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Easy option phone a company and get someone else to do it 180mm is very different to 100mm its a massive bit and will be a bastard to use, unless you hire the right kit with pedestal. get a quote, but by the time you hire it and all the agro you might be better off paying for it to be done.

AFAIK as soon as your cables leave the lighting control unit they will be in low voltage, so it’s nice to comply with safe zones, but not always practical, so it goes out the window a bit. also the ceiling above the beam is a safe zone , so as long as your 50mm in from the face it’s safe so the only bit not in a safe zone is the 200mm from the ceiling to the bottom of the steel, if somebody can see the lights on the beam and a cable entering the wall, they would need to be pretty stupid to drill in that area. and if they did it’s a 12 volt cable anyway.

Around 11 months ago, we started from a stripped site, the treatment plant was in and running the cabins / static so drainage just required connecting up. we had to wait for the warrant to be amended (change to the certificate of deign) this held us back ma month or so until the BCO just said "get on with it, we can sort that later"- top guy!! If we had waited for the amended certificate of design we would still be building, it took him 5 months to get it to us. I've documented most of the build in blogs on here, partly to have a refence to remember the process, partly as pay back to Buildhub for the inspiration and pointers in the planning / design stage. I'm so glad I spent hours looking at and reading others blogs that we made the switch to ICF. I'm convinced there is no way I would have achieved the efficiency I have for the money spent. Budget was always tight, so some decisions have been made due to Hobson's choice, leading to triple glazed UPVC windows and composite doors. The front door, south facing GRP Composite with low threshold and a slim glass panel leaks with 40mph winds, this leaks through the gazing cassette, and the low threshold. as I know we wont use this door much, we went for a slam lock, another mistake, it blows a gale through. To be fair the company are re making, I'm just not sure if there re-making the panel or the full door, I did ask, if they were remaking the full door to change to standard handle and lock, so it can be adjusted to minimise the drafts. we will see what happens, a full door replacement will mean taking off the reveals in side so a complete PITA, but worth it for no drafts. We had the airtightness test carried out, and they used the front door for the blower door to mitigate any issues with that door. I had put caps in the MVHR. so he just cracked on, the back door is not perfect again due to the low threshold. He didn't seal the blower door to the frame, not sure what the procedure is but seemed a little frustrating. We achieved 0.88 Air permeability, which I'm very happy with, budget wise we didn't spend hundreds on airtightness tape, just designed good solutions, and the doors leak a bit . Our As built EPC came back at A103 , with a possibility of A128.. the report say A105 if we install Thermal Solar EST saving of £40 pa , and A128 with a wind turbine EST saving of £1100 pa, so pretty much the best we could hit. To finish we need to sort out some paths outside, ramp, and the rain water pond, but other than the second bedroom need decorating the house is done. Next week we will hopefully get building control around to see what he 'needs' to get a completion cert. I'm hoping for some flexibility on the ramp and pond, . We need the VAT refund to pay for this stuff. We are working our way through the invoices, but we built for less the 90K and we still need the VAT refund. I've enjoyed it all, and we both agree we have a home. Good luck to all of you with your current builds.

I used cheap one from ebay which comes with a metal plate the tile get fixed onto. Works well. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221350995319

I think you all need to meet on site to sort it out - the boss man, his surveyor, your builder and you. Going backwards and forwards over email clearly isn't going to go anywhere and sometimes you just need to do these things in person. If they refuse then at least that's an additional point in your favour if it does go to law.

And, as an aside we also use our bio ethanol fuel to make our own surgical spirit aka ‘rubbing alcohol’ 70% bio ethanol 30% deionised water* Almost odourless and cleans almost everything. *we collect this from the dehumidifier when we dry clothes indoors in the winter.

Just thinking in common sense basically if your in the kitchen and a fire breaks out you will run out the back door, if your in the front room you will run out the front door. but if you are upstairs and your route to outside is blocked by fire you will want to hide behind a fire protected door until help arrives. look at it like this and walk around thinking how you will get out. Obviously check the regs, but that’s the general gist of it.

We've actually got 4 in the house! We've had them for years and love them - when we had a power outage for 3 days, we only needed to run one (2x3kWh output) and the house temperature was just fine. They are a luxury and we only use them when we feel like, but they do provide a decent heat output and nice atmosphere. We get fuel from here at the moment https://ekofuel.org/shop.html. I've just bought 48 litres.

Good afternoon guys As per the title really, i am thinking of using one of these companies. As a bit of a sanity check on my estimates. Is there a standout 'go to' company, are they all a much of a muchness or a total waste of time? All opinions gratefully receieved as always Personal recommendations of course are great

So, I've built this with very little outside help. I'm proud to say that I'm still working within about 3-4mm of all of the plan measurements. We have no support from our eye-wateringly expensive Architect any more, she's a Diva of the highest order with the worst temperament of anyone I have ever paid for a service, she left the project at a time when we still weren't certain of all the details. I have to admit that I feel out of my depth in understanding Air Tightness detailing and Insulation/u-Value requirements. I am simply aiming to improve on as many of the Architects details as possible. but after reading some posts on here, it's clear to me that there are bods on here that put my knowledge to shame and I'm desperate to get this right. Current concerns.... (not limited to) The relatively weak u-Value of the Nudura. On paper, the standard system doesn't present great u-Values, though I'm told that this isn't the only thing to consider. Should I be thinking of adding further insulation to the walls? I do kinda regret not going for the heftier blocks in all honesty. I'm minded to improve on the Architects spec of 150mm PIR in the floor (over Beam & Block). I have room for 200mm and am committed to that with interior FFL's now, but is it a sensible choice? I'm minded to improve on the Architects spec of 120mm in the Warm Roof. Again, I have room for 200mm, but is it worthwhile. I do not fully understand best practise with Air-Tight detailing, around windows/doors and so on. Our Architect arranged a SAP calculation at the design stage, and we're trying to control costs of course, but should I be talking to a consultant of some sort about this stuff? I would like to aim for 'near Passivehaus' levels and I'm not thinking as much about all-out return on investment but more having a comfortable home with as low as possible need for heating input. What's the best way to approach this?

Have a look on youtube, that way you can see the effect they produce too. This is the "cassete" version that we used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEmPgSSB4s4

Thank you. Just sent them an email: Sending emails back and forward are obviously not getting us anywhere. I want to sort this out in person and if you, your surveyor and the carpenter can meet on site preferably this week, please come. I have given you evidences to back up what we’re saying and obviously you’re not having it. I have been waiting for you to resolve this issue amicably but pride seems to be in the way. If I don’t hear from you by Monday on how you will rectify this issue, I will have to take this matter to court. I don’t want to waste judge’s time as much as possible but if that’s the only way to get this sorted then I have no choice. Thank you all so much for giving me courage. I feel like I’m not the only one in this battle.

I used similar magnets to hold a tile on a backing board but I also sealed it in with colour matched silicone, so no danger of it falling out. Of course it needs a knife running around the seal if I need access.

It's not bad, nice and good quality build, seems good quality overall, works well, now I have my head around flow temperature. Pretty quiet overall, you can program so it doesn't boost the fan at the high speed ever and only does the lowest fan speed overnight. It has an adjustable threshold for water temperature (for cooling and heating) where it switches off the fan. If you set this too low it cools the room instead of heating, if you are not careful. Water temp target temp need to at about 33 to 35, so the water temp doesn't drop below about 28 in any heat pump off cycles, otherwise the fan just drops room temperature. It comes as standard equipped for cooling. Comes with its own programmer, user defined schedule programming etc.

Well, for me it wasn’t easy but I think I’ve finally got there. Thanks for your suggestion. 👍

Thermal engineering of a house is pretty basic. Stop warm air leaving, stop cold air getting in. All that means is the outside of the house has to stop air movement, not the inside as that can allow the insulation to be cold. Don't let anything that conducts heat better than the insulation go from inside to outside i.e. beams and joists. Control the internal humidity, this is usually done mechanically l.e. a fan and ducts. Any humidity that does manage to get past the vapour control layers (basically a sheet of polystyrene in the inside walls) must be allowed to migrate to the outside. This is why walls are constructed so that the more vapour tight layers are inside, and the more vapour open layers are outside. Vapour movement and air movement are not the same thing. Sealing around window and door frames is a matter of taping either side ideally. Window and door frames are also thermal bridges, i.e. they conduct heat better than the walks, which is a bad thing. The better the frame U-Value the better, but be conscious that large windows have poor thermal performance anyway, so the frame may only be a small part of the overall heat loss. You can swap around U-Values i.e. thicker insulation on a north and east facing wall, these are climatically colder in the UK, and still get a well performing house. Your most likely to have overheating problems than under heating problems these days, even sticking to minimum building regulations. Do so thermal modelling i.e. solar angles, intensity at different times of the day and year. This only needs to be basic, split the day up into 18 hours, 9 either dude if noon, split the year up unto 26 weeks, then go to PVGIS and download the TMA hourly data for your location.

Here are some useful threads, that you might have already seen. This is the one where Russell talks about using Triton TT Vapour membrane paint for prepping his window reveals. You have already seen this one about ICF and windows. There is a link in this thread to another thread about ICF windows. My ICF build is 9 miles from Diss, you’re welcome to come and visit for chat. Just send me a private message

Re the roof, yes, go for more. 120 is very borderline. I would put more in a refurb roof. Are you building the roof or others? The thicker the insulation the harder it is to find the timbers with your HUGE screws! I have seen a warm roof where most of the fixings were to the under-layer of 18mm OSB, not to the timbers.

@Russell griffiths has built with Nudura and knows his onions.

Easiest would be to rename the EE Wi-Fi and password to the BT Wi-Fi name and password. Then when your other WiFi comes back you don’t need to change again.

Thing with rivnuts you drill a hole in a plate or box section on the side you want to bolt. They go in the hole and you deform them so they compress against the base material. They don't go on the opposite side of the box section. Used hundreds building cars and kitcars.

This is what they look like as used for fixing all the joists to the steels. No possibility of removing and then replacing the bolt as the whole fixing is the structural element. Thanks both, you've put me onto Rivnuts as an alternativ option but I'm struggling to find structural data for the rivnuts used for wider sections. This is something I briefly considered but followed the guidance of the SE and suggested fixings. I may just review this as an option. It's 3 meters drop so yes, I need to ensure it's robust enough. Currently the only option I know I can use is Interclamp/Kee Clamps tube clamp arrangements and depending on post diameter, I can install them up to 2m centres. Essentially what I want to do is come up with a design we like and then pass it by the SE as a final nod.

For anyone following along - the consensus was that the cable percussion rig has a bit more grunt and could deal with shale and sand easily should we find it below 5m - whereas the dynamic probing rig might run out of steam. So, the current proposal is to do 2 holes with the former and 4 with the latter. That's probably overkill as it is almost certainly fairly homogeneous clay, but 'you don't know what you don't know'. I also learnt that all of the rigs can estimate allowable ground pressure and that nearly all ground failures are shear stress failures. Also the particle size distribution tests are to gauge clay shrinkage and swelling. My education continues... Also, my house loading is ~8 kN/m^2 but dwarfed by the loading of the basement concrete itself at ~33 kN/m^2. But ... the existing soil to be dug out is presently loading at about ~51 kN/m^2 @ 4m depth. So the structure to be introduced actually weighs less than the earth sitting there right now.

Hi all, first time buyer here. Wish to learn from experienced builders here and DIY our new home. Happy to share our experience too!

Just been looking at the numbers for the last couple of sunny days. Our normal consumption of electric without heating and hot water is around 17 to 18kWh at this time of year. On standard rate tariff would cost £4.50 The heat pump used 19kWh electric each day (heating electrical demand of 4W/m2), for UFH and DHW. On standard rate tariff would cost £5.13 For comparison, a CoP of 3 would make 57kWh of heat, so from gas at 0.08p and 90% efficiency, would cost £5 plus standing charges, so pretty similar to ASHP. However we only imported an average per day of 24kWh at an E7 cost of £4.41 average per day. Utilisation of cheap rate rate was above 96% The remainder coming from Solar PV and PV stored in a battery. Total cost per day was £4.41 against a standard rate tariff, no PV or battery cost of £9.63 (17kWh for house and 19kWh to heat pump). So two good solar days (but sub zero during the night and between 5 and 8 during the day) saves £5 per day or £10 in total, with E7, battery, and PV. Or looking at from a heating perspective I am getting my heating for free.

Yes, once planning permission has been granted, the building can, of course, be built as approved. The council should take into account overlooking etc in their decision, but they should have also given you an opportunity to comment on the application. There's generally an ad in the local paper, an notice posted on the site and letters to neighbours inviting their comments.

Hire somebody. I got 5x 180mm holes drilled through 200mm RC for £250.

Thinking about it, it's not just the plinth bricks. You'll also need wider foundations and the block work behind the facing bricks, as you're effectively building a double width wall up to plinth level.

It shouldn't cost any more than hiring the necessary kit.

Your explanation should be line one of the fire section of the reg's. Maybe people who try to cheat the rules, and principles, will understand this.

There is no discernible smell from our bio ethanol fire.

I think the priority there would be water tightness, certainly up to 300mm up the door sides. I don't think the Orcon would be suitable, I would use a high modulus silicon and then use the airtight tape to make airtight! I had to use a primer like the one below to get the tape (I used Vana) to stick to the concrete. https://insulationmerchant.com/products/pro-clima-tescon-sprimer-spray-can-primer-750ml

Plinth bricks can be expensive. From memory ours added >£4k plus labour, but it depends how many corners you have, and whether there are 1 course or two. A cheaper alternative for us would have been to use some non-matching engineering plinth bricks, but I didn't like the contrast. It does give the house some additional character and a traditional look though.

Not really in the grand scheme of things What you can see took two men two days Laying around 1000 per day 650 per 1000 for bricks

Look at the Dimplex Optimyst/Opti-V poducts. While not a real fire, we personally liked the effect this create more than some of the bioehtanal options, but without the heat or ethanol smell! We used the cassete version and built it into a slate bench and even plumbed it in.

When you say 80% of the plot purchase, you mean that I put down 70k (20% of 350k) and they will pay the additional 280k and then I can keep the 280k cash liquid so it can be used as and when, or am I missing something?

This is the stuff we’ve ordered. 6 x1L bottles, £24.49

It's a sort of automatic bypass. I assume this is on a heat pump which are usually very picky about a minimum flow rate so it has unhindered flow from the heat pump, and when the manifold pump wants some heat, the pump will suck it out of the flow pipe.

Pleased you have found the problem, I having been using the Shelley EM with ct clamps for just over a year now, excellent product and app.

Final update Been faffing about in the background, to get the house heating and summer house heating to work together, one is high inertia (thick screed UFH) and one very low inertia (low volume fan coil). Final solution is, have dumped WC altogether and now flow set to a fixed demand temp of 35. That suits the fan coil in the garden room and a slow batch charge of the floor. Observation the heat demand of 35, the discharge temp from the heat pump never actually gets to 35 for the 10 to 12 hrs it runs, at the moment. Most days it gets to about 33 by the end of the heating cycle. Zero cycling occurs, except for defrosts. There are two thermostats, one in house and one in the garden room. The house thermostat can call for heat and changes set point of an electronic UFH mixing valve, the garden room thermostat can call for heat. The electronic mixer valve in the house, is selectable to two different adjustable set points, currently set to either 35 Degs or 27 Degs. The 35 Deg set point ensures mixer is fully open and zero mixing occurs. The system volume isn't large enough to support the heat pump driving a single fan coil on its own, so the house floor is always available to act as buffer via the 27 set point on the mixer valve. Batch charging is simply controlled by a single room thermostat, with a hysterisis set to 0.1 - at 00:30 it is set to 20.5 (starts heating if at or below 20.4), at 07:30 it is set to 20 (switches heating off when above 20.1) and at 12:00 it is set 19.5, makes sure heating doesn't restart. DHW heating is timed to allow heating any time between 1pm and midnight.

What can you do...... Well good news is that the house won't fall down. You should start to take note of internal humidity. It should be no higher than ~60% RH at ~20⁰ .Heating and ventilation is how to achieve this. Ideally mechanical ventilation of some sort. This will prevent the issue getting worse. Ideally you would remove skirting boards and ceiling plasterboard and air seal around the first floor slab internally. Practically this is probably not possible unless it's limited to a very small area of the house. In any case you will need to sort the external render as now it's exposed to the Donegal rain it will degrade quickly. This will require removing the existing paint and render and reapplying something of a higher permeability like lime or silicone render. Even something like less permeable (but more permeable than Evertex) like sand and cement with it's very high tolerance to moisture would probably be ok if you were to control internal humidity. However these solutions would only work if any exterior paints were to be of high permeability in the future. A couple of coats of an exterior urethane based paint would undo all the work again, especially with lime render. ( Sand and cement may survive as it doesn't mind the damp so much) The most robust and permanent solution I can see is to apply a layer of external wall insulation (EWI). In Irelands temperate climate, this would ensure that the vapour that escapes via the cracks above and below the slab would almost never reach a point in the wall below the dew point and condense. Normally this is rendered with a silicone or acrylic render however in our climate of driving rain this would need to be done very carefully or you might be back where you started from. It's not encouraged in Norway any more for that reason. https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/8/7/93 External cladding , metal wood or fiber cement over the EWI would be very robust. Come to think of it you could omit the EWI and just do this anyway but you wouldn't solve the problem of water condensing in your wall then. TLDR. 1. Control internal humidity with heating and mechanic ventilation. 2. Apply EWI + Render with caution or 3. Apply an external rain screen with or without EWI.

A quick update 27 October 2023 to today. Including the last cold snap where we had temperatures down to -7, our total electric bill is on average 34.4% cheaper being on E7 compared to standard rate. To make these saving is only possible with the battery, it being charged on cheap rate. Most the period our heat pump was running on WC 24/7. Had a couple of mild days and did night-time floor charging and the saving was 43%, with no day rate electric being used. Comparison includes all heating, DHW heating and all other normal electricity usage. Happy so far

I won’t use or specify aerated blocks. They are often abused by trades who think they are just concrete. They are not and nor are they homogenous. They don’t fulfil their compressive strength once cut and are tested and perform structurally only when oriented correctly. That does not include laid on their sides. I could bore you with a story of a technical inspection I did on a fire station a couple of years back but it’s too long. In summary, everyone from designer to tradesman got it wrong and the aerated block wall was going into failure and the roof was losing its support. I have built a few structures using lightweight blocks, Thomas Armstrong Insulite. Available in 3.5 and 7N. Lambda about 0.44 so way better than dense blocks, only a tad more expensive than dense and cheaper than aerated. Cut easily, take a good fixing. Trades seem to like them. Why bother with aerated when these things exist. It‘s an up-north outfit but I am sure there will be manufacturers in other areas.

Suggested text strikes again 😂 little CORE drill

Technically I don't think you don't need PP for a van for building workers to live in. So if all occupants can claim to be doing at least some work on the house you should be ok. No children obviously. I believe this even extends to a van on neighbouring land. I'm travelling at moment so can't easily quote a source but it should be possible to find it in the GPDO somewhere. Edit: The menu on my flight includes "Fluffy egg preparation" I guess that's an omelette then.