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Got some wood from our wood pile by the front door, as I was about to throw it on the fire saw some.movement, poor little guy almost got cremated...

No unit in yet (I need to build it), but the rest is pretty much there.

I was due to be writing about the happy day when my SIPS kit arrived on the Island, but instead I find that I have closed up the site and reduced outgoings as much as possible because the SIPS team can't be accomodated and fed on the Island given current restrictions, and travelling the length of the country is hardly sensible conduct at this stage. Just so there is something to see from the site, here is the beam and block floor going in. Close to 1000 blocks and 68 beams placed in 3 days by 3 people and 1digger. The white blocks have good thermal properties and will be used along with a PIR insulation upstand at the sole plate interface to reduce the thermal bridge. So now I have to find something else to write about. I haven't said much here about the house design and my goals. Here are the floor plans as submitted for planning permission. Chris (my architect) and I spent time discussing dimensions and circulation spaces but the overall concept remains to my original plan. The only change from planning to build is that the main bathroom has been flipped so that the large cupboard will double up as a service access. These pictures show the elevations (apart from north west - which is really boring). The planners decided I had to have real wooden cladding instead of cedral. Bricks were similarly not allowed. You may ask why there isn't a window in the obvious place on the SW elevation. It makes the bedroom layout impossible! The master bedroom has a vaulted ceiling, so the half round window will provide light from the SW and the window on the SE will provide a good view of the garden. I have designed a sundial to fit in the place where one might otherwise have expected a window. The house will be a SIPS panel build, aiming for a good SAP A rating without "cheating" by putting a vast solar PV power station on the roof. Because of the design of the roof, based on SIPS panels and purlins, the attic space is open. This gives a good amount of space for hobby rooms or allows eventual accomodation of 6 double bedroooms. There is a designed in space for a spiral staircase to access the attic. There is no mains gas and I am not keen on burning things within the house so it will run on electricity. I plan to fit 6.6kW of solar PV panels (apprx 20) on the southern roof space. This should generate sufficient energy for 60% to 80% of hot water and heating needs. Heating and cooling will be provided by a ducted airconditioning system and hot water by a thermal store or unvented cylinder driven by an immersion heater. I will be allowing provision for water heating by ASHP but initially this seems unnecessary. Similarly, I am provisioning space for a battery storage system but will wait for battery pricing to drop. I will be installing a rain water capture system and using it for toilets, garden and probably clothes washing. I know the payback is long, but my building inspector is quite keen I make an effort at meeting the water use targets, and this tips the balance and allows the bath that the boss has asked for. Final SAP rating for the design was 96 (with limited solar PV) and well over 100 with the full 6.6kW.

The building regulations set only set the minimum standards for ventilation, and it's more-or-less accepted that those standards are fine for day-to-day living if the users use them properly. If the turn off the MVHR, don't change the filters, close off the trickle vents, don't open windows, etc, there will be a problem - and that's more likely in poorer households where people struggle to pay for heating. However a new house may or may not have a VOC problem, depending on the products chosen, particularly during the the first two to three years. I have seen a study on this but don't have the details. At the moment, in the UK, there's not even much awareness of the issue. France, in contrast, has had a mandatory labelling scheme for key construction and decorating products since 2013, linked to the levels of 10 key VOCs, plus the voluntary 'intAIRieur' auditing scheme for the indoor air quality of new housing. Since you have time for research, you may want to check out the Natureplus database (an Austrian initiative, so mainly Austrian / German products) and the USA Healthy Building Network and Healthy Materials Lab. Plus the work of the UK Green Building Council and Alliance for Sustainable Building Products.

Back to the job in hand do one radiator at a time close radiator valves both sides best to take white cap off valve and use adjustable spanner for last little tighten then with your radiator key open bleed valve at top , water should stop coming out once pressure has dropped ( if water keeps piddling out then your radiator valve is letting by and will continue to drain the system plus get your floor wet ). On the assumption water stops you can now remove radiator crack each valve taking care not to bend the pipe connector to valve ( use 2 spanners/wrench to fight a against each other one on the valve one on the valve nut ) before doing this create a exit to bath or outside if going over good carpet put dust sheets down ...you will spill a drop of black sludge . Ok loosen one side get o/h to push valve against radiator when you have loosened this stops excess water dispersion , then loosen other side . Right once both are loosened you can quickly put fingers over radiator outlets and lift off , on smaller radiators I then spin over top to bottom to stop water leaking out ( make sure you've tightened the bleed valve back up) then exit to drain off . If you wish to remove all pipework your need to drain the system down .

We have flies hibernating under the roof tiles and in the winter when the sun shines they come out and provide a good meal for the pied wagtails.

Update: We've suspected for a while that we may have more than 1 hedgehog in residence, but have never seen them both in the same image, until tonight. Maybe the patter of tiny feet will entertain us over the next 12 weeks. Note: second one can just be seen in the entrance to Hog House. Cabin_20200323_205035.mp4

Moved in today - not quite finished but not bad for a start date of 8 Jan. Time to put my feet up. ? @Ferdinand - the sun & light is beautiful. Thank you.

Is Rat? No, no, no; is special kind of hamster! My money is on Bank Vole. A lucky escape!

Ours would want to know if it came nicely prepared in a plastic wrapper and had been kept at the right temperature in the fridge.

Our cat would have taken that from your hand. No she would have taken it from the wood pile.

We’ve just had the electrical and plumbing company walk off site There lads would rather be paid 80% and stay at home The company has been told to get them back tomorrow