long enough to cause any problems. Fixing the cill to the window frame prior to fitting the combination. I screwed my cill down to masonry (using 7.5mm X 122mm Frame Fixing screws). But that's the recommended approach for my window system (Residence 9)

There are so few people in NI doing this, it's frustrating. I got in touch with Daly and Grant, don't think either got back to me. That's the reason why I went the DIY route. Designed the UFH in loopcad. There are many suppliers online that will do this for you as well, e.g. Wunda. It doesn't have to be done by the ashp supplier ) installer as it's kinda separate anyway, the ashp is just a heat source and the UFH is controlled separately normally. I also found it hard to actually get a heatpump. Ended up with a coolenergy. I used my plumbers and spark to connect up and commission the system. It's really easy as the only work needed was connecting the flow and returns the the buffer / cylinder, power supply and a data cable. Then turn the thing on. I took me a good year + of reading here, other places and just a lot of thinking time to come up with what we have now... And it works... And I'm happy and it's worked flawlessly and came in at under £9k finished.

I wonder what the mortar strength is. It is so variable that 0.5 variation in blocks should not matter...but you could ask.

I raised my out building on two courses of bricks but ran the cladding battens and cladding down over them to about 25mm above the gravel that surrounds the slab.

Travis Perkins have 7.3N.. https://www.travisperkins.co.uk/100mm-blocks/solid-dense-7-3n-concrete-block-grey-100mm/p/700064

I suspect 7N will be fine as I doubt architects design things to be that marginal. We used mostly 7N blocks and we have B&B first floor. Just had to use 14N under some steel beams.

This is NI so a touch different to GB. You'll need a connection card filled in for NIE, and the BCO should be happy to get a copy of the EIC from him.

My understanding is the Building Regs require either scheme membership or a Building Control Application. However since you already have an ongoing Building Control Application for the house they might allow it. On the other hand you might get a jobs worth that wants to see plans for the electrics. This is very old.. https://electrical.theiet.org/bs-7671/building-regulations/part-p-england-and-wales/certification-schemes/#:~:text=What are competent person self,carry out 'notifiable' work. Ask your electrician if he's still a scheme member. If not try for a chat with your Building Control Officer. Tell him you got a good electrician but he's retired and ask what he woukd need. If he says yes verbally send him an email to confirm what was agreed.

This was with respect to the solaredge battery. Batteries in general don't work well in the cold, reduces capacity and can't work them as hard. Or battery ended up with inverter in the garage which is outside temperature, more or less. So poor place for storing energy in winter (mostly for time shifting to make use of overnight cheaprate electric)

I would leave more than 600. Eg. 620 for the first machine, the 600 for the next. Learnt this from a recent annoying mistake. Left 1200mm for the two machines under a utility counter (my utility is essentially a hallway with a door either end). But once I had fitted the architrave on the door in front of the washing machine you could no longer open the detergent drawer. Certainly couldn't get any skirting down the side.

This appears to be still unanswered. In the hope that it helps you set this aside as a matter to accept and stop worrying about, here is an explanation. Each line is the weight of a material bearing onto the beam. The known weight per m2 or skin or m , as appropriate, is multiplied by the area, length etc. This provides the weight that the steel has to support, then the correct section of beam can be specified. There is then a choice from a selection of standard beam sections. Tall and narrow beams are more structurally efficient (less steel) but take more height. Chunky beams take up less height but use a lot more steel so are more expensive. Pad stones are standard. They cost about £25 each. They are high strength concrete blocks from any builders merchant and replace wall blocks where the beam sits. They spread the very concentrated load from the ends of the beam so that the normal (weaker) blocks can take the load without breaking. Builders, architects , engineers, bco all should know this. A solution to the height issue is often to build the joists into the side of the beam instead of on top. Most of the beam is then lost in the ceiling space. I suggest simply telling whoever is responsible to find a solution. Then post it here. I agree that a new thread, with a simpler challenge, may help.

Just to say I have massive respect for what you're doing - you've taken a risk and are pushing outside your comfort zone with the simple aim of providing a better home for your son that isn't otherwise available. Some of your friends and family might not get that, but its the real essence of self-building so people on here do. Now is the time to take a breath and focus on what is the best way forward for your project. Worry less about how you into this situation. As others have said the truth is some responsibility likely sits with yourself based on the way you've structured the project. You might not have realised it and that's fine, but based on what you're saying here I think you're more than capable. From the input on this thread nobody is saying the beam calculations are wrong. So if it was me, I'd stop worrying it was over-specified and now be finding the best way of raising it as high a possible. Your SE sounds like they're looking for solutions, perhaps because they recognise their part in this mistake, so work with them and don't sour the relationship as it's likely to cost you more if you need to go elsewhere. Negotiate with the builders and find the most cost-effective way forward. Unfortunately it's going to cost you something but use the leverage you've got. They don't sound blameless here either. Your SE's instructions on the padstones were in the drawings, so if they were having trouble because they couldn't find the right size padstones or whatever then they should be coming back to you for clarification and not just doing something different. Good luck! I recommend you post up a new thread to get thoughts on the planned solution, it will get lost if you put it on this long one!

I’d say so. Do that shopping around and find someone who at least knows something about one of the disciplines, preferably both.

Mate ! I know (expletive deleted) all Yet I am ( still ) building a mostly underground house with all the issues that entails . Ignorance is bliss . Many have said “ you don’t know what you don’t know “ If I had understood everything from the start then a) I’m a seasoned pro and it’s easy b) (expletive deleted) that ! 😁😎 . What’s life without adventure and risk ? ( ignoring all the shit bits of course ) .

That’s when an adjustable bevel comes in handy

Same here. Never use 40mm for a shower, 50mm is night and day better and offers a decent bit of space for a natural air-break too.

I have two loft traps forming an airlock, both draught sealed, bottom one is fairly normal drop down Wooden ladder At ceiling level. Upper one sits 600mm above and hinges up from the loft boarded floor 100mm pir on an OSB board