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Ask BC what thickness of insulated plasterboard will he or she be happy with Then overboard with insulated PB A better option than taking the ceiling down

Not much has changed with heat pump technology in the last 100+years, just gentle refinements. The two main changes have been to use refrigerant gasses that have lower global warming potential, and, and this is really the main change, better speed control of the pumps and fans. It is this control that allows a heat pump to be run quietly. They do this by matching the airflow to the power delivery. The days of a heat pump being either off (silent) or full power (noisy) are well over for domestic units. And as @joe90 says, time it to only heat water during the day, it will be cheaper to run, especially if you have PV. (Noise cancelling be overrated, the council are resurfacing a road 30m from my open bedroom window between 7PM and 2AM, I sleep though it)

Sod them, build what you want, spend a couple of quid more on a good consultant, and less on an architect.

I would go for a new shared system but make sure it is a treatment plant, NOT a septic tank, and choose one that works with an air blower to agitate the contents, not the sort with rotating mechanical parts.

"4) Outbuildings are not permitted development forward of the principal elevation of the original house. The term original house means the house as it was first built or as it stood on 1 July 1948 (if it was built before that date)" Castle-style porch?

No real changes since the inverter was used on ASHPs. Only real change that is occurring very slowly is a move from a home full of thermostats and on or off heating schedules. And a required buffer that can clobber CoP when not designed correctly - they rarely are. Best thing you can do for noise. Size the heat pump really well, so it just ticks away. Starting can be the most noisy because the frequency is always moving and there can be some clicks as valve find position. Normal running is just about silent from a metre away. Switching off and or setbacks will cause the heat pump to run at full load for an extended period as it tries to heat the property at the end of the off or setback period. So make more noise than just ticking away.

If your worried about noise to your bedroom, or neighbours, you could time it to not come on at night!

I am another for your own STP. I would not touch a biodisc with a barge pole, go it alone.

It can be very variable. My building warrant was delayed several weeks while we tried to find an acceptable drainage solution, only solved when SEPA finally said why not discharge to the burn. But then when we installed the treatment plant, BC were notified and did not want to inspect any part of that. All they were interested in was inspecting and pressure testing the drain pipe leading from the house to the TP.

Building this to the letter of the building regulations can be limiting. BUT it is my experience that the BCO doesn't know the rules on final disposal, or (like me) thinks they are silly and can be replaced by a ditch or simple soakaway. (The quantity of liquid daily is low). Make sure. For examples, in one case (England) I found that water in a copse simply disappeared, so I pointed the outfall in there.....accepted and works still, or I would hear about it. In another (Scotland) we were building a big drainage field as regulations. Digger driver said he had installed 20 tanks and only ever with a rubble soakaway. So we never installed the second half of the field.

You WILL need to check building regs before you go ahead. And sorry I am not up to speed with English regs, but in Scotland, a treatment plant must be 5 metres from a building, 5 metres from a boundary and 10 metres from a watercourse and you WILL need a building warrant to fit one. If your front garden is only 5 metres wide I don't see it being allowed there even if it would physically fit. but you talk about your field, so why not run the foul waste pipe under your garden, under your drive and into your field where you should have plenty of room to fit the treatment plant there? A sketch of your site layout would help. If the company is suggesting something that may not meet building regs then choose a different company.

>>> The loft company have told me there is nothing they can do now. i.e. there's nothing they want to do now, thank you very much. Suggest your options are: Bite the bullet and get in a decent plasterer at your expense. Give the company final notice to fix the problems and then take to County Court for the amount quoted in 1. (not a big deal, but you'll need to spend the time and also the expense if you get legal help). Even better, suggest you're preparing to go with 2. and in a very polite way ask them to anti up the funds for 1. Be aware that most opponents tend to throw the dice on this at this point as (a) they'll think there's a good chance you're bluffing and (b) they underestimate the time and expense they'll need to do 2. In that case, you'll then need to do either 1. or 2. as before. Ignore, and relish as wabi-sabi. Only you (or the other half) can choose. I've done each at different times, sometimes it was simply a factor of how much I thought they were taking the ... or not.

I have used Marsh Industries tanks 3 times, and always sucessfully. Their design advice is straight forward. I like the compactness esp shallowness. The only moving part is a tiny air pump like on an aquarium. The outfall may have to be negotiated but a pragmatic bco should be OK.

>>> 2 x 48 switches. FFS 😀

Hi all, how are you? I worked on building sites in the past and have a keen interest in all things construction, despite not being involved in the industry. I am inquisitive and when passing construction sites of all types and I always enjoy looking in, when safe and possible, to see what’s going on. I also love any construction or restoration shows on TV. I will probably have you all bored senseless with what seems like silly questions, but there’s no such thing as a silly question, right? 😂 But apologies in advance 🫣 Enjoy your day.

While you are asking this questions, try and get a proposed section for a door threshold. General wall to floor thermal bridge doesn't look too bad, but I'd be interested to see what the plan is at thresholds. If there is an issue, it would only be along a short length for standard external doors, but if you have any big sliders or Bi-Folds it may be more of an issue.

This made me laugh! I definitely wint move, this is my dream come true property and I have an amazing home and life here (plus in three years I’ve put a lot of work into building hen runs, duck runs, compost bays, water collection tanks, fencing, working on compost toilet etc…!)…but when you’re in the middle of an extended family who’ve lived her for 4 generations, you have to be able to stand up for yourself 😂

Go for your own TP. Effectively you have already told us why you need to. One fewer thing to bite you in the future.

If you use easy fill 60 you can build the areas up in 2-3mm layers, you can also sand it back so you can feather the edges in. make sure you primer the deep dry areas.

Treatment tank on your own land sounds like the optimum. A septic tank could not outfall to ditch anyway. There are lots of sizes, including shallow.

I would go it alone, no one putting bleach or other stuff to kill of the bacteria in the system blaming everyone else. Put muck munches in your system and almost never have to pump it out. Also treatment plants have a compressor that runs 24/7 so you need to meter this if you were going to split costs.

+1 for this, When we bought our plot, all we had was a PDF Topo Survey which by that time was a few years old. A phone call to the folks who did the survey, and discussions about costs for them setting out our build. and the Revit CAD file magically made it's way to the our Architect. As long as they haven't been financially bitten, a small outfit will help you, as that file will just sit on there computer for ever, and 50 pound notes for an email. After that we used them to set out the levels and foundations before digging, and then setting out the position of the building on top of the foundations. [all of which cost about 200 pound notes]

Depends on the LPA. I'm just getting a Preliminary Ecological Assessment done and the LPA won't accept a report that is more than 12 months old; has to be re-done.

I see these ‘reports’ as part of my day job. They are a commercial product designed to collate high level ground risk information, generally speaking to give ‘non-specialists’ an overview (E.g. planners) They are not intended to be, nor should they be, used to directly inform engineering decisions. They require further interpretation normally supported by site specific investigation (either desk study or intrusive) by a geotechnical engineer (or structural engineer with decent knowledge of ground engineering). are those results unusual - no. are they worrying - depends. Im surprised that structural alterations of the existing property seems to have not taken cognisance of existing foundations. BUT you say ‘survey’, which could just be a homebuyer type survey, which definitely wouldn’t look at foundations. Sourcing the design for the conversion/extension sounds important (plans not on planning portal??) Hard to advise on the ground risks without knowing where you are. Compressible deposits covers a broad spectrum! Everything in the ground is compressible given the right conditions. Presence of a stream suggest some alluvial type deposits, maybe on a slope. These do add some risk factors, but not groundbreaking (excuse the pun). p.s. this reply might be too late to be helpful

I would Push the floor insulation to 200mm And increase the screed to 100mm in fibre reinforced concrete. Would also have UFH across the whole ground floor, on a single zone (multiple loops). Downside - Your single edge block, would need to increase in height. Then do the whole floor prior to the walls going up.

what is the manner of the expected light pollution- out over the countryside or reflecting upwards off the hardstanding in front of the glazing? Dark Skies is all about upwards emission AFAIK. might there be some merit to an overhang/ brise soleil in terms of solar gain but also upwards transmission?

Did you ever find out what was actually wrong with the flue? Is there such a thing as a camera inspection and can the problem be rectified? >>> Sell the flat. It’ll likely come up unless their solicitor is asleep at the wheel. You’ll need to provide a recent certificate, which will detail the problem, and the buyer will probably want to deduct the cost of fixing it.

If you are using a ten mil tile You use a ten mil notched trowel The thickness of your tile dictates the thickness of your adhesive So in your case allow 20 mil buildup Others tiling into timber or traditional screed would also allow for a decoupling Matt 5-6 mil

Not really. Piles are for getting through poor ground onto something stronger. Wet clay is usually ok for strength , just messy to work on as @Jilly says. There are lots of solid buildings in The Somme.

Hi All, I'm Vins from Italy... i'm here to try to find solutions to my home automation issue... A neverending story because it's my own house and it's still a work in progress... since more than 10 years... Please forgive me if my english is not perfect... Thanks a lot in advance for your help!

Sorry I can't, one job I've never tried. YouTube would my next call though.

My point is you have to compromise on _something_; there is not likely in the foreseeable future to be a perfect solution of the sort @Beelbeebubis asking for, because the physics/material science doesn't match our (imho unreasonable, but definitely unrealistic) expectations. A better compromise for the planet, than a vast uvc, would be an aerator, 6-8 l/min, and not expecting to have several showers in quick succession. yes indeed... with a bit more capacity squeezed out by doing real time reheat. That's probably why they couldn't patent it, too much prior art. Indeed so

To put some numbers on it a 300l cylinder at 45C with an input CW temp of 10C is storing 12.25kWh of usable energy. If the requirement is to have a flow rate of 20l/min (which some apparently want) then the stored energy is being delivered at a rate of 49kW. Those are both pretty big. 49kW is twice the power available from 100A single phase mains. 12.25kWh is 90 mins heating time for the average 8kW house. If this needs to fit in the size of a combi (volume about 90l) then the energy storage density is 130Wh/l Li ion batteries have a volumetric energy storage density of 0.4 to 1.6 kWh/l (latest research devices) so are capable of storing at the required density. I'm not sure what delivery rate they can sustain but I have the impression it's pretty high. However 12kWh of li ion battery costs a lot more than your dhw cylinder and of course you can't charge them from a water boiler, whether it's a heat pump or fossil fuel. In terms of thermal storage it looks like water has pretty much the highest volumetric heat capacity of any common material https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volumetric_heat_capacity#:~:text=However%2C water has a very,−1⋅m−3. Sofaik it's possible that some esoteric material exists or could exist that has a higher capacity, but esoteric materials tend to have esoteric prices. So in terms of something cheap that can store energy by heating it has greater storage potential than water without a phase change we are probably out of luck. So I think physics/materials science forces us to compromise, or use fossil fuels which have both a very high energy density and delivery rate. If we rule out fossil fuels, which we must, and also rule out phase change then it's compromise on cost or performance or both. Intuitively phase change seems like a potential winner if you want ultimate performance in minimum volume, it's disappointing that sunamp seems to have a poor reputation and also that there are no competitors. Otherwise it's some sort of volume/capacity trade off based on storing energy in water, hence multiple solutions. I admit the above is a bit of a ramble, but hopefully goes some way to explaining why we currently have to compromise and very likely will have to compromise for the foreseeable future.

The best thing about this site is seeing everyone's journey, but most builds do not go to plan. Everyone has their own level of involvement they are comfortable with, it can be frustrating that the "self build" label is such a broad term. I'm in my 50's and my wife and I have been doing as much of our build as we can. We started in 2021. I remember your build, because like you we used ICF, you also asked questions about Fermacell and I was also interested in using that product too. Without the community here, asking all their questions, I would never have made if through my build. It helps to have met a few members too. I visit the site most lunch times and enjoy catching up on people progress. We are still at least a year away from being complete. No one else can give you the right answer on how best to proceed, but perhaps visiting some other members and seeing their builds would help clarify your situation.

Were they not submitted as part of the planning permission? If they were, you can likely download them from your LPA website.

Hi John, thank you for your reply , although U-value is very important obviously, I was asking if anyone had used the company Windows24.com before, they appear to be a German company fabricating (aluminium ) Schuco windows and doors in Germany , I know Schuco very well from my day job but Windows24 prices seem to be very competitive even though I have contacts in the glazing and windows industry . They seem to be answering emails etc ok and have a good website but obviously the proof is in the pudding! I assume there will be tax to pay in bringing them in from the EU.?? ……. Has anyone else used them or bought windows from the EU? thanks in advance. Lee

Oh dear, maybe he is hoping for a higher offer...

Offered that . Deposit paid and 1 months rent - no response ….

Why not just pay him to leave? No hassle and gives him a deposit for a new place? I've done it, it was worth it. Everybody wins except the lawyers.

Does that mean you can now rip their septic tank out ?? go on do it. DO IT, DO IT.

Commiserations, at least you can broadcast the new eqpt in your sales particulars

Thanks! I don't like the upheaval and expense, and feel like I'm cutting off my nose to spite my face....but in the future my nose might be grateful to be free from my face 😆

I would, but they are no longer talking to us.