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But the principles apply. Play with them. Avoid their gimmicks for the last 1/2% improvement, and other fads. A lot of people on here have aimed for 'close to passivhaus' standard, in their own terms. In my opinion. Low and slow ashp, with the units positioned for aesthetics. No windmills. Consider future solar panels, by putting a cable duct in. But mostly, quality design detailing and construction, which trump everything else and are hard to achieve, so read other people's issues on BH for what to look for.

Don't forget that any contract you sign accepting a certain level of noise for a meagre sum will likely apply to any future buyer of your house and limit its saleability.

It is usually a monoculture and unattractive to wildlife. thus it provides no natural benefit. This applies to UK timber as much as to exotic stuff, as the forests are dense, dark expanses of dead needles. Newer planting is apparently more thoughtful with varieties of trees and some gaps.

It’s no secret that for MVHR I favour Brink equipment from CVC Systems. Whacking in some more of their stuff atm, and they’ve delivered great results on every install. Tres bien. 👌

Let’s keep this on topic please folks.

The end cap should seal on the washer, not the threads, over tightening is likely to cause it to leak as the washer will be pushed out of place. Pull washer out and inspect - probably split or deformed. Replace the washer and only finger tight, problem solved

I don't bum pluck numbers, CoP numbers for different flow temps and outside temps. With this I will bow out and let you dream on.

Not easily, but it may be that our (UK) high windspeed are from the south west, which is a more humid wind because it is warmer (close to mean sea surface temperature). That will increase the dew point temperature, so may cause frosting to happen more often. There is also the point that when windspeed increases, there are more thermal losses from a building, though these are generally offset but the high outside air temperatures and greater cloud cover which increases night time temperatures. It may be possible to position an ASHP so that the air outlet faces directly into the wind, this could overpower the airflow caused by the blower. But even this is highly unlikely as windspeed close to the ground is very low (why it is measured at 10m). If high wind speeds were a real problem, none of the ASHPs in coastal areas would be working, so I suspect that it may be one of those ridiculous statements that pops up every now and again.

Following on from the last entry we had our final inspection and were on the cusp of getting our completion certificate. A few final documents were uploaded and a certificate was received from building control. We had built a house. A few final jobs were completed following the last blog entry. I order 20 tonnes of gravel from a quarry on Skye and then barrowed it down the access and spread it around the house. I also had enough to put some at the top of the access as well and fill a couple of bulk bags. The last job for the joiner was fitting the downpipes. We used the cast iron effect ones as these provide a bit more of a decorative look compared to the standard glossy pipes. We seeded the ground at the start of lockdown and now after a summer of growing the grass is coming on nicely. The grass seed cost very little money. It cost us around £15 to do all around the house. We are pleased with how the house fits into its surroundings. Our pallet wood shelter was finished and I’m currently building up the wood stocks. I am also storing fresh cut wood for the future years. These old CUPA slates crates are useful for this. As we are now heading into colder times of the year, we have had an opportunity to have a few burns from the stove. I’m really pleased with how well it is performing. The stove is bang in the middle of house surrounded by thick concrete block with a lime render. It heats the entire house and the increase in room temperature can be felt twelve hours or so after the last log goes on. I wouldn’t however recommend fitting a stove in a self-build unless you put some serious planning into how you will actually use it. Even a small stove could easily over power the heating need for a living room. Solar gains produce our base heating, keeping the temperatures to around 20c and the daily electricity usage at 10kw. We don’t have any underflooring heating or radiators. If we reach a long cold spot and need a quick boost, I plan to wheel out an oil electric heater or use the towel heaters. . What’s next. I need to crunch the final numbers. I also need to put a final layer on the access road but might put this off until the winter. Thanks for reading.

ooooops.

If the part you’re removing is not load bearing, then crack on. If in doubt, ask (a structural engineer).

On the subject of Close Couple Tees and their location on the system, I thought this video provides some very sensible guidance.

In a modern French installation, 16A for power and 10A for lighting - you should be able to verify that on your consumer unit. A 500W heater uses 2.2A, so no problem.

For Clayboard by Dufaylite, the honeycomb material in the former looks like a clay-cardboard material. Introducing water weakens / erodes the honeycomb leaving a void between the underlying earth and the bottom of the reinforced concrete slab (or as is being discussed, a void between the insulation mechanically fixed to the underside of the concrete slab). But I agree with you that the clay-cardboard would likely crush by any ground heave forces so why go to the bother of weakening it with water? But that is the manufacturer's installation instruction, including installing the pvc pipes (which are then later cut, capped or filled) after the one and only water pour once the concrete slab is cured. Perhaps the clay-cardboard doesn't crush in the same way that other products like Cellcore, which is a polystyrene based former.

Misery really loves company. I had to have an ecology survey including bats, newts, etc. together with an aboricultural (tree) survey for my house renovation together with an archaeological report penned by an archaeologist who was on-site whilst all of the foundations were dug - the same archaeologist also did a full report on the structure/design of the house as it was to be added to the heritage asset list - it was built in the 1750s and the conservation area it's in was mentioned in the Domesday book - the land dates back to the Romans as well so I didn't mind the archaeological report to be fair but the total cost of all of the surveys was quite something. OK, so around a year later, I then wanted to demolish a dilapidated garage and replace it with a much larger outbuilding. Despite the fact I had all of the surveys from just over 12 months before, the council demanded that I redo the ecological and the arboricultural ones (no archaelogical survey required, luckily), despite the fact that the earlier reports had found no bats, newts, etc. and the old garage/new outbuilding, were nowhere near any trees. I asked if the previous reports could be "updated" but was told that wasn't an option. The ecologist visited and decided that while he found no evidence of bats, that the old garage, before it was to be demolished, needed to have a bat survey done as there were places where they could easily access the garage, though that would only happen in roosting season. I was told to have another survey to check if bats were using the garage to roost but I'd have to wait as it wasn't the right time of year, delaying me by several months. However, I then repaired the roof/eaves of the garage to be demolished so that if bats did turn up to roost, they wouldn't be able to, obviating the need to conduct a roosting survey (so I thought) - however, I was told that wasn't an option either! Fast forward to roosting season, two people turned up, sat in their car watching for bats to enter/exit the (now fixed) garage roof and eaves, walked around the property a couple of times and left after a couple of hours. Despite it only requiring a tick box to say "Bats present - NO", the report was delayed and took over a month to complete. Money for old rope indeed.

there is a good facebook page for these garden rooms called, oakwood garden rooms, he also has loads of youtube stuff. its where i learned about epdm roofs.

When I was modelling my last house, I ran my house design through the PHPP with a range of air infiltration values to see what the effect would be. Pressurisation Test Result (ACH) Specific Space Heating Demand (kWh/m2a) 0.2 12.1 0.4 12.3 0.6 12.5 0.8 12.7 1.0 12.9 2.0 14.0

Typically (see what I did there) the tip height is the highest point that the finished turbine can reach, so tower height plus radius of rotors.

They are meticulous but the fabric can be good while windows, rooflights and doors can still let things down. Would be interesting to check the difference between 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 on the heat loss spreadsheet - is there a big difference? Simon

Hello buildhub-ers Just about to set of on what (we hope) will be a great build adventure. Hoping to build a new home in Newcastle/Northumberland area and am so glad we found you all and this site!! Will be looking for tops tips from the basics up. Looking forward to it. Hugh

Ooh, now I know I've got a target for mine 🙂

For me you open up one of those pandora's boxes of what is really sustainable forestry. FSC and PEFC don't resolve issues with sustainability and ecology. Many of the largest so called environmentally friendly foresty systems are now openly being questioned about their impact on ecosystems - Sweden approaches are one particular example due to the monoculture and crop based approach. I think,like you've already done, do your research and then make a balanced and sensible decision you're comfortable with. Whatever you do will have some sort of environmental impact and it's an impossible task to try to disengage ourselves as individual buyers from that. Given all the other choices of timber you could be making, it seems you'remaking a pretty sensible one?

Are you financially involved? will you get money as part of the development. If you a financially benefited from the scheme you will have a reduced noise criteria applied to you (i.e. the turbines can be louder at your premises compared to someone not financially benefitted). I can't recall of the top of my head if its 3 or 5 dB. Edit i was wrong, it varies but is 45 dB during the day and night.

Yes

If it's a rubber O-ring seal, then you only hand tight. Over tightening will distort the seal and result it in leaking. You might have damaged it so might just want to replace the whole unit itself. Duct tape in the meantime.

OK. Well, I have just ordered a 500W heater with good reviews for 14 eur + 4 eur express shipping. That will at least allow me to tell what 500W can do in this space. https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0CFXXYRR9?psc=1&smid=A3FJ1MS18WO9QM&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp

That's not exactly correct. Your foundations can be within your own land but if they will be deeper than those of a neighbouring building within 3m then you must serve a section 6 notice. If within 6m and deeper than a line drawn at 45 degrees from the neighbour's foundations then again you need to serve notice. However in the OP's case I'd be surprised if their garage foundation would be deeper than the neighbour's house foundations although a modern 1.0m deep foundation could be deeper than a Victorian brick spread. It's all too easy for an adjoining owner to create an issue as they do not have to pay the costs of the party wall award, the building owner must. However, this should have been sorted out much earlier. OP did you engage with the neighbour about your works? It's being done on the boundary after all, what about damage to their property, how does the builder gain access to build the wall along the boundary? If these things hadn't been raised before then it's not surprising that they've gone down the formal route. I'd get round there and see if it can be sorted out amicably. If not then consider appointing their surveyor as yours as well (they have to act impartially) to keep costs to a minimum.

Pop up the plans and the specifications and we will all know how far off we all are.

Sounds like a span better suited to engineered posi/i-joists. Plenty of span tables online. Have you tried contacting local joist suppliers? Given a set of plans they'll probably spec out the depth & spacing you need for free when quoting. Deeper but wider spaced may be cheaper if you're not height constrained.

You could but you would soon either have it overwritten or asked to provide your evidence / citations/ references. I dimly recall it was compared with encyclopedia brittanica and its veracity score was similar.

Boundary means boundary of your ownership, the curtilage of your plot, the bit that you control. Not sure why the builder would think boundary meant the side wall of a building situated on someone elses property.

Unless you want to cool also, then efficiency drops. So working the argument through Biggest difference between the OP and the reference property, is the reference property only did DHW for around 1 hour per day. OP will be heating, cooling and DHW, so a different use case. So let's assume the sun exposed, heavily build stone area that's designed to trap the sun's heat, ASHP installed close to a south facing wall to get max perceived gains. Heating by ASHP running with an internal thermostat. Typical nice winters day, cold overnight, zero degs, bright morning, sun out and air temp increases to 7 degs, then by 5pm temp starts to drop quite fast. Overnight the stone area reduces to match ambient air temp of zero, ASHP gets no negative or positive effects from this. Morning air temperature start to rise, stone area remains at close to zero for a prolonged period as sun not high enough in the sky to have any heating effect. ASHP in an area below air temp, negative impact on CoP. Late morning to late afternoon, sun out and heating stone, sun also on house windows warming house, heating clicks off. DHW clicks on and heat pump starts at 2pm. Localised area could warm air flow to ASHP by say 5 degs (if you are lucky), giving a 0.3 CoP benefit. Heating benefit zero as heat pump is off. Early to late evening, temperature outside drop back, some residual heat in stone, but the benefits are marginal, CoP gains for a short period but would guess almost nil. Cooling case case almost the opposite, sun out you need cooling, ASHP is hot sun trap, EER (CoP when cooling), takes a hit. When flowing 12 degs changing air temp from 20 to 25 has a 1.2 negative impact on EER. Another negative is weather compensation becomes screwed up, if the temperature probe becomes exposed to artificial low or high temperatures.

I used Polysteel, and although I didn't have a blow out, I did have one corner move a little which was rescued with big ratchet straps and more sheeting. If I ever did another I would over brace the corners and lintels

No. This is K dash But no You don’t need white cement or silver sand in the scratch coat

I think the latest changes to the fee system has taken away the "free go" arrangement.

The only bit I would take away from that is doing DHW heating when the day is at its warmest.

@Joe90 do you want to tell me how good your builder was again? 😄 I think that would finish me off...

Ok, I see what you mean that it's not damp, but that is not necessarily what the breathability thing is about. If you were using a modern non-breathable insulant which effectively closes off the breathability on the inside, you would want a breathability path to the outside so that if any water vapour *does* get through (via a faulty vapour control layer, for example), it can find a way out to the outside. Get it modelled in WUFI. I am not advertising them but a wood-fibre supply firm with a name rather like how you'd describe your position if you were sitting against a mud bank will do a WUFI assessment for you for free. Basically if you are assured that the insulant (wood-fibre or cork) is OK to let the wall breathe to inside then it may not be so critical if the exterior is less breathable. Better to have a moisture model tell you that than me, though.

Unless you specifically asked for something breathable, its almost certain its conventional render/pebbledash. But if you dont have any damp, thats good news. Its not a given you would have. The leaving a small cavity approach can work, but it will need ventilating, and needs to be done such that the cold fresh air doesnt leak into the house elsewhere.

I've used both Hotun and Macalpine self sealing tundishes, but not the Altechnic one. Your plumber should be on top of this as it's nothing unusual for an unvented installation.

Diathonite is mixed with NHL5, so if breathability is what you're looking for, that ain't it. Given you already have pebbledash externally, is external wall insulation an option? It's far "safer".

I've seen this problem overcome with stud work and brick slips glued to plywood.

Wood-fibre or cork on a lime 'parge-coat' (air-tightness layer) or a cork-enhanced plaster such as Diathonite. I do not think you can be certain that the external render and dash is breathable so I would suggest that you try to get the house modelled in a dynamic condensation risk assessment model such as WUFI which should give you a better idea of the 'safety' of your proposals. I am a great fan of wood-fibre and have used it a great deal. I have not used Diathonite but see some of Green Building Store's Retrofit case studies for details.

I would think he’s referring to a cavity tray Which would mean taking a row of bricks out just above the roof and putting a tray into the cavity Many years ago I built a 16 degree extension on the back of my mums house We also had limited room for the lead I slipped the lead under the new trays

There are a few about but the problem is they aren’t ’easy plots’ we and our builder underestimated our ground works which included a 3 meter retaining wall and 5m above sea level and on a significant slope, but we shared the risk based on the SI report, so apart from a 4-6 week delay due to weather we are progressing well.

In many ways your downstairs layout is similar to ours. I suggest you make the living room just a little bigger (shrink the plant room which rarely needs to be large) and then have double doors into the living room directly opposite the double doors into the kitchen / diner. Ours are double glass doors and we like being able to have all the doors open making the whole downstairs feel like one big open space, or closing them when we want it to be snug. Edited to add a picture looking from the kitchen / diner, across the hall and through into the living room

If it were me I would push the company to renew the whole loop if only for peace of mind.

Well after research, the power module and heater are common across Bosch, Siemens and Neff. As the main oven was sitting on top of it I needed as quick a fix as possible once it was out and eventually found a new slim one that was left over from a job on ebay, so bought it for not much more than the cost of the power module and canabalised it for the faulty part. Which was the power module. Stuck it up in the loft for now but if I can find a new power module for a sensible price I'd repair it and resell. As usual, the price for the official spare is ludicrous at circa £180 for a small board that I reckon has an ex factory cost of less than £20.

I'd stick to residential (dwelling houses) and enlargement, improvement or alterations as an LDC should be half the normal flat rate fee (so £103 now I think) . If you go off into "other" it'll be complicated as the fees are worked out differently. Ultimately the Council will check the fee and query/refund if it's wrong.

Ignoring the acoustic advantage, personally it's getting to the stage where I think double glazed anything should be banned. The climate crisis we're all in, the carbon taxes and phasing out of fossil fuels over the next few years are all going to make a few euro saving during construction very expensive long term. That rooflight will be there for 20-30 years at least. Unless it's a protected building where space is limited or you're trying to reuse original sash frames, etc. I think a carbon tax on single or poor double glazing that don't reach a certain performance should be applied. I can understand developers looking to cut costs but homeowners should be looking more long term. End rant