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Showing content with the highest reputation on 05/22/20 in all areas

  1. Good as new! (I hope). Will wait for it to set up and water test before I reinstate the floor. I'm thinking I will just put a piece of polystyrene in the gap where I've cut out the chipboard as the repair clip sits ever so slightly proud of the insulation. There's UFH overlay boards going on top and then laminate (and this will be inside a cupboard/below the CU anyway so not likely to get a lot of loading on that spot). When I finish the build I'm going to retrain as a keyhole surgeon. Thanks again for the life-saving advice folks.
    3 points
  2. PVC cable sheaths incorporate a "placticiser" to make them "plastic", aka flexible, bendy. As I understand it it's a leaching of of this placticiser that reacts badly with eps. Rigid pvc pipe lacks the plasticizer. Ergo you're OK. Put another way, you can place pvc cables in pvc trunking, within eps as the trunking is unplacticised.
    3 points
  3. I have not done an apples to apple comparison between the MBC twin frame system and a regular build but my house is 356m² over ground, first and second floors. MBC's quote for the twin wall was £162,000 supplied and erected (just the kit - not including the foundations). Doing it with the local guy is working less than £100,000 (around £95,000 but depends on some of the materials which I haven't costed yet) but that includes supply and fit of kitchen/windows/staircase/doors (internal and external). Even if I was to 'upspec' the build I wouldn't get anywhere near MBC's quote which doesn't include, second fix / finishing / installation of windows and doors (although i will need to check on the last point). Their costs for the foundations were a lot higher than i can get locally at 0.11 u value for the floor. MBC's kit comes with posi joists - my one is spec'ed with JJI - thats a £2k difference so like i said not apples to apples but MBC was far enough away for it not to be in contention as soon as the quote came through. There is no doubt that the product is spot on with MBC and a 0.6 ach air tightness and u values they guarantee are hard to beat - I just couldn't justify it with the cost and not only justifying it but being able to afford it (which I can't!).
    1 point
  4. So finally managed to update the blog. Seems like nothing happened , but a bit of progress still. Now just have to get this monstrosity past Building Control . Challenging task but I will manage. As always. I can tell I will not become a Groundworker in this life . Or the next. http://tintabernacle.blogspot.com/2020/05/rc-beam-or-ringbeam-preparation.html Here are some entertaining pics from this : Above ground shuttering takes a bit of timber Give over - it s gonna be inside a pile of concrete anyways ? Let s just assume this will hold.
    1 point
  5. Thanks. Some good info there. The floor underneath is 15mm engineered walnut floating on a thin layer of foam. We don’t have any heavy weights in the house as we used to have them at the gym. The heaviest we have is an 18kg kettle bell. If we get something heavier I will get more mats to protect it. The main issue so far has been it is easy to scratch I will find out how much better it is on my joints when we train tomorrow. The wooden floor was a total non starter and the soft yoga mats are too small in a lot of instances. The wood is also very slippery and the mats move around on it, often we end up taking them outside. It was effectively making the room smaller as there were lots of spaces that weren’t comfortable to train. It doesn’t feel like it has a lot of give if it is not enough I could see how it is doubled up. At the moment my wife doesn’t ever want to go back to a gym but that will probably change with a vaccine. So I am trying to make the gym more usable without spending a fortune until I know the long term situation. The equipment in there is refurbished stuff we got a good deal on.
    1 point
  6. Not sure how much feedback you want suggesting potential issues with this given that it is finished ? . But ... writing as part owner of a Crossfit Gym (about which there are a few threads) there are a few things it may be useful to say. I hope everything has been considered and this is unnecessary. What is the floor surface under the rubber matting? If you or anybody start dropping kettlebells or weights on it, I do not think that 8mm will be enough and it may well die if it is at all delicate. Even porcelain tiles may get chipped. One issue is that sometimes the reason for dropping weights is safety, so you cannot say you will never do it. And I am not sure that 8mm will be enough for your comfort or to protect your joints if you are doing stretching or eg burpees on it or things that involve knees such as types of scaled pressups and so on. Depends on how hard the floor surface underneath is. Though rowing, assault bike and the torture machine on the right will be fine. The normal floor of a Crossfit Gym would be more like 18mm dimpled horse matting over a concrete slab. (Last lot I bought cost about £45 each for 10 6x4s delivered, 2 years ago - we have about 5000 sqft of it, and yes it does feel expensive when you are the one stumping up.) We also do our weights on inserts made from 8x4 18mm plywood. But that has to cope with people throwing 100kg+ barbels down from shoulder height, which is perhaps not you (or me). You could loose lay a sacrificial tongue and groove click-fit under the matting if you have problems. We use the thinner stuff on rolls where we walk around the weights area, but not where we do things on the floor. I think you could probably make your stretching etc more comfortable by using some of the jigsaw foam mats they make eg for putting on the floor of child playpens. Or a yoga mat. I find it helps my sit bones. If you need a weights area with heavier mats then one option might be a gazebo or veranda outside. My best suggestion would be to review it with your distant trainer, so that he is aware what you have so you do not end up doing anything that is unsuitable or may cause problems, and take the advice on what is most appropriate. And see how you go. @jack may have some useful comments, as a Crossfitter. Nice project. Ferdinand
    1 point
  7. If it's raft don't worry about the band seals
    1 point
  8. The alternative and possibly more useful solution is run a 2.5mm ring circuit from the end of your 10mm cable to several sockets and feed it from a 32A mcb. This has earned the nickname of a "lollipop circuit"
    1 point
  9. I was being a bit facetious. I may have to see if I can get another script that logs more interesting data. Using the phone as an internet enabled hotspot could be useful though as the range is quite good. It could be set up to activate a switch that opens up gates and doors, or just turn lights on. Flattens the phones batteries quick though.
    1 point
  10. It may just be me but I don't agree with this comment at all. I know that when you google you will see figures of 60yrs etc lifespan for a timber frame but lets be honest here, if they were only going to last for 60yrs then: 1. Who the hell would want to build with it. 2. Why would you build with it. 3. How the hell are you going to mortgage it. I just don't buy it, I expect they will last a far greater time than that quoted - provided that they are constructed correctly.
    1 point
  11. I would use something like this: https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/AAJB60.html?source=adwords&ad_position=&ad_id=415703895075&placement=&kw=&network=u&matchtype=&ad_type=&product_id=AAJB60&product_partition_id=351476229327&campaign=shopping_accessories&version=finalurl_v3&gclid=CjwKCAjw8J32BRBCEiwApQEKgTIGSLdYjkmKXYLyip3tP_5YIhEwGaKbUjzy6NpqSTz6nxnVC1_GuBoCz80QAvD_BwE You can cleanly terminate the 10mm into that and then your 3 No. 2.5mm (probably doubled over to increase size).
    1 point
  12. I’ve worked on both for over thirty five years and chose to use traditional Airtightness isn’t an issue with traditional Most self builds are TF because it’s quicker and more convenient But TF kits are over priced Some of the TF houses I’ve worked on have a bare minimum of fire protection and are thrown together TF houses have a very short lifespan compared to tradition Sure there are TF houses that are hundreds of years old But they are not made of unseasoned ;4x2 and OSB They just don’t look good value for money I’ve built a 5 bed 3 bathroom home for under 200 k valued at 750k I know if I would have gone the TF route it would have cost far more
    1 point
  13. MBC are expensive and timber frame is expensive compared to block work, but that figure does include the internal walls, first floor and roof joists. I had a look at that cost estimator and it is a bit odd that it says it includes internal plastering but it doesn't mention joists, ceilings and internal walls. What you can find is that you have thousands of pounds of small items that you never thought of. You could be a few hundred pound for the mastic man for example. Then there is burglar alarm, scaffolding(not sure if that is in the wall cost estimator), light fittings, door thresholds, extractor fans, temporary stairs, bathroom mirrors, tv/ethernet/wifi. The list goes on. I do think you could also double the professional fees. Some people are being quoted thousands for just soil investigations. You will need plans, warrant drawings, structural engineer etc which could easily double that figure. Net net the £1500 figure is probably a decent rule of thumb. Plus or minus on that will depend a lot on the finishes and the amount of insulation. A set of oak and glass stairs could be 4x the price of a set of softwood painted stairs. Fully tiling a bathroom will cost £1000-1500 versus a splashback that might cost a few pounds. The amount of land you have around the house and need to landscape will make a big difference. Hard landscaping and retaining walls are very expensive compared to grass.
    1 point
  14. The regs were changed in about 1985, and unvented cylinders and combi boilers have certainly taken off since then, and to some extent thermal stores. No statistics, but I don't think many new builds to have vented cylinders these days. Many mixer taps are also only suited to mains pressure hot water so, if you don't go that way, check before you buy.
    1 point
  15. I'd like a NAS, keep looking out for a s'hand Synology one. Missed out big time when my son's mate's uni was selling them off. £20 per TB in a NAS ffs and pulled HDDS at £10/TB . "Oh, did you want one?" said dozy lad when they were all gone!
    1 point
  16. Because the tool *is* brand new, don't assume the steel is a good fit or lubricated...
    1 point
  17. That's right, although some friends who built a self build also renovated an old outbuilding on the site and had 100mm Icynene sprayed onto the inside of the walls as IWI and draughtproofing. The only problem was it was done in the winter and apparently Icynene doesn't stick that well to cold surfaces and it pulled back slightly in places which had to be rectified but other than that it worked well. It was done about nine years ago and the building used as a artists studio.
    1 point
  18. The pool has clearly been very popular in the lockdown period. In response to another thread re pools, dehumidifiers, corrosion etc I thought I would have a look around. Chlorine - As previously pointed out, the pool sits between 0.5 and 0.55 ppm chlorine, this is the same level as tap water. This compares to around 3 in a public pool, so 6x as much. There is no actual chlorine directly involved. When the pool was installed they dosed it with some salt, considerably less than in sea water, and there is a tube in the plant room which uses hydrolysis to create chlorine from the salt when needed. The water tastes neither salty nor is there any chlorine smell. Humidity - The room sits at a constant humidity level of 60% whether the pool is open or closed. When the pool is closed the room temperature is 22-23C and the water temperature is 29C. When you open the pool, the dehumidifier kicks in and heats up the air to 25-26C. As the pool is normally closed and the room is not overly warm humidity is not an issue and the room is quite pleasant to sit in. At the same level of humidity, 30C air holds almost twice as much water as 20C air. thus the air holds considerably less water than the air on a Florida summer day. The only time I ever see any hint of condensation in the room is in the winter, the door lock on the french doors is cold and water condenses on it. There is never any condensation on the window frames or windows. Rationel would not warrant them for use in a pool and recommended uPVC but knowing that humidity would be well controlled we ignored this. So my conclusion on corrosion risk is that it is minimal as long as you control humidity well, do not use chlorine and do not have the pool open all the time. However, to do this adds considerably to the capital cost of the pool. The pool cover and air handling equipment cost as much as the pool itself. Relative to the 5kg of sodium hypochlorite, it looks like it would only take 60g of hypochlorite to get my pool to 0.5ppm of chlorine. I took a picture of the door furniture where presumably corrosion would start to show. It still looks as good as new after three years. I think water damage is a much more pertinent issue than corrosion. The walls around the pool are tiled and we used special pool silicon to seal around the pool edges. The floor is tiled also, although as someone pointed out water does pool on the floor, because no one thought to give it a run back down towards the pool. Something we will do when it needs retiled. However, the builders did not seal the bottom on the door frame to the changing room (despite me asking) it only took a few weeks of use before it started to blow out and I got it sealed. Running costs continue to be very low relative to the historic scary costs of running a pool. Indeed they have probably fallen as gas and electricity tariffs have fallen. I reckon that we are running at around £1600 a year for gas, electricity and servicing, my previous estimate of the electricity use was probably a little high now that I have figured out the use in other parts of the house. One thing that I will be watching is the pool lights. We have 2x 36W LED lights in the pool. The original lights broke, one never worked properly. The installer said it was the fault of the builders for allowing the pool to sit full of dirty water for ages before it could be commissioned. Eventually I agreed to pay for the lights if he installed them, that was £800. On discussion he said that he is finding that LED lights break after about 5 years as over time small amounts of water get onto them and break the drivers. He said that this was a problem versus the old 300W incandescent bulbs. For all the time the lights are on if this continues the 300W bulbs may actually be a lot cheaper to run.
    1 point
  19. Plenty of pump stations online - 600 litres is really your minimum you want and as it’s not the main house then just go for a single pump. Most use 50 or 63mm MDPE and it ideally should go to a 280/350mm Inspection chamber which then flows into a 110mm pipe into the main line to the sewer. And make sure they fit an elbow on the end of the MDPE... and definitely make sure the lid on the chamber screws down ..!!!
    1 point
  20. Does it smell like @pocster's bondage den?
    0 points
  21. I'm just building my SIP house now, if it only lasts 60 yrs then there is a real danger of it falling down whilst I am still living in it?
    0 points
  22. Your definition and mine of expensive is different! ?
    0 points
  23. Hope not else I'll be in the shit
    0 points
  24. I made life even simpler. My home made solar PV diverter now switches on a wireless relay for an auxiliary load when it is approaching 100% power to the immersion heater. I just have a 750W electric convection heater plugged into that. It just ensures I can self use more of my own generation as at mid day with not much else on in the house, more can be generated than the immersion heater on it's own can absorb. I don't need much extra heat in the house now, so in summer I might put the wireless relay and heater out in the garage, just out of spite to stop it getting exported for no payment.
    0 points
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