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I've not been on site for much of the week because I had plenty of paid work to do, so I left my scaffolders alone. They're getting there. One more morning and we should be good for the first stages of the SIPS installation. Finally the boss has acknowledged the house might not be tiny. This side stays open for the first few days of SIPS installation to allow acccess for the panels. Hoping for some reasonable weather for the weekend to get the last few bits of tidying up done. Fingers are crossed for everything going well on Monday!

The original Sunamp PV unit was IIRC intended to be used in conjunction with a Combi boiler, allowing households to benefit from PV diversion - one significant market that had been identified was social housing where PV rent-a-roof had been installed, and the thought that to meet fuel poverty targets, their would be an investment in anything which could help reduce tenant bills. I think it was @DamonHD who originally made us all aware of the product, and it just so happened to be the ideal solution to the overheating cupboard issue @Jeremy Harris had. A couple of other members decided to use the product, and it was certainly something I looked into as well, but I concluded that there was no benefit in me using the product due to my specific requirements. I went with a straightforward ASHP and UVC system and it suits our needs perfectly. It's very easy to get swept along in a tide of enthusiasm for a (new) product which has positive attributes, and initially, I was one of those individuals. Stepping back and honestly assessing your individual circumstances and requirements isn't easy sometimes, but probably the best advice I could give.

Things seem to be happening very quickly and progress has gone really well. The block and beam of the huge extension is coming together now and the focus has been outside, although with the occasional downpour the inside is now half empty with our 1970s bathroom suite finally gone. In the interim I've sold everything inside, the kitchen, boiler, naff internal doors and even the crappy floor tiles we took off. All copper and rads ready for my dad to weigh in. Have now run out of stuff to sell! Here are a couple of pics from this week. The final pic, the bank you can see and the path runs 90 metres from the entrance to the end of our garden from one old railway bridge to the other old railway bridge the other end which is over the canal. The railway at the top of the embankment is no more. It was the line that ran from Whitchurch to Chester and we can clamber up to the top of the embankment which is now an overgrown mess of bramble and ivy, no track any longer. We cleared some of the ivy and when we were clearing the garden of shrubs, bulbs and plants that we knew would get disturbed I literally moved every one by hand and planted it on the bank and we have been lucky that the majority of the plants have taken and had daffs, bluebells and lots of other things flower so it looks quite nice, even the foxgloves that seem to have gone crazy. We do need to sort out some sort of wall or something to replace the rockery' bit which was already there. I dread to think of the cost for such a long length. It's not as high in some places and levels off.

Look at who they have just partnered with though ...! An organisation that doesn’t print price lists and has been regularly had by the ASA for misleading claims on previous heating products ....

Had a look back to the first page of this thread, and the two previous one's from which it emerged. These questions over SunAmp have been doing the rounds here for over 18 months and still nobody seems confident that they are a reliable, cost-effective and easy to configure/control solution (for most applications at least). Given the level of technical understanding on this forum (compared to the average of Joe Public), imho it seems hard to envisage how SunAmp can hope to be a mainstream solution in its current format - unless of course it's Joe Public's lack of knowledge/understanding that makes them attractive customers.

For anyone who is reading this who may be wondering what order of airtightness is normally achievable on a new build if you don’t use any special tapes or air tightness membrane I achieved a value of 3.7 m3/h.m2 @50Pa on a new-build timber frame bungalow. That’s without taking any special precautions regarding airtightness as the building is naturally ventilated (no MVHR).

I would say that is simple. A sun Amp's main advantages seem to be the lower standing heat loss and the smaller size for a given volume of heat storage. If either of those are important to you for example to avoid over heating a very well insulated house, or to fit in a space too small for a conventional hot water tank, and you can work with all the other limitations such as not being able to heat the HW from an ASHP, then consider the sun amp. If those main selling points are not relevant to your build, then I see little point in using a sun amp.

Hope this helps, a bit lengthy but... You maybe can use mesh but if you want to achieve the same equivalent bar area to 12mm diameter H12 bars then you may need to look at the B type structural meshes, perhaps a B785 mesh? The rub here is that the bars are different sizes in each direction with different spacing. Has the slab (maybe basement walls too) been designed as a two way spanning slab. Roughly meaning that all the edges of slab are fully supported all round so that the main reinforcement bars act in two directions perpendicular to each. If so, then you may need four layers of mesh (2 top + 2 bottom) as opposed to your 12mm diameter H12 loose bars top and bottom as the secondary bars in the mesh may be too small. Although mesh can be great you can have a problem with “nesting” if using lots of layers. Were four sheets come together it’s difficult to lap them properly and keep the concrete “cover” to the reinforcement. You can get a flying end mesh but on a small project this can add to the cost, difficulty in sourcing and you may need to detail it up so it fits. Also think about how you reinforce the corners of the basement walls as you can get congestion here too. Although mesh can be appealing if you have congested reinforcement it’s harder to compact the concrete properly and that can cause problems later on. Perhaps have a look again at using loose bars. An H12 is not a bad bar, not too floppy and not too heavy. They come in various stock lengths, easy to source and price match. Also, if you run out you can nip to the stock holder and grab a few more. Any off cuts are great for garden stakes or using as dowels etc. Once you get going with tying loose bars you’ll get along fine I’m sure. If you make a small mistake then all you need to do is remove the odd bar or two rather than sheets of mesh that you may have cut. Just remember that when rebar is tied together it is very heavy so make sure it is properly braced and shuttering is supported. Clay soil (say when you have cut down a tree) can exert a significant load on the walls of a basement. The soil can take a number of years to readjust to the new ground water conditions. There are a good few ways of designing concrete basements / floor slabs. When you don’t have other buildings /sewers etc close by then broadly some key areas considered are; strength (so it does not collapse), deflection (so it does not bend too much and damage other parts of the structure) cracking (to control water ingress and again damage to other components and finishes) and buoyancy / drainage... it’s not a boat so you don’t want it to float if the ground water rises. When a floor slab is say simply supported at each end only and it is loaded from above you will get tension in the bottom of the slab. Steel is good for resisting tension hence your main bottom steel. If you have a load bearing internal wall in the basement then you have a two span beam. You still get tension in the bottom of the slab as you approach the middle of each of the two spans. However, you usually get tension in the top of the slab over the internal wall. Hence your main top steel. It may be that the basement has been designed as a continuous box. In effect the concrete and reinforcement work together at the corners (often called a moment connection) as opposed to say the basement floor and walls acting together with the suspended slab only designed to prevent the basement wall heads moving inwards and to carry the loads from above this is more of what is called a pinned connection. If this is the case then you also have tension in the top of the suspended slab and the outside of the vertical basement wall at and near this junction thus you need some steel in the top and outside of the vertical walls and this can be a congested area. You can ask the Engineer how the design works, often they are more than happy to explain. It’s worthwhile to know how something stands up, especially when you are finished the project and enjoying the fruits of you labour in front of the fire on a windy winters night.

Remember with solar PV there is no feed in tariff any more, so the cost has to be justified on self usage. I find heating the UVC with the ASHP to 48 degrees still leaves a lot of headroom for the solar PV to add more getting up to 75 degrees in the UVC on a good day with PV. That usually translates into the HP doing less or even nothing the next day to keep the UVC charged. I am not entirely convinced the controller of a sun amp will always allow surplus solar PV in if it senses it is "too full" A lot depends on your hot water usage. If like us you are mostly in the "shower in the evening" camp, you might well find the off peak has charged the sun amp and the solar pv goes to waste. If you are in the "shower in the morning" camp you are more likely to find the sun amp controller will allow surplus PV in after you have all showered.

This is one my friend made for me at our last house Cost me £300 plus the glass It sealed up pretty well But like Joe mine was under cover While we have a large oak canopy on our new house The front door is open to the elements and would be likely to sell or contract One advantage with a timber frame is if the seals become damaged or crack they are very easily replaced Unlike UPVC

Ok, I concede the point - a good joiner could do it but you will need to be be clear on the requirements.

My front door (and frame) was made by the same joiners that made all my windows and bifolds, all in oak, I do have a closed porch to act as an airlock and it faces North. It fits tightly with multi point locking and is a very good fit.i would disagree that a GOOD joiner could not make a door like mine (it’s also foam cored).

This is such an inconclusive topic that the more I dwell on it the more im thinking that UVC may be a more cost effective solution. I'm thinking of 2 Uniq12s but thats 5 grand pretty much. I need to cost up the ASHP/UVC option really as that may be the nail in SunAmps coffin for me.

I have had a joiner make our front door. It's not yet installed so I can't comment on how it performs just yet. The joiner was responsive to the challenge of making something airtight and thermally efficient. I visited a few showrooms to take photos of the seal details and found tech drawings online. I think the door will perform very well during the airtightness test. With regard to thermal performance I think it will be a slight weak spot, although we used a triple glazed sealed unit and 50mm PIR sandwhich filling there are areas where there is solid timber.

Bit late to the discussion but hey. I'm a bit confused, I am actually still debating getting a 'PM-QS' - basically a QS who will also handle PMing. And I'd say caring about quality vs cost is deeply core to their job. If they fail at that they fail at their job and reviews etc should reflect that - I'd grant that it might be harder to 'hit them where it hurts' (is there some way to take failure out of their pay? Or can I just leave a crabby review somewhere..) But all in all I don't have the time to be onsite daily so 'someone has to do it' in my view.

We had 16 tonnes of rebar in our 120m2 basement - all hand tied, no mesh at all. But we were sited over chalk which is like Swiss cheese so the whole structure was bomb proof. Ultimately SE is legally liable for your design, groundworker is not. Who signed off their previous job using mesh?

I would have preferred to use an oak front door to match our oak canopy Ive a friend with a workshop that would have made one for the price of the timber But conceded it wouldn’t be airtight and less so over time Sk I fitted a composite door

We used Clearview Vista 80X on a glazed gable, I can't see why it wouldn't work on a roof light. We had it installed and I personally wouldn't like to try on a large vertical surface but may on a horizontal surface. Our bathroom roof window has G32 glazing which is good enough to keep out the heat. https://www.sun-x.co.uk/products/clearview-solar-film

In a low energy house, the front (and all) doors need to be both airtight and thermally efficient - i.e. low u value & no cold bridges (so a solid timber door is not a good idea). When closed, it needs to be secured against the frame to ensure the seals engage - multipoint locking is good for this. I'd be surprised if a joiner could make a door to meet that criteria, risk is that over time a timber door may shrink and airtightness deteriorate. We have a passive standard door from RK - foam core, aluminium structure, double seals etc - not cheap but we were aiming for a certain aesthetic.

Erm...you just have! ?

Hardwood kitchen worktop might work for your treads.

Ask them to look again. The A393 is fairly hefty. Maybe it could be beefed up locally if required.

I believe this thread is partly relevant although it relates to resurfacing an existing road. https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/topic/15335-planning-for-tarmac-laying-on-unadopted-road/ The planning officer said resurfacing an existing road could amount to "engineering operations" requiring planning permission. The reference I found below suggest that's not true for an existing road but could apply to a new road or highway access... https://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/lexispsl/planning/document/393788/5J6Y-V7J1-F18C-4292-00000-00/Is_planning_permission_required I don't think those are conflicting... The second part implies Planning Permission is required. The first part implies it would be approved. I would quote the first part back at them in a covering letter with any planning application.

Ha, this was part of my planning fight!. Half our plot is field and half residential my wife (before we met back In 2011) applied for planning permission to put a new entrance into the field next to the residential so she could use it for both, when it was finished the council said she could not use it for the house so had to re instate the fence between field and house (if I was about then I would have fought it). When we applied for planning to replace the bungalow with a cottage part of our application was to use this new entrance for both field and house pointing out it had a proper splay and decent visibility on a straight road. The old entrance had tall hedges and no visibility near a bend. The council denied we had planning permission for the new entrance but we had council papers confirming it was granted, they then said there was no visibility and we didn’t own land either side to create a splay, yes we did but didn’t need to as it existed. It took me a year of persistent calling highways to get someone out to view the situation, when they eventually came they agreed visibility was good at the new entrance, old entrance was dangerous BUT they were not allowed to say this to the planners they could only say they did not object (jobs worth or what). Eventually when I went to appeal the officer agreed 100% with all my proposals (I won’t go into all the other things the planners fought over) and informed our local planners they were not abiding by their own policies. So don’t be afraid to fight the council planners which ever way you go, I don’t have a very high opinion of any of them.

How big is the paddock out of interest ..?

If you are creating a hard standing above a certain size from memory it needs planning. However as @ProDave said, you could use the grass blocks so it looks temporary or just scrape off with a JCB, layer of Terram, hardcore compacted down and gravel over the top. Sprinkling of mixed grass and wildflower seeds down the middle and edges and it will look like it’s been there for years ...

If you are going to be the villain filled with devious cunning, you could write them a "is it this or that" letter. Personally I would do it in 2 halves.

I would put a an access to the paddock in first from the road, if they may insist it is some sort of separate unit. Then obvs you need one from the house curtilege to access the horse.

Or use grass blocks, those perforated concrete blocks that allow grass to grow through while still giving you a firm surface to drive on.

If you use gravel then it is not hard standing. May also be worth putting a field shelter half way along ... you’ve then got a reason to have a driveway to service the “horses”... ?

Yes we are building in Shropshire and that have CIL in place. We have just received our exemption notice but they are very keen on dates. If you start without informing them then you pay the CIL!

Not forgetting to specify the heat pump version of the UVC which has a larger surface area input coil to work with the lower temperature from an ASHP.

UVC, larger than you think you need and use ASHP to heat it. Manifold distribution from a central point, blended to suit the outlets.

Our basement slab is 200mm 40n with single layer of mesh. Thickened to 300mm around the external load bearing walls, and extends out from walls between 350 and 600mm, depending on loading. Walls are 200mm ICF, not sure on the amount of reinforcement. She originally had it as a 100mm slab with lots of rebar, asked her to change it for mesh + more concrete as labour costs are much lower, and concrete is cheap here so works out £1000+ saving.

Remind me of this of Guadi's house in Parc Guell.

If you ever want to sell, a buyers surveyor will probably be interested in looking up there to establish the state of the timber and the amount of insulation. Hopefully you won't need to remove wasps nests or trap squirrels, but I'd put a hatch in...

Looking good. I'm pleased your plants are doing well too.

Cheapest I found was here: Item no 322318329373 on ebay About £8

Google suggests repairing or improving a road doesn't count as engineering operations or development. This provides references to the Town and County Planning Act but I've not checked them. My bold... https://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/lexispsl/planning/document/393788/5J6Y-V7J1-F18C-4292-00000-00/Is_planning_permission_required_

Great news! It’s been a long time coming!

Permission Granted ? Full steam ahead now, hoping to get watertight before Christmas

You've borrowed the pointing hand from @Onoff ... Looks good.

I would say they are relatively stiff - need a reasonable radius format 90 degree bend. Think it's reinforced 1 inch hose. Haven't found the pump spec yet but wte told me the back pressure should be around 150mbar and no more than 200. @Miek Thanks. Gave them a quick call following your message - prices have gone up a bit as I was quoted £29!

Might the post immediately above be considered an advert?

Given that the cladding on Grenfell Tower had a BBA certification as being resistant to the spread of fire, then I'd have to say that it's probably not worth the paper it's written on for some products.