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Big step forward this week. First fix electrics 90% complete. First fix plumbing mostly complete (well the pipes are all in. First fix MVHR mostly complete. I now need to go round repair some of the air tight barrier damage although it’s minor.

I would preferably something like this for a pitched roof. Much less wasteful of labour and material and cheaper by my calcs too. Better for airtightness and windtightness and heat protection also if done properly.

Only just noticed this. Effectively means you've no hallway and all that space is considered kitchen. All other rooms will need their own escape routes. Our design was very similar, so we put up internal sliding doors between the kitchen and hall to show kitchen closed off from rest of building. They are never closed 😀

Access would have been a pain had the builder carried out my initial instructions, which was to make the planter in front of the bin as wide as possible to maximise space for the bamboo. But the builder persuaded me to have a little access room, so there is enough space for me to walk along side the bins all the way in to bin 3. Still have a planter that is about 40cm wide (and runs alongside all the bins) to fill with bamboo.

Sorry, only now seeing this. FWIW, I think it must be a duff thread. Try cutting it with the tap, but don’t do it in anger! Take your time, suck it up, and keep your chin up. 👍 Let us know how you get on.

how did you get on with this ? did you use poly steel ? how did you find it ? ive just found your post with the pour , lookig good

Put the Cedral or other on top of the brick or block outer leaf. Get the same effect. No need for ventilation and U-value stays the same.

Just a quick note...you can't actually put a pump on your incoming mains which exceeds 12 litres per min...I think what you have there definitely would. You need a break tank to store the water then pump the stored water. Whole home boosters that just provide the 12litres per min are rubbish...I expect you have more than that currently.

Exactly why we have a wall of glass too. The view is great. I’ll live with extra cost. The only heating we’ll have upstairs is an electric towel rail in the bathroom. I’ve wired for two panel heaters in the bedroom and dressing room and will wait for the first winter and see how we get on.

Fair enough… I’m a close my eyes and visualise it sort of person so I have no need for drawings and all that guff 🤣 my builder is a building notice kind of guy so we get on well.

You should have a y and a 45, so the flow is in the right direction.

As promised, here are my completed (I hope) drawings for building control, which I've just submitted to the local council. I'll post back on here with what they come back with, any changes required, and also any restrictions imposed. I know some were asking what was required for BC plans, so hopefully this will give a good guide for a masonry cavity wall build. Side Extension Drawing BC.pdf

use a rest bend at the head of the run and a swept T (not a normal T) for the second one.

We are single storey and have wet UFH in bathrooms and electric towel rails. The combination works well for us. Bedrooms we have ufh and it's rubbish. Been debating electric panel heater, but opening the doors works well enough to even the temperatures out. I would provision for a panel heater then wait for the first winter before buying anything to connect in. We have big overhangs over our windows, but it's the westerly sun just goes under the overhang leading to overheating. So look at this aspect also.

Only way to find out is to get a quote in your area.

Replace the tap - 2 min job

I get a good view of a loch and trees, from anywhere in the room.

I wall mounted mine, no real limitation on space so bought the panels on lowest £ per Watt which puts you in the 250 to 300W per standard panel range ie 1.7M x 1M. If I had been tight on space I would have gone with the 2.0m x 1.2M panels with higher efficancy and ended up paying higher £ per Watt. Locally all new housing developments must have solar panels on the roofs pointing South or East/West, but with a family out at work or school during the day with no useage of peak production and low feed in rates they instead get the full roof tiles and get the panels stored in the garage. So I recently got some new Veridian 270W panels for 24p per watt off Gumtree, so worth looking out for new housing schemes.

If the quoted 250% increase in efficiency of light conversion proves to be correct then perovskite panels would be significantly better than silicon. I can't see it happening in the near future though.

Efficiency just means a difference in area, more efficient smaller area required. You will pay a premium price to save a few cm. Why bother. Prices will not drop by any degree. It's just another iteration of PV, amorphous, poly crystalline are all things that have occurred previously no real change in costing. To bring a user name up (so they get notified) - type @ and then start typing the user name and select from the coloured list of names that is auto generated.

DIY or MCS? DIY Min system is a PV panel - £135, DC cable £60, couple of isolation switches £70, inverter? Mounting system? MCS add a few thousand to the DIY price, you won't be far off.

Often, an easy way to check if water is from the mains is to put your thumb over the tap outlet and turn the water on. If from a tank in the loft, you can stop the water. If mains or pumped, you can't stop it.

Your cold water at basin probably comes from mains as it’s drinking water and not stored. can you find the isolator for the water coming out of tank for the hot water, no use just turning off what fills it unless you want to drain it

So about 10 days ago they finished the new driveway

You can dab onto the cavity closers two lines one against the frame the other down the edge of the block once dabed fill the gap between the reveal board and the edge of the block Then solid dab over it If your battening rough brick I would fix the batons directly to the wall Then simply staple an airtight membrane to the face of the batons Cheap and quick Theres nothing to stop you using a J bead Or a 25x15 angle fixed to the frame You will find the later easier if your not familiar with them

You could use Illbruck sp925 or Pro Clima Aerosana Visconn Fibre, both can be brush applied, then you could seal the window to the cavity closer and the cavity closer to the blockwork. Would work out cheaper than tapes I think

One of mine.

Standard electrician sign off is fine, unless you want to sell back any surplus to the grid (https://solarenergyuk.org/resource/smart-export-guarantee/) in which case it needs MCS sign off (which generally only comes as part of a supply & install package).

I disagree, as groundworks and foundations are the biggest question mark about our potential build, as its a sloping site and i want to be as forearmed as possible. I have a 3D model of the site terrain, and now i know the final design and levels i can cut chunks out of the 3D terrain which has been a quick and easy way to work out the cut and fill m3. I'm adding on 20% contingency to my calculated volume which should give a robust figure.

So I pay £160 for a 17 tonne load with a hiab loader, or £150 for 20 tonnes but is loaded by JCB JCB is £90 a day hired , or £170 with a driver. JCB can load the wagons in about 15 mins if it is a loose pile and space to move on site.

You what?