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The whole "planning advice request" is a con trick to collect unnecessary fees from unwarranted members of the public 🤑

He has done a neat enough job of that board. So you have a "borrowed neutral" on the landing light circuit. The usual thing is the landing light get's it's L from the downstairs light circuit and it's N from the upstairs light circuit. But a socket circuit tripping suggests the original electrician was a bit more "inventive" with where he borrowed the neutral from. In any event some investigation and wiring alterations for the landing light circuit is needed. This will have been a pre existing fault, the only issue here is the electrician should have found this as part of his testing before the CU change. I think I would tell him to issue the certificate for what he has done, and find a different electrician to fix the landing light fault, one that is not going to charge £90 per hour.

The pain unites us. That's why almost all of us are here. Getting grief from @Pocster or @Onoff or if you are really lucky @SteamyTea only serves to lighten the load. Don't believe me? Try drafting a post with the terms 'walkon glazing ' or 'killerwot hours' or 'bathroom tiles' Then sit back, watch and join the fun. Easy. Welcome Ian

We have something else to add to the mix now. Our battery is in a small room in the warm roof alongside the MVHR and it warms that room up as it charges/discharges, quite significantly, what used to be the coldest room in the house is now the warmest and it seems to be working as a pre heater for the MVHR, currently it’s 20.3 degrees outside but the MVHR supply temperature is 21.8 degrees, the summer bypass is open. We haven’t had a long enough hot spell this year for the extra unwanted heat to cause any issue's and the previously described procedures keep everything hunky dory. I wonder what the effect will be in winter, a 1.5 degree increase in supply temperature just because the battery is doing its thing may be very welcome.

IBC Tank on a trailer

So the hall light is switched from 2 different locations in the hall and the landing light is switched from ONE location in the hall and one switch upstairs? The issue I am sure will be in that switch with all the wires and tape. I am certain you will find it is taking L from the downstairs light and sending the 2 "strappers" (the 2 alternate switched L's) upstairs on a t&e. and upstairs, the landing light is getting it's N somewhere from the upstairs light circuit. That is the normal borrowed neutral scenario. And the solution is usually to take an extra N from the downstairs lighting circuit up to the landing light. BUT the fly in the ointment is you say it is a SOCKET circuit that trips when you put the landing light bulb in. Can you confirm that is really the case? Anyway if you want to test this theory, disconnect the N from the landing light and insulate the removed cable, then connect a temporary cable from the landing light N to the downstairs light N at the consumer unit.

That depends how competent you feel. At least you can point the electrician where to look if you want to stump up his fee to do it. It usually means rewiring the offending light, sometimes needing a new cable pulled through between the upstairs and downstairs light switches. If you want to have a go, post some pictures of upstairs and downstairs light switches with the fronts unscrewed so we can see the wiring, and the landing light fitting with it's cover unscrewed so we can see the wiring in that.

The internal expanding foam is to help airtightness and insulation between the frame and the structure. The outside seal (Compriband tape or mastic seal) is mostly the bit that makes it weathertight.

That looks like Ilbruck air tight sealing foam, they just have not pressed it in flush with the foam. Our installers waited for it to skin then just pushed anything that stuck out back into the gap nothing stuck out. You can probably still do it as the Ilbruck foam stays flexible anyway. You can then run the final plaster board reveals round and plaster from there, assuming that is your build up.

Oh sneaky!! The company who said o don’t need it have been excellent, are very experienced and been around for ages with loads of good reviews so I don’t think they can be wrong!

You don’t need planning permission Im installing one for a neighbor and have just got BC involved

https://www.explainthatstuff.com/howrcdswork.html#howork

Not necessary and ozone is not good for you.

You have plenty of room on the board, so something like this can be fitted easily: FuseBox 45A Single Phase Energy Meter - KWH1M45 – BigOnElectricals.co.uk Meter shouldn't cost more than £20 and a sparky can fit in minutes so won't cost an arm and a leg overall, (but your company should cover the install cost too). I have something similar - I record the Kwh readings at the end of each month to work out my refund.

We only had a porta-loo for welfare, no mains water needed for ground works. If they need water for washing down, ask them to bring a bowser, they will be used to working on unserviced sites. Alternatively have you got friendly neighbour with a hose pipe?

>>> I'm an electronics engineer, though not an electrician. I'm safe to disconnect things and reconnect them. So what's a good procedure to track down where the fault is? OK you'll easiy understand this then. An easy way is literally to measure the residual current 😃 in each circuit. Often things like LEDs bulbs & controllers actually have a few mA of leakage current. If those, along with anything else on that circuit, add up to the trip level (or thereabouts) then ... the RCD trips. There's a bit of subtlety about type of leakage and type of RCD (e.g. DC leakage vs. AC leakage) but it's normally fairly simple. So, if you have something (preferably non-contact) that will measure, say, 0-20mA then it's all quite straightforward. Actual electricians might purchase a special device for that measurement if this is something they come across often. Suspect anything which is a more modern non-linear load - LED drivers, induction hobs, anything with a VFD in it, heap pumps, inverters etc. bigclive on youtube, I think, has some teardowns of RCDs - they're actually quite clever bits of electromechanical engineering.

I've got a recirculating downdraft going in soon and have often mulled the idea of plumbing an ozone generator in to the exhaust outlet to help with smells - reading the above it seems this is probably unnecessary. Just wonder if it might be worth a go though, or if it's even possible. Any thoughts?

We learnt how to keep our house cool this summer and thought we'd share what we've learnt in case its of use to others. We're in a timber frame building built to the Passivhaus standard but not certified. We don't have an ASHP, so no slab cooling for us but without a doubt our (not so secret) weapon are the external blinds. All our east and south facing windows (with the exception of 3 east facing windows - more on them later) have external blinds and as predicted by the PHPP these are the game changer. Our secret weapon is the little personal weather station (PWS) in the garden and with it's help this is how we've kept the house cool: In the evening when the outside temperature according to the PWS is below our target internal temperature of 21 degrees all doors and windows are opened and the MVHR ramped up. Overnight all the inward tilting windows are left open with the MVHR staying at a higher level and it stays like this until the PWS shows that the external temperature is rising towards our target 21 degrees - that happened at 07:50 this morning. As soon as the exterior temperature reaches our target then all doors and windows are closed and the MVHR is reduced to its lowest setting, we monitor the air quality with a couple of CO2 monitors as recommended by @Adrian Walker and increase the MVHR speed as required to keep good air quality. All sun facing windows have the blinds down, we have the mesh style blinds that don't block off the light but stop lots of UV. With this technique our hallway temperature has peaked in the early evening at around 21-22 degrees and the kitchen/dining room which has lots of east and south facing glazing has stayed below 24 degrees. As soon as we open up we get rid of most of that unwanted heat. The hallway starts in the mornings around 19-20 degrees. The reason I think the PWS is a secret weapon is as far as I'm concerned you need to accurately know the exterior temperature and when to let it in and when to keep it out. On a windy day, 26 degrees can feel cooler than 21 degrees but if you let that stuff in the house you're gonna regret it. If you don't have a PWS you'll probably be able to find one situated close to you on the Weather Underground website. Oh, and the 3 problem east facing windows without external blinds: 1 is the utility room. That has an internal blind and as it's the utility room the internal door to the rest of the house is kept closed. That room gets warm 25-27 degrees but the heat stays in that room which of course has an MVHR extract so the heat is slowly being pumped out of the house until it's door/window opening time then we throw the heat away with vigour. 2 is the ensuite which we deal with in exactly the same way as the utility. 3 is the main bedroom which has a great big window and curtains. The curtains remain closed while the sun is coming in that window but the doors are open so as that room warms up its heat is not being contained in that room. As the sun moves round and that window is no longer in direct sun the curtains are opened and a big old chunk of hot air falls out to be slowly extracted until window opening time. To me, its like the house taking a long overnight gulp of cold air and then holds its breath throughout the day until the temperature is 'just right' again.

More-or-less If your polythene DMP will be below the concrete slab, then after pouring the concrete, trim the polythene off a few mm above the slab. Then paint the Aquaseal over the slab-polythene-wall junction (so it will also overlap the top of the slab by at least 100mm) and allow it to trickle down into the junction to fill any small gaps, then paint it up the wall and over the existing DPM. Before the final coat fully dries (it will be tacky), throw some dry sharp sand onto it to provide a key for the plaster / next layer. Check the manufacturer's instructions for the primer and number of coats & their thickness (m²/litre). And do discuss it with Building Control to make sure that they're happy in your particular case.

Is the email a spoof? And, if not, ask them what 'Extra Services' actually means ? And, impolitely , ask whether this bill come out of the Inspection Company's arse ? Because if it did, tell them to write to you giving a detailed quotation and ask them to outline the policy that allows them to charge beyond what they initially quoted.

+1 if this was not specified at the outset.

3 month visits are probably not statutory per se but part of the performance standard required of private BCO's by their regulator. Things were tightened up a few years ago and now the private sector don't like lengthy projects as they reflect on their statistics. Bit late now but if you expect a project to last a long time then choose LA BC because they don't really care. As to fees you are in the realm of private contracts for a supply of services. You'll need to query this charge as you would with any surprise charge from any other supplier.

I would ask them to show you where the legislation says this. (I have never heard of this!).

Guessing maybe you have a new board something like this? On the far right is the double pole isolator switch. Next is an RCD that provides earth leakage protection fed from the 3 MCBs next to it. Further to the left another RCD protecting 2 MCBs / circuits. See the three neutral bars at the top? There should be no links between them. Furthermore, the incoming circuit cabling: If you have two circuits fed from the two MCBs on the left, the circuits neutral wires should go to the far left neutral bar. Anything fed from the 3 MCBs, then those circuits neutral wires should go to the central neutral bar.

You need a new electrician. Shame you did not question this here before you gave him the job. He s only responsible for making the new, or altered circuits compliant with current regulations. The simplest way would have been to fit rcbo's in the existing board if they can still be sourced (i.e not an obsolete make) So what has he done? Post a picture of the CU as it is now. I am guessing a split load board with 2 rcd's? What exactly is tripping? One or both of the rcd's or one of the mcb's? Once I know what you have I can advise more. As for £90 to fault find his own work, the second word in my reply to that would be "off" To test for earth leakage faults you need an insulation resistance tester. As you are not doing this professionally so are not interested in a calibration certificate you can usually find one for not much money on ebay. But it is also very likely your fault is not earth leakage but a borrowed neutral, very common on old lighting circuits.

No need just get them skimmed and door linings after

There’s no point doing this on timber walls But if it’s block Just rip down a 15 mil sheet of ply to the door sizes

Doing some sort of self building a porch extension / garage conversion . Painful process for a complete novice like me but I'm grateful to this website for the help and advise easily available on the forums !

That’s easy mate , piece of piss . You don’t need to start with any knowledge or skill . By the end you’ll have still no knowledge or skill yet you did it . I know what I’m talking about 👍

Do you just need to cross a road, or is the main under a road? Could you use a moling company to go under the road?

Good point, the MVHR measures external temperature as well, so as you say the weather station is not required… …unless you’re a bit obsessed like me!

Welcome to THE forum for people like us. Ask away.

OK a lot of those glass balconys don’t have the balustrade and some linear ones obviously not the returns and fixings to the walls. The setup you have makes life a lot simpler. Still all down to the BC and SE. I think it’s posssible they might just wave it through.

It may not be possibly But I’d look at getting it up from the inside and reviving the sliders A tele-handler is a real no no It will almost certainly get damaged If if you manage to avoid the Scaf Steel forks and glass don’t go together

As many visits as you want for 700 LA Great value

Hi All, I was recommend to join this forum some time ago by @Pocster, I have always wanted to build my own house, but a porch, rear extension and above the garage will have to do for now. I am sure I will have loads of questions, and request some feedback etc.... Cheers Don

lol, almost certain 🙂, cannot mistake that photo

Wherever possible I design without brick, then don't need to employ bricklayers. Of all the trades I find them to be least knowledgeable or interested, yet see themselves as skilled snd special. Years of being in demand I suppose. I speak of SE England. I know there are good bricklayers, rightly very busy.