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I kind of agree but the timing is important. I would be inclined to nuance it a bit. There is probably a bit of history to this and that needs to be understood first. Without having all the facts my inclination is, as I said earlier, to take heat out the situation. Unfortunately I do get involved in dispute work from time to time, I don't do ambulance chasing but will put my heart and sole into helping folk where I can when they get stuck through not fault of their own. In terms of stategy @farang I suspect this may have been cooking up for a while? Let them send their guy / doll etc to have a look and see what they say.. strangely you may hear nothing more or suddenly find they want to make friends with you. Their representative may find something badly wrong with that they have done on their side of the boundary and advise them not to throw stones at you! I have seen this before were neighbours think they have a rub.. they get themselves worked up into a fankle (a Scottish term for a state of frenzy where we don't think clearly) and don't realise how the real world works until it is too late.. then it is hard for them to back down. Often to sort this out you need someone experienced in resolving things rather than a pile of letters after their name. Ideally you want someone who is street wise, has life experience, who has the ability to be hard nosed that will fight your corner with a soft personable outer shell. Often in cases like this I like to see just what the opposition has in the tank first, look for they don't say rather than what they do say. No point in getting your own SE at the moment until you see what they are complaining about and the technical argument they are putting forward to support their case.

I would definitely get attic trusses, so much better and not that much more expensive.

At the beginning of Week 5 the scaffold arrives. The ICF walls get past window header height so they can be boxed in first with the ICF to close the side jamb, header and cill then the wood brace for the concrete pour. The internal structural walls are started and tied into the ICF. These are to support the steel roof beams. Its good to stand in the open plan kitchen and lounge area now and get the scale of the room, the three windows look down our field to the East and the slider door opening looks out South towards Dartmoor, visible on clear days. The kitchen may look a bit dark but it will have 4 velux windows that as well as providing light help to zone off the open plan area. The photo from the scaffold shows our workshop in the big barn and beyond that just visible is our current home. The weather has not been too bad during working hours, a mixture of sun shine, rain and strong wind with gusts of over 43mph so I will be happy to see the pour next week. This week the car is our own Jensen Interceptor my husband took it out in the sunshine when he went to our local ‘Men’s Shed’ in Holsworthy. Total man days of labour week 5 is 23 man days.

Hi, just joined because I was reading all the posts about MHRV. I have the basic design of my proposed 110 sq M house: 3br, 2 disability bathrooms, superinsulated, Off centre roof pitch with the long side facing N (S hemisphere!). wrt the MVHR, it seems the most economical solution for me is a Mitsubishi Lossnay ceiling mounted. After doing some research, I have found a Chinese Co that supplies 90mm round Semiflex duct & accessories. Yet to create a manifest, but providing the freight is reasonable, should be economical. The Co is: https://www.erviguicoo.com/fresh-air-abs-distributor-with-high-quality-abs-materials-product/. So far I have a catalogue, but will need drawings, etc. The Lossnay will be locally sourced for warranty. btw, the Steib-Eltron tool is great for designing the MVHR system. Some details of the build: light construction because there are no snow loads! The Wall frames will be Pine, with the top & bottom plates screwed as well as nailed (due to Cyclone uplift). Studs 90x45, on 600 centres. The roof trusses will be at 900 centres. The roofing is Trimdek corrugated iron, but I will use 0.48mm as I will use S5 mounts for the solar PV that are rail-less (just screw to the ridges, hence the thicker steel). Hempcrete: 270mm thick walls with 10mm lime based render each side. One thing I will do differently is to raise the truss bearing point so I can have 300mm of insulation across the ceiling with no step down, The Hempcrete walls will go to the top of the outside edge of the trusses, & will return into the ceiling, sitting on a ledger. Then I can seal & attach my OSB airtight layer directly under the trusses. The OSB also gives wind bracing. (all joints sealed & taped). 300mm Fibreglass insulation above OSB. This will be built on a slab foundation, using Cupolex domes. The edge rebate will have stainless ant barrier/dampcourse. Air sealing: all transitions taped after walls are rendered. Slab is to be polished, so the concrete will be edge primed before taping . Blower Door test: I will DIY a blower door using a s/h Automotive 12v radiator fan. I already own a digital manometer, & after reading the MVHR threads will buy a Testo 425 Digital Hot Wire Anemometer (the computer connected one), & control the fan with a DC speed control to vary output. The Air volume can be easily measured with a cone over the fan, & something like a piece of 150mm plastic stormwater pipe, with a hole to insert the Anemometer probe. This anemometer is apparently sensitive enough to check for leaks around windows, etc. The Automotive fan will easily blow/suck 50 pascals. My build is also in a bushfire zone. No gaps bigger than 2mm in the outer sheath & roofing: I do not use Soffits or barges: I use a product called G&G gutter brackets that screw to the metal roofing overlap. I use 150mm half round gutter that I can easily clean (with a moon section on a pole). The gutter ends are sloped so I can sweep the leaves out. In Australia, the roof space must be ventilated, which is accomplished with about 75mm wide folded perforated aluminium sheet that runs on top of the hempcrete, to the underside of the roofing. I have designed a system that stops the embers. The vent at the ridge is a product called Vent-a-Ridge. This allows air to pass under the (raised) ridgecap, exiting through the corrugations. There will be the usual smart membrane & counter battens for air flow. Hopefully I can build this for less than a ´normal´ builders build (aiming for $au2500 per M sq) regards, Doug

Hi all. We recently purchased our first house which needs a 'bit' of TLC to put it lightly. Currently living in a rented flat so need to get into the new house as soon as possible but have an awful lot to do and not a lot of money to do it so it's down to me to put my DIY skills to the test and hopefully pick some up along the way. I have a background in construction being a draughtsman for the last 17 years, starting on AutoCAD and have been using Revit for the last 6 years in a Structural Engineering consultancy but I'm quickly finding it's one thing drawing something and another thing building it. I'm yet to find a straight line in our new house. So while I have an understanding of the theoretical side of construction techniques I am less versed in the actual application so will hopefully call on the knowledge and experience from you lovely people to get me through this. I have a few big jobs on my list before I can begin to turn the current 'building site' into something that resembles a home. I have just finished replacing all of the first floor ceiling joists for a future loft conversion (all calcs done by an old colleague and signed off by building control) and am now halfway through a full rewire. I will be moving the bathroom so will need to learn some plumbing skills and will be taking out a short length of load bearing wall at ground floor (again already have the calcs, steel procured and building control notified). Anyway that's a little bit about my situation. Look forward to chatting to some of you soon. Thanks

I'd say the principal elevation is the one facing highway B. I'd use the yellow dimension to assess the width of the house for the side extension. No side extension would be PD facing Highway A - it's a highway. Yes prior approval needed for an 8m rear extension and yes the 4m height is to the ridge of a pitched roof. The type of roof is not a problem - it's PD. Be aware the section of roof that runs back from the plan of the extension onto the existing building would be dealt with under Class B because it's an extension to the existing roof. A dormer would be allowable on the rear subject to the total volume of roof extension (some used by the extensions as mentioned) and the other requirements regarding height and position etc. Finally it's not 50% of the house area, it's 50% of the curtilage minus the house area. Your extensions and other buildings (garage etc) should not use up more than 50% of that figure.

My only thought is if there is no wall above, and the existing supporting wall is at 1/3 span, why not install the new beam at 1/2 span, i.e. not exactly where the existing wall is. That would be better from an engineering point of view and you could install the new beam first, then take down the wall without jacking anything up. 1930's houses were not well known for having properly sized beams, one I previously owned had sagged upper floors and a brick upstairs wall not directly above the downstairs wall.

Is it definitely a scratch and not a mark? If the latter I'd certainly recommend giving a Magic Erase a go - it never seizes to amaze me how effective they are. Here's a link to a generic one which whilst not the exact ones I've used I am sure they are all pretty much the same.

@Bournbrook Ooo I have found somewhere else in Uk who do something like what your looking for, https://customfronts.co.uk

Perhaps ask for a quote for both for interest.

It's the sealing that I'd be concerned about. Old fashioned sliding doors rely on brush seals which are completely useless. You can get lift and slide or a straightforward French door which are all compression seals and perform much better.

As above. An extension is expensive. Modifying the attic is expensive. So now is the time to design accordingly for a relatively small cost. Not a couple of hundred unfortunately: that will buy your ladder. A few thousand. BUT I'd also allow for doing it properly. Make sure that the layout allows that a compliant stair can be added later. Building regs are for our safety plus it will arise at any future sale.

Does the water circulate thro the HW coil in reverse too?? Easy to check if TRV bodies are bi-directional they have a double headed arrow on them

Well, let me give you all pile envy - 52 (over 146 sq m.)

I agree, but fish room is centre as the peninsula tank needs to be attached to that room if that makes sense. All the workings of it will be piped straight through wall. Always wanted a peninsula style reef tank rather than the style I have now running parallel with wall and that’s the only place I can get it to work. Switching it around would mean walking around tank at end of hall way, so would have to walk around it. image below. What do you think? Shapr3d for modelling change plan for u-vales http://changeplan.co.uk/u_value_calculator.php

Agreed, probably one of the best couple of hundred pounds extra spent on my project.

My brother has 20m piles for his house. He should have used them for his orangery too. Instead the orangery was on a raft and had to be demolished after a few years. He is high up on clay soil 50m from a river with mature willows around. We have 18m piles but we are very near a river. With piling if the soil is weak you need to go down until you hit something to give a decent bearing.

I may be wrong, but a set of stairs would have to meet building regs regards to pitch, width, etc and in particular clear headroom above the stairs and landing. That will mean you forming a permanent compliant landing "upstairs" then with a door through to the loft. I might be inclined to wait for completion, and then fit a space saving staircase and some form of easy to open loft hatch when you get to the top of the stairs.

You mean permanent stairs? Space, cost, building regulations.

1. offsite fabricated trusses are the cheapest way, but there is little space left for movement or storage. You must tell them if you want space. 2. tell them so they allow for the weight. 3. absolutely. and if you have pull down ladder it is always there, tidy, and secure. and much safer to use. again check you have space between trusses. I have a scissoring one which is very compact...but I have high ceilings and need a stepladder to release an re-stow it.. 4. I am not expert....others will be along who know. BUT it probably needs a sturdy base and some noise absorption. I think batteries are very heavy and would need lots of support.

Just spoke to a colleague of mine, civil engineer / soil mechanic he has never heard of 20m piles for a to story building other than if you are building on a bog! Ask them why they need 20m piles.

Our piling company drove our piles while using an instrument for vibration monitoring - and sent the readings back to the company head office. I can't remember the brand name of the meter but here's a link to the kind of thing I mean. Faced with your issue, I would go onto the site and explain your concern. ask the site supervisor if the vibration is monitored AND reported (to their head office) invite the site supervisor to come into your home and experience the vibration If you get no real answer, then talk to the piling company head office. They will (should) be concerned because of the possibility of you claiming against them. No joy there, then Environmental Health in your Local Authority is the next call Its important to note that you cannot stop the work. But you can and should be compensated for any material loss. That means gathering evidence. Cracks that weren't there before the work, plaster falling off the wall - stuff like that needs to be photographed. The key question is : how much longer will the vibration continue, and - if there is evidence of damage and you need to claim - could you have a copy of the vibration monitoring results?

Speak to the builder and if you get no joy, contact Environmental Health and the Party Wall surveyor. Quite how they have ended up with 20m piles when (I assume) the ground investigation suggested 5m is a concern. 30 piles for a small property sounds a lot.

I think this will be a big thermal bridge and could cost several thousand. Better to put work in at the design stage to see the best solution.

well the everbuild stuff was delivered about 8 am this morning. which is mad as i bought it about 1 pm yesterday. ive got a broom that i bought from the poundshop that is solid like a scrubbing brush so will go and blast it with that. ive a bit of an agreement with my neighbour that i wont make noise before 10.

A small 2 story property needs 20m piles! Sounds a lot to me - do they need to get to bedrock?

Speak to the party wall surveyor and raise your concerns. Any damage caused to your property is the responsibility of your neighbour and the surveyors job is ensure any damage is recorded and rectified.

A quick win for you to save a bit of time. Have a mooch on your local district planning authority website, have a look at submitted plans in your vicinity. Identify which architects or technicians successfully undertake submissions in your area, give them a call.

The curves on Viessmann must be different, my flow temps are a fair bit higher than that. Always between 26-40

They are not an SE. Any SE might be an expert witness in structural matters. It's up to you but I say don't get drawn in. They might even tell your neighbour that there is no case. Do have a witness though.

It's just a bunch of fitting soldered together. I would start to ask yourself do you really need it, its a rubbish design (well not really designed), its just about a close coupled tee, without the what looks the incorrect dimensions, as its way to short. I would look at your heating system and advise what you have Heat source, type and size in kW Heating system - UFH or radiators or both, how many loops and or radiators How many thermostats in operation? And an assessment of do you really need them I suspect your CoP will be very poor.

It may work with bay poles. I think you should ask your SE what they suggest as sometimes the bays are structural.

You've got it anyway. Not an SE. If I understand it, ICIOB is a preliminary to MCIOB. I hadn't heard of MEWI but it promisingly states: to support the proper administration of justice and the early resolution of disputes through high-quality expert evidence from specialists Andy more specialists to be at their expense? Good luck.

There’s no reason to let them take photographs of anything other than the retaining wall. The SE won’t want to get involved in whatever the wider dispute is. They will have heard it all from your neighbour. Don’t give in to the temptation of you telling the SE your side of the story just concentrate on the wall and nothing else.

Are they from https://www.vermland.dk/aurens-deli-1 also https://www.nordiskakok.com/english-nordiska-kok

Silicon spray